Exploring Life & Business with Peyton Curley of The Social Emotional Teacher

Today we’d like to introduce you to Peyton Curley.

Hi Peyton, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
After growing up and attending schools in Nashville, I moved away for the first time at 18 to attend The University of Kentucky. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do for a career, other than the fact that I was sure I wanted to work with children.

I started my first 2 years at UK as a psychology major, then ultimately decided to pursue teaching, so I applied to the education program, where I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. Little did I know, these two fields – psychology and education – would merge to become the basis of my business.

I returned to Nashville and began my teaching career in MNPS, where I taught 3rd grade. During my time in the classroom, I saw the immense need for a focus on social and emotional skills, in addition to the regular academic curriculum. I began to dig deep into an educational practice called Social Emotional Learning, which became the basis of my business.

Counselors would come into the classroom once a month to teach these skills, but this simply wasn’t enough. I began to devote time each day to this practice. I quickly saw the benefit of daily social-emotional skill instruction in the classroom, so I began to develop more resources to use in my own classroom, which I also sold on a platform called TeachersPayTeachers, which gives teachers access to teacher-created resources. In 2017, I officially launched The Social Emotional Teacher, LLC.

As The Social-Emotional Teacher grew, I knew I could no longer effectively balance both the business and my role as a full-time teacher, so I made the difficult decision to step away from the classroom. My purpose was to get these resources into the hands of as many teachers as possible and reach as many students as possible.

Since then, I’ve been able to reach over 50,000 teachers across the world with my resources.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like with many businesses, Covid-19 threw an unexpected challenge in the mix. With education transitioning from in-person to remote learning, I knew my business as it was couldn’t stand. I also knew that social-emotional learning was about to be even more vital for students with this massive shift at such a developmentally important time in their lives.

I had to find a way to give teachers and students access to social-emotional learning regardless of where or how they were teaching and learning. The week schools began to shut down, I spent countless hours transforming my resources from printable pen-to-paper activities, to digital activities that teachers could easily assign through Google Classroom, teach on Zoom, or adapt to whatever digital platform they were using.

I was thrilled to see more and more teachers, parents, and administrators see the value of social-emotional learning. This experience taught me the importance of being able to adapt my business to any situation.

We’ve been impressed with The Social Emotional Teacher, LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Social-Emotional Teacher is an online business designed to provide educators with resources and knowledge to bring consistent and effective social-emotional learning instruction into their classrooms.

Social-emotional learning is a teaching practice that focuses on developing skills in 5 major competencies: Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. This includes concepts such as conflict resolution, growth mindset, managing reactions to emotions, goal setting, impulse control, problem-solving, and so much more. Research shows that consistent and effective SEL leads to improved attitudes and behavior, increased academic scores, reduced stress, and higher graduation rates, just to name a few.

Another important benefit of daily SEL instruction is a decrease in teacher burnout – an issue that is plaguing schools and teachers across the country. The Social-Emotional Teacher provides them with simple, affordable, easy to implement, quality resources that will positively impact the mental wellbeing of their students and in turn, transform the climate of their classroom. The mission of The Social-Emotional Teacher is to nurture and empower students through social-emotional learning.

As a former teacher, I have seen the need for a focus on these skills in schools. My experience has also shown me firsthand the limitations of time, support, and resources teachers are faced with. Unlike many curriculum writers, I have been in the classroom, stood where teachers stand, and faced the problems they face. I have seen the challenges students face and the benefit of taking time to nurture more than academic knowledge.

I offer everything from single lesson plans to full-year curriculums for grades K-2 and 3-5. I also offer training opportunities for teachers to learn more about SEL and effective implementation strategies. In addition to my digital resources and training, I am the author of the Growth Mindset Workbook for Kids, which includes 55 creative exercises to develop a growth mindset in kids.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up, I was always a good student. On the outside, I was quiet, respectful, and rarely got in trouble. On the inside, I struggled with anxiety and a fear of making mistakes or trying new things.

I saw those same struggles reflected in many of my students when I began my teaching career. Many kids put so much pressure on themselves (or receive outside pressure) to be perfect and to avoid failure. This is what inspired my book, Growth Mindset Workbook for Kids.

With a growth mindset, students learn to embrace making mistakes, trying new things, accepting imperfections, and working through problems. It removes the shame associated with failing or making a mistake and allows us to work through challenges to reach our full potential.

Contact Info:

• Email: peyton@thesocialemotionalteacher.com
• Website: www.thesocialemotionalteacher.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thesocialemotionalteacher
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesocialemotionalteacher
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LMP1SF8/?tag=peytoncurley-20

Image Credits
Mandy Liz Photography