Curriculum Alignment

How The Positivity Project Aligns with NY SEL Benchmarks

By Melissa Killingbeck

The purpose of this document is to provide detailed descriptors of how The Positivity Project lessons and concepts, centered around the five elements of the Other People Mindset and the 24 character strengths, align with the Social Emotional Learning goals with associated benchmarks as identified by the New York State Department of Education.

Goal 1. Develop self-awareness and self-management skills essential to success in school and life
Knowing one’s emotions, how to manage them, and ways to express them constructively are essential life skills. These skills enable one to handle stress, control impulses, and motivate oneself to persevere when faced with personal, academic, or work-related obstacles. A related set of skills involves accurately assessing one’s abilities and interests, building upon strengths, making effective use of family, school, and community supports and resources. Finally, it is critical for an individual to be able to establish and monitor one’s own progress toward achieving goals, whether personal, academic, career, or work-related. These social-emotional skills, thought processes, and behavioral strategies can be contributing factors to one’s sense of self-confidence and sense of optimism as they provide a strong foundation for achieving success in school and in life.   To read the full document, click here.

To see how they align at glance, click here.







Melissa Killingbeck
P2 Curriculum Manager

Melissa Killingbeck is the Curriculum Manager for The Positivity Project and ensures our resources are at their highest quality. Melissa earned her bachelor's degree and teaching certificate in elementary education and holds a Master's in Education with certification in K-12 administration. Before joining the P2 team, Melissa was a successful P2 Partner School principal in Flushing, Michigan, where she worked for 25 years as a teacher, instructional coach, and principal. After retiring from public education in 2019, Melissa relocated to northern Michigan with her husband Casey and their Silver Lab, Tank. When not knee-deep in P2 resources, Melissa can be found rockhounding along a lakeshore, enjoying a boat ride with Casey and Tank, or "downstate" visiting their two grown children.