Hi, I’m Molly!

Currently, I am an educational filmmaker and editor … in my home office behind the camera of my computer!

In 2016 I wrote and self-published YOUTH Positive - Exploring the Unique Genius of Every 21st Century Adolescent. This first edition was for high school students and I thought it might also work for middle schoolers. But no! I had to create a more visual workbook for that level of learner. It is the most popular of the YOUTH Positive series. In fact, because of the demand for short readings, lots of images, and many self-rating and self-evaluation activities, this workbook became the foundation for the online YOUTH Positive School videos.

After I completed the YOUTH Positive Workbook, my editor convinced me that a Teacher’s Guide was indispensable. I acquiesced, but drug my feet for over a year before I finally published that. It is the YOUTH Positive Teacher’s Guide, A Deep Dive Into Positive Education, Mindful Self-management, and Character Development. If you’re a teacher, administrator, school counselor, or homeschool parent, this teaching guide was written for you.

My path to becoming an educational author was really fun. I have spent over 25 years of my life in education, both public and private. Eighteen of those years were in the high school classroom—first as an English as a Second Language teacher, then as an English teacher, and finally as a Spanish teacher. My education life revolved around languages. I think that’s what eventually prompted me to become an author.

That and my love of Positive Psychology. Goodness, how that changed my life! Not only my day-to-day life, but also my life as a teacher. After informally studying Positive Psychology for four years, in 2014 I enrolled in a Certificate of Positive Psychology program with the Wholebeing Institute. I successfully completed the program in February of 2015. Pretty amazing for a girl that took 11 years to graduate with a University degree!

What I love best about learning and especially Positive Education is that it encourages you to explore your strengths and “good-ats”, what you are interested in, what you are passionate about, and where you are naturally inclined to go.

Or … it should.

Note to Students…

That’s why I wrote and created YOUTH Positive. To get students–YOU–out of boredom, out of the classroom, out of the school building and into the excitement of real life. “Real life” can easily be the very best teacher you’ll ever have. Sure, you can learn a lot from school, if you’re not bored to death or lost in a sea of other students.

Make your life your laboratory! Spend your time being inquisitive and interested. Life is full of amazing things and people and places and events and experiences. Shoot, just go out and look at the sky and clouds, wonder about the sun and where it gets its light and energy. Consider the grass and what makes it green and how birds can fly and what makes flowers grow. Or, if you are stuck inside, think about what makes the lights turn on and off, how the roof stays up and doesn’t crash down and crush all the furniture in the room. Let yourself be inspired to deep thinking by art, poetry, music, literature, and dance. Be curious about how your body works and moves and turns your Cheetos and Dr. Pepper into energy, and how you can keep going on all that junk food. Or not!

I’ve done a lot of other really amazing things with my life, in addition to education, teaching, and writing. And maybe as we continue our journey together, I’ll share more of the grand adventures I’ve had. But that’s not the point here.

The point is for you to go out and have your own grand adventures. Learn as much as you can so you feel comfortable talking to as many different people as you can. So you know enough to ask questions. So you aren’t afraid of yourself or putting yourself in new and uncertain, but safe, situations.

So you are not afraid of life and living it to the fullest.

Is there anything different I would teach my students now, if I were still in the classroom? What would I teach you?

What’s here in YOUTH Positive. The content of the online YOUTH Positive lessons and videos.

And I would reiterate, no one else can live life for you. Your life cannot be lived from a screen. The goodness and joy of life are there, waiting for you. Just right there. And it is through living your life that you discover and come to deeply appreciate your own Unique Genius.

Short Bio

Molly Dahl is founder of YOUTH Positive, LLC. YOUTH Positive - Exploring the Unique Genius of Every 21st Century Adolescent, High School edition is her first book. In 2016, she published The YOUTH Positive Middle School Workbook and in 2017, The YOUTH Positive Teacher’s Guide, A Deep Dive Into Positive Education, Mindful Self-management, and Character Development. With over 18 years of experience in the high school classroom, both in private and public education, Molly Dahl is a seasoned professional educator. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Nevada, Reno in Spanish Language and Literature and a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Shenandoah University in Virginia. After informally studying Positive Psychology for four years, in 2014 she enrolled in a Certificate of Positive Psychology program with the Wholebeing Institute.

In addition to teaching high school students, she has been teaching yoga and meditation for over 20 years. She is a certified instructor of both yoga and meditation. She’s is a certified teacher of Cultivating Emotional Balance.