CASEL e-Blast
Updates from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
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| News You Can Use to Advance SEL |
July 23, 2009 |
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Summer is the Time to Get Ready for SEL
Would your classroom or school benefit from a stronger focus on social and emotional learning (SEL)? Summer is the perfect time to plan for a successful school year, and the CASEL website's Getting Started page offers tools educators can use to foster a caring learning environment where every child feels heard, valued, and known.
The most effective SEL strategies integrate evidence-based practices across the learning systems. While achieving that level of organization takes a long-term commitment, don't let it stop you from starting!
Change comes from pursuing realistic goals, one step at a time. Even a small classroom project can have a ripple effect when it is applied well and shared with a purpose. Here are some simple ways you can become an SEL change agent:
Start with a look in the mirror. As adults, we sometimes forget what children naturally sense - that actions speak louder than words. How well do you and other school adults model positive ways to express emotions, manage stress, or solve difficult problems? Do you show concern for others, encourage diverse points of view, or invite collaboration? To jumpstart your thinking, read Daniel Goleman's What Makes a Leader?
Consider what you are already doing. Existing classroom or school activities can provide powerful opportunities to develop students' SEL skills. Schoolyard clean-ups, reading buddies, and safety programs are all good examples, but don't overlook times to integrate SEL into core academics - learning gains can be the result!
Begin the school year by creating a shared vision and culture. Involving your students in defining the agreements and expectations they will abide by fosters their commitment to creating a safe, trusting, and respectful learning community. CASEL's website can link you to proven resources that will help bring a positive learning culture to life.
Use ice-breakers to warm up classroom relationships and provide opportunities for sharing. Simple SEL activities provide a structure for learners to get past their initial inhibitions and form stronger personal bonds to each other and their teachers.
Communicate with families about SEL on a regular basis. Classroom newsletters, principals' notes, and conferences are easy ways to share information about students' social emotional development. CASEL's 10 Things You Can Do at Home is a helpful handout.
Engage your peers. Colleagues who share the same goals and challenges are potential allies. Ask your principal for 15 minutes at a staff meeting to share your SEL experiences. Even brief hallway chats help build awareness, and can be reinforced by sharing information and real-world SEL stories (see Story Ideas) that illustrate what educators can accomplish.
For more detailed information, visit Getting Started at www.CASEL.org or contact info@casel.org.
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Stop. Think. Act... SEL on PBS NewsHour
SEL headlined the PBS NewsHour on July 21 with "Stop. Think. Act." This Learning Matters segment features our friends at PS 24 in Brooklyn, NY, along with an interview with CASEL co-founder Daniel Goleman. The video shows SEL in action in the classroom, along with compelling student and teacher interviews that illustrate how social and emotional learning helped PS 24 go from being a failing school to an "A" school. PS 24 uses the 4Rs (Reading, Writing, Respect and Resolution) curriculum developed by the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility. Watch the bonus interview with Morningside's executive director Tom Roderick and Learning Matters' John Tulenko, and weigh in on the blog. Also see CASEL's own story about the exemplary work at PS 24.
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Educating for the 21st Century: Cultivating a Healthy Mind, Brain, and Heart with the Dalai Lama
Early bird registration has been extended to August 15 for this CASEL co-sponsored event, which will forge creative new connections between contemporary views in education, human development and neuroscience, and sources of wisdom and practice of Buddhism and other contemplative traditions of the world. The conference is October 8-9 in Washington, DC, and features CASEL leaders and friends Linda Lantieri, Mark Greenberg, Daniel Goleman, Linda Darling-Hammond, and Richard Davidson. Other speakers include Marian Wright Edelman, Jacquelynne Eccles, Kathleen McCartney, and Nel Noddings. See www.EducatingWorldCitizens.org. | |
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About SEL and CASEL
The field of social and emotional learning (SEL) reflects the growing recognition that healthy social and emotional development advances children's success in school and life. SEL is informed by scholarly research demonstrating that schools can teach children self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making, and that when children receive systematic SEL instruction, they grow up better equipped to succeed in the 21st century workforce and to contribute positively and productively to their communities.
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is the world's leading organization advancing research, school practice, and public policy focused on the development of children's social and emotional competence. Our mission is to establish social and emotional learning as an essential part of education, from preschool through high school.
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