8 Amazing SEL Resources and Happenings to Get Excited About! | By: Kim Gulbrandson When I first started in education more than 20 years ago, the resources on social-emotional learning (SEL) were sparse. Over the past 10 years, research, knowledge, and resources on SEL have increased dramatically, much to our benefit. These are some of the newest happenings and resources in the world of SEL right now. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) recently launched three new resources: The District Resource Center includes free resources from more than 10 districts that are systemically implementing SEL. For more information on how to use the site, check out my next blog post or watch the 30-minute webinar overview. The Key Insights report shows the changes in outcomes and other learning experienced by those implementing districtwide SEL. This information could be especially useful to those seeking funding or support for their SEL efforts. The Financial Sustainability Website offers resources for both large and small districts, including actual district budgets for SEL, examples of funding sources, case studies that show how different districts have approached the work, and an SEL cost-calculator and budget-planning tool to help you create a budget specific to your district. Committee for Children has both a new and an upcoming resource to be enthusiastic about: They launched a new Workforce Readiness resource page on how SEL translates to the workplace, with links to many other related resources. The organization is also introducing a NEW Second Step Middle School Program in August 2017, one that integrates today’s technology with information from developmental research and extensive feedback from classrooms. Sign up for one of their intro webinars for a sneak preview and to learn more about it. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is working on a series of 10 planned briefs on SEL: They just released their fourth brief, which summarizes research and best practices and shows findings that early acquisition of social-emotional skills is linked to an array of positive adult outcomes, such as positive interpersonal relationships, mental health, and educational attainment. The Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and the New Teacher Center are leading an intriguing new project: The Emotion Revolution for Educators initiative was developed to increase awareness of how emotions affect teaching, learning, educator effectiveness, and wellness. The group is studying how people feel in school, how they want to feel, and how the gap between the two can be bridged. If you are a teacher and want to share your thoughts, take their survey. The Wallace Foundation continues to support SEL with this practical resource for schools: Navigating SEL from the Inside Out was released in March 2017. It is especially useful for out-of-school programs because it considers how to align SEL with out-of-school programming, bridging the school day with other settings and fitting SEL within schedules. The Second Step program is mentioned 70 times within the report. Check out pages 37–39 for a broad view of what the curriculum has to offer. There are many more great SEL resources out there—please share your favorite new SEL resources by adding them in the comments section below.