| By: Kim Gulbrandson Social-Emotional Learning and Cultural Relevance Someone recently asked me whether the Second Step program is effective with all populations of students, and it’s not the first time this question has come up.Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson The Role of Support Staff in Implementing SEL I first thought about writing this blog because I would really like to know how support staff (guidance counselors, school psychologists, social workers, etc.) are involved with the implementation of social-emotional learning (SEL) throughout the nation. We are often so isolated working within our buildings that we don’t have the opportunity to learn about what others are doing to support programs such as Second Step and Steps to Respect.Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson Fostering Problem Solving and Negotiation Part of teaching the Second Step program is providing students the language and vocabulary to use the prosocial skills they learn. Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson Fostering Prosocial Skills Through Music Music can be powerful in many ways. Humans are hard-wired to respond to music. The sound has an impact on our bodies.Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson Telling Is Not Teaching When I first began working with the Second Step program 15 years ago, my colleagues and I were so focused on completing the lessons that we completely overlooked the extension activities (these are now called daily practice activities in Second Step 4th edition).Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson Fostering Social and Emotional Learning One Day at a Time The Violence Prevention Program (VPP) was started in 1990. At the time, the program supported district-wide implementation of the Second Step program.Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson No Name-Calling Week Every year since 2004, during the fourth week of January, schools across the country have participated in No Name-Calling Week with educational activities aimed at ending name-calling and verbal bullying.Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson SEL Book Club I recently learned about a neat idea for working with Tier 2 or 3 students from mycolleague, Teri. She used this idea with her fourth and fifth graders.Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson Winter Break: Keeping Youth Safe Online and Off Youth are often left with a lot of unstructured time on holiday breaks. During these times, they may be more at risk for engaging in unsafe behaviors because they may be bored, unsupervised, and looking for things to do.Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson Ten Compelling Reasons to Choose the Second Step Program Our district has been using the Second Step program for more than 15 years.Read More