| By: Kim Gulbrandson Time to Get Excited about Social-Emotional Learning! As we gear up for the upcoming school year and continue planning to lay the foundation for children to become knowledgeable, responsible, and caring adults, I wanted to share a few SEL highlights to energize you as you begin 2015–2016: Read More
| By: Tonje Molyneux Welcome Wave of Change: Positive Discipline and SEL in Schools I bet you can easily conjure up an image of a school teacher rapping the knuckles of a naughty girl with a ruler. Or a principal paddling the bottom of a boisterous boy. For a long time, this was how students were disciplined in school. They were physically punished with rulers, straps, paddles, or hands. Or shamed by being made to stand in the corner, wear a dunce cap, or write lines on the board. Perhaps you think these harsh, punitive discipline practices are a relic of a past, something we now only see in old movies or on episodes of The Simpsons. But in 19 states it’s still legal to use corporal punishment in schools.1 And since the late 1980s, zero-tolerance policies have resulted in thousands of students being excluded from schools, their right to an education stripped away for infractions sometimes as minor as chewing gum. Read More
| By: Tonje Molyneux Create a Safe and Supportive School with SEL By Tonje Molyneux It’s that time of year again. Kids are heading back to school after a summer off. It’s time to buckle down and get back to the business of learning, but are they ready? What kind of learning environment do students need to be ready to learn? Safety and support are important for learning… In answer to that question, research points to a safe and…Read More
| By: Rachel Kamb Key Factors in Creating a Positive Classroom Climate I’ve been hearing a lot about “positive classroom climate.” What does this mean? Classroom climate refers to the prevailing mood, attitudes, standards, and tone that you and your students feel when they are in your classroom. A negative classroom climate can feel hostile, chaotic, and out of control. A positive classroom climate feels safe, respectful,…Read More