| By: Kim Gulbrandson How and Why Social Skills Instruction Fits With Your Strategic Plan Blogger Kim Gulbrandson posts the second part in a series of three on why SEL is needed and how to incorporate it within strategic plans. To achieve outcomes like “graduate every student,” and “ensure all students are college- and career-ready,” districts must teach students specific skills, give them opportunities to practice those skills, and reinforce through ongoing social-emotional skills instruction. Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson A Closer Look at Strategic Plans: Laying the Foundation for Student Success After talking with district administrators around the nation and reviewing strategic plans from rural, urban, and suburban districts across 26 states, our blogger Kim Gulbrandson spotted some trends: all plans referenced “student success” as a goal; one-fourth included SEL elements as part of the mission; of those that included SEL, personal responsibility was emphasized; few plans included action steps. Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson It’s Here! The Amazing Principal Toolkit How can you tell if an SEL curriculum is going to be successful? Look at the principal! Our new Second Step Principal Toolkit was developed due to this insight and gives school leaders ready-made resources such as meeting agendas, activities, and handouts for staff orientation, monthly staff kick-off meetings, and weekly staff meetings. Blogger Kim Gulbrandson reviews. Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson How Environment Can Foster Social-Emotional Well-Being Environment can be just as important as skill development in fostering social-emotional well-being. Blogger Kim Gulbrandson provides real-life tips to connect the natural world to teaching skills such as empathy, emotion management, and executive function. Read More
| By: Committee for Children A Parent’s Guide to Role-Playing Bullying Reports Bullying is serious. Make sure your child knows that it is important to practice reporting the way he or she would do it in real life. When you and your child practice giving and receiving reports, you’ll have the skills and confidence to handle bullying if it really happens. When your child reports bullying, it is most important to really listen and ensure your child’s safety. The following are steps you can take when your child comes to you about a bullying situation. Read More
| By: Kim Gulbrandson Expand Your Bullying Prevention Toolkit with Social-Emotional Learning Every year schools and communities across the country unite in their bullying prevention efforts during the month of October for National Bullying Prevention Month. Does this mean that if you focus on bullying prevention for one month you’re done? Not at all! This month is meant to jump-start continued efforts to prevent bullying. And social-emotional learning can make a great addition to the toolkit that helps you do this.Read More
| 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: Committee for Children Three Misperceptions about SEL The potential inclusion of an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that incorporates both a definition and a specified funding source for social-emotional learning (SEL) has me thinking about SEL often. Foremost in my mind is how to clear up misconceptions about what SEL really is. Talking with senatorial staff on the Hill, friends, and family members about the hopes for federal legislation changes and the importance of SEL for social and academic success both in school and in life, I learned that SEL is not widely understood.Read More
| By: Committee for Children SEL in the ESEA: Committee for Children and Friends in Washington, DC On May 14, 2015, we were lucky to be joined in Washington, DC, by social-emotional learning (SEL) leaders from around the country to lobby their U.S. Senators. What was the ask, you ask? We want the Senate to include social-emotional learning in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, formerly No Child Left Behind).Read More
| By: Committee for Children Inclusion of SEL in the Reauthorization of the ESEA: Do you believe students need to learn how to persevere in the face of challenges and develop lifelong skills to cope with life’s challenges? Do you believe students need support in becoming safe, caring, respectful, and responsible members of the community? Have you benefited from increased classroom instructional time because of less time spent helping students who cannot independently manage difficult or emotionally charged situations? Do you wish you had more resources to support these needs in your school or district? If so, keep reading… Read More