Social Emotional Learning: The LI SEL Forum Discussions - School Leadership 2.02024-03-28T14:20:14Zhttps://schoolleadership20.com/group/socialemotionallearning/forum?groupUrl=socialemotionallearning&%3Bamp%3Bid=1990010%3AGroup%3A3116&%3Bamp%3Bpage=5&%3Bid=1990010%3AGroup%3A3116&%3Bpage=3&feed=yes&xn_auth=noHabits of Heart: Helping Students Reflect and Act on Gratitude by MAURICE ELIAStag:schoolleadership20.com,2013-11-14:1990010:Topic:1757482013-11-14T19:13:09.513ZMichael Keanyhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/MichaelKeany91
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<h1 class="node-title title">Habits of Heart: Helping Students Reflect and Act on Gratitude</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">NOVEMBER 14, 2013</span></span></div>
<div><span class="submitted"><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">This post by …</span></span></span></div>
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<h1 class="node-title title">Habits of Heart: Helping Students Reflect and Act on Gratitude</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">NOVEMBER 14, 2013</span></span></div>
<div><span class="submitted"><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">This post by <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/67" title="Read Maurice Elias's latest blog entries">MAURICE ELIAS</a> originally appeared in Edutopia’s <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/beat/social-emotional-learning" style="font-size: 0.83em;">SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING</a><br/></span></span></span><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">blog.</span></span></div>
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<p>The jury is in and the verdict is that gratitude should be set free. It no longer has to be reserved for special occasions and amazing circumstances. Researchers, led by The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has <a href="http://people.hofstra.edu/jeffrey_j_froh/spring%202010%20web/10.1007_s10902-010-9195-9%5B1%5D.pdf" target="_blank" class="external-link">Robert Emmons and Jeffrey Froh</a>, have shown that there are benefits to expressing gratitude, even to "counting one's blessings." But doing so takes a bit of practice.</p>
<h2>Classroom Activities</h2>
<p>What follows are some practical ways you can have students reflect on and express gratitude:</p>
<h3>Thank You Cards</h3>
<p>Ask students to think of someone in the school who has been helpful to them in some way, large or small, to whom they would like to thank, or express extra thanks. For younger students, you may have to help them think of some different groups of people to consider -- teachers, office staff, custodians, school support staff, and aides. Have students write and/or draw a card that communicates their appreciation for that help. Once completed, arrange for these to be delivered within the school, ideally by the children. Afterwards, discuss as a group how it felt to write to these various people.</p>
<h3>Appreciation Journals</h3>
<p>Ask students to keep journals in which they make entries each day about things big or small that they appreciate. This can be coordinated with language arts curricula, in that they can be asked to use different writing styles, sentence lengths, vocabulary, etc. to express themselves. Have them review their journals periodically and, ideally, share with one or two classmates. Help students expand the everyday occurrences for which they feel a sense of gratitude.</p>
<h3>Where Did That Come From?</h3>
<p>In conjunction with ongoing curriculum emphases, pick common objects that you are studying and ask the question, "Where did that come from?" or the related question, "How did that get here?" A good example is an apple. Work backward with your students (using the Internet or other sources when necessary), to trace the path that led that apple to find its way from a seedling to your school. Other common items -- chalk, a ruler, a piece of paper, a musical instrument, a piece of sports equipment -- can be traced back to their origins so that students can develop a sense of appreciation for the many things that had to happen to bring these objects to your school, and to them.</p>
<h3>Gratitude Poster/Gratitude Board</h3>
<p>Put a Gratitude Poster/Gratitude Board in your room that students can write on. You can have a different gratitude-related theme each month or you can alternative between two themes, for example: "Things We Are Grateful For" and "We Did It!" The first theme is about basic gratitude and it provides the opportunity to broaden students' appreciation for people and things that affect their lives. The second theme is a listing of something a student accomplished<i>and</i> the names of one or more people who helped them to be successful. We want students to recognize the truth of the statement that in success, we stand on one another's shoulders. This does not take away from students' success, but in fact adds to it. Two examples: "I got a B+ on my test because my sister let me study" and "I learned a solo in a song in chorus because Thomas practiced with me."</p>
<h3>Gratitude Reflection</h3>
<p>The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has <a href="http://www.nasponline.org/communications/spaw/2013/gratitude-works.aspx" target="_blank" class="external-link">a Gratitude Works program</a> with resources that help bring a variety of gratitude approaches into schools, as well as connecting to the home.</p>
<p>One activity that NASP recommends is a process of reflecting on gratitude. Have students consider the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Why this good thing happened</li>
<li>What this good thing means to you</li>
<li>What you can do tomorrow to enable more of this good thing</li>
<li>What you learned from taking the time to name this good thing</li>
<li>What ways you or others contribute to this good thing</li>
</ul>
<h2>The Rationale</h2>
<p>When we promote gratitude in our students -- and in our own children -- we are giving them a great gift. What we understand about the effects of gratitude is similar to what we understand about the benefits of giving up grudges and more generally embracing a stance of greater appreciation. Dwelling in negative emotions --including selfish emotions -- is not the optimal state for learning, growth, or well-being. One of the reasons why writing about trauma is so effective is that it helps dispel the negative emotions involved.</p>
<p>It does not and cannot change unfortunate and sometimes tragic events. But it can help shift perspective toward greater positive engagement with others and with life. So it is with gratitude.</p>
<p>How do you practice and teach gratitude in your classroom with your students? Please share with us in the comment section.</p>
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<ul class="links">
<li class="blog_usernames_blog first last"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/67" title="Read Maurice Elias's latest blog entries">MAURICE ELIAS'S BLOG</a></li>
</ul> Creating a Positive Climate and Culture: How Inclusive Schools Promote SELtag:schoolleadership20.com,2013-07-13:1990010:Topic:1663932013-07-13T14:42:57.145ZMichael Keanyhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/MichaelKeany91
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<h1 class="node-title title">Creating a Positive Climate and Culture: How Inclusive Schools Promote SEL</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">JULY 9, 2013</span></span></div>
<div><span class="submitted"><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">This post by <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/67" title="Read Maurice Elias's latest blog entries">MAURICE ELIAS</a> originally…</span></span></span></div>
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<h1 class="node-title title">Creating a Positive Climate and Culture: How Inclusive Schools Promote SEL</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">JULY 9, 2013</span></span></div>
<div><span class="submitted"><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">This post by <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/67" title="Read Maurice Elias's latest blog entries">MAURICE ELIAS</a> originally appeared in Edutopia's </span></span></span><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/beat/social-emotional-learning">SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING</a> blog.</div>
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<p>In a recent blog, I <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/more-inclusion-students-special-education-your-school-maurice-elias" target="_blank">interviewed Dr. Brad Lerman</a> about the Inclusive Schools Climate Initiative (ISCI), which he directs. Here, I share with you examples of some specific ways that several New Jersey schools have used SEL-related approaches to foster best practices for school-wide inclusion and the creation of norms of acceptance and support.</p>
<p><b>1. Brigantine North Middle School, Brigantine, NJ:</b> St. Baldrick's Day is a community and school-wide event and fundraiser for childhood cancer. Considerable preparations are undertaken leading up to the event, requiring use of many SEL skills. Activities include a lip synch contest, an eating contest, and a "baldmitton" competition. Fire fighters and police join students and school staff in raising money to sponsor them having their heads shaved.</p>
<p><b>2. Thomas Sharp Elementary School, Collingswood, NJ:</b> Climate survey data suggested students lacked Disabilities Awareness, and a program was created for that purpose. Kicked off program with an assembly. Embedded in regular class read-alouds, teachers included books about various disabilities. The author of <i>Keep Your Ear on the Ball</i> came to classes and discussed with students the impact of having a blind student in her classroom.</p>
<p><b>3. Memorial and Thomas Jefferson Middle Schools, Fair Lawn, NJ:</b>Throughout the school year, students with autism and Down's Syndrome are pen pals with students who are English language learners. Their correspondence builds language skills, awareness of cultural and other differences, and culminates in a meeting in May. General education and ELL students work together with special needs students across the district on science lab projects, written pen pal letters, and reading to one another.</p>
<p><b>4. Mendham Township Middle School, Mendham, NJ: </b>Disabilities awareness is promoted by having each grade level read a specific novel focused on a child with so-called "visible" and "invisible" disabilities. Advisory classes reinforce the messages in the novels, providing time for students to reflect on the characters' strengths and difficulties and how they coped.</p>
<p><b>5. Livingston Park Elementary and Linwood Middle Schools, North Brunswick, NJ:</b> Livingston Park has had in place an award-winning SEL program, Project Harmony, which exposes all students to peace education, conflict resolution, and prejudice reduction skills. A Family Circles program brings cross- sections of students and teachers together throughout the year on joint projects to create a better sense of belonging in the school. There is also a strong fifth grade leadership program and Student Council that includes students with disabilities. Yoga in classrooms also helps reduce tension and provides regular opportunities for stress relief. All fifth-graders participate in a disabilities awareness program with Linwood staff and special education students involving experiences at five "stations": muscular mobile disability, visual process and learning disorders, dyslexia, blindness/visual impairment, and hearing impairment. For example, students must stack pennies and color precisely with a sock on their hand. At the end of the program, fifth-graders get a bookmark with the slogan, "Abilities Link Us Together" and share what they learned with their fifth grade teachers.</p>
<h2>In Your Schools and Classrooms...</h2>
<p>These examples are inspiring and should prompt similar ideas that you can adapt. It must be noted that the ISCI does not have as much traction in larger schools and in high schools. And a number of schools in the ISCI still focus on limited projects, such as a "day" or a "week" or two devoted to disabilities in some way, when we know that continuity is essential and that the cliché, "slow and steady wins the race," truly applies here. But they are aware of this and will build on these promising beginnings. And speaking of races, Project UNIFY is a growing program linked with Special Olympics that has excellent activities for all schools designed to bring youth with intellectual and other disabilities together with their peers in meaningful ways, particularly around sports. The<a href="http://www.specialolympics.org/projectunify.aspx" target="_blank" class="external-link">website</a> includes detailed information and sample materials.</p>
<p><i>Bottom line:</i> When done properly and in ongoing ways, inclusion benefits all students including the development of SEL skills. Any school can adapt the models illustrated here without disrupting (indeed, often enhancing), usual academic and school routines.</p>
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<ul class="links">
<li class="blog_usernames_blog first last"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/67" title="Read Maurice Elias's latest blog entries">MAURICE ELIAS'S BLOG</a></li>
</ul> Teaching Integrity in an Age of Cynicismtag:schoolleadership20.com,2013-07-08:1990010:Topic:1656692013-07-08T14:53:49.176ZMichael Keanyhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/MichaelKeany91
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<h1 class="node-title title">Teaching Integrity in an Age of Cynicism</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">JULY 2, 2013</span></span></div>
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<h1 class="node-title title">Teaching Integrity in an Age of Cynicism</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">JULY 2, 2013</span></span></div>
<div><span class="submitted"><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">This post by <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/79389" title="Read Mark Phillips's latest blog entries">MARK PHILLIPS</a> orginally appeared in Edutopia's </span></span></span><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/beat/social-emotional-learning">SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING</a> blog.</div>
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<p>Recent major news stories have been pretty depressing. To mention just a few: the National Security Agency leaks scandal, concerns about the use of drones, self-serving congressional obstructionists, a mayor in Philadelphia supporting the building of a prison and then closing over twenty public schools to save money.</p>
<p>In the midst of this, it's difficult for most adults, particularly those of us who have a commitment to improving our society, to maintain faith in our leaders and institutions. It's even more challenging to help keep our children from becoming cynics when they see so little evidence of a moral compass in prominent adults and so many major institutions operating amorally at best. How can we expect them to maintain integrity or have faith in their own ability to effect change when so few adults appear to be having success in doing that?</p>
<p>It is said that a major challenge of adolescence is surviving disillusionment without becoming cynical. I want to look at how educators and parents can help children make sense out of all of this without becoming cynics, and how we can teach positive ways of responding.</p>
<h2>Classroom Approaches</h2>
<p>I think we have a responsibility as educators to teach about the complexity underlying major events. As one example, the NSA leaks extravaganza provides an excellent opportunity to teach students about the complexity of decision-making in the modern world, and about how the media often obscures rather than enlightens. Explore with them the impact and implications of the new digital age, issues surrounding privacy and how they interface with issues of security, and the related challenges with which our leaders must deal. There is ample material here for social studies teachers to create a unit. As just one example, the book <em><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/book/214925/the-new-digital-age-by-eric-schmidt-and-jared-cohen" class="external-link" target="_blank">The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations, and Business</a></em>, by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, provides material that could be used to help shape such a unit.</p>
<p>Take a look at <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-kids-to-read-images-mark-phillips">my earlier post</a> on how media representation of major events often distorts what is happening, and use the Snowden case as an example. Importantly, students should learn that the media almost always focuses on what goes wrong, not on less sensational aspects of the news.</p>
<p>There are also many resources available to help teachers who want to focus on the broader topic of whistleblowers. The Garcetti vs. Ceballos case is one of many possibilities, and there is both a DVD and <a href="http://www.ambrosedigital.com/component/page,shop.getfile/file_id,1890/product_id,16074/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,59/index.php?page=shop.getfile&file_id=1890&product_id=16074&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=59&vmcchk=1" class="external-link" target="_blank">full teacher's guide</a> available to study this.</p>
<p>Finally, the topic of integrity is worth directly exploring. Again, there is a wealth of available resources for teachers. Although <a href="http://osrr.missouri.edu/workshops/classroomactivities.html" class="external-link" target="_blank">this site focuses on academic integrity</a> at a university level, it is filled with excellent ideas that are equally applicable to high schools. Academic integrity is a subject that your students will find very relevant.</p>
<p>The desired outcome is increased knowledge and understanding, rather than blaming, finger-pointing and perceiving our leaders as immoral manipulators.</p>
<h2>The Importance of Modeling</h2>
<p>I think the most important way we can combat cynicism and help our children develop both integrity and a sense of empowerment is through modeling. We can provide schools and classrooms that demonstrate responsiveness, integrity and opportunities for students to effect change. We should focus on what we do have control over, and we should make sure that our schools and homes are providing an antidote to cynicism rather than reinforcing it. We have powerful cards to play because of our roles and our continual interaction with our children.</p>
<p>Kids are much smarter than many people give them credit for being. They are extremely sensitive to hypocrisy. They can see the double standards that exist in the world. Some schools also send messages that students perceive as hypocritical. While they're told about the importance of integrity and standing up for what they believe, they sometimes watch fellow students or teachers who speak up being penalized for doing so. Moreover, they are taught the values of democracy and shared governance yet have no voice in significant decision-making.</p>
<p>This is, of course, about teaching values through example. Values are always implicitly being taught in the schools. They are transmitted by what schools reward and punish and by how teachers and administrators act. If we want our children to live their lives with integrity, to be congruent in their words and actions, and to be active participants in helping improve our society, we must model that. And respect for adolescents provides an educational message that no words can match.</p>
<p>I think it's fine to have our children know that we have specific political and social commitments, but to truly model integrity, we need to make it clear that our role is to help them make their own choices, not manipulate or convince them to adopt ours. This means respecting and supporting our children and students when they choose to actively support a different candidate and/or different social movement.</p>
<p>And, of course, through giving them a voice in classroom decisions and increasing their voice in school-wide decisions, making school governments more than dance organizers, we can give them a real sense of empowerment.</p>
<p>Among the many resources to help us in this process, one comes from the renowned educator Parker Palmer in <a href="http://www.couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/heart-of-a-teacher" class="external-link" target="_blank">a short piece available online</a>. Another is <a href="http://www.aacu.org/core-commitments/documents/MoralCompassReport.pdf" class="external-link" target="_blank">a report written for colleges and universities</a> but equally valuable for high schools.</p>
<p>As parents and teachers, we can exemplify how our political and business leaders should conduct themselves, and by our actions help our children become adults who live their lives with integrity and engagement, rather than cynicism and apathy.</p>
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<ul class="links">
<li class="blog_usernames_blog first last"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/79389" title="Read Mark Phillips's latest blog entries">MARK PHILLIPS'S BLOG</a></li>
</ul> National School Climate Center Summer Institutetag:schoolleadership20.com,2013-05-13:1990010:Topic:1530292013-05-13T13:20:32.678ZJoan Fretzhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/JoanFretz
<div>Dear Colleagues,</div>
<div>I encourage you to become familiar with the work of the National School Climate Center. Located in NYC, they provide valuable resources and training for developing positive school climates. Please take a look at the information below regarding their annual three day Summer Institute, July 9-11.<br></br><br></br>Here is the link to the NSCC Summer Institute web page:…</div>
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<div>Dear Colleagues,</div>
<div>I encourage you to become familiar with the work of the National School Climate Center. Located in NYC, they provide valuable resources and training for developing positive school climates. Please take a look at the information below regarding their annual three day Summer Institute, July 9-11.<br/><br/>Here is the link to the NSCC Summer Institute web page:</div>
<div><br/><a href="http://www.schoolclimate.org/programs/si.php">http://www.schoolclimate.org/programs/si.php</a></div>
<div>Joan Fretz</div>
<div>co-founder, LI SEL Forum<table border="0" cellspacing="0" id="footerPanelWrap">
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</div> Social-Emotional Learning Gets Race to Top Boosttag:schoolleadership20.com,2013-05-03:1990010:Topic:1507272013-05-03T13:00:04.704ZMichael Keanyhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/MichaelKeany91
<h1>Social-Emotional Learning Gets Race to Top Boost</h1>
<div class="byline">By <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/contributors/nirvi.shah_3847921.html">Nirvi Shah</a></div>
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<p>Parents in the Seattle area are being trained and paid to reach out to other families and encourage them to get involved in…</p>
<h1>Social-Emotional Learning Gets Race to Top Boost</h1>
<div class="byline">By <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/contributors/nirvi.shah_3847921.html">Nirvi Shah</a></div>
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<p>Parents in the Seattle area are being trained and paid to reach out to other families and encourage them to get involved in their children’s schooling.</p>
<p>Along the Texas-Mexico border, a nonprofit group is working with children touched by violence and creating peer groups for students with other sorts of struggles. And in Indiana, community health groups and counseling agencies are helping a school district enact a comprehensive strategy to improve student behavior.</p>
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<p>Those efforts—and 13 others nationwide—are getting a boost from the federal <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-district/index.html">Race to the Top district competition</a>, for which applicants earned bonus points by pairing with outside groups on initiatives to improve students’ social and emotional well-being and behavior.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/05/03/30climate.h32.html?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mrss" target="_blank">Click here to continue reading.</a></p> Social, Emotional Learning: Instructional Support Goes Onlinetag:schoolleadership20.com,2013-05-01:1990010:Topic:1501722013-05-01T18:37:55.784ZMichael Keanyhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/MichaelKeany91
<div id="blog-header"><h1 class="node-title title">Social, Emotional Learning: Instructional Support Goes Online</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">APRIL 30, 2013</span></span></div>
<div><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">Edutopia…</span></span></div>
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<div id="blog-header"><h1 class="node-title title">Social, Emotional Learning: Instructional Support Goes Online</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">APRIL 30, 2013</span></span></div>
<div><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">Edutopia</span></span></div>
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<p>The community of implementers of SEL and related programs is growing. And the capacity of individuals to leave their workplaces to congregate for extensive training and sharing opportunities seems to be diminishing. These and other realities are creating an imperative to use the Internet as a vehicle for providing support for instruction and other aspects of implementation necessary to sustain and reinforce instruction.</p>
<p>The <i>Second Step</i> program is both a thought leader and an action leader in re-imagining professional development and implementation support via an array of online and person-to-person resources and approaches.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cfchildren.org/" target="_blank" class="external-link">Committee for Children</a> (CfC), which developed the <i>Second Step</i> program, recognizes that even an evidence-based program will not achieve success without a supportive infrastructure in the school and district.</p>
<p>Therefore, CfC offers district-level support through live, in-person trainings for district SEL coordinators (an annual Second Step Leadership Institute). The Institute cohort is kept together with monthly, topical online meetings for the year following the initial training session. The <i>Second Step</i> outreach staff conducts in-person trainings and workshops, as well as customized webinars (groups of principals in a district, teachers in a school, or other configurations) by request. These staff members also consult on more complex implementation planning and support at the district or school level.</p>
<p>The <i>Second Step</i> partnerships manager provides more in-depth, in-person support, and consultation for district-level implementation as well. The client support services offers unlimited telephone and email support; the high volumes of calls and emails this group handles suggest these are popular modalities for support.</p>
<h2>How Do Users Get Access?</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.secondstep.com/" target="_blank" class="external-link">SecondStep.org</a> was designed to act as an interactive teaching and implementation support guide. Each physical <i>Second Step</i> kit comes with an activation key used to register the kit on the site. There are features that allow users to provide CfC staff with feedback about lessons and resources, for them to access experts directly, and for CfC staff to track what is and is not being used and appreciated. Other materials include a guide for teachers and counselors organized around the core components of the program; a guide for implementation coordinators organized around the key tasks for effective implementation; and a wealth of instructional and training materials. You can<a href="http://secondstep.org/Portals/0/Downloads/SecondStepOrg_Sample.pdf" target="_blank" class="external-link">download the PDF</a> to preview some of the content found on SecondStep.org.</p>
<p>Included among the implementation support resources is an Implementation Checklist, a series of guidelines to attend to prior to implementation, such as building a support network, creating an implementation plan, and doing an environmental scan to see needs, resources, and opportunities, a detailed elaboration of implementation roles, and templates to communicate progress.</p>
<p>SecondStep.org launched an array of community features in January. Designed to connect program users with each other, the features include a space where users can share resources, adaptations, chat in forums, and create their own groups, toward becoming a community of practice. I particularly value the<a href="http://www.cfchildren.org/advocacy/about-us/webinars/webinar-archive.aspx" target="_blank" class="external-link">recorded and archived webinars</a>. The webinar on "Get Those Kits Off the Shelf" has great generic value to assist in implementation regardless of what SEL or Character Education or related program one might be using.</p>
<p>CfC is able to monitor the site and identifies over 30,000 members at SecondStep.org. There have been over 19,000 site visits since February and over 92,000 page views. Of those who entered the community, 37 percent of the clicks were for the Q&A thread, showing a large need for resources and answers to questions.</p>
<p>As online platforms improve, the technology of program support will also improve. But the <i>Second Step</i> program is already proving that online modalities, combined with interactive approaches, are now essential to any hope at scaling up high quality implementation.</p>
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<ul class="links">
<li class="blog_usernames_blog first last"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/67" title="Read Maurice Elias's latest blog entries">MAURICE ELIAS'S BLOG</a></li>
</ul> Support for Implementing Social, Emotional Learning by MAURICE ELIAStag:schoolleadership20.com,2013-04-29:1990010:Topic:1497672013-04-29T14:16:08.254ZMichael Keanyhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/MichaelKeany91
<div id="blog-header"><h1 class="node-title title">Support for Implementing Social, Emotional Learning</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">APRIL 24, 2013</span></span></div>
<div><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">Edutopia…</span></span></div>
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<div id="blog-header"><h1 class="node-title title">Support for Implementing Social, Emotional Learning</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">APRIL 24, 2013</span></span></div>
<div><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">Edutopia</span></span></div>
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<p>Everyone carrying out some kind of social, emotional learning (SEL) or related program encounters a common set of problems while trying to adapt even proven program materials to their unique and often fast-changing reality. And all program developers realize that their ability to support those using their programs is ultimately at least as essential as their actual materials.</p>
<p>When you add in the desire to scale up, particularly nationally or internationally, the challenges of providing support multiply. Many program developers are addressing these concerns and are looking to electronic media as a tool for accomplishing this. Among those who have the widest geographic dispersion of their program and who have committed time, creativity, and resources to addressing the support issue, the <i>Second Step</i> program stands out. The<i>Second Step</i> program is developed by <a href="http://www.cfchildren.org/" target="_blank" class="external-link">Committee for Children</a> (CfC), located in Seattle, Washington.</p>
<p>I'd like to share a bit of background about CfC and the <i>Second Step</i> program, and in my next post, I will report on some of their web-based efforts to provide implementer support.</p>
<h2>How <i>Second Step</i> Works</h2>
<p>The <i>Second Step</i> program is an evidence-based, CASEL SELect program for children from preschool through middle school. Each grade level features developmentally appropriate and sequenced ways to teach social, emotional skills such as self-regulation, empathy, emotion management, problem solving, and executive function skills.</p>
<p><i>Second Step</i> has translations into multiple languages and has used the research on brain-friendly learning to create a powerful pedagogy developed through extensive implementation and feedback. Key elements include:</p>
<ol>
<li>Embedding varied instructional and management strategies into lessons designed to support student engagement and learning, including calling on students at random, giving students think time, modeling, choral response, physical movement, nonjudgmental responses, role playing, nonverbal responses, attent-o-scope, and similar self-tracking mechanisms, and partnering students</li>
<li>Attending to principles of Universal Design for Learning by presenting content to students in a number of ways: visually (using photographs, videos, and visual aids), orally, in writing, and through songs</li>
<li>Emphasizing opportunities for reinforcement outside of lesson time, including with families at home and integration into academic subjects and the broader school culture and climate</li>
</ol>
<p>A perusal of <a href="http://www.cfchildren.org/second-step.aspx" target="_blank" class="external-link">social skills</a> shows the array of materials available to assist implementers. These include not only instruction-related supports, but attempts to provide a deeper understanding of the program, theory and research supporting its use, and ways to help integrate the <i>Second Step</i> program into one's local context. The <i>Self-Regulation White Paper</i> is an <a href="http://www.cfchildren.org/Portals/0/SS_EL/EL_DOC/EL_Self-Regulation_SS.pdf" target="_blank" class="external-link">excellent resource</a>for anyone wishing to implement SEL and related programs into early childhood settings. There is <a href="http://www.cfchildren.org/Portals/0/SS_K5/K-5_DOC/K-5_Self-Regulation_Skills.pdf" target="_blank" class="external-link">a parallel document</a> for K-5, as well. Anyone struggling with integrating SEL with PBIS or RTI will find <a href="http://www.cfchildren.org/Portals/0/SS_Multi/SS_DOC/PBIS_RTI_Alignment_SS.pdf" target="_blank" class="external-link">this document</a> to be of great value.</p>
<p>Yet beyond these and other written materials is the reality that when situations arise, materials may or may not be adequate to resolve a specific problem, such as when there is unexpected diversity in a classroom with regard to background in a program or level of SEL skills, or changing school mandates, like the Common Core, which may compete with the <i>Second Step</i> program for instructional time.</p>
<p>Within one's school building, colleagues may all be at the same level of implementation knowledge and may struggle to overcome such challenges. Or one might be the only kindergarten or seventh grade teacher implementing at one's school, and so there are limited resources available to help.</p>
<p><i>The best source of support is not written material but another person, ideally someone who has faced and overcome the same or similar problems.</i>Recognizing this problem, CfC has piloted the creation of communities of learners and problem solvers related to <i>Second Step</i> implementation. In my next blog, I will take a look at the ways in which they do this and provide some examples.</p>
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<li class="blog_usernames_blog first last"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/67" title="Read Maurice Elias's latest blog entries">MAURICE ELIAS'S BLOG</a></li>
</ul> Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Empathytag:schoolleadership20.com,2013-04-29:1990010:Topic:1499352013-04-29T14:06:51.955ZMichael Keanyhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/MichaelKeany91
<div id="blog-header"><h1 class="node-title title">Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Empathy</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">APRIL 26, 2013…</span></span></div>
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<div id="blog-header"><h1 class="node-title title">Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Empathy</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">APRIL 26, 2013</span></span></div>
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<p>This is part seven of the nine-part series from the <a href="http://www.projecthappiness.org/" class="external-link" target="_blank">Project Happiness</a>curriculum. We are looking at important factors that influence the happiness and social and emotional learning of elementary school age children, helping students learn life skills, manage emotions, and increase empathy. Each blog post features one letter of the acronym HAPPINESS:</p>
<ol>
<li>H = Happiness</li>
<li>A = Appreciation</li>
<li>P = Passions and Strengths</li>
<li>P = Perspective</li>
<li>I = Inner Meanie/Inner Friend</li>
<li>N = Ninja Mastery</li>
<li>E = Empathy</li>
<li>S = So Similar</li>
<li>S = Share Your Gifts</li>
</ol>
<p>In this post, we will explore Empathy.</p>
<p>Why is it important to "walk in someone else's shoes?" According to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2012/09/26/why-we-should-teach-empathy-to-improve-education-and-test-scores/" class="external-link" target="_blank">a study by the Brookings Institution</a>, "Higher curriculum standards don't correlate to higher student achievement; empathy does." Empathy is also gaining attention as an important component of emotional intelligence and as a way to reduce bullying. When a person learns to understand and share the feelings of another, the pro-social behavior that results shows up in better relationships, closer friendships and stronger communities -- it's that important!</p>
<p>Here are five steps to cultivate empathy:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Watch & Listen:</strong> What is the other person saying, and what is his or her<a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/ei_quiz/#19" class="external-link" target="_blank">body language</a>?</li>
<li><strong>Remember:</strong> When did you feel the same way?</li>
<li><strong>Imagine:</strong> How does the other person feel? And how would you feel in that situation?</li>
<li><strong>Ask:</strong> Ask what the person is feeling.</li>
<li><strong>Show You Care:</strong> Let him or her know that you care through your words and actions.</li>
</ol>
<p>(Click the image to download a PDF of the lesson plan, and find additional resources at <a href="http://www.projecthappiness.org/" class="external-link" target="_blank">projecthappiness.org</a>.)</p>
<div class="picture-left"><a href="http://cdn1.edutopia.org/pdfs/blogs/edutopia-taran-lesson7empathy.pdf" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn2.edutopia.org/images/blogs/taran-lesson4perspective.gif" alt="Project Happiness Day 7: Empathy" border="1" class="edutopia_respimg_pct edutopia_respimg_50pct"/></a><h2>Click to download the PDF of this lesson plan. (559.44 KB)</h2>
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<h6>Credit: Randy Taran</h6>
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<h2>How is Empathy Being Developed in Schools?</h2>
<p>There are many approaches to teaching empathy. Here are ten interesting ways that aspects of empathy are being introduced:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Start with Teachers:</strong> At a recent<a href="http://educonphilly.org/" class="external-link" target="_blank">EduCon</a> Conference, an important issue came up. Teacher burnout increases when teachers are expected to be supportive but receive no emotional support at all. One teacher summarized it well: "How can I have empathy for my students when no one will have empathy for me?" The solution one school adopted was to have regular staff meetings in which everyone sat in a circle and shared how things were going. Teachers felt closer to one another in creating a more supportive environment where others cared about how everyone was feeling.</li>
<li><strong>Infants as Educators:</strong> <a href="http://www.rootsofempathy.org/" class="external-link" target="_blank">Roots of Empathy</a> is a program that brings a neighborhood infant and parent to visit the classroom every three weeks over the school year. Students are taught to observe the baby's development and discuss his or her feelings, which opens the door to students identifying their own feelings and advocating kindness for the baby and for each other.</li>
<li><strong>Validation and Trust:</strong> Making sure students have a voice -- and that all voices are heard -- is a building block for empathy. One teacher states:<blockquote>The students learn that I trust them to be kind, loving and intelligent. And they are learning to trust that I will think of them that way. We learn to trust each other . . . help each other if we fall . . . and use our voices to make change. When children first start to use their voices in the classroom, it provides for a test as to how they may be received. Will they be listened to? Will they be laughed at? Are they important?</blockquote>
</li>
<li><strong>Power of Teamwork:</strong> Working in teams to affect the greater good is a great way to creating a culture of empathy. At <a href="http://www.axlacademy.org/" class="external-link" target="_blank">AXL Academy</a>, each child is assigned to a "crew" for two years. Inspired by Outward Bound founder Kurt Hahn's quote, "We are not passengers in life, we are crew," students learn to work together and create close bonds with one another and their teacher.</li>
<li><strong>Grading on Character:</strong> The school also grades students on character, with big questions like, "What makes a good friend?" broken down into learning outcomes; and with performance targets, which teachers and students use to collaboratively evaluate students' progress.</li>
<li><strong>Practice Emotional Literacy:</strong> Having students learn what feelings are (including reading people's faces and body language) as well as how to name those feelings are necessary steps to empathy. If they can learn how to express their feelings and how to interpret when others express feelings, they have important tools for life.</li>
<li><strong>Befriending the "Other":</strong> To teach empathy, one school is helping students learn to initiate relationships by becoming friends with students who are different, have a disability, or are new. The motivation is friendship and better relationships.</li>
<li><strong>Students as "Changemakers":</strong> When teachers guided students to identify school problems and encouraged them to work together to come up with solutions, this caused a shift in the school culture. In one fourth grade class, the oldest grade in the school decided to create reminders for the younger grades about how to treat each other well. Because of the project, the older students began to see themselves as role models and empathic leaders for the younger kids.</li>
<li><strong>Service-Learning:</strong> In <a href="http://www.gds.org/" class="external-link" target="_blank">Georgetown Elementary Day School</a>, students do grade-wide service-learning projects. In pre-school and first grade, for example, students made sandwiches for a local nonprofit's family support programs. By the fifth grade, students could choose their own service project culminating in four days of service and advocacy.</li>
<li><strong>Encourage Empathy at Home:</strong> Empathy is reinforced at home when parents model it. When parents positively demonstrate sharing their feelings in authentic, engaged and non-judgmental ways, kids (influenced by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whole-Brain-Child-Revolutionary-Strategies-Developing/dp/0553386697/ref=la_B00459LSPI_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362698014&sr=1-1" class="external-link" target="_blank">mirror neurons</a>) tend to imitate or mirror the intention and emotional state of what they see. Empathy is a family affair!</li>
</ol>
<p>Do you see this as an important issue? In what ways have you cultivated empathy in your classroom?</p>
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<li class="blog_usernames_blog first last"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/69152" title="Read Randy Taran's latest blog entries">RANDY TARAN'S BLOG</a></li>
</ul> How More Social and Emotional Learning (and Less Academics) Actually Builds Academic Successtag:schoolleadership20.com,2013-04-07:1990010:Topic:1455322013-04-07T12:44:54.917ZMichael Keanyhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/MichaelKeany91
<div id="blog-header"><h1 class="node-title title blog-blog-title">How More Social and Emotional Learning (and Less Academics) Actually Builds Academic Success</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">APRIL 5, 2013</span></span></div>
<div><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">Edutopia</span></span></div>
<div class="node-content content"><div class="mobile-expander" id="mobile-expander-node"><p>With all of the high-stakes testing in our schools, and the…</p>
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<div id="blog-header"><h1 class="node-title title blog-blog-title">How More Social and Emotional Learning (and Less Academics) Actually Builds Academic Success</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">APRIL 5, 2013</span></span></div>
<div><span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">Edutopia</span></span></div>
<div class="node-content content"><div id="mobile-expander-node" class="mobile-expander"><p>With all of the high-stakes testing in our schools, and the resulting judgments and consequences for students and teachers, it is no wonder that schools are taking time away from activities like recess, breaks, art, music... to spend more time on academics. Yet I believe, based on what I have seen in schools, that we should move in the opposite direction, and take time out of academics in the early elementary years to focus on making students feel safe, secure, and confident in the classroom, in other words making them ripe for learning.</p>
<p>Morning Meetings</p>
<p>One of the ways we "ripen" students for learning at Mount Desert Elementary School in Northeast Harbor, Maine, is to to focus on social and emotional learning, and teach them how to regulate their emotions so that they have more focus and are less impulsive. We have regular morning meetings, where teachers and students sit in a circle and check in with each other and share their personal feelings. This builds a culture of trust and respect, which, in time, leads to students sharing some of their most profound feelings and thoughts.</p>
<h2>Better Transitions Help Student Focus</h2>
<p>We have also implemented a program where we focus on transitions from one class or activity to another. This is important because when focus is broken during transitions, valuable learning time is lost getting kids back on task. At our school, it is not unusual to see students engage in <a href="http://www.braingym.org/" class="external-link" target="_blank">Brain Gym</a> exercises such as <a href="http://esl.about.com/od/englishlessonplans/a/braingym.htm" class="external-link" target="_blank">Hook Ups</a> as they move from one class to another or participate in classroom yoga as they prepare for a writing class. We also give students wiggle seats and exercise balls to help them better focus on the lesson.</p>
<p>All of these are meant to help students regulate their energy levels and teach them to self-regulate their emotions and behaviors. The positive by-product of these focused transitions is that students actually produce higher quality academic work. Instead of teachers taking the first 10 minutes of writing class to re-focus their pupils, they get down to work in a fraction of that time.</p>
<p>But it takes time and patience and trust, so how then do we get the courage to take time off academics to attend to these activities? The answer lies in the mindset of the teachers and leadership. We need to view activities like morning meetings or mindful transitions or yoga as part of the lesson plan, the norm, to be expected -- and not as an addendum. We need to trust that spending time on <a href="http://www.heartmath.com/" class="external-link" target="_blank">HeartMath</a> or Brain Gym or yoga will actually pay dividends in academic success. We need to trust that less can be best, and better and more nurturing for children. So take the risk; embrace social and emotional learning, and you will see how it can transform your students and build sustainable academic success.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/stw-SEL-classroom-management">Click here to learn more about proven social and emotional techniques that prepare students for learning.</a></p>
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<ul class="links">
<li class="blog_usernames_blog first last"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/345091" title="Read Scott McFarland's latest blog entries">SCOTT MCFARLAND'S BLOG</a></li>
</ul> Teaching Kindness: More Than a Random Acttag:schoolleadership20.com,2013-02-11:1990010:Topic:1355992013-02-11T15:48:20.726ZMichael Keanyhttps://schoolleadership20.com/profile/MichaelKeany91
<div id="blog-header"><h1 class="node-title title">Teaching Kindness: More Than a Random Act</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">FEBRUARY 8, 2013…</span></span></div>
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<div id="blog-header"><h1 class="node-title title">Teaching Kindness: More Than a Random Act</h1>
<span class="submitted"><span class="date-formatted">FEBRUARY 8, 2013</span></span></div>
<div class="node-content content"><div id="mobile-expander-node" class="mobile-expander"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiewench/3009737023/" class="external-link" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn2.edutopia.org/files/imagecache/grid-3-column/slates/dabbs-kindness-week.jpg" alt="" title="" width="460" height="276" class="imagecache imagecache-grid-3-column"/></a><div class="field field-type-text field-field-image-caption"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item odd"><span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiewench/3009737023/" class="external-link" target="_blank">Photo credit: indiewench via flickr</a></span></div>
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<p>It's been a long time since I was in elementary school. But I can remember it like it was yesterday.</p>
<p>I wasn't the cutest, skinniest or best-dressed girl. I wasn't even a popular girl, but I had an advantage; I could sing like "<a href="http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/like+nobody's+business" class="external-link" target="_blank">nobody's business</a>," and my teachers loved that about me. As a result, I think I was spared the bullying that could've come from classmates due to my lack of the aforementioned qualities.</p>
<p>Times were tough in the late '60s. Maybe not as bad as what some call the "<a href="http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/bullies-in-disguise" class="external-link" target="_blank">mean-girl phenom</a>," experienced now by many, but it was there. So I think the fact that my classmates knew how much my teachers liked me may have spared me from their belittling.</p>
<p>Not true for all girls in my class.</p>
<p>I'll never forget one who was not spared the pain, the hurt and the bullying. She was easy prey: short, overweight and not very attractive. Most days she pretended to be tough and take the bullying in stride, even though I saw the tears that were privately shed.</p>
<p>I did my best to defend her when I could. But my actions were rare. Most of the girls in our class -- and boys, too -- were relentless in their pursuit of pain, the kind of pain that was inflicted mostly through name-calling, taunting and ridicule. This was especially true at recess time, when teachers were not easily accessible, or when they deemed it to be "child's play." We were only 10 or 11 years old at the time, but the hurtful actions projected by some classmates against this girl were alarming. No child should have to experience this kind of bullying, and yet, sadly, it happens every day, even at our best schools.</p>
<h2>The Kind Campaign</h2>
<p>Recently, I ran across a post about the <a href="http://www.kindcampaign.com/" class="external-link" target="_blank">Kind Campaign</a> and their film, <em><a href="http://findingkind.indieflix.com/home/" class="external-link" target="_blank">Finding Kind</a></em>, and I knew that I had to share it. It struck a chord in my memory of the hurt my classmate endured and came back to haunt me.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>In <em>Finding Kind</em>, filmmakers Lauren Parsekian and Molly Thompson, who met while in school at Pepperdine University, set out in a cross-country journey of discovery and education. Interviewing women and girls along the way about their lives and experiences, Parsekian and Thompson find, among all of the unique personal stories, some universal truths about growing up as girls.</p>
<p><em>Finding Kind</em> is a document of that journey, and of the filmmakers' quest to take these experiences and find a common ground of kindness and mutual respect.</p>
<p>In addition to all of the individual girls and women who share their personal experiences about girl-on-girl bullying, Parsekian and Thompson include interviews with respected experts and authors in the fields of psychology, education and the interrelationships of women and girls.</p>
<p>It's clear that the Kind Campaign is taking their message to the streets and sharing it across the world, and I believe that educators should do the same.</p>
<h2>Eight Steps Toward a Kinder World</h2>
<p>As a new teacher preparing to enter the classroom, or as an experienced one, you're going to encounter potentially volatile situations between students on any given day. That said, you should be prepared to work through it with your students, prepared to support the teaching of kindness which, for many students, will be just as important as any other content area you teach them.</p>
<p>Let's look at a few ways we can support teaching kindness:</p>
<ol>
<li>Take part in the <a href="http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/" class="external-link" target="_blank">Random Acts of Kindness Week</a>, February 11-17, 2013.</li>
<li>Immerse yourself daily in modeling the <a href="http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=teaching+kindness" class="external-link" target="_blank">teaching of kindness</a> in your classroom and school site.</li>
<li>Find <a href="http://rainbowswithinreach.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-do-we-teach-kindness.html" class="external-link" target="_blank">resources</a> for your students that can promote the work of kindness in their lives at school.</li>
<li>Get students involved in <a href="http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/lesson-plans-pilot-program" class="external-link" target="_blank">creating lessons</a> on the subject and incorporate journal writing, video production and podcasting in delivering the "kindness" lesson.</li>
<li>Check out what indie film makers <a href="http://findingkind.indieflix.com/filmmakers/lauren/" class="external-link" target="_blank">Lauren Parsekian</a> and <a href="http://findingkind.indieflix.com/filmmakers/molly/" class="external-link" target="_blank">Molly Thompson</a>are doing to take the mission of kindness to schools across the U.S.</li>
<li><a href="http://findingkind.indieflix.com/find/" class="external-link" target="_blank">Schedule a screening</a> of <em>Finding Kind</em> in your own school or neighborhood.</li>
<li>Watch and share this video on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdV07yd55IQ&feature=youtu.be" class="external-link" target="_blank">The Kindness School</a> that's inspiring students and their communities.</li>
<li>Do everything you can to be a warrior of kindness with your students!</li>
</ol>
<p>What are you doing to teach kindness? What strategies do you have in place to de-escalate the issues when they hit? How will you protect the students in your care from gossip or bullying? What do you still need help with? Leave us a comment, and let us know!</p>
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<li class="blog_usernames_blog first last"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/user/7360" title="Read Lisa Michelle Dabbs's latest blog entries">LISA MICHELLE DABBS'S BLOG</a></li>
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