WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION The George Lucas Educational Foundation
Facebook
Edutopia on Facebook
Twitter
Edutopia on Twitter
Google+
Edutopia on Google+
Pinterest
Edutopia on Pinterest Follow Me on Pinterest

Blogs on Social and Emotional Learning

Social and Emotional Learning

RSS

Find out how you can develop or support learning that teaches collaboration, communication, and conflict-resolution skills.

1
What Does September 11 Stand For and How Should We Acknowledge it?
Maurice EliasSeptember 7, 2011
Tags , Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12), All Grades

"December 7, 1941 -- a day that will live in infamy." So said President Franklin Delano Roosevelt about the attack on Pearl Harbor. What about Sept. 11, 2001? I propose we call this, "A day leading to a national month of inspiration and gratitude."

Read More
+
Starting School off Smart: Take the Hassles Out of Homework
Maurice EliasAugust 9, 2011
Tags Curriculum, Homework, Parental Involvement, Primary (K-2), , Teacher Development, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

The new school year is around the corner. We all need to help parents make this a less hassled year than the one just past. My colleagues and I, in our new e-book, Emotionally Intelligent Parenting, have a series of parenting "sound bites" that give parents quick tips on common issues related to parenting.

Read More
3
Rights for Transgender Students
Elena AguilarJuly 28, 2011
Tags Bullying, Diversity, Teacher Development, All Grades, California

The driving force behind my work is a commitment to social justice, ensuring that all students get what they need in our public schools regardless of race, class, ethnicity, home language, ability, gender, and sexual orientation.

Read More
6
Helping Children Become Emotionally Intelligent
Maurice EliasJuly 21, 2011
Tags Parental Involvement, , All Grades

It's summer time, and July 24 is Parents' Day. So let's break from school-related comments and take a moment to think about how to reduce some family stress and increase family closeness.

Read More
1
Reflect on Your Social, Emotional, and Character Development Work this Past School Year
Maurice EliasJune 24, 2011
Tags , All Grades

Many of us working with social, emotional, and character development (SECD) make time for student reflections. But we don't always make time for our own reflections, and we should.

Read More
6
Student Pledges: Preventing Harassment and Bullying at Your School
Maurice EliasJune 13, 2011
Tags Bullying, , All Grades

Now that we're heading into summer, it's a perfect time to start planning a pledge for your students. I used to be skeptical about the value of pledges by students, particularly around things like harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB). But I have changed my mind. The new school year is a time to consider any such pledges, and now is the time to think through your position on the topic.

Read More
5
The High Cost of Sites that Mock Student Vernacular
Belia Mayeno SaavedraMay 18, 2011
Tags Achievement Gap, Diversity, Literacy, , Teacher Development, All Grades

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Belia Mayeno Saavedra, a Community Action Program Coordinator for Youth Radio in Oakland CA.

Please also note that this post examines both student and Internet vernacular. If you are uncomfortable with this type of language, you may wish to read something else. This post first appeared as Sh*t My Students Write and Its Flaws on Turnstyle.

Sh*t My Students Write and Dumb $#!% My Students Say are new meme-sites poking fun at the fumbles and goofs of students. Classroom quotes and essay excerpts are posted by teachers and take the basic meme formula from Sh*t My Dad Says and other quick-and-dirty quotables. But at a time when schools across the country are suffering severe budget cuts, and students enter institutions with increasingly limited resources, what are these sites bringing to the conversation about education?

Read More
6
SECD for All Children in All Schools
Maurice EliasApril 27, 2011
Tags , All Grades

When NCLB is put to rest and the ESEA reauthorization takes its place, what will it say about children's social, emotional and character development?

There will not be room for a lot about SECD in the ESEA, so I'd like to describe three essential pieces I think should be included. They are the minimum that we need to prepare children for the tests of life, not a life of tests, and for genuine, passionate, informed participation in civic life.

Read More
17
Study: Promoting Students' Personal and Social Development Boosts Academic Outcomes, a Guest Blog by Joseph Durlak
Betty RayMarch 23, 2011
Tags , All Grades

Editor's Note: Today's blogger is Dr Joseph Durlak, lead author of a recent study, "The Impact of Enhancing Students" Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions," published in the January-February 2011 issue of Child Development.

Read More
14
Want Your Students College Ready? Use PBL
Thom MarkhamFebruary 7, 2011
Tags College Readiness, Dropout Prevention, Project-Based Learning, , All Grades

Editor's note: Today's guest blogger is Thom Markham, a psychologist, educator, and president of Global Redesigns, an international consulting organization focused on project-based learning, social-emotional learning, youth development, and 21st-century school design. He formerly directed the Buck Institute for Education's national training program in PBL and is the primary author of BIE's Handbook on Project Based Learning.

Read More
see more see less