Blogs on Social and Emotional Learning

"The truth about stories is, that's all we are." The words of Canadian writer Thomas King have been rattling around in my brain since I first heard them nearly two years ago. Most of us have grown up with some tradition of storytelling in our families, whether it was a nightly ritual when we went to bed or in conversations around the kitchen table after a Sunday meal.

This is part one of a two-part guest posting from my colleague, Kyle Hartung, who has worked in small schools for ten years as a classroom teacher and instructional leader in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area. As part of the Leadership and Instructional Team at Envision Schools, he coaches and facilitates professional development among school leaders and teachers.

This is the first post in a two-part entry.

Grassroots efforts are revitalizing the understanding of how STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) applies to everyday life for communities in Hawaii. The journey began in Hilo at the Institute for Astronomy nine months ago when the Charter School Administration Office sponsored a one-day brainstorming session to expand the definition of STEM across Hawaii's communities.

In part one of this entry, based on responses to an earlier post of mine, I reproduced some queries about how to establish a communal learning environment at school, and my responses. Here, I continue with questions and answers about how to hold community meetings and how to encourage fellow educators to share your enthusiasm.