WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION The George Lucas Educational Foundation
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Blogs on Social & Emotional Learning

More Blogs on Social & Emotional LearningRSS
4
Replacing Teachers with Emotion
Terry HeickApril 3, 2013
Tags Brain Research, Education Reform, Mental Health, , Student Engagement

Teachers mean well. By teachers, I mean you.

You mean well.

After all, you're here, aren't you -- looking for resources to become a better teacher or administrator? And you're in education to begin with -- that's a selfless and Sisyphean pursuit in itself. You want what's best for the future of mankind, so you decided to teach. Went to college, learned about Vygotsky and Piaget, and here you are on Edutopia, finding out what makes learners tick.

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A Year at Mission Hill: Love and Limits and The Eye of the Dragon
Amy Erin Borovoy (aka VideoAmy)April 2, 2013
Tags Arts Education, Mental Health, Primary (K-2), , Special Education, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), Massachusetts

The most recent video releases in the A Year at Mission Hill series have generated lots of attention; in part because of the controversial topics of full-inclusion classrooms and how to get students engaged in the curriculum. If you're new to the series, start with Mark Phillips' blog post about the ongoing documentary project, and you can see chapters two and three in this post. New videos are released every two weeks, and the series website offers theme-based resources of all kinds to sync up with the topic in each. I'm pleased to share chapters four and five here.

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11
Passion-Based Learning
Ainissa RamirezApril 2, 2013
Tags , Student Engagement, All Grades, Math, Science

There is lots of talk about the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) pipeline and all of its leaks. My personal mission is to fill the STEM pipeline with so many children that it bursts. To do this, STEM must be taught in an inspiring way. To keep children engaged, we need to bring passion for learning back into the classroom.

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Climate Control: Six Ways to Improve Your School Environment
Dr. Allen MendlerMarch 14, 2013
Tags Best Practices, Leadership, , Teacher Burnout, Teacher Development

Spring vacation is just around the corner, and the dreaded state tests are inching ever closer. It is a time of year when you may be running out of ideas, patience and energy, and so is everyone around you (or so it seems). You have gone through three different behavior plans, but Madison is still acting out, and Sam continues to come late despite an untold number of phone calls home, detentions, planning sessions and positive reinforcement programs. The faculty room is rife with a combination of boring tasteless food, stale conversation and annoying complaints about you-name-it. You try to remind yourself that "no news is good news" because, although you are working your butt off, rarely if ever does anyone seem to notice.

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9
Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Emotional Management
Randy TaranMarch 12, 2013
Tags Classroom Management, Mental Health, Primary (K-2), , Upper Elementary (3-5)

In this nine-part series, we will look at important factors that influence the happiness and social and emotional learning of elementary school age children. These are very useful in helping students learn, manage emotions better and increase empathy. Each blog features one letter of the acronym HAPPINESS:

  1. H = Happiness
  2. A = Appreciation
  3. P = Passions and Strengths
  4. P = Perspective
  5. I = Inner Meanie/Inner Friend
  6. N = Ninja Mastery
  7. E = Empathy
  8. S = So Similar
  9. S = Share Your Gifts

In this post, we will explore Ninja Mastery, a.k.a. learning emotional management.

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6
Filling in Thought Holes: An Invaluable Social and Emotional Learning Lesson
Renee JainMarch 8, 2013
Tags Mental Health, , All Grades

"I didn’t get invited to Craig's party . . . I'm such a loser."

"I missed the bus . . . nothing ever goes my way."

"My math teacher wants to see me . . . I must be in trouble."

These are the thoughts of a high school student named Jeremy. You wouldn't know it from his thoughts, but Jeremy is actually pretty popular and gets decent grades. Unfortunately, in the face of adversity, Jeremy makes a common error; he falls into "thought holes." Thought holes, or cognitive distortions, are skewed perceptions of reality. They are negative interpretations of a situation based on poor assumptions. For Jeremy, thought holes cause intense emotional distress.

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Standing Up to Bullies
Robert IngramMarch 6, 2013
Tags Bullying, Mental Health, , Middle (6-8), Physical Education

I was born with a cleft palate and lip. Due to the scars and constant surgeries, school was very difficult. Children seemed to really enjoy hurting me. Whether it was verbal, physical or emotional didn't seem to matter as long as they each got a turn at picking on the "flat nose."

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A Teaching Moment: The Peace Corps as a Source of Inspiration
Maurice EliasMarch 6, 2013
Tags Global Education, Service Learning, , All Grades

Do you know how the Peace Corps got started? And do you know why it's important to know how? Since this month is the 52nd anniversary of the Peace Corps, let's take a moment to find the answers.

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10
How Are Happiness and Learning Connected?
Rebecca AlberMarch 4, 2013
Tags , All Grades

We've all heard of the fight or flight response. We go into survival mode when threatened by something or someone. We either put up our dukes (literally or metaphorically) or take off running (literally or metaphorically). Students often go into survival mode when they feel threatened by an overwhelming cognitive task or confusing text, or when they are called on and don't know the answer, or are confronted or teased by another student (or a teacher!) Can one even learn in such a setting?

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Beyond Q+A: Six Strategies That Motivate ALL Students to Participate
Maddie WitterFebruary 25, 2013
Tags Best Practices, Classroom Management, , Student Engagement, All Grades

Do you have students who rarely raise their hand when you ask a question? When I think back about kids in my classroom who didn't participate at first, I remember Jared and Maya (whose names I changed). Jared was polite, listened to his classmates, and did his homework. But when I asked questions or set up class discussions, Jared remained silent. Maya was really creative and an avid reader. She also didn't participate, frequently had her head down in class, and was reluctant to start work. Some of our students might sit quietly through each lesson or be visibly disengaged. Maybe they don't understand the lesson, are embarrassed, or hesitantly wait for another peer to share. Jared and Maya certainly aren't unique.

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