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
Create a Good Environment for Studying at Home
Art MarkmanMarch 20, 2012
Tags After-School Learning, Homework, Parental Involvement, Primary (K-2), , Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

A core goal of education is to create lifelong learners. Success in the workplace requires an ability to pick up new high-quality knowledge. The foundation for these learning skills is the study habits that are acquired from early in school. After all, most learning in life takes place outside of the classroom.

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1
Academics and School Life: The Importance of Character
Maurice EliasMarch 19, 2012
Tags Primary (K-2), , Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

David Brooks is at it again. His March 5, 2012 column in the NY Times, "The Rediscovery of Character," give strong intellectual, moral, and practical support for schools' considering Social, Emotional, and Character Development (SECD) as essential for and integrated with academic competence and success. The subtext of Brooks' article is that people are still slow to believe in the importance of character, social and emotional skills, even though the evidence surrounds us constantly.

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18
Six Reasons Rewards Don't Work
Dr. Richard CurwinMarch 6, 2012
Tags Classroom Management, Professional Learning Network (PLN), , Student Engagement, Teacher Development, All Grades

In my last post, I gave three of the best alternatives to rewards. I was surprised at how many people read and enjoyed it. I'm grateful to all who commented on various platforms. Some, however, still want to know what's wrong with using rewards as long as they work. I'll explore that question more deeply here.

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5
Modeling Ethical Conduct in the Classroom
Margaret ReganMarch 5, 2012
Tags Classroom Management, Leadership, Professional Development, , Teacher Development, All Grades

Encouraging ethical conduct in the classroom is critical to successful teaching. There are many theories about behavioral management; however, fundamentally each of them operates on the school's foundation of a common belief set.

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2
Use PBL to Innovate the Music Classroom
Andrew MillerMarch 5, 2012
Tags Arts Education, Curriculum, Integrated Studies, Project-Based Learning, , Student Engagement, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12), Music

Happy Music in Our Schools Month! I wrote in a previous blog, Visual Arts as Critical Thinking, that I was a vocal jazz nerd (and still am to some extent). Music was crucial to my growth. When I was going through some rough times as a high school student, it kept me in school.

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13
Critical Thinking: A Necessary Skill in the Age of Spin
G. Randy KastenMarch 2, 2012
Tags Media Literacy, Mental Health, Professional Learning Network (PLN), , Middle (6-8), High (9-12), English Language Arts, Geography, History

The ability to think critically is one skill separating innovators from followers. Critical thinking reduces the power of advertisers, the unscrupulous and the pretentious, and can neutralize the sway of an unsupported argument. This is a skill most students enjoy learning because they see immediately that it gives them more control.

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1
Building SECD in After-School Programs
Maurice EliasFebruary 29, 2012
Tags After-School Learning, Primary (K-2), , Teacher Development, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12), All Grades

With academic time in school being so pressured to include topics relevant to standardized tests, systematic Social, Emotional and Character Development (SECD) efforts are increasingly relegated to after-school time. The question is, should we be elated or cautious?

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3
Social and Emotional Curriculum: Self-Mastery
Randy TaranFebruary 24, 2012
Tags Mental Health, Primary (K-2), Professional Development, Professional Learning Network (PLN), , Teacher Development, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

This is part four of the seven-part series from the Project Happiness curriculum. It explores the many facets of happiness and provides practical techniques to generate greater happiness and a more meaningful life -- from the inside. By reclaiming the happiness you were born with, you influence those around you to tap into the best within themselves, too.

This is part four of the seven-part series from the Project Happiness curriculum. It explores the many facets of happiness and provides practical techniques to generate greater happiness and a more meaningful life -- from the inside. By reclaiming the happiness you were born with, you influence those around you to tap into the best within themselves, too.

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10
How to Motivate Learning: Alternatives to Rewards
Dr. Richard CurwinFebruary 23, 2012
Tags Comprehensive Assessment, Education Reform, Performance Assessment, Professional Learning Network (PLN), , Teacher Development, All Grades

One of the first and most important rules of behavior management is that when you take something away, you need to give something back. It's not good enough to say, "Don't" without saying, "Do this instead." Alternatives must be provided for change to occur. In my last post (Why Giving Bonus Money to Better Teachers Is Wrong), I strongly rejected the use of rewards, incentives, bribes and other harmful gimmicks. Now it is my responsibility to offer viable alternatives so that educators have the ability to change. These alternatives are plentiful. I'm going to concentrate on the three most important and easiest to implement.

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11
Risking Peace at a Troubled School
David MarkusFebruary 22, 2012
Tags , Middle (6-8), California

Every once in a while, when visiting a successful school, you see something that makes your jaw drop, something so extraordinary, you have to stop and make sure what you saw is actually what it appears to be. What stopped me was the sight of more than 200 middle schoolers sitting in silence, eyes closed, nearly motionless, meditating together for 15 uninterrupted minutes. It happens twice a day at San Francisco's Visitacion Valley Middle School. They call it Quiet Time.

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