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

More Blogs on Social & Emotional LearningRSS
1
The Principal Rule: Safety First
Matt LevinsonJanuary 15, 2013
Tags Mental Health, Principals, , All Grades

I had a conversation a few months ago with a parent about being a school principal. We were talking about the various demands of the job, from the different constituents that a school principal has to work with to the environment of a school. The parent asked me how I would define the job if I had only one word to use.

The word I chose was safety. The parent expressed some surprise and intrigue at my answer. We proceeded to talk about safety on multiple levels, beginning with physical safety, moving to emotional safety and finishing with academic safety.

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5
Teaching Students the ABCs of Resilience
Renee JainJanuary 14, 2013
Tags Dropout Prevention, Mental Health, , All Grades

From natural disasters to economic meltdowns, from wars abroad to tragic shootings close to home, this year brought to light the increasing complexity of the world in which we raise kids. Our natural instinct as teachers, parents and caretakers is to protect children from hardship, yet we know walking between the raindrops of adversity is not possible. Instead of sidestepping challenge, we can teach kids to cope positively, to learn and grow from adversity. We can arm our youth with skills of resilience, and these lessons can begin in the classroom.

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8
How Tough Kids Can Make Us Better Teachers
Dr. Allen MendlerJanuary 10, 2013
Tags Best Practices, Classroom Management, , Teacher Development, All Grades

Early in the school year, Mr. Spriggs asked me to sit in on a conference with his most challenging student. Jon rarely participated appropriately in class, instead drawing attention to himself by "accidentally" dropping books, suddenly having coughing spells and loudly expelling air from either end. It was considered a relative victory when his disinterest expressed itself more quietly through slouched shoulders, bored yawns and feigned sleep.

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Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: The Power of Perspective
Randy TaranJanuary 8, 2013
Tags 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’ll explore perspective.

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5
Handling Tragedy: How to Talk to Kids About Sandy Hook
Dr. Allen MendlerDecember 18, 2012
Tags Current Events, Mental Health, Primary (K-2), , Upper Elementary (3-5)

Many parents and teachers are at a loss about what to say and how to reassure their kids after the horrific, "unspeakable" events at Sandy Hook. The right words, especially with younger children, need to blend explanation with reassurance. At this difficult time, you might find that the following words will provide a helpful guide:

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12
Working with Students Who Have a Hard Time Collaborating
Robin NewtonDecember 18, 2012
Tags Project-Based Learning, , Student Engagement, All Grades

You already know collaboration is essential to today's classroom -- especially in the age of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Framework (P21). Students who truly collaborate construct knowledge together. When we ask students to collaborate, we’re asking them to take responsibility for their learning.

Okay. You get it. Collaboration's important. But how do you motivate productive collaboration within your classroom? First, figure out what's going on with the uncollaborative student.

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Help Students De-Stress for Success
Christopher PepperDecember 11, 2012
Tags Brain Research, Health, Learning Environments, Mental Health, , All Grades

Drug addiction, pregnancy prevention, and eating disorders are all part of the curriculum in the high school health education class I teach. As attention-getting as those topics may be, I like to start the semester by focusing on a health issue that affects almost all teens in high school today: stress.

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14
Building Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students: Passion and Strengths
Randy TaranDecember 7, 2012
Tags 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:

H = Happiness
A = Appreciation
P = Passions and Strengths
P = Perspective
I = Inner Meanie, Inner Friend
N = Ninja Mastery
E = Empathy
S = So Similar
S = Share Your Gifts

In this blog, we’ll explore passions and strengths.

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4
Digital Native vs Digital Citizen? Examining a Dangerous Stereotype
Mary Beth HertzDecember 3, 2012
Tags Classroom Technology, Digital Citizenship, Media Literacy, , Technology Integration

There are a lot of dangerous stereotypes out there. "Asian students are always better at math." "Boys are always better at sports." And perhaps the most dangerous of all: "The current generation are all digital natives."

It is easy to see the danger in the first two stereotypes. They tend to influence the way teachers, parents, peers and society in general classify, justify and treat whichever group is represented by the stereotype. I'm not sure enough people give enough thought to the third, equally dangerous, stereotype.

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4
Rethinking Conversations on Race Among Educators
José VilsonNovember 30, 2012
Tags Diversity, , Urban Schools, All Grades, History

Confession: I spent most of my formative years wrestling with the idea of "acting white."

The term "acting white" is often used against children of color who either still struggle with their self-concept or have taken on characteristics in their personalities that may not seem original to their ethnic background. Many of the people who know the present me always say that I don't look like I've ever had an issue with race, or that I handle race well. It's not that I never saw race; it's that I had to learn how to handle it at an early age. Negotiating the different worlds that I occupied, from the hood to the exclusive high school, I quickly learned that the best way to deal with race is to take on the norms and biases that come with it.

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