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CASEL: SEL Financial Sustainability Toolkit

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CASEL: SEL Financial Sustainability Toolkit

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CASEL - Financial Sustainabilty - CASEL - Financial Sustainabilty

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Here you will find the sustainability toolkit. A cost modeling tool, a financial sustainability planning tool, and an SEL budgeting tool/template will guide your planning.

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T-SEL Competencies and Conditions for Thriving

These guidance tools, developed for voluntary use, aim to build on and respond to the call from California's diverse stakeholders to embed equity-focused Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (T-SEL) in every learning and teaching context across the education system.

Social and Emotional Support During Distance Learning

Visit the California Department of Education (CDE) Social and Emotional Support During Distance Learning web page for resources for educators, educational leaders, and families/guardians in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) schools, to provide social and emotional supports during distance learning.

Social and Emotional Learning Basics

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) reflects the critical role of positive relationships and emotional connections in the learning process and helps students develop a range of skills they need for school and life. SEL skills include the ability to:

set and achieve positive goals

feel and show empathy for others

establish and maintain positive relationships

make responsible decisions

understand and manage emotions

All of these skills are necessary-both for educators and students-to function well in the classroom, in the community, and in college and careers.

While many teachers instinctively know that SEL is important, historically schools have been primarily focused on teaching academic content such as reading, math, science, and history, and less intentional about supporting the social and emotional skills that are so important to learning and life success.

There is a growing body of research proving that SEL is fundamental to academic success, and must be woven into the work of every teacher in every classroom and every after school and summer learning program, if we truly want to prepare all our students for college and careers.

The CDE is committed to helping educators learn more about SEL and how to make this a part of every child's school experience. To support this work, the CDE has joined the Collaborating States Initiative a group of states that share information, best practices, and promising tools and ideas in the interest of building strong SEL in schools across their states. The Collaborating States Initiative is hosted by the Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning .

The CDE has convened a group of experts from different sectors of the education system to advise on the best ways to support SEL implementation. The following are products this team has developed:

See the CDE's press release on California's participation in the Collaborating States Initiative.

Advance Social and Emotional Learning Campaign

In 2020, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond launched the Advance SEL in California Campaign. The initiative gathered large-scale input through a forum called WikiWisdom , a virtual resource where educators, school leaders, and families can collaborate, interact with peers, and share best SEL practices to support students dealing with the impact of the Coronovirus (COVID-19) pandemic and over the long term. In total, the project engaged nearly 800 diverse California education stakeholders to gather perspectives on SEL practices, needs, and goals.

The project culminated with a report on the status of SEL in California, with recommendations for how teachers, school leaders, and families across the state can address the social and emotional needs of students, both in response to COVID-19 and over the long term. The findings in this report are grounded in what we heard from nearly 2,000 educators, students, parents, and other stakeholders throughout this project. The resounding message we heard was that SEL is more important than ever-and racial equity must be part of those SEL conversations.

For both the executive summary and the final report, visit the Education First website .

General Resources

To better understand the role of SEL in schools, the resources listed below are a good starting place. This list will be updated as relevant information is gathered and reviewed:

Support

If you need support in your school, district, or county in better understanding SEL or if you need implementation tools or technical assistance, the following are some resources to consider:

Register for Updates

If you would like to receive updates from the California Department of Education about California's SEL efforts, please sign up for our listserv.

To subscribe to the SEL Planning listserv, send a "blank" message to join-sel-planning@mlist.cde.ca.gov.

To unsubscribe from the SEL Planning listserv, send a "blank" message to unsubscribe-sel-planning@mlist.cde.ca.gov.

To view archived SEL newsletters, visit the California Educators Together SEL Newsletter Archive collection web page .

Last Reviewed: Thursday, September 23, 2021

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These guidance tools, developed for voluntary use, aim to build on and respond to the call from California's diverse stakeholders to embed equity-focused Transformative Social and Emotional Learning (T-SEL) in every learning and teaching context across the education system.

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Fostering a Strong Community in a Virtual Classroom

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The shift to working online requires teachers to think a little differently about how to build the culture they want with their students.

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Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence - RULER Approach 

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Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence - RULER Approach 

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How Do We Get Started?

Attending a RULER training is the first step for schools (preK-12) looking to implement RULER. Our training institutes focus on building a growth mindset and common language around emotions, skill development in emotional intelligence, and the building and sustaining of positive social and emotional climates where all stakeholders in the school feel empowered to learn, work, and achieve.

Apply to a RULER Institute training

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Attending a RULER training is the first step for schools (preK-12) looking to implement RULER. Our training institutes focus on building a growth mindset and common language around emotions, skill development in emotional intelligence, and the building and sustaining of positive social and emotional climates where all stakeholders in the school feel empowered to learn, work, and achieve.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Coming soon! UDL Guidelines 3.0

The UDL Guidelines are a living, dynamic tool that is continuously developed based on new research and feedback from practitioners. In 2020, CAST launched our most recent effort to update the UDL Guidelines, with a specific focus on equity. There has been a strong call from the field-both practitioners and researchers alike-to more fully develop the Guidelines to address critical barriers rooted in biases and systems of oppression. The current update aims to respond to this call and to work toward fulfilling the promise of the Guidelines as a tool to guide the design of learning environments that more fully honor and value every learner.

Since our launch in 2020, we have been committed to a community-driven, inclusive, and transparent updating process. As part of this effort, we are:

Collaborating with an Advisory Board, a UDL Guidelines Collaborative, and a Young Adult Advisory Board to guide our work

Conducting focus groups with a diversity of participants to learn from their perspectives, lived experiences, and feedback

Reviewing the research on the UDL Guidelines research pages to understand the balance of different research fields, methodological approaches, epistemological approaches, and author positionalities

Conducting literature reviews of equity-oriented research that connect to and extend the Guidelines, such as disability studies and critical pedagogy studies

We are excited to share this next iteration of the UDL Guidelines in 2024. If you are interested in receiving our UDL Guidelines 3.0 newsletter to stay updated on our progress and to share your ideas and perspectives, please complete this brief form.

Review the Summary

Explore the Full Draft

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST.

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Resources collected and shared by Imperial County Office of Education based on the work of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.

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Center for Educational Excellence Thematic Alternative School Lessons

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Center for Educational Excellence Thematic Alternative School Lessons

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COVID-19 Instructional Materials | Mysite

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Science-Based Practices for Kinder, Happier Schools

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To find what you need quickly, sort the practices by age level and duration.

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Search Institute: The Developmental Relationships Framework (1-pager!)

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Search Institute: The Developmental Relationships Framework (1-pager!)

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Know Thyself - Becoming An Expert Learner - Hyperdoc

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Know Thyself - Becoming An Expert Learner - Hyperdoc

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Resource created by Pam Hubler @specialtechie

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Foster knowledge, skills, and attitudes across five areas of social and emotional competence; Establish equitable learning environments and coordinate practices across four key settings that support students' social, emotional, and academic development. Download more information on the framework (available in and Spanish).

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CASEL: District SEL Planning and Implementation Rubric

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CASEL: District SEL Planning and Implementation Rubric

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Edutopia Teacher Appreciation Week 2020 Video

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Edutopia Teacher Appreciation Week 2020 Video

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A Teacher Appreciation Week for the Ages

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When schools abruptly closed due to Covid-19, teachers figured out how to make remote learning work. This week, as the nation expresses its gratitude, we recap the emotional journey.

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The Blob Tree Test - How do you feel today?

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The Blob Tree Test - How do you feel today?

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Facilitador Multicultural Y LSP Virtuoso - Pedro Solorzano

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Enseño y empodero a líderes para lograr resultados impactantes y sostenibles en equipos de trabajo remotos. Facilitador Multicultural +++. Conoce el método DKN

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20 Questions to Ask Instead of "How Are You?"

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20 Questions to Ask Instead of "How Are You?"

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SEL in California: Guide to Resources via Collaboration in Common

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SEL in California: Guide to Resources via Collaboration in Common

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This webpage is a digital version of the resource below. It provides and description and links to 27 vetted instructional resources.

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Collaboration In Common | Professional Learning, Collaboration and Resources for All CA Educators

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CiC makes it easy to discover, share and organize knowledge. We empower individuals, organizations and networks to develop the knowledge needed to solve big problems.

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"With the COVID crisis and all its fallout, kids are having to deal with some very big emotions. Our proven tools and techniques can be life-savers.

Teachers are overwhelmed trying to help kids. We give them a powerful resource as they try to perform and avoid burnout.

Administrators are slammed, too, supporting teachers and trying to manage a fluid, often chaotic situation. Kimochis can help turn down the heat."

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"With the COVID crisis and all its fallout, kids are having to deal with some very big emotions. Our proven tools and techniques can be life-savers. Teachers are overwhelmed trying to help kids. We give them a powerful resource as they try to perform and avoid burnout.

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SEL in California: Guide to Resources PDF

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SEL in California: Guide to Resources PDF

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This document provides and description and links to 27 vetted instructional resources.

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This is an 8-part series offering guidance to families about how SEL skills can be developed at home for all ages.

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Promoting SEL at Home is a series of developmentally appropriate social and emotional learning (SEL) resources for parents, families, and caregivers to use at home. These lesson ideas facilitate the development of SEL skills in children, from infancy through high school.

Additionally, Aperture Education has a with other resources families can access during this transitional time.

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Promoting SEL at Home is a series of developmentally appropriate social and emotional learning (SEL) resources for parents, families, and caregivers to use at home. These lesson ideas facilitate the development of SEL skills in children, from infancy through high school . Additionally, Aperture Education has a with other resources families can access during this transitional time.

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Many teachers, students, and parents are proving to be remarkably resilient during this time when it comes to the effects of the pandemic on school, education, and student learning. It is not easy to teach in a physical classroom one day and turn it into a virtual classroom the next. Most college and university teacher prep programs do not have a course focusing on virtual teaching and learning (something they may consider doing soon).

Many teachers are still trying to replicate what they do in a classroom, with what they are doing online. It's important to shift that way of thinking and continue to adapt. Most of us will never feel as confident or competent about how we teach virtually as we do when the students are in front of us. This adaptation is not easy, but we have to start looking at the parts of virtual teaching that are not working and let them go, and begin looking at the places where we can go a little bit deeper.

As I comb through the countless teacher Facebook pages that have been created due to the pandemic, I have learned a great deal about new tools and ways to engage students, at the same time I am constantly reminded of just how much work teaching is, and it's even more complicated when it all has to be done virtually. When it comes to how teachers are meeting the needs of their students, there are a few important aspects to keep in mind.

Did you know:

Teachers have their own children at the same time they are teaching students? And yes, I realize parents have their own virtual working conditions at the same time their children are required to virtually learn.

Some teachers live in a studio apartment with no space to work and questionable Wi-Fi.

Even in areas where the Wi-Fi is usually strong, there are interruptions.

There are teachers who have roommates and have to teach from their bedroom, which is beyond awkward. How comfortable would you be having your students see into your bedroom?

Many of the free online sources that students are using were not free a few weeks ago, so teachers are learning those at the same time they are using them to teach virtually.

Teaching During the Pandemic: Over the last few days, I have collected over 120 comments from a few different pandemic pages on Facebook. There were numerous reasons why I started reviewing them. First and foremost, I wanted to get a feel for how teachers were accomplishing the art and science of remote teaching. Secondly, I wanted to be able to code the comments under categories like social-emotional learning, student engagement, instructional strategies, efficacy, and leadership. The interesting part of the coding activity is that many of the same questions for virtual teaching come up with teaching in physical classrooms. For example:

How do I use that tool?

My students are not handing in assignments.

I cannot get parents to call me back.

How is your administrator involved in your classroom?

How often are you having faculty meetings?

What is the required workday?

What does grading look like in your school?

One of the posts that appeared time and time again, and created the most responses, had to do with student accountability. There were numerous posts that highlighted the fact that students are not necessarily signing on to get assignments and certainly not handing in assignments, either.

The piece that is a bit different between teaching in the physical classroom and the virtual classroom is the amount of "control" the teacher has over student engagement. Teachers can use:

Their physical proximity to engage students

The promise of a good or bad grade

The threat of a loss of some privilege

The promise of an incentive, or one of their other positive social-emotional tricks of the trade.

Most of those actions are gone because of new school policies that prevent teachers from giving grades or repercussions. There is a lot less "control" on the part of the teacher right now, and that can make us uncomfortable. Especially when teachers are being held accountable as teachers.

So many posts focus on student engagement, and there are others that are meant to get people to laugh and breathe, while other posts are examples of venting. It's a frustrating time in our world, so all of these posts are natural expressions of that frustration, anger, and sadness.

Why Aren't Students Signing On? When looking at the idea of why students are not engaging with teachers in virtual learning, I wanted to provide a list of a few reasons why that may not be happening. Some of the reasons are issues we know and understand, while one seems to be a reason no one is talking about on any of the pages. It's not an exhaustive list, and just like any list, it is based on data I have collected. If there is one you feel is missing, please feel free to add it in the comment section.

The 6 reasons are:
No access
- Some students are living in homes that may not have access to Wi-Fi or limited access at best. Many of those students may not have a "device" to use for schoolwork. Yes, schools hand out devices to students, which is extremely helpful, but not all families are experts at devices and Wi-Fi. Common Sense Media reports (Today Show. 04/21/20) that over 10 million students in the US do not have devices. If teachers and leaders are struggling with technology, perhaps it's probable that families are struggling with technology, too? Not everyone works for the Geek Squad.

Essential Workers - Some students are working full time. Whether they are working the fields in California or at grocery stores in the Midwest, it's plausible that our students have had to take on jobs to help their families put food on the table. Their work, and the contributions they make monetarily at home, is essential.

No Grade Incentive - Many school districts in many states have gone to a no grading policy because they don't want to punish students who cannot attend all classes or hand in all of their work due to equity of access to virtual learning. The interesting thing happening here is that there are students who find that the incentive for showing up is not there, so they no longer need to attend the class. Is there a way that we can use a no grading policy to our advantage? Can we continue to provide students with the flexibility to do project-based learning around topics they find interesting to get a sense of their interests and creativity?

Taking care of their siblings - If parents or caregivers are still working because they are essential workers, it is possible that our students are caregiving for their siblings and helping those siblings do their classwork ... or keeping siblings from tearing things apart. These students may attend only half of the classes they are "required" to attend.

Bedlam but No Bedroom - Not everyone has a bedroom to themselves. In fact, I work in many schools where multiple families live in the same apartment or house. If there isn't a quiet space where they are able to focus, perhaps it's just easier to not connect with their teacher at all.

Student - Teacher Relationships - Some students are not connecting because they felt invisible while they were in the physical classroom, so they feel that they will not be missed in the virtual one. Additionally, some students just didn't find their teachers very engaging in person, so they aren't really concerned about engaging with those particular teachers online.

In the End

There are students not attending all of their classes because of a lack of accountability at the same time their teachers are being held accountable. Let's face it though, most teachers are less worried about the kind of accountability that comes from their school leaders, and more of the accountability they are concerned about comes from the pressure they put on themselves as teachers. So many teachers care deeply about their students and worry about their social-emotional and academic growth during this pandemic.

In one of the pages I explored, someone posed the question, " Knowing what you know now, would you have done anything differently when the students were in front of you? " I thought it was a great question, and apparently so did others because there were 79 responses at the time I began writing this blog.

Most of the responses focused on how they would have used different tools, or they would have assigned at least one virtual assignment every week. All of these responses are important. However, very few of the comments focused on how teachers would have built better relationships with students so those students would show up to the virtual classroom. If we find ourselves in a situation where we are teaching online for the first month of school, knowing we have the same restraints we do now (i.e. no grading, access, etc.) student teacher relationships is the first place we must start, and we need to take some time soon to think about what that may look like in a virtual setting.

Questions I have been pondering:

We know that virtual teaching during a pandemic is hard, and takes a lot of work. However, what is working for your school/classroom right now that can continue to be used again in the fall?

What is one way you have communicated during this time that brought in the most attention by the community (i.e. teachers, students, families, etc.)? Many years ago, we went from just sending home paper newsletters to parents (we went from a 5 pager to a 1 page), and I began flipping communication through our parent portal. I was amazed at how well it went the first time around. Are there any similar changes you have made that have worked well, and it surprised you?

As school leaders, what do you need to do during the summer to continue to connect with families? With my PTA we would have at least one summer meeting, and one summer event. If social distancing is still in place, is there a virtual event that you can create?

As school leaders, how are you supporting teachers and students socially-emotionally and academically? For example, are you engaging in their live classroom chats with students?

As school leaders, what incentives are cable companies offering that may help put more hot spots in the community? I coach with a high school principal that contacted those companies and got them to compete with each other a bit, and his high poverty community ended up with a few more hot spots set up.

Check out the new Vlog addition to Finding Common Ground below. If you're interested in a newsletter that focuses on all aspects of instructional leadership, sign up for DeWitt's Collective Conversations newsletter. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

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6 Reasons Students Aren't Showing Up for Virtual Learning (Opinion)

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Many teachers, students, and parents are proving to be remarkably resilient during this time when it comes to the effects of the pandemic on school, education, and student learning. It is not easy to teach in a physical classroom one day and turn it into a virtual classroom the next.

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by Hugh Vasquez, Senior Associate, National Equity Project

Photo by Gary Knight

Let's start with the end in mind. Fast forward to a time in the near future, say 12 months from now when we have made it through this world health crisis. Imagine that you have been invited to be on a panel at a conference because you decided to do something unusual amidst the crisis. You decided you were going to refuse to return to schooling in the same way you left it when COVID-19 erupted. You decided you would not return to doing business as usual in how we educate children. On this panel you share why you made this decision and your remarks focus on a desire to change the system because you realized it was designed to produce inequities. You share what it took to stop doing business as usual and how you became a catalyst for others to join in this effort too. You talk about the innovations you and a team of educators, parents, and students created and what you are learning from taking those actions. Then you share the impact those changes had on students, families, and staff. You close by describing how you used the opportunity of the system shutdown to create a better way of educating children and how you are going to make sure the old system doesn't return.

Let's be clear. When the COVID-19 crisis is over, we do not have to go back to business as usual in our educational system, or any other system for that matter. We just don't. The question confronting us at the moment is not can we prepare to come back differently but will we?

Working in the field of social justice education, we know there are many education leaders from superintendents to policy makers to site leaders to teachers who have come to the realization that our education system is designed to produce what it produces - inequity in who succeeds. We also know that many do not want to continue educating the way education was designed. Many more have realized that what they do day-to-day in schools actually perpetuates the current inequitable system, the very one they would like to interrupt and change. So although we want change, we find ourselves maintaining the status quo. Why?

Nothing changes without disturbance. Since it is people who change things, that means change can't happen until people are disturbed. Margaret Wheatley in her article "Willing to be Disturbed" says,

" As we work together to restore hope for the future, we need to include a new and strange ally - our willingness to be disturbed."

Wheatley is talking about change within individuals where we have to be willing to be disturbed by actively engaging with those who challenge our way of doing things. It is in this place of discomfort where we expand our beliefs and innovations are born. When we are disturbed, we change. What is true for the individual is also true for systems. If we want to change systems, we have to be disturbed by what we see and engage with others to disturb, catalyze and influence what we do.

The biggest changes in our society have only come about when there was a strong enough disturbance - an interruption to "business as usual" - and when people were willing to come together even though the path forward was cloudy. This United States was created out of disturbance. We have Social Security because of disturbance. To the extent that we have civil rights for people of color, women, people with disabilities, gay/lesbian/bi-sexual/transgender people (to name a few) - it is because of disturbance. People interrupted the status quo way of doing things and created an opening to change something, to build something new.

COVID-19 has produced what may be one of the largest worldwide and systemic disturbances of all time. While schools closed overnight and our daily routines have changed, the inequities produced by our systems are even more stark in terms of which students have access to technology, internet, food, and housing and which families have the privilege of sheltering in place to stay safe.

Since we know that disturbance is required for change and there is no doubt that disturbance is happening as we speak, the question is, are we willing to use this opportunity to create the kind of educational system we want? We have learned that if we are going to change a system, we as individuals first have to SEE what the system is producing, then we have to ENGAGE with others to design something different, and finally we have to ACT. Cornel West puts it this way:

It takes courage to look in the mirror and see past your reflection to who you really are when you take off the mask, when you're not performing the same old routines and social roles. It takes courage to ask - How did I become so well-adjusted to injustice?

Seeing the system doesn't guarantee we will engage and act differently. The system is designed to keep us busy perpetuating it so that we don't have time to redesign it. The system is a well-oiled machine that has tremendous momentum to keep things going as they are; just look at Education Codes in any state. The result is that even those who see the system and have a desire to interrupt it do not usually have the mindset, time, resources or support to do so. The demands of "doing school" prohibit us from engaging and acting differently. But now, that machine has ground to a halt.

What would acting differently (both during and after) this crisis look like for education? Below are a few ideas on what we could do differently. With each idea ask yourself "what if..." as you read it, and notice what thoughts come to mind. If you find yourself saying "oh, we can't do that," read it again and ask "but what if we did..."

What if we... gather our teams now (virtually) to get ready to return to another way. Schedule virtual meetings with educators and school staff in whatever configuration works best for you to engage them in discussions under the theme "we WILL do school differently when we return." Present your "what if we..." approach and talk about WHY you want to return doing school differently. The goal of these meetings is to enroll and recruit people to this approach and set a new direction, to engage their agency and their imagination. Allow people to talk about their excitement and concerns with this idea and engage them in responding to both the idea of coming back differently and to some of your "what if we..." ideas. Ask them to brainstorm other "what if we..." ideas and come to agreement on what you will collectively create, build and test.

What if we... use this time to re-purpose our leadership structures to build our leadership muscle to be strategic equity leaders instead of reactive leaders. Strategic equity leaders identify education challenges through an equity lens and engage others in collaborative inquiry to figure out what to do to address the challenges. Strategic equity leaders build the competencies of others to interrupt status quo ways of doing things that perpetuate inequities. Strategic equity leaders keep a birds eye view of what's going on in the system, the school site, and the classroom and facilitate others to see what is happening and co-create strategies to adjust to needs. What if we took time now to develop our strategic equity leadership muscles and re-purpose (or create) existing leadership structures such as leadership team meetings, staff meetings, grade level meetings, professional learning communities, etc. to focus on learning from our actions. What if teams committed to meeting every week for a while to assess how things are going, review the actions being taken, discuss what we are learning from what we are doing, and adjust actions accordingly. What if we implement minimum day/early release Fridays and use the afternoon for collaboration time to be in a strategic equity leadership mode looking at what to do more of because it is producing a climate for learning and what to stop or do less of because it is not.

What if we... focus each hour on student learning instead of seat time? Tony Smith, former Illinois State Superintendent says in his article " The Invisible Blizzard and the Importance of E-Learning" that we have prioritized seat time over student learning and that our schools waste our children's time and creativity every day. Our current way of doing school is organized around a dominant culture view of time: time to sit, time to learn, time to move on, time to test, etc. Smith says that we can, if we wish, create a new system where teachers can use their creativity to connect with students about ideas, projects, activities and learning "in ways not dictated by hands on a clock." We can use the moment we are in to ask teachers how they would work or what they would do differently if their days were designed around student learning as opposed to seat time. What if we do what Smith suggests - engage teachers now to design a system that focuses on learning and competency development.

Hugh Vasquez in conversation with Tony Smith, April 2020

What if we... gathered data from students about their experience of our classrooms and schools regularly? We know that how students feel about being in school impacts their learning. What if we implement a system to learn in real time how the learning environment is working or not working for students? Ideally these assessments are conducted every week by every teacher in every school so that teachers and other leaders see how well students are engaged in their learning, the extent to which they feel like they are getting enough support to learn, and how relevant the material is to their life. Tools like PERTS' Co-Pilot/Elevate allow teachers to gather and discuss real time feedback from students and work together to design and lead changes in their classrooms.

What if we... implement a focal student approach where we structure the classroom to meet the needs of students farthest from learning?Return to school with teachers prepared to name the students who are struggling the most to learn and teach the teachers how to use a focal student approach that discovers what these students need and how to best reach them. This approach does not assume a teacher knows what is in the way of a student learning, but instead has the teacher engaging with the student to figure out what the barriers are to learning and finding innovative ways to meet their needs.

What if we... organize the curriculum with project based learning (PBL) as a key component and create opportunities for every student to participate. Think about it, a plumber doesn't become a good plumber without being an apprentice and learning by doing. They do not become an expert by sitting at a desk listening to a lecture about how to unclog a pipe. Nor do medical doctors, electricians, teachers, mechanics, writers, chefs, or nurses. All career and professional learning involves learning by doing. Apprenticeships, medical residencies, and being mentored by someone skilled in their craft is project based learning, and project based learning is a good practice that we know works. We can revise the curriculum so that every school and every classroom implements project based learning and every child has the opportunity to engage in learning through projects. We can make our first teaching moves facilitating learning by projects before we lecture on a subject and hand out worksheets. What we can do now is build the conditions to put PBL into play when we return?

What if we... co-design and plan a "Return to a Different School Back to School" event. This pandemic will end and we will return to our buildings and school communities. Invite students and parents back in a new way. Assemble the school community and engage in new ways together. Talk about the excitement you have as educators to do school in a different way and the challenges you will face to make the new way work. Acknowledge the way we were doing things before the virus was not working for everyone and explain how you want to work in partnership with them to design new ways. Break into classroom size groups for sense making, allowing students to meet with students and parents with parents to build relationship and contribute to a new vision focused on student learning.

The first step in designing a new way is to decide now that you won't return to normal - a normal that was never neutral and wasn't working well for most students, teachers or families. Engage with your teammates and community now to articulate a bold, audacious, wild vision of what your education system can look like. Focus on a couple small but powerful pieces to change. Gather your people to engage in equity by design and engage in collaborative inquiry to continuously design, test, and adjust your practices based on what you learn. And, commit to sticking with the process- for at least a year, to stay the course. This is how we can collectively take the opportunity to design for change in how we do school.

For my fellow rebel leaders - those who have learned about equity, who are "woke" to how inequities are produced and perpetuated, who have built leadership skills to engage others in working toward equity, who have been trying to take action to change things...we have been preparing for this moment of interruption, the moment when a great disturbance would bring the system to a halt. We are strong in what we know, strong in what we see, strong in what we want. We have to act courageously NOW so we can come back together differently. What if we...

When the world becomes a fantasy / And you're more than you could ever be / 'Cause you're dreaming with your eyes wide open / And you know you can't go back again / To the world that you were living in / 'Cause you're dreaming with your eyes wide open / So, come alive! - The Greatest Showman

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What if We... Don't Return to School as Usual

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Let's start with the end in mind. Fast forward to a time in the near future, say 12 months from now when we have made it through this world health crisis. Imagine that you have been invited to be on...

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What About You? Strategies for Supporting Educator Resilience and Trauma-Informed Self-Care

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On any given day in schools across America, many students exchange warm greetings with a smiling teacher, then perhaps move on to a morning check-in, followed by a quick mindfulness exercise to start the day grounded and mentally focused. Surrounded by peers they've known for months, or perhaps even years-and a teacher they see daily-kids feel connected.

In spite of some critics who downplay the importance of social and emotional learning and the value of belonging-the number of such skeptics is falling, to be sure-the research is clear and has been for some time: When kids spend their daytime hours in safe, supportive schools where adults work every day to build strong relationships with every student, they are simply better, more engaged learners.

But how should educators foster that sense of belonging in this new, decentralized world-with teachers and students tethered loosely together via Wi-Fi and cellular networks?

"Right now, it's all about the technology-the mechanics of how to teach remotely. But when I speak to my colleagues who are high school teachers, it's about: 'How are we going to hold our students' hearts?'" says Mays Imad, a professor of pathophysiology and biomedical ethics at Pima Community College.

So we asked dozens of teachers, and peeked in on Instagram and Twitter threads, to find some of the best ideas that teachers are experimenting with to maintain the relationships that drive engagement and learning.

1. Try to Say Hello Frequently, If You Can

Try to make sure your kids know you are thinking of them, care for them, and miss them. For kids with access to technology, simple daily hellos via video might be the only time the student sees the teacher on some days-and that sense of connection is important to sustain.

First- and second-grade teacher John Thomas' masterful, fun hello video to his students is a great example.

For students without internet connectivity, try calling by phone; consider rotating through small groups of students each day to make this a more manageable task. "Taking the time to reach out and call each kid takes forever," says sixth- and eighth-grade English teacher Cathleen Beachboard, but she's seeing a big impact: "The first few days, I had only a few kids logging on, but now I have almost 98 percent attendance," she says.

2. How to Maintain Morning Meetings

Routines that foster connection are a core part of classroom life, and finding ways for students to experience these at home will go a long way toward easing students' transition to home-based learning. "If you do morning meeting, reflect on the elements you have in your meeting and what could be completed virtually at home," writes Thomas. "If technology allows, record and share daily video announcements and read-alouds."

Margaret Shafer, a third-grade teacher, has kids respond to daily prompts during her morning meetings. Kids can see each other's responses and react if they want to. "My relationships with my students are part of my instruction, and their relationships with each other are critical to their enjoyment of school," she says, underscoring the fact that maintaining relationships is not an afterthought. "So when I planned (very quickly!) to start distance learning, the first thing I wanted to start daily was a way to comfort the kids and let them know that I still care about them and their friends are still out there."

3. Reimagine Temperature Checks

Routine, everyday check-ins- roses and thorns or selecting an emoji to match your mood, for example-shouldn't fall by the wayside. Keep it quick and simple: "I posted on Schoology to give me a thumbs up, thumbs sideways (meh), or thumbs down to describe their day.... I encourage them to take selfies of their thumbs," says high school teacher Javier Rivera via Twitter.

Along with checking in with her students herself, Imad is making connecting with peers part of her students' homework: Each student is assigned the task of connecting with one classmate. "Then, I'm asking them to write to me and tell me how, say, Jackie is doing today. They can decide how they want to check in-email, text, Skype," she says, adding that she sets up guidelines and models the practice for her students first. "This exercise might work even better with K-12-'My homework is to check on Allie.'"

4. Try Snail-Mail Pen Pals, Phone Pals, or Virtual Turn and Talk

We learn better in social contexts. For many students, transitioning to learning from home is complicated by the impact of being cut off from peers-even though many older students might communicate with friends via social media and texting.

"If technology doesn't allow, create pen pals or other paper-and-pen activities by sending home envelopes, paper, and stamps if your school is able," says Thomas. "Or mimic 'turn and talk' by setting up phone pals where students call each other on the phone several times a week to discuss specific topics or prompts."

Third-grade teacher Michael Dunlea follows his whole-group instruction via Zoom with breakout rooms so that peers can reflect on the learned material together. Then he seeks deeper connections with students individually: "I keep one student on for a one-on-one conference and ask them to read out loud for a few minutes. This time also provides an opportunity to check on their emotional well-being and see if they need clarification on assignments."

5. Create Virtual Tables (but Don't Just Group Friends)

For older kids, says Kasey Short, an eighth-grade English teacher at Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina, teachers can set up virtual table groups. Short uses Google Classroom for this because her students are already familiar with the platform. "I will set up discussion threads with four to five students so they can discuss assignments, ask each other questions, and stay connected," she says.

Though many kids will stay in touch with their circle of friends, she says it's important to think about pairing kids with peers who aren't in their immediate social circle-and then mix up the groups weekly. "There will also be spaces for whole class discussions, but I know many students will feel more comfortable sharing ideas in a smaller group setting," she says.

6. Consider Including Parents

Dunlea, the third-grade teacher, asks students to invite a parent online, giving the adults an opportunity to ask questions, express concerns, or request advice.

Beachboard, the sixth- and eighth-grade English teacher, connects with parents each day-she uses the messaging platform Remind, or a dedicated Google Voice phone line for parents who don't have text messaging. She also connects with families by email. "I check in with them once a day with a 'How are you?' and 'Do you need anything?'" she says. "It's important at this time, more than any other, that we are looking out for the mental health of our families and students."

7. Get Kids to Name-and Process-Their Own Emotions

Writing assignments, says Short, the English teacher, offer valuable opportunities for students to process the complex mix of emotions they may be experiencing as a result of their upended routines and schedules, social isolation, and the challenges of being cooped up at home.

"I am going to use some writing opportunities for students to get their thoughts, feelings, fears, and questions down in a creative format of their choice," she says. "I will give them an option to share with the class, or only share with me. This will not only allow them to share out their feelings but also give me a place to check on them and follow up if I see any of them expressing sadness, fear, etc., that their parents may need to know about."

Most important, says Short, "I am going to be honest and as understanding as possible to let students know we are all in this together and will likely all need a little grace."

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7 Ways to Maintain Relationships During Your School Closure

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Suddenly, you're not in the same physical space as your students. We asked teachers to share strategies for maintaining relationships-both peer-to-peer and student-teacher-when everything's gone remote.

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Use Story telling to improve self awareness and communicate feelings

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Use Story telling to improve self awareness and communicate feelings

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Today, it is with a heavy heart, we're announcing that we will be closing 30hands Learning and retiring our popular products: 30hands Pro (for iOS), 30hands Cloud (LMS) and 30hands Web (for Chrome).

We started this labor of love in 2012 and worked with so many amazing educators and students. Many of you have used the 30hands suite of apps for many years and we are truly grateful for your business and support for new ways of learning.

We're delighted that 30hands has helped millions of students use digital storytelling to think creatively and show what they know. We're thrilled that 30hands has helped almost 100,000 teachers inspire their students to be creative and learn more deeply with video and digital technology in the classroom.

If you have any questions or need help during this time of transition, please email us at support@30hands.com. We are fully committed to ensuring a smooth transition. With this in mind, you will still be able to access and download all your 30hands created videos for the next several months if you published them to 30hands from 30hands Pro or if they're on the 30hands Web site.

Starting December 15th, 2020 - New signups within 30hands Pro (iOS app) and at 30handsWeb.com will be disabled, however both apps will continue to function as expected for existing users.

January 15th, 2021 - On 30hands Pro, you will no longer be able to publish videos to the web. The 30hands site (http://30hands.30hands.net) will enter a read-only mode that will allow you to access and download your all your videos.

February 15th, 2021 - On 30handsWeb.com, you will no longer be able to create new videos, new classes, or communicate with parents and students. The 30hands Web site (https://30handsWeb.com) will enter a read-only mode that will allow you to access and download your all your videos.

February 28th, 2021 - All 30hands websites and apps will be fully retired. Last date to download 30hands Pro from the Apple Store.

For managing your blended classroom activities there are many, many options. We'd suggest considering Google Classroom or Schoology. On the video creation side, again there are many options including Adobe Spark Video, Explain Everything, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, and soon to be released Humble Media by 30hands co-founder Carmen Ferrara.

It has been a truly wonderful experience working with all the great educators over these past 8 years! While 30hands will be closing, Eric and Carmen will continue working on new and innovative products.

Feel free to reach out anytime and say hello.

Eric Braun @SouthShoreEric
Carmen Ferrara@caferrara

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Today, it is with a heavy heart, we're announcing that we will be closing 30hands Learning and retiring our popular products: 30hands Pro (for iOS), 30hands Cloud (LMS) and 30hands Web (for Chrome). We started this labor of love in 2012 and worked with so many amazing educators and students.

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Use animation to help students express themselves

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Use animation to help students express themselves

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Blank stares. Eyes focused on cell phones. A lack of participation. For instructors, it's clear when students are not engaged during class. But why is student engagement so important?

In an era where technology permeates virtually every aspect of our lives, distractions are an ever-present concern. And this means that engagement strategies for students are becoming even more essential in modern college courses. So how do instructors build learning environments that are engaging, lively and motivated? They have to incorporate strategies to build community, connection and a love of learning.

Engaged students are typically more curious about a subject-perhaps even more passionate about it. Increasing engagement can help improve student motivation and, in turn, boost student progress and achievement as well.

Here, we provide 31 strategies to bring creativity, collaboration and participation to your classroom.

How student engagement strategies can fit in your classroom

In a classroom where engagement is emphasized, students are asked to participate more rigorously in the learning process and sometimes even in course design. Lectures still exist, but they now incorporate multimedia, technology and class participation. In hybrid and online learning environments, this can mean polling, classwide discussions and competitive activities. These engaging, relevant activities for students can energize your classroom and take learning to a new level, wherever it takes place.

By engaging in hands-on activities, students learn to support, trust and listen to each other, while developing important skills like collaboration and communication-skills that can't be learned from a textbook, interactive or not. Learning to get along with peers, for example, isn't something you can pick up through memorization.

Student engagement is closely linked to student achievement. Numerous studies have found that when instructors use strategies that are explicitly designed to get students' attention-and to actively engage them in the learning process-test scores and graduation rates increase, and learning objectives are more likely to be met, which makes understanding how to engage students even more important for instructors.

What are student engagement strategies?

Student engagement strategies are activities, tactics and approaches educators can leverage during and after class to keep students invested in their learning. They can be used to increase active learning, participation and collaboration in the classroom-and can be everything from simple changes made in your next class to a complete revamp of your curriculum, course delivery and assessment methodology. Here are some creative strategies for engaging students in learning-ranging from small changes to more substantial pedagogical shifts.

Student engagement strategies for your teaching

1. Active learning:
Create a teaching and learning environment primed for student participation, such as calling on students to answer a question, individual reflection and group problem-solving.

Use case: Donna Smith, Instructor of Mathematics at Sierra College, used Top Hat to create a connected, engaging learning experience for students learning asynchronously. Leveraging Top Hat's streamlined platform with features to customize course content, Smith uses more than 14 different question types to assess student learning as the course progresses. This fall, she plans to embed interactive questions between lecture videos, so students have the opportunity to practice course concepts right after learning them. "I love that we have that flexibility with the anonymous question," Smith says. "In my class, 30 percent of my students are first-generation college students. And so for them to be able to ask a question without feeling judged or embarrassed is great."

2. Participatory teaching:
This student-centered approach to pedagogy accounts for the different skills, backgrounds and learning styles of students. The focus of participatory teaching is on self-regulation and self-reflection; specific strategies include using different teaching methods and varying means of assessment, which adds a greater level of flexibility, a key part of any engagement strategies for online learning.

3. Flip the classroom:
Flip the traditional lecture-homework relationship. Students study the subject matter independently and outside class through tools such as pre-recorded videos. Class is then spent on student-centered learning such as working through problems, debating or group work.

4. Technology in the classroom:
Students expect to be constantly connected and want immediate feedback. Online and mobile technology can be used to provide active learning activities and to keep students engaged outside the classroom.

5. Classroom management strategies:
Classroom strategies help instructors build a distraction-free environment. As an instructor, you can build in student engagement by asking learners to help shape classroom rules. As an activity in the first week of classes, decide on a set of shared values and create a set of guidelines, like active listening, what respectful disagreements look like and how to create a safe space for questions.

5. Writing:
Exercises such as journaling and one-minute papers can help keep students engaged in class as well as improve thinking skills.

6. Culturally responsive teaching:
This strategy ensures students see themselves reflected in course readings, activities and lesson plans. Faculty might bring in diverse guest speakers to give a lecture on a niche topic. Alternatively, educators might ensure a certain percentage of their required readings are authored by scholars from under-represented populations.

Student engagement activities based on your curriculum

7. Set expectations:
At the beginning of a course, ask students what they expect from you and then try to meet those expectations. Students are more engaged when they have a good relationship with the instructor.

8. Integrated curriculum:
Combine disciplines rather than compartmentalizing subjects. Some medical schools, for example, have moved away from teaching subjects in isolation such as physiology and anatomy, and moved toward studying organ systems where students learn the physiology and anatomy associated with that system.

Use case: John Redden, Associate Professor of Physiology and Neurobiology at the University of Connecticut, is a long-time Top Hat user and has leveraged the platform to offer a consistent and equitable hybrid learning experience. "To me, that means giving students as much control over their own schedules as I possibly can," Redden said. "It means trying to diversify the way that I teach and the ways that I assess student learning." Redden noted that it's important for students to work together in online learning environments. "We're fortunate that many anatomy labs can be taught online because there are such great multimedia resources embedded right in our Top Hat textbook."

9. Think-pair-share:
Think-pair-share encourages students to work together to solve problems. Students take a few moments of individual reflection to gather their thoughts on a given topic. Then, have them discuss their thoughts with a peer. Next, have the pair of students form a group with another pair and encourage the group of four to inquire about one another's opinions.

10. Make the course relevant:
Students want courses to be relevant and meaningful. Use real-world examples to teach; where the course is relevant to a specific occupation, ensure it's aligned with the current needs of the occupation.

11. Cooperative learning:
How to increase student engagement? Encourage students to work together by arranging them in partners or small groups to help them achieve learning goals. Group work can include assignments, discussions, reviews and lab experiments-even having students discuss a lesson with their peers.

12. Authentic learning experiences:
Encourage active engagement in the classroom by having students tackle real-world problems and attempt to come up with a solution through methods such as inquiry and experimentation. Ideally, the solution will benefit others or the community. Experiential learning-when students learn from reflecting on their real-world learning experience-is a further development of this, and is an effective teaching strategy.

13. Social media:
Potential uses for social media include sharing relevant content, posting instructional videos on YouTube and facilitating ongoing discussion groups. However, strict guidelines for use must be put in place and enforced.

14. Quick writes:
During each lesson, ask students to write down their questions, thoughts and points of clarification. This is an easy-to-implement way to encourage students to think critically and analytically about the course content.

Student engagement strategies for assessments

15. Prepare for class before class:
Students get more out of class time if they're familiar with the material before they arrive. Exercises such as pre-class quizzes ensure they're knowledgeable enough to contribute.

16. Assess early and often:
Frequent quizzes for formative assessment (for "fun") work well alongside traditional midterm and final exams. Frequent testing reduces the temptation for students to cram and forces them to space out their learning, which leads to better retention. Having the first test within the first few classes also helps prevent students from falling behind-boosting student achievement early.

17. Assess attendance:
Student attendance can improve grades as well as engagement. Consider making attendance part of their overall assessment. Many learners enter university without proper study skills, and first-year students can benefit from the structure of mandatory attendance.

18. Problem-based/project-based learning:
Students are tasked with solving a problem or completing a project, but the focus is on the end product, allowing students to determine what resources are needed to solve the problem or complete the project.

Classroom engagement strategies using your presentation skills

19. Use visual representations:
Engage students with animations, 3D representations and concept maps, all of which can help them visualize complex subjects.

20. Inquiry-based learning:
To answer questions posed by the instructor or by the students themselves, a learner undertakes his or her own research to arrive at an answer. Inquiry-based learning can be as simple as watching video lectures, or more involvement could come from designing and performing an experiment.

21. Use simulations:
Games or role-playing place students in an imaginary setting defined by the instructor, providing for an interactive, participatory learning experience.

22. Tell stories:
Wherever possible, tell stories to illustrate concepts when giving lectures. This helps students to process course concepts in their own words, and move past rote memorization. For example, you might ask them to paraphrase a story or definition, explain a concept in their own words, tell a story that relates to it, or provide analogies to further illustrate a course concept.

Use case: Steve Joordens, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, has devoted much of his career to the issue of student distraction and its ephemeral counterpart, student engagement. And if he's learned one thing about engagement, it's that there's more than one way to foster it. So he set about trying to name the different techniques, which led Joordens to create o develop a taxonomy of student engagement, complete with its own handy label: RIFS, an acronym for "Relevant, Interesting, Fun, Social."

The taxonomy breaks down like so:

Relevant is about answering the well-worn student grouse, "Why are we learning this?" Classroom activities such as problem-based or work-integrated learning can enhance any course material's relevance.

Interesting speaks to students' intrinsic motivations: if they're not learning something to accomplish a goal or use it in their daily life, they're learning it because they're interested. Personalized learning strategies in the classroom encourage students to take greater ownership over their own education, which develops a stronger sense of intrinsic motivation: it reinforces the fact that they're not learning something because someone says they have to, but because they chose to.

Fun is about making the classroom experience enjoyable, and Joordens turns to physiology to underline its importance. "When people feel anxious or stressed or under pressure, blood leaves the frontal lobe and people go into fight-or-flight mode," he explains. "The reciprocal of that is to do things that make people feel comfortable and feel good about the class" to keep their minds relaxed and open.

Social is about encouraging students to interact and learn from each other as well as from their instructors or their readings. Studies have shown that learning is most effective when the sense of community in a classroom is high. Tactics such as response systems and peer assessments foster more social interaction in learning.

Student engagement strategies to encourage collaboration

21. Snowball discussions:
Randomly assign students in pairs with a discussion question. After a few minutes, combine the pairs to form groups of four. After another five minutes, combine groups of four to form a group of eight-and so on. Continue combining groups until the class is back together.

22. Philosophical chairs:
Read a statement that has two possible answers -agree or disagree-out loud to your class. Ask students to move to one side of the room or the other, depending on whether they agree or disagree with the statement. Once all participants have selected a side, encourage students on either side to argue in favor of their position. This way, students can visualize where their peers' opinions lie, compared to their own.

23. Affinity mapping:
Place students in small groups and pose a general question or problem to them that has many possible answers, such as "How would the history of the United States be different without Teddy Roosevelt" or "How would society be different if the Internet was never invented?" Then, have students write their ideas on small index cards or on an online discussion thread. After ten minutes, ask students to group their similar ideas into categories, then label the different groupings and discuss how each idea fits. You can also suggest that students consider how the categories are related. This allows students to participate in critical thinking by analyzing ideas and organizing them in relation to one another.

24. Concentric circles:
Ask students to form two circles: an inner circle and an outer circle. Each student on the inside is paired with a student on the outside. Have them sit facing each other. Pose a question to the broader group and ask the pairs to discuss their responses. Have students on the outside circle move one space over after five minutes so they're standing in front of a different peer. Repeat the process for a few rounds, asking a new question each time and exposing students to their peers' different perspectives.

25. Make it personal:
After a lecture unit or lesson concludes, arrange learners into discussion groups or online breakout rooms. To encourage students to reflect on their personal connections to the material they are learning, ask them questions like "How did this change your initial understanding of the concept" or "Describe your initial reaction to this idea."

26. Socratic seminar:
To prepare for a discussion, ask students to review a textbook chapter or a separate reading and develop higher-order thinking questions to pose to their peers. During class, ask an open-ended question to introduce the activity. Then, have students continue the conversation, encouraging their peers to use evidence-based claims, based on course concepts or texts. Students are encouraged to share the floor with their peers, however, there doesn't need to be a specific order for speaking.

Student engagement strategies to build communication skills

27. Brainwriting:
To build rapport and respect in your classroom, give students time to reflect on their learnings in writing, following a challenging course concept. Using guided prompts or leaving it open to your students' interpretation, have them share their thoughts and questions in a conversation with peers during class time or through an online discussion thread. Knowing how to keep students engaged throughout the duration of class ensures that they will be able to understand course concepts on a deeper level.

28. Concept mapping:
Collaborative concept mapping is a way of visually organizing concepts and ideas, in order to better understand how they are related. This is a great way for students to gain a better understanding of others' experiences and perspectives. In small groups, students can use this exercise to go over past work or to brainstorm ideas for future assignments and projects. For face-to-face classes, have students place sticky notes and chart paper on the classroom walls. For online classes, the digital whiteboard feature in Zoom allows students to map out ideas and connect concepts.

29. Debate:
Pose an issue or topic to your class. Then, place students into groups according to the position they hold on the topic. Ask each group to develop some arguments or examples to support their opinion. Next, put each group's idea on a virtual whiteboard or piece of chart paper, to be a starting point for a classwide discussion. To conclude, encourage students to debate the strengths and weaknesses of each group's argument, to help students improve their higher-order thinking and analysis skills.

30. Compare and contrast:
Place students into groups and ask them to focus on a specific chapter in their textbook. Encourage them to find similarities and differences between ideas that can be found in course readings and external sources, like articles and videos they may find. This way, students benefit from sharing resources and learning from one another's perspectives.

31. Assess/diagnose/act:
This activity helps strengthen students' problem-solving abilities and can spur more dynamic discussions. Propose a topic or controversial statement, then follow the steps below to start a discussion.

Assessment: What is the main problem or issue?

Diagnosis: What is its' root cause?

Action: How can we, as a group, solve the issue?

References

1. Ojalvo, H. E., & Doyne, S. Five Ways to Flip Your Classroom With The New York Times. [Blog post] New York Times. Retrieved May 15, 2019 from https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/five-ways-to-flip-your-classroom-with-the-new-york-times/

2. Evans, C., Muijs, D. & Tomlinson, M. (2015). Engaged student learning: high-impact strategies to enhance student achievement. [White paper] Retrieved May 15, 2019 from: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/engaged-student-learning-high-impact-strategies-enhance-student-achievement

3. Twelve Best Practices for Student Engagement and Retention. [White paper] Retrieved May 15, 2019 from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania: https://www.mansfield.edu/academic-affairs/upload/Twelve-Best-Practices-for-Student-Engagement-and-Retention-2012.pdf

4. Quevillon, K. (2017). Student Attendance Matters, Even If Lectures Are Online. Ask Harvard. [Blog post] Retrieved May 15, 2019 from Top Hat Blog: https://tophat.com/blog/student-attendance-harvard/

5. Inquiry-Based Learning. Retrieved May 15, 2019 from Queens' University, Kingston: https://www.queensu.ca/ctl/teaching-support/instructional-strategies/inquiry-based-learning

Related pages

Learn more about Top Hat's student engagement software.

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31 Student Engagement Strategies For Any College Course

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These student engagement strategies are easy to implement and will get your class excited to learn

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As schools continue facing new waves of challenges and changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, good communication with all families, including multilingual families, remains crucial. There are more options than ever before for educators and administrators to connect with families of English language learners (ELLs) and keep that communication strong.

Here are some tips for schools, many of which are based on lessons learned so far during the pandemic.

Note: Families have a legal right to information from the school in their home language. This information is critical as schools make decisions about closures, changes to online and hybrid models, and changing safety and health protocols.

It's essential that schools have accurate contact information for families. Understanding why families' contact information might change, how they prefer to update that information, and how the school can make it easier for them to do so can go a long way in helping everyone stay connected.

Learn more from the following:

1. Find families' contact information.

Start by looking for families' contact information and checking to see if information on file is still accurate. This may be challenging if families' housing and economic situations are unstable. Families who use prepaid cell phones may also change phone numbers regularly.

If you don't have updated contact information for families, consider trying to pass on a message through:

other students or families (including through families' networks among themselves)

an interpreter, family liaison, or ELL educator who knows the family

other educators such as teachers, coaches, and counselors

teachers of other children in the family

community or faith-based organizations serving your students' families.

2. Help families keep their contact information updated.

Ensure that families understand why the school needs updated contact information, especially during the pandemic. You may wish to provide translated emergency contact forms or other tools that can help.

Learn how to make this easier for families in The Importance of Keeping Emergency Contact Information Updated (and keep in mind that families' with limited internet access may not be able to log in easily to parent portals).

3. Ensure that families know how to contact you or the school.

Make sure that families have:

You may also wish to provide a translated information form to help families keep this information organized. In addition, ensure that families know that they are allowed (and encouraged!) to reach out to their child's school with questions.

Preferred methods of communication

4. Find out how families prefer to communicate.

Each family will have their own preferences on how to communicate, although there may be some similarities among families from particular communities who are using the same methods. The more you know about how families wish to communicate, the more successful your communication will be. You can learn more about tech tools that can support this communication in How to Use Technology to Engage Multilingual Families.

Phone calls

You may wish to start with a call if you have families' phone numbers. This will also allow you to reach some families who don't have internet access. Google Voice allows you to place phone calls without sharing your phone number. Keep in mind that some families are not allowed to answer their phones while working.

Texts

Some families may prefer to communicate by text. That will allow them to respond at their convenience. You may also wish to text video messages to your students or families with information, greetings, or messages of encouragement. Many immigrant families use WhatsApp and create large texting groups as part of the app.

Social media

Many schools have had success in communicating with ELL families through social media, including Facebook messenger or a dedicated Facebook group with translated information. For example, the Roseville, MN school districts posts bilingual information for families on its community Facebook pages, including translated messages from a family liaison. For more ideas on how to engage effectively with multilingual families in virtual settings, see these ideas from Dr. Karen Woodson.

Email & online communication

Many ELL educators have reported that emails and newsletters are not a good option for their families. Sending out updates doesn't guarantee that families have received them or gotten the important information they need from them. If you don't receive responses to your emails, consider calling or texting instead. Just because families have provided an email address doesn't mean they are using it or are comfortable sending emails to a teacher. Other online options include doing a video chat, sharing a survey or family check-in form (perhaps via Google Forms), or sharing some online learning resources.
Notes:

Assisting families with access to devices and internet may also improve communication, although as our related article notes, the technology alone won't do the trick without strong relationships and tech training and support.

Your district may have policies in place regarding student privacy and online learning, such as restrictions on videos or images of students. Check with your school administrator for clarification as needed to protect student and family privacy, as well as with your families to find out if they have any concerns.

Mail and more

During the pandemic, some teachers have connected with families through creative ways such as post cards or attaching contact information to food delivery. One teacher who sent her phone number via pizza delivery heard back from the family she was trying to contact!

Partnering with families in the service industry

This video features Juliana Urtubey, 2021 National Teacher of the Year.

5. Find out when families prefer to communicate.

Keep in mind that immigrant families may be juggling a number of challenges and responsibilities that impact how and when they can communicate with the school. Some families may:

The better you know your families, the more you can learn about their schedules and their family's situation during the pandemic.

Language access resources

6. Ensure that families and staff know that families are entitled to information in their home language.

School districts are legally required to provide information in families' home languages. You may need to share information about these rights with families themselves, colleagues, or administrators if families are not getting the information they need in their language.

You can learn more about best practices for increasing families' language access from the following:

7. Identify your language access options.

If you are don't know what your language access options are, contact ELL educators or administrators from your school or district to find out more about your options, which may include the following:

School / district interpreters

Your school or district may have trained interpreters, as well as bilingual staff. It is important to note that bilingual staff and interpreters play different roles:

Bilingual/multilingual staff speak multiple languages. They may also be able to write and translate in those languages, but that is not always the case. They may not have had formal training in translation or interpretation.

Interpreters have received extensive training related to best practices for interpreting/translation, as well as training on specific legal and educational considerations around matters where they will be interpreting.

If your school or district has interpreters, ask your colleagues:

if and when they are able to assist with family communication

what process they prefer for setting up conversations

what has worked (or not) in the past

if there are other translation resources that you should be familiar with

if families have common questions that can be addressed more efficiently

if there are some ways to make technical support in families' home languages more efficient

if there is anything you can do to support their work.

Learn more about in Equity Through Language Access: Best Practices for Collaborating with Interpreters.

District translation hotline

Your school district may offer a translation hotline. Find out if it is currently available and, if so, how you can use it to set up conversations with families. If the hotline's hours don't match your families' availability, talk with an administrator about whether other options may be available.

Translation apps

Ideally, districts will have in-person interpreters available as part of their legally mandated obligations to make information available in families' home languages. However, there are tools that can help fill in some of the gaps, especially during the current crisis.

Talking Points is an app that translates messages between teachers and families in many different languages. Here's how it works:

Illinois multilingual education administrator Sarah Said notes, "It's an application that works as a text message on parents' phones. It enables two-way translation communication with families. You can send mass texts for free! It has been a LIFELINE."

The Talking Points can help give individual teachers more options in reaching out to families directly rather than relying on an intermediary. Please note, however, that it should not be considered a wholesale substitute for professional, knowledgeable interpreters and liaisons who are familiar with:

the language and culture of the families

technical school terms, especially for special education

strategies that can help build trust and community among ELLs and their families.

When to use what method of contact

Keep in mind that some information may be more suitable for texts (shorter messages, reminders, and check-ins) than lengthy or sensitive information, or information that is legally required to be translated. Please take a look at these privacy and security considerations for ELLs and immigrant families if you are considering using Talking Points or other apps.

Supporting learning

8. Identify the information and updates that ELL families will need in their language.

Does planning and communication in your district take ELLs and their families into account? It is critical that ELL families have clear information from the school in their language, especially about schedules and learning models. ELL families will need to know:

In addition, families will need information about:

Families may also want additional information about school meals, health care, social-emotional support, how to support learning at home, or parenting tips for managing schedules and routines. Asking families what information they want is the best to address their priority questions!

Building relationships

9. Look for ways to build relationships with ELL families.

ELL families are valuable partners, yet they are often overlooked in family engagement. The school-family partnership is a two-way street - just as schools have important information they want to convey to families, families have important information about their children and questions they want ask of schools. This partnership is not born overnight, and it may take time to build trust. However, by working steadily on aspects listed above, schools can increases their chances for success, especially when they make it a priority to make families feel welcome and build school-family partnerships.

As you communicate and connect with families, keep the following tips in mind:

In the words of one of our advisors, take time to ask how families are doing, not what they are doing. Like many families, they may be facing complex challenges. (You can learn more about how COVID-19 has impacted immigrant families in this article, as well as by talking with educators or liaisons who know your ELL families well.)

Ask them what their questions are, and what their experiences with schooling have been like during the pandemic.

Learn more about the families' strengths and interests. Start with low-key topics and avoid asking direct personal questions that may make them nervous. Over time, you may learn more about their prior experiences.

Share something about yourself that helps them relate to you as a person, such as a photo of you with a pet or doing a hobby.

Ask them to tell you more about their children's strengths, talents, and personality. As you get to know the child, share successes and observations that indicate that you are seeing the whole child.

It also helps to keep in mind the following:

Many families may have different perspectives on the role of the family in schooling based on the experiences within their culture. The idea of a "school-family partnership" - not to mention the shift to schooling children at home - may be very new to immigrant families and they may not respond to the school's outreach efforts in the way that other families do. You can learn more about how to engage families and encourage their leadership from our ELL family engagement guide.

Some families and students may be more comfortable in settings that are more oriented to the group as opposed to the individual. For example, some families may prefer group family conferences where they can learn from each other's questions and then break off for smaller individual conversations as needed.

10. Ask families what has worked (or not) so far.

Your families will have helpful insights about how things have worked so far. Topics related to communication might include:

getting updates from the school

being in touch with their child's teachers

how they prefer to communicate

questions about technology access and tech support

whether they have had enough information to support their child's learning.

In some cases during the pandemic, families didn't hear back from the school, or schools were unable to reconnect with families. In others, families were contacted by so many different people that they got overwhelmed. Finding out what their experiences were will help planning in future communication.

How administrators can help

Making space in teachers' schedules for the time and effort needed for the above strategies (especially if they do not yet have a relationship with the family) may seem difficult given all that they are juggling. In the long run, however, it will:

fortify those critical connections

allow them to plan more effective and efficient instruction around students' situations.

Administrators can help in this effort by:

acknowledging the importance of this communication

ensuring teachers have the necessary time to communicate effectively with ELL families in their schedules

ensuring that current policies and resources support teachers' ability to succeed in ELL family communication.

Administrators may wish to reach out to staff members, including ELL and bilingual educators, interpreters, family liaisons, and paraprofessionals, to talk about:

Closing thoughts

Most importantly, don't give up! While it will be a challenge, as this teacher notes, families you connect with will likely be appreciative to hear from the school:

I spent a chunk of my day today calling families using Google Voice. I didn't get through to most, but the ones I did talk to were SO grateful for the clarification about what's going on. I even got to hear a few of my sweet kiddos' voices. - Megan Kingery

If we can recognize and seize the challenge, there may be some opportunities that come out of this crisis, such as the chance to:

We are all in this together. Your ELLs and their families will be powerful partners on this journey - once they are invited to the table!

Acknowledgements

Note: Special thanks to Larry Ferlazzo and the educators who contributed to his Education Week series on distance learning and responding to the school closures.

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Communicating with ELL Families: 10 Strategies for Schools

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As schools continue facing new waves of challenges and changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, good communication with all families, including multilingual families, remains crucial. There are more options than ever before for educators and administrators to connect with families of English language learners (ELLs) and keep that communication strong.

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Understanding the Brain: Hand Brain Model

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Distance Learning for ELLs: Lessons Learned About Family Partnerships

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Our dual-language learners (or ELLs) and their families need more than lists of resources about the Coronavirus. They need trusted contacts to help them understand, to sort fact from myths, and to help them get needed services. I urge you to do more than share these links. Talk to people. Post video…

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A recent conversation regarding social emotional learning (SEL) caused me to rethink my focus as an educational leader. I have been working in a couple of schools with high populations of students who have faced trauma and/or have been diagnosed with mental illnesses. As such, I have been doing a great deal of exploration on the topic of SEL, and its connections to Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework based on neuroscience that guides educators in increasing accessibility and removing barriers for each and every student. My goal in exploring these topics is to help students learn to practice self-care in and out of the classroom. In this quest, my focus with educators had begun with empathy for students. This is how I approached the topic with the adult learners I serve. However, I am now considering altering my approach.

Should We Start with Empathy for Students?
Currently, when I introduce UDL to educators, very early in the process I ask them to create an empathy map about a student with whom they struggle(d) to connect. As we continue exploring UDL, which is designed to provide supports using a student centered approach that is proactive rather than reactive, educators are continually asked to refer to the empathy map to apply their learning of UDL to identify ways to meet the needs of this student. Throughout the work, I call out ways that I have designed the professional learning experience with UDL guidelines in mind, to meet the unique needs of adult learners. While this has proven to be effective, I am considering iterating my future work with educators.
How are SEL and UDL Connected?

As I began to learn about SEL, I turned to the CASEL core competencies within the framework. I immediately saw connections to UDL and was eager to learn more with the goal of supporting educators in building the capacity of students to develop coping skills, self-regulation, and relational competency. The goal of UDL is to create expert learners, students who are purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgable, and strategic and goal driven. SEL promotes self awareness, knowing thyself. As students are immersed in SEL, they have a solid foundation to guide them toward the internalize stage of UDL, guidelines nine and six in particular. Both SEL and UDL promote self-reflection and empower students to make decisions that best meet their needs (emotionally, socially, behaviorally, and academically). I had not considered the need for educators themselves to consider their own connection to SEL and UDL. It had not become personal, it was all about students.

What About Educators Themselves?
SEL and UDL are great for students. But is it most appropriate to teach educators about these topics by beginning with empathy for students? I thought so. Now, I am not so sure. A colleague of mine informed me of a couple of SEL workshops she attended that began with educators completing a self-assessment of their own strengths and opportunities for growth within the SEL competencies. Next, the attendees joined a group to discuss their assessment results with others. To be honest, when this activity was explained to me, my first thought was, "That may be a moment where, as an adult learner, I may conveniently yet politely excuse myself from the room for a break." As an educator, why would I want to admit my own social-emotional vulnerabilities with colleagues, even more so if the culture lacked trust? This concept made me feel very uncomfortable.

I continued asking questions of my colleague about this activity, about beginning with educators' own social emotional learning before focusing on ways this would apply to their students. As the conversation continued, I began to shift my thinking. As I speak with educators, I have a tendency to focus so heavily on students that I forget that the learners in front of me are also humans with social emotional needs. We are social beings with emotions that affect our work with our students. How can I ask adult learners to guide students in SEL and UDL if I do not ask them to first consider how it applies to them?
Our Own Self-Care Is Vital
I am reminded that as educators, we need to focus on our own self-care first and foremost before we are able to be most effective for the learners we serve. While it is true that a collaborative SEL activity may backfire in a culture that lacks psychological safety, it could still be valuable for educators to self-reflect on an individual basis. I am continuing to ponder how to best encourage educator self-care. I am also working on practicing better self-care myself, and I am looking at SEL for ideas on how to do this more effectively. Perhaps if adult learners make a personal connection with SEL and UDL, they will be better equipped and motivated to encourage students to do the same.

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Self-Care for Students: Start with Educators (SEL & UDL for ALL Learners)

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A recent conversation regarding social emotional learning (SEL) caused me to rethink my focus as an educational leader. I have been working in a couple of schools with high populations of students who have faced trauma and/or have been diagnosed with mental illnesses.

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An instructor's role in the classroom is to create a learning environment in which all students have the opportunity to voice their ideas, engage with the course content, and interact with their peers. But encouraging student participation, especially among a diverse student body, can be difficult.

To cultivate engagement, begin by thinking about how to build an inclusive learning environment and how you want your students to understand the concept of "participation." Next, focus on empowering quieter students and using your creativity to get all of your students enthusiastic about participating.

Create an Inclusive Environment

Every instructor's first priority should be to ensure that all students feel valued and welcome in the classroom. Making sure everyone in the class knows each other's names, can pronounce them correctly, and is using the proper pronouns forms a strong foundation for building an inclusive learning environment. One of my favourite methods is to give students an impromptu "names quiz" at the start of the third week. Each student writes down as many names of their classmates as they can remember and the person with the longest list gets a prize!

It also helps to think through the physical set-up of your classroom. When possible, have students sit in a circle to facilitate group discussion. It is also good practice to change your spot in the circle from week to week. Doing so will prevent any "head" of the class from forming and so will encourage students to engage equally with all members of the circle, rather than filtering discussion through the instructor.

Broaden What "Participation" Means

Often students assume that the highest participation grades go to the loudest and most outgoing students. But this should rarely be the case. Make sure students understand that "participation" encompasses a wide range of student behaviour including listening attentively to their instructor and peers, asking questions, attending office hours, and coming to class prepared and on time. For this reason, some instructors prefer to use terms like "citizenship" or "studentship," rather than "participation" as an evaluative category.

It's also important for instructors to create varied opportunities for students to engage with their peers. Having students work on a task or discuss a set of questions in partners or small groups creates a different dynamic and empowers those students who feel less comfortable speaking up in a larger group. Many instructors also utilize online discussion boards as an alternative or complement to in-class participation.

Create Opportunities for Quieter Students

Educators often debate the merits of "cold-calling," the practice of calling on a particular student rather than those who volunteer by raising their hands. Those in favour find this method helps individuals who have a difficult time naturally breaking into the conversation. But those against fear that putting students on the spot creates unnecessary anxiety for shyer students. One form of compromise is to give students advanced warning and time to prepare responses before calling on them. For instance, during group work, tell quieter students that in a few moments, you will ask them to summarize their group's discussion for the class. Another option is to give students a moment to write down one or two of their thoughts before calling on anyone to respond.

In some cases, students may simply be unable or unwilling to verbally participate in the classroom. Offering other options, like a reflective journal or additional writing assignments, are great alternatives for students to share their ideas and engage with the course content. If unsure, you should reach out to your campus's accessibility and/or learning centres to discuss best practices in such situations.

Add an Element of Fun

Using play-based methods to create an element of spontaneity in the classroom is a wonderful way to ease tensions and encourage student enthusiasm about participation. Some instructors will ask a question and then have students toss around an object, like a beach ball. Each person who catches it has to share an opinion before tossing it to someone new. Another option is to write students names on popsicle sticks and place them in a jar. Call on students by picking a popsicle stick at random and reading the name on it. These methods add an air of anticipation and excitement, while also offering equal opportunity for all students to participate.

Shira Lurie is a University College Fellow in Early American History at the University of Toronto where she teaches in both the History and Canadian Studies Departments.

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Using Empathy to Encourage Student Participation | Top Hat

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An instructor's role in the classroom is to create a learning environment in which all students have the opportunity to voice their ideas, engage with the course content, and interact with their peers. But encouraging student participation, especially among a diverse student body, can be difficult.

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Emotional Intelligence is highly important in a teen's development.

There is considerable evidence pointing to its positive role in helping students deal with stress, develop relationships, and handle the transitions facing them.

Whether you're a teacher, parent, or a student yourself, you've probably become well aware of how it's been popping up everywhere recently, in lessons, curricula, and even exams.

Here, we'll look at the fascinating research on Emotional Intelligence for teens and students-why it matters, and how to develop it. Then we'll dive into an in-depth look at some different ways that teachers and teens alike can take this knowledge and use it in practice.

In that vein, we'll be outlining some lesson plans and have put together a few Powerpoints that will hopefully make teaching EI easy. Because yes, Emotional Intelligence can 100% be taught and learned.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our 3 Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free. These science-based exercises will not only enhance your ability to understand and work with your emotions but will also give you the tools to foster the emotional intelligence of your clients, students, or employees.

Is Emotional Intelligence Important for Teens?

In a handy little nutshell-yes. Just as it's important for adults, the concepts of social and emotional functioning play a key role in adolescents and teenagers. Emotional Intelligence in teens covers their ability to use emotions effectively and productively in an adaptive way (Sekhri, 2017).

In fact, the concept has become of incredible interest not only pedagogically, but to everyone who's realized that today's teens are going to make up tomorrow's workforce.

Let's look at how Emotional Intelligence can play a role in students' lives.

What Do We Know about EI and Academic Achievement?

EI helps us manage negative emotions and our behaviors in response to them. So, does it impact on how teens and students perform academically?

Some research does, in fact, suggest a relationship between Emotional Intelligence and academic achievement (Fallahzadeh, 2011). In one study of Education students at university, Self-Emotion Appraisal and Understanding of Emotion were revealed to have positive significant linkages with their academic performance on assessments (Mohzan et al., 2013).

Later studies support this finding, with Sanchez-Ruiz and colleagues (2014) finding that EI predicted academic performance better than established personality traits and cognitive ability for Cyprus university students.

These are findings that support the premises of Bar-On, developed of the EQ-i assessment, who has argued that " academic performance appears to be facilitated by being able to set personal goals as well as to be sufficiently optimistic and self-motivated to accomplish them " (Bar-On, 2005, p.14-15).

But what about teens specifically? Interestingly, there is also empirical evidence to suggest that teens with EI are better able to make the transition from high school to higher education (Parker et al., 2005).

Results of a study of 1,426 first-year students found significantly higher interpersonal, stress management, and adaptability skills among students who were academically successful in entering university. The authors' conclusion was that EI has a large impact on students' ability to deal with challenges such as developing new relationships and learning to live more independently, amongst other factors.

It is worth noting that while the studies above do provide evidence for some benefits of EI skills for students, they don't necessarily indicate an academic consensus. As with most areas in the field, much room for future research remains.

Emotional Intelligence: Implications for Students

So interpersonal and emotional management skills may play a pivotal part in helping students better handle the challenging aspects of academic life. But how can we help them develop these skills?

Fortunately for us, it's not as hard as it may sound. There are several ways that teachers can support students in developing these skills, but we will outline two main ones.

Active Listening

Psychologist Bradley Busch, author of The Science of Learning recommends that teachers practice Active Listening.

Based on the argument that students' mindsets, attitudes, and motivations are key to persistence and effort, Busch suggests actively listening to them is critical (Busch & Oakley, 2017). It's a concept encouraged by other practitioners, such as EI Coach Anne Loehr, who recommends facilitating two-way, truly interactive dialogue with students by:

focusing on both yourself and the student during dialogue;

being aware of your non-verbal cues;

validating that you have listened through appropriate responses; and

maintaining awareness of the environment.

This approach can be particularly relevant when a teacher may want to deliver feedback and is very much in line with empirical research supporting the link between active listening and motivation (Stone et al., 2009).

Self Awareness Exercises

If you've read any of our other articles on Emotional Intelligence, you'll already know that there's ample scientific evidence of anxiety being triggered by negative self-talk (Kross et al., 2014).

Because self-awareness involves becoming attuned to our internal dialogue, exercises to help build self-awareness can be a first step toward challenging these irrational processes (Ciarrochi et al., 2002). Helping students develop self-awareness, therefore, is one means of helping them deal with challenges like exam stress or test anxiety.

Returning to Busch's recommendations, this could involve getting students to k eep a d iary. It's one way to help improve their meta-cognition, by inviting them to notice patterns or trends in their thoughts and behavior (Tanner, 2012).

Emotional Intelligence in the Curriculum

Stepping back for a moment, it's easy to see that Emotional Intelligence for teens and students has become an incredibly popular topic. And one critical premise of recent years is the idea that EI should be infused into all areas of the curriculum, not dealt with in isolation (de Klerk & Le Roux, 2007).

This means that recent decades have seen a lot more focus on how we can integrate Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) initiatives into curricula.

So, while we couldn't possibly list all the different ways that schools have gone about revamping their curricula, one well-known example comes from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.

If you haven't already heard of RULER, it's the name given to the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence's SEL approach. The aim of the program is to help schools blend EI principles into their curricula. Through teacher training, coaching support, and evidence-based resources, RULER is designed to inform classroom teaching all the way from preschool up to the high school level.

It's one example of how schools and pedagogy are already very much on the bandwagon with the benefits of EI for teens and students. If you're interested in learning more about the tools and skills that the approach imparts, you can visit their website.

3 Emotional Intelligence Lesson Plans

Ready to start designing your own lesson plans? Here are three examples that you can use. We've tried to link them to the implications above, as well as cover some of the social skills that are so central to SEL.

1. Self Talk: How Thoughts Affect Feelings and Behavior

This lesson plan comes from the book Boost Emotional Intelligence in Students by Drs Elias and Tobias. It aims to assist students in Grades 5-9 to come to terms with the impact that our thoughts can have on our feelings and behavior. It does so by helping teens develop an awareness of when thoughts and self-talk may be having a negative or irrational influence on the way they act.

Part 1: The teacher introduces the concept of self-talk. Discuss the idea that we often talk to ourselves about the way we feel, and that these internal dialogues often play a part in how we behave.

Part 2: The Sharing Circle itself invites students to put up their hands if they sometimes talk to themselves.

Even if there are no volunteers, emphasize the fact that we do all have internal dialogue, despite not always being able to recognize it as such. Ask the students to think about whether their self-talk is kind (nice, positive) or critical (negative) and invite them to give some examples of what their self-talk might sound like when they are facing a tough situation.

Here an ice-breaker might help, if you describe a personal example, such as (Elias & Tobias, 2018):

" This is going to work out well for me," and " This is not going to go well." or
" This is fun," and " I hate this."

Part 3: The third part is the skill introduction, during which the teacher will explain that self-talk is the way that we say things to ourselves mentally, and can often be about who we are or what we are capable of.

Describe that self-talk can have a strong impact on how we feel and behave and that this can vary based on whether our self-talk is negative or positive. Where we are able to turn negative self-talk positive, we can start to have control over how we feel. The authors even provide a text that you can adapt (Elias & Tobias, 2018, p.62):

"Your self-talk can tell you how you are feeling and how to react, even when you're not aware of it. Sometimes those thoughts can become negative and harmful, so it's important for us to be aware of them. That can be difficult because there are so many distractions in life, from homework to social media. We sometimes need quiet in our lives in order to tune in to our self-talk."

Here, you can bring the discussion back around to the examples that they put forward in the sharing circle, and illustrate how vicious negative thought cycles can occur. This example from the authors may help (Elias & Tobias, 2018):
bad thing happens → we feel bad → we use negative self-talk → we feel worse →we react based on our negative feelings → more bad things happen
Acknowledge the reality that negative things do occur and that feeling bad about them is natural. Emphasize that it's when we repeat these negative thoughts and allow them to take over, that situations can become worse.

This can be developed further through the use of examples and inviting students to give positive alternative self-talk alternatives. At the end of the lesson, emphasize again that the first step to challenging negative self-talk is to become aware of it.

Find the lesson in its full format from MiddleWeb.com.

2. Facilitating Mindfulness

Mindfulness, meditation, and Emotional Intelligence have been linked numerous times in academic literature (Charoensukmongkol, 2014; Wang & Kong, 2014; Testa & Sangganjanavanich, 2016).

If you can't see yourself motivating teenagers to meditate with you-let alone in a classroom setting-don't worry. This Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) lesson from Edutopia.org is more about helping teens and students facilitate mindfulness for the first time. As you work through it, you will hopefully be able to see that it has strong links with the concept of emotional perception (Mayer & Salovey, 2006).

Step 1: Invite the students to form a circle of chairs. Get them to put their feet flat on the ground and open the session by starting a discussion about the benefits of mindfulness. It may help if you begin by pointing out that mindfulness is not limited to meditation, but has other advantages. Aukeem Ballard, the creator of the exercise, mentions using the following: " It is not strictly meditation, but rather a practice in supporting your mind to take care of yourself."

Step 2: Encourage students to get on board with the activity, or offer them the chance to opt-out. If you are already familiar with your class of students, you may already have a good idea of how to get them to participate meaningfully.

Step 3: Share the personal benefits that mindfulness practice has had for you. You may wish to relate a personal anecdote where a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction exercise or similar approach has helped you overcome negative emotions.

Step 4: Outline and justify each step as you proceed. Start with asking your students to close their eyes and take three slow, deep breaths in and out. You can do this as a group and reflect together silently before you move on to asking them to reflect.

The subject of this reflection may vary. One idea is to start by asking your students to reflect on their current state. How they are feeling, and validate that feeling without any judgment. You may then want to move on to a specific theme that you have prepared for the rest of the lesson.

Step 5: Each step involves balancing the time that you spend giving instructions with your students' reflection time. Ballard uses this line as an example: " Now we are going to hold that focus for a little while. We just focus on where our air is entering and exiting our body. "

Step 6: Address only behaviors that are 'unsafe'. You may choose to respond to giggling or messing around simply by reinforcing the mindfulness; reiterate the goal of the current stage in a calm and gentle way.

Step 7: Reflect on the exercise and gather feedback. The idea behind this step is to make sense of the whole mindfulness exercise. Students may feel more comfortable talking to a classmate, while you can also let them know that direct feedback is welcome.

You can see the exercise in its entirety at Edutopia.org.

3. Social Communication Skill: Assertiveness

This exercise from NobelCoaching.com is designed to help an individual teen or student develop assertiveness. Nonetheless, it can be easily turned into a larger group activity if you ask students to work with a partner. This allows them to appropriately express how they feel while building their self-confidence and self-esteem.

If we return to the MSC Model for a second, this is related to the ability to manage relationships by attending to their socioemotional or interpersonal context.

Saying no to others can sometimes be difficult, but necessary. This exercise asks teens to start a dialogue that involves asking someone else for something-while expressing their feelings.

To start the exercise, create a 'list of social challenges', and construct a deck of cards from this. Each challenge should ideally reflect teen-relevant social situations and be tailored to their age. Each student will then pick out a card at random and carry out the challenge either over the next day or a few days-this will vary as per your schedules.

The exercise also lists some social challenge examples, including (NobelCoaching, 2018):

Contacting your favorite shop's customer service and requesting information about a product that you're interested in;

Finding out X new facts about a classmate; or

Giving someone an honest compliment.

As a critical last step, open a dialogue with the student about how they felt as a result of the challenge. Ask them to think of different ways they could have expressed themselves, made their request, or asked a question. What were others' reactions?

You can access the original excellent blog from Nobelcoaching.com, where it has been adapted in turn from the Speech Bubble SLP.

What Does EI Mean for Teachers?

Based on what we've already looked at in this article, it's clear that EI is becoming an increasingly important part of curricula.

It suggests a growing trend towards lessons and approaches that are either designed to teach or informed by Emotional Intelligence principles. If not both!

But what can teachers expect? Well, first, teachers now have lots more available resources than they did when the famous marshmallow experiment was brand new (Shoda et al., 1990). These resources and a strong understanding of what Emotional Intelligence involves mean that educators can now access and implement evidence-based strategies for:

Classroom management;

Feedback for collaborative classrooms (n.d.);

Managing bullying (EI.Yale.edu, 2019);

Supporting students with test anxiety;

Fostering creativity; and

Much more.

3 EI Powerpoints (PPTs) for Teachers

If you would like to start with an introduction to Emotional Intelligence and its concepts, we have put together some Powerpoints to help you.

1. Emotional Intelligence in a Nutshell: Swinburne University

This presentation is a nice primer for the EI concept, which outlines the different facets in an easily-understood way. The slides start with a simple definition, then outline examples of EI, and conclude with some activities to encourage involvement from your class.

Download the presentation from Swinburne University.

2. Emotional Intelligence Training Program for At-Risk Youth in High School

If you are looking for some ideas for your own presentation, this EI Powerpoint from the Canadian Counseling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) may give you some good ideas.

This presentation provides an overview of EI and invites students to reflect on their own feelings and behavior. EI training is broken down into three stages within this resource: Self Awareness, Emotion Management, and Relationship Building.

Access the presentation by the CCPA's Shelley Skelton.

3. Challenging Negative Thoughts: University of New Hampshire

This is a template on Thought Replacement Strategies from the University of New Hampshire. You can use this for inspiration if you are thinking about putting together a presentation that will allow you to work through exercises with your class.

The idea behind this presentation is that we can learn (and teach) methods for challenging negative thoughts, as well as self-talk to develop greater EI. It introduces the idea of identifying and acknowledging cognitive patterns in order to replace them with more useful ones.

Download the PPT from its source.

Can Emotional Intelligence Be Taught to Adults?

Emotional Intelligence can be taught to both adults and teens. EI is very often a critical part of many leadership development initiatives, and EI benefits in the workplace are very widely acknowledged (Ovans, 2015).

In fact, we've already put together some resources to help you explore this topic in more depth. If you're interested in finding out how EI is developed, and how you can get started, here is a good place to start!

Can Emotional Intelligence Be Learned?

Absolutely, Emotional Intelligence is as easy to learn as it is to teach. There are myriad ways to develop your Emotional Intelligence Skills, both at work and in daily life. and later in this article, we'll introduce some EI games that aim to do just that.

Just like other skills, though, there's no magic bullet for learning Emotional Intelligence skills. You can start by trying out different approaches, and once you've found something that works for you-practice is the key.

3 EI Questionnaires For Students (PDF included)

1. The Quick Emotional Intelligence Self-Assessment

The Quick Emotional Intelligence Self-Assessmen t is provided by the San Diego City College MESA (Mathematics and Engineering Science Achievement) Program.

Based on an EI Model developed by neuroscientist, and educator Paul Mohapel, it's a forty-item self-report questionnaire that assesses four key areas. These are Emotional Awareness, Emotional Management, Social Emotional Awareness, and Relationship Management. Amongst his other noteworthy credentials, Paul Mohapel is also a certified facilitator in the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory.

For each domain, students can rate their own strengths for different statements on a 0-4 Likert scale, with 0 being 'Never', and 4 being 'Always'. At the end of the emotional intelligence questionnaire, a total score for each domain allows the test-taker to assess their strengths and identify potential areas for improvement. Students are also able to reflect on their Emotional Intelligence strengths in practice through a few free-form questions underneath.

Here are some example sentences that students use to assess each domain:

1. Emotional Awareness

My feelings are clear to me at any given moment;
I am able to stand apart from my thoughts and feelings and example them; and
Even when I'm upset, I'm aware of what's happening to me.

2. Emotional Management

I can accept critical comments from others without becoming angry;
I control urges to overindulge in things that could damage my well being; and
I maintain my composure, even during stressful times.

3. Social-Emotional Awareness

I usually know when to speak and when to be silent;
I am able to be supportive when giving bad news to others; and
I care what happens to other people.

4. Relationship Management

I am able to show affection;
I find it easy to share my deep feelings with others; and
I am able to talk someone down even if they are very upset.

You can download an adapted version of the assessment here.

2. Global Emotional Intelligence Test: GlobaLeadership Foundation

This 40-item questionnaire from the GlobaLeadership Foundation is based on Goleman's (2002) Emotional Intelligence Competency Model-the 4-factor model. It's super-simple to fill out, with only two response choices for each question. And like other EI tests, participants are encouraged to give their initial reaction rather than think too hard about how to answer.

Some example emotional intelligence questions and answers include (GlobaLeadershipFoundation.com, 2018):

In total, the average time needed to complete the test is about ten minutes.

Take the GlobaLeadership Foundation Emotional Intelligence free test.

3. Test Your Emotional Intelligence: Greater Good Science Center (UC Berkeley)

As you may know from some of our other articles, Perceiving Emotions is one of the four EI components proposed by Mayer and Salovey in their original model (2006). This was later developed into the Mayer, Salovey & Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test ( MSCEIT) (MHS.com, 2018a).

This quiz by the Greater Good Science Center ( GGSC) is about interpreting nonverbal cues, so to take the test, you simply read others' emotions from photos of faces. Interestingly, it even covers the actual muscles that get to work when we're expressing sadness, happiness, disgust, flirtatiousness, and more.

Take the test here.

It should be noted that while these may draw on evidence-based measures, they aren't intended as formal assessments. They can, however, offer some insight into the general question types commonly used in professional instruments.

5 Emotional Intelligence Games

Just like the EI literature (and the questionnaires above), Emotional Intelligence games can be found based on various EI frameworks. That is, some center on developing the 5 EI components popularized by Daniel Goleman, some on the 4-component MSC model, and some may take a more general approach.

First up, two group activities or games from the International Institute for Restorative Practices ( IIRP). The first one looks at Managing Relationships, and the second is designed as a Self Awareness activity.

1. Managing Relationships: Turning Complaints into Requests (IIRP)

This relationship management game is focused on communicating our issues to those around us. It centers on the way we choose to express ourselves, and how this impacts on our likelihood of reaching a successful resolution through relationship management.

For the activity, participants list some issues that currently are bothering them-there's no issue too big or small for this exercise. They then select one thing to discuss with the group, and everybody should have the opportunity to share their specific issue.

For example:

Person A's issue may be - " This room is a mess"; and
Person B's issue could be - " I'm still waiting for your report ".

The facilitator discusses how the ways in which we communicate with other people often influences their willingness to help us solve our problems. Rather, we focus on the actual need, whether it's for a tidy room or for someone to give us their report. Then instead of complaining, we make a request.

The main part of this exercise is going around the group and allowing participants to transform their issues from complaints into requests. For example:

Person A's complaint becomes - "Could you help me with tidying up this room?"; and
Person B's request would be - " Would you please be able to give me your report? "

2. Self Awareness: Emotions Faces (IIRP)

This game uses 'Emotions Faces', created by Adele Lynn, author of the book Quick Emotional Intelligence Activities for Busy Managers. If you prefer, you can create your own chart for this game. In this activity, the therapist or facilitator will hand out colored sticker dots to participants, who place them on the chart to identify their feelings.

This then is repeated across several days in order to look at how our feelings change over the period.

While the game itself is simple enough, the idea is to guide and encourage participants in discussing how our emotions at a certain time can influence the way we perceive events and other people.

This discussion should also cover how our feelings and moods can be 'contagious' to those around us.

In this amazing PDF, you can find the Emotional Intelligence game amongst many others. You can also download the 'Emotions Faces' chart itself in the Quick Emotional Intelligence Activities for Busy Managers ebook.

You can find more books on emotional intelligence here.

3. My Colored Hat

The My Colored Hat exercise is quite a popular game and one you may already have come across in our article on How to Improve Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace. In case you haven't yet bumped into it, this exercise is covered in depth in the blog post above, or you can find the original activity here.

In a nutshell, however, this goes as follows:

The facilitator, teacher, or therapist makes (or buys!) some colored hats in 4-6 different colors, one for each participant;

Assign a different emotion to each hat and tell everyone involved which stands for which;

Each player then chooses the colored hat that best represents their current mood and wears it, as everyone gathers in a circle.

The idea behind the game is then revealed; it draws on the theory behind cognitive restructuring. The premise is that we can differentiate between and manage our emotions according to their usefulness and appropriateness.

Those with a negative emotion-colored hat acknowledge the negative feeling, then set it to the side. Those with a positive emotion-colored hat should be encouraged to express that emotion and describe it with the others, allowing themselves to appreciate the feeling.

When everybody has had a turn, we return to the negative emotion hats and confront the feeling that it represents. Essentially, we find an adaptive way of dealing with it. The key goal is to explore ways in which the negative emotion can be replaced with a positive one.

4. Eye Contact/No Eye Contact

On her blog, Creative Arts Psychotherapist Jude Treder-Wolff shares this brilliant game from training and consulting providers Lifestage. This is an improvisation-based exercise that has its scientific base in several empirical studies supporting the importance of eye contact in social interactions and empathy (Wesselmann et al., 2012; Montague et al., 2013).

The dual goals of the game are for participants to experience the effect of eye contact in silent interpersonal interactions, and its effect on our emotional states and connections (Treder-Wolff, 2014).

Stage One: The facilitator begins by asking the group participants to imagine that they are in a public and open area-such as an airport or gallery. Armed with sticky notes, they then walk around the area for 1-2 minutes, during which time they make zero eye contact with others.

They make notes of any emotions they become aware of during the time and post the notes at a certain point on the wall. This note-taking and posting exercise is repeated after the next two stages.

Stage Two: Participants repeat the 1-2 minute exercise, this time seeking eye contact with others, but then looking away instantly once it is established.

Stage Three: Participants carry out the exercise again, this time searching out eye contact and pairing up with the first person to respond in kind. They walk alongside that partner and both avoid eye contact with all others.

Lastly, the group reforms a circle and everybody looks down at their shoes. The facilitator can count to three, on which everyone will look up and actively seek out eye contact with someone else. If they do so successfully, they high five.

The game raises several discussion questions as a key part of the activity, which can be guided by the notes. Some of these questions are (Treder-Wolff, 2014):

What feelings are evoked by each stage?
How does this apply to life in the real world, e.g. what is our emotional reaction to people who look away rather than make eye contact?
What might it mean for client/student contact to make solid eye contact?

Find the full exercise, and more, here.

5. EQ for Success

Those of you after a more competitive type of Emotional Intelligence game may like EQ for Success, a card game from Play Therapy Supply that's designed for ages 14 and up. That having been said, it's also possible to play this game as a cooperative version.

EQ for Success is based on Goleman's 5 factor model of EQ. Each player receives a card with a picture of a brain on it, and space for tokens to be placed on top. Participants then answer questions from five decks of cards, each of which stands for one of the five EQ components: Self Awareness, Emotions Management, Self-Motivation, Relationship Skills, and Empathy.

There's also another deck with a slightly more educational component, too. When any card is picked by a player, another participant asks that person an EQ question, and the first player has to give possible answers. By winning tokens with correct answers, they can fill up the Brain Card, and the first person to do so completely wins the game.

If that's too cut-throat for your liking, EQ for success can also be played cooperatively, where participants fill up two Brain Cards collaboratively.

You can buy EQ for Success at Play Therapy Supply.

A Take-Home Message

In this article, we've considered the role of EI for teens, with a special look at how it impacts their lives as students.

Due to there being so much practitioner and academic interest in the area of teen and student EI, we can definitely expect a lot more to come in the near future. Lesson plans, empirical research, and pedagogical initiatives like the Yale RULER approach have already paved a solid path forward for those of us interested in helping our teens develop. It's a promising area!

If you have already used any of the lesson plans or exercises that we've put together, we would love to hear about it. Please also feel free to share any experiences that you have had in teaching Emotional Intelligence in the comments below. Happy teaching!

For further reading:

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don't forget to download our 3 Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free.

If you wish to learn more, our Emotional Intelligence Masterclass© is a 6-module emotional intelligence training package for practitioners which contains all the materials you'll need to become an emotional intelligence expert, helping your clients harness their emotions and cultivate emotional connection in their lives.

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Teaching Emotional Intelligence to Teens and Students (Incl. PPTs)

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Emotional Intelligence is highly important in a teen's development. There is considerable evidence pointing to its positive role in helping students deal with stress, develop relationships, and handle the transitions facing them.

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The Continuum of Engagement provides the characteristics of a learner as they move from being passive about learning to being in the flow. How do we know learners are engaged? Step up the ladder to see how a learner moves from compliant to flow so you can picture what it looks and sounds like in a classroom when learners start engaging in the learning process. If you walk in a classroom, you might be able to see and hear engagement or the lack of it.

Compliant

In a Compliant level, the teacher is probably following the curriculum and doing what they know or learned in their teacher education program. If a teacher is directing the learning, it might be to introduce a topic. Some activities are determined by the lesson. The teacher may have prepared the lesson, created or used materials to put on the walls, and set up the seating chart. Learners are usually follow directions from the teacher and are not talking about their learning.

Commit

When learners are in the Commit level, you will see learners in pairs, groups, or working individually. The teacher may still be laying the groundwork for learning and determining prior knowledge at this level, but learners are more involved in what they learn. There will be more examples from learners on the walls. You may see the teacher walking around the room or sitting with one learner or with a group. This is the level where the teacher is building the relationship with the learner. The learner starts taking responsibility for some of the tasks or skills they need to learn.

Connect

When learners are in the Connect level, there is more noise in the classroom. You will see learners moving around the room, some standing and others maybe even sitting on the floor or hall. The teacher may be doing the same as what they did in the Commit level but now the room is noisier. The learners are doing more of the talking than the teacher. This is where learners enjoy learning from each other and even teaching their peers. Learners are becoming more inquisitive by generating questions and investigating solutions to challenges, issues, and problems.

Flow

When learners are in the Flow, this is called "messy learning" and may seem chaotic to some people. There is no way to capture what it might look like. You may have a few learners in the hall, one on a phone contacting a mentor, two sitting together animated, a small group brainstorming in the corner, and someone presenting their evidence to others for feedback. This is when learners are pursing their interests, are curious and seeking what they are passionate about. You can hear it in their voices and actions. They know how to set goals and monitor their progress. They want to share what they learn. They are motivated to learn and take greater responsibility for their own learning.

Deeper into Engagement and Flow...

Engagement is the affective side of learning and has been found to be a robust predictor of learner performance and behavior in the classroom. (Martin-Kniep, 2012) Engagement refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that learners show when they are learning or being taught. When learners have a choice in what they are learning especially if it is something they are passionate about or interested in, they jump in and sometimes get lost in the task or project. This is called "flow" and you can see and hear the engagement.

[Source: Adapted from Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow:
The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper and Row]

There is so much more to share. In fact, we will be including this and more examples in our new book, How to Personalize Learning: A Practical Guide for Getting Started and Going Deeper coming out in Fall 2016.

Some questions for you to respond below:

Have you experienced flow?
Where are you in the Continuum of Engagement?What about your learners in your classroom?

Resources

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Continuum of Engagement: From Compliant to Flow

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The Continuum of Engagement provides the characteristics of a learner as they move from being passive about learning to being in the flow. How do we know learners are engaged? Step up the ladder to see how a learner moves from compliant to flow so you can picture what it looks and sounds like in a classroom when learners start engaging in the learning process.

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The Spectrum of Voice by Barbara Bray @bbray27 was adapted from the research "Motivation, Engagement, & Student Voice" by Toshalis & Nakkula for Students at the Center @StudentCntrHub. The content in this post that was originally developed by Bray and Kathleen McClaskey @khmmc as the Continuum of Voice* and is a new derivative developed by Bray along with new graphics by Sylvia Duckworth @sylviaduckworth.
According to Eric Toshalis and Michael J. Nakkula in their toolkit " Motivation, Engagement, and Student Voice," student's voice demonstrates a commitment to the facilitation of agency and to the creation of policies, practices, and programs that revolve around the learners' interests and needs. "In this era of standardization and the Common Core, the practice of elevating student voice might seem counter-cultural but given the importance of agency, autonomy, and self-regulation in learning, it is really rather commonsensical."

Without motivation, there is no push to learn.
Without engagement, there is no way to learn.
Without voice, there is no authenticity in learning.
Toshalis and Nakkula

Toshalis and Nakkula explained that the spectrum of student-voice-oriented activities is where students can start articulating their perspectives as stakeholders in their learning to directing collective activities. They can move from data sources to leaders of change. The goal is for students to have a voice that moves to the partnership, activism, and leadership roles. As one moves from left to right across the spectrum, then roles, responsibilities and decision-making authority grow.

Voice gives students a chance to share their opinions about something they believe in. There are so many aspects of "school" and "learning" where students have not been given the opportunity to be active participants. Some students, especially those that are concerned about extrinsic factors like grades, may not feel comfortable expressing their own opinions. Giving students voice encourages them to participate in and eventually to own and drive their learning. This means a complete shift from the traditional approach of teaching compliance that develops a "learned helplessness" to encouraging voice where there is authenticity in the learning.

The idea of "school" is supposed to be about building relationships that develop a culture of learning. If you ask students what they think about school, you open the door to discussions about them wanting to be heard, having their teachers care about them, and about teachers really listening to what they are saying. When teachers and students engage in meaningful conversations based on real-world issues where they have a voice in decision-making, then they are building a collaborative community of learners. Dropout rates, student achievement, and workforce readiness will improve by integrating students' voices in the classroom and in society.

"Encouraging voice refers to those pedagogies in which youth have the opportunity to influence decisions that will shape their lives and those of their peers either in or outside of school." (Mitra, 2009)

The graphics and content in this post adapt the information in the Toshalis and Nakkula's Toolkit to address student voice and the spectrum as it pertains to how students express themselves and demonstrate what they know. Within different lessons or activities, the teacher and student roles could address any of these levels. This is the reason that this is a spectrum not a continuum of voice. A student might be in the partnership level in an after-school activity and in the expression level in a specific class because of the relationship with that teacher. I am using the term "student" in this post, but invite you to use either student or learner to best represent the ideas you believe.

Expression

As the teacher introduces a lesson, they determine the students' prior knowledge. Students may volunteer their own opinions, praise others, or possibly object to what they are asked to do. The teacher asks questions inviting students to provide the right answer. The teacher can be working at giving students more voice in different activities such as art or constructing something in a makerspace. Yet at this level, students tend to be more compliant and present a sense of learned helplessness. Students may be more interested in what their grades will be or if what they are learning will be on the test.

Consultation

The teacher invites students to take surveys and polls for a consensus on issues. The students consult with the teacher to share how they learn best and have conversations about their strengths, interests, and challenges. During the consultation, the teacher and student determine the most appropriate tools, resources, and learning strategies to support their learning. This is where the teacher starts developing the relationship with each student that changes as they learn. The student discusses how they plan to meet their learning goals and the best way to assess what they learned with the teacher. These conversations validate them as a learner. The teacher then designs the lesson from the feedback, surveys, and opinions to determine the best instructional strategies based on the diverse students at the extremes based on Universal Design for Learning.

Participation

Students define their learning targets with the teacher, how they plan to meet learning goals and articulate how they will demonstrate mastery with evidence of learning. The student's voice is encouraged because now they are more invested in how and what they learn. They are encouraged to attend meetings and participate by brainstorming ideas. Each student working alone or with others where they use the design thinking process around different topics either individually or in groups. They are responsible for how they design and meet their learning goals. They demonstrate evidence of their learning and their participation in a group.

Partnership

Students take on roles in decision making in the classroom and school, i.e. committees, clubs, student council, etc. As part of a member of a project or group, they are learning together and how to collaborate. They learn from and teach each other and designing and creating together. Students contribute to the design of lessons and projects based on their interests and questions. You will see students in multiple areas in the room working in pairs, small groups, one or two students in a corner of the room, or a student working one-on-one with the teacher. Some students are sharing information virtually. You may even notice a group where one student is leading a brainstorming session with their peers using collaborative tools. The noise level changes and is beginning to sound more like a coffee shop with "controlled chaos." You are now hearing an exciting buzz of voices from around the room.

Activism

Students have identified an authentic, real-world problem or challenge that they want to tackle. You may see students in the hallways or other areas in or outside of the school with an excitement about information or resources they discovered that could solve the problem. They are brainstorming ideas and generating solutions. Students are using technology effectively to make connections and build a network of peers. They are showcasing evidence of mastery demonstrating how they tackled the problem. They may even create a call to action in an exhibition, on a website, for their peers. This is where students are starting to advocate for themselves and are developing self-regulation skills. This is also where you see students protesting about crucial local and national issues like gun control and school safety. You will see more students at this level participating in global projects like the UN Sustaining Development Goals.

Leadership

This is where students take on a leadership role around their passions, interests, or what they want to do to make a difference. They believe in the cause to the point that it drives everything they are doing now. They self-direct their learning and take responsibility for the outcomes. The teacher takes on the role of advisor, providing feedback and any support needed in finding connections and resources to meet goals around what each learner believes is their purpose for learning. They take on their purpose to make a difference and change the status quo. This is where students are advocating for others and what they believe in and have autonomy and agency. You may see students running for office, for school boards, for planning commissions, or running political campaigns. Their voice not only matters, in their leadership role they make sure their voice is heard.

****

"Young people want to be heard. They have ideas and perspective on their lives and the world around them, and when their voice is incorporated in learning, good things happen." [Source: McCarthy, John. Activating Student Voice Empowers Learning. p.65]

There are so many aspects of "school" where students have not been given the opportunity to be active participants in their learning. Some students, especially those that are concerned about extrinsic factors like grades, may not feel comfortable expressing their own opinions. In all the levels, they may or not be using technology. Providing opportunities for student voice encourages them to actively participate in learning, to own and drive their learning, and eventually to discover their purpose for learning.

****

Thank You to Sylvia Duckworth @sylviaduckworth ( http://sylviaduckworth.com) for designing the graphics for the Spectrum of Voice. I welcome you to use and share the Spectrum of Voice. If you have questions, you can contact me at barbara.bray@gmail.com.

References

Related Websites

*****

Why Spectrum with new content and graphics and not use Continuum?

*The original Continuum of Voice created by Kathleen McClaskey and me appears in our book, How to Personalize Learning. I have been creating derivatives with over 40% changes to the content and graphics with several of the continuums mentioned in the book. I am basing the changes on new research I am finding, the feedback I am getting from educators, and the new direction I am going.

In particular, for the concept of voice, I believe that in the continuums the focus on the environment was what impacted where learners were in the continuum (i.e. teacher-centered or learner-centered). I now have discovered that an activity, the environment in or out of school, the relationship students have with a teacher or mentor, and their mindset about learning could impact how they use or not use their voice.

For example, let's take one student who has a passion to change the status quo and is advocating about gun control. They may even be leading a protest about the issue. That same student may not be doing that well in their math class, does not have a good relationship with their teacher, and tends to be compliant or just working toward a grade. Does this mean they are in the Expression level or Leadership level or both? The idea of saying that one student or teacher was in a specific level concerned educators I talked to. Some teachers may not be that comfortable teaching in a learner-centered environment all the time. But if teachers understand that a student can be affected by a situation or the relationship they have or do not have with different teachers, or extrinsic factors like grades, then they can look at the Spectrum of Voice to understand the whole child.

Think about that and then let's discuss more situations with different students.

Questions to consider when discussing voice:

When do you feel like you have a voice in the direction of your learning?

Have you ever been in a situation where you did not have a voice about what and how you learn?

How did that feel? Were you able to change that situation? How did you do that?

Do you know students who are at the Expression level and tend to be compliant?

What could you do to empower those students to take more ownership of their learning? How can you encourage them to have a voice in what and how they learn?

Do you have examples of students who found their voice and self-advocate for what they believe?

Do you know any students that could be compliant in one class and in the partnership level in another?

Any other questions you would like to share about voice?

About the author

Barbara is a Creative Learning Strategist, owner/founder of Computer Strategies, LLC and its divisions My eCoach (my-ecoach.com) and Rethinking Learning. She loves to write and is co-author of Make Learning Personal and How to Personalize Learning. This website is where Barbara shares her own views of teaching, learning, and life and is honored to share guest posts and host podcasts from awesome educators and influencers with you!

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Spectrum of Voice: Developing Self-Regulation, Autonomy, and Agency

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The Spectrum of Voice by Barbara Bray @bbray27 was adapted from the research "Motivation, Engagement, & Student Voice" by Toshalis & Nakkula for Students at the Center @StudentCntrHub. The content in this post that was originally developed by Bray and Kathleen McClaskey @khmmc as the Continuum of Voice* and is a new derivative developed by Bray along with new graphics by Sylvia Duckworth @sylviaduckworth.

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A Trauma-informed Approach to Teaching Through Coronavirus

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Experts from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network share their recommendations for educators supporting students during the COVID-19 crisis.

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When possible, teachers can ask parents for insights into what their children need right now. For some kids, school work gives them a healthy focus. For others, self-care may be the priority. Venet shared an adage for staying flexible: "there are different paths up the mountain."
Connection
Relationships are key to resilience, "so anything that teachers can do to help foster relationships should be a priority right now," said Venet. She's heard from parents that some teachers are sending impersonal emails checking on whether students have logged into online learning. Such emails can have unintended consequences because people affected by trauma sometimes interpret neutral signals as negative. "I invite (educators) to be crystal, crystal clear with students that you miss them and you care about them," Venet said. And because the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted many types of relationships, she recommended that teachers also consider how to help students connect with each other, with family and with their community .
Empowerment
Empowerment applies to assignments, as well. "Now more than ever, kids don't need to be doing fake work. They don't need to be doing worksheets," said Venet. "Give them problems to solve. Ask what they're interested in. There's so much data coming out right now for them to be working with. There's so many stories coming out ... Give them tools to think about 'How am I affecting the world around me?'"

More advice for understanding trauma

In addition to the four priorities, Venet shared some reminders and cautions for teachers getting started with trauma-informed teaching .

Use trauma as "a lens, not a label" to understand students.

Trauma is a response, not an event. Do not assume that any particular child definitely did or did not experience something as trauma.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic is creating widespread anxiety, not all kids are experiencing it as stressful. Resources and relationships play a role.

For some students, school closures may be an escape from the stress or trauma caused by , bullying, not seeing themselves in the curriculum , test anxiety and other issues.

Social and emotional learning can help students, but the systemic issues that create stress and trauma also need to be addressed .

Trauma is not destiny. Healing is possible.

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Four Core Priorities for Trauma-Informed Distance Learning | KQED

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Not being able to see students face-to-face can create a huge challenge to educators who are teaching with a trauma informed lens. However, some of those in-person best practices can help inform what teachers do while distance learning.

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Teaching Mindfulness of Emotions with Emojis ;)

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Practices for fostering a positive school climate where students and staff feel a sense of connection and belonging

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Academic Instruction and SEL Integration

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Academic Instruction and SEL Integration

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Academic Instruction | Greater Good In Education

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Practices for integrating social-emotional learning, mindfulness, ethics, kindness, gratitude, and other prosocial qualities into academic content and pedagogy

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This Padlet was curated by members of the CISC ELA/ELD Subcommittee 

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This Padlet was curated by members of the CISC ELA/ELD Subcommittee 

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In addition to a description of each column, this document is a hyperlinked Table of Contents View to all of the same resources found on the Padlet.

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CISC ELA/ELD SEL Column Guide and Table of Contents View