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Watch a video to learn the meaning of Social Emotional Learning:
Click here: https://youtu.be/ikehX9o1JbI

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Why Schoolwide SEL?

A growing body of research indicates that schools that promote social and emotional learning are critical to students' academic, social, personal, and professional success (Durlak et al., 2011). Additionally, a systemic, schoolwide approach to SEL:

Improves the school environment, which results in better social and academic outcomes for students. An evaluation of CASEL's Collaborating District Initiative (CDI)-a multiyear, systemic SEL initiative in multiple school districts-showed a variety of positive outcomes both for the school as a whole (improved climate and increased attendance) and for students (academic performance, social and emotional competence, and fewer disciplinary referrals) (CASEL, 2017).

Helps schools coordinate diverse services and programs (Elias et al., 2015; Oberle et al., 2016). Schools typically tackle many in-school and out-of-school programs aimed at prevention (e.g., substance abuse prevention, bullying prevention) and promoting student achievement and well-being. When fragmented, this kind of programming demoralizes staff and impairs student learning (Elias et al., 2015). Systemic SEL provides a framework to coordinate existing programs into one initiative with a common infrastructure, vision, and language (Meyers et al., 2018).

Ensures students experience SEL in a consistent and coherent way. Students learn and apply social and emotional competencies more rapidly and effectively when the messages they receive across settings are aligned and mutually reinforcing. A systemic approach to SEL brings all of the developmental agents in a student's life together to teach, learn from, and communicate with one another.

Promotes cultural responsiveness through authentic partnerships with families and community partners, who play key roles in supporting students' academic, social, and emotional development (Chartock, 2010; Delgado-Gaitan & Trueba, 1991; Hollins, 1996).

Citations can be found in the School Guide Bibliography.

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A growing body of research indicates that schools that promote social and emotional learning are critical to students' academic, social, personal, and professional success (Durlak et al., 2011). Additionally, a systemic, schoolwide approach to SEL: Improves the school environment, which results in better social and academic outcomes for students.

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What is mindfulness and why are students, educators, and parents starting to practice mindfulness in school communities across the U.S. and around the globe? Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment with openness and curiosity.

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"What Is Mindfulness?" - Awakening Kindness and Curiosity at School

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Implementing SEL in your schools Reading from a administrator lense

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Implementing SEL in your schools Reading from a administrator lense

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This is the first true guide for educators who want to include social emotional learning in their schools and classrooms. Focusing in detail on the process of implementing an SEL program, Ray Pasi offers direct, usable guidance for busy school administrators, district supervisors, guidance counselors, and teachers of grades 4-12. In a handy, manual format, the author shares the principles that have led him and his colleagues to success -- where others have failed -- including examples of school initiatives and classroom strategies that work.

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This is the first true guide for educators who want to include social emotional learning in their schools and classrooms. Focusing in detail on the process of implementing an SEL program, Ray Pasi offers direct, usable guidance for busy school administrators, district supervisors, guidance counselors, and teachers of grades 4-12.

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Principal Aspire Professional Development - Green Space

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1. More "Do" for Less "Dough": Inexpensive Field Trips Enhance Learning

2. Regulation of the Chancellor (P2,3,5,7,& 8)

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Discipline problems plague classrooms and schools. Students bicker, threaten, tease, and harass one another. Conflicts involving racial and cultural differences are increasing. Truancy is epidemic. Violence is escalating. Generally, conflicts among students and between students and staff occur with frequency and consume considerable teacher and administrator time.

Discipline procedures-expulsion, time-out rooms, suspensions, scolding-may be classified on a continuum. They range from those based on external rewards and punishments to those based on teaching students how to cope with stress and adversity. At one end of the continuum the focus is on the faculty and staff controlling and managing student behavior. At the other end, the focus is on students regulating their own and their peers' actions.

Traditional discipline programs require an adult to monitor student behavior, determine whether it is or is not within the bounds of acceptability, and force students to terminate inappropriate actions. When the infractions are minor, teachers often arbitrate ("The pencil belongs to Mary. Jane, be quiet and sit down.") or cajole students to end hostilities ("Let's forgive and forget. Shake hands and be friends."). If such strategies don't work, students may be sent to the principal's office for a stern but cursory lecture about the value of getting along; a threat that, if the conflict continues, more drastic action will ensue; and a final admonition to "go and fight no more." If that does not work, time-out rooms might be tried. Eventually, some students are expelled from school.

Such programs teach students that adults or authority figures are needed to resolve conflicts. The programs cost instructional and administrative time and work only as long as students are under surveillance. This approach does not empower students. While adults may become more skillful in controlling students, students do not learn the procedures, skills, and attitudes required to resolve conflicts constructively in their personal lives at home, in school, at work, and in the community.

At the other end of the continuum are programs aimed at teaching students self-responsibility and self-regulation. Self-regulation is the ability to act in socially approved ways in the absence of external monitors. It is the ability to initiate and cease activities according to situational demands. Self-regulation is a central and significant hallmark of cognitive and social development. To regulate their behavior, students must monitor their own behavior, assess situations, make judgments as to which behaviors are appropriate, and master the procedures and skills required to engage in desired behavior. In interaction with other people, students have to monitor, modify, refine, and change how they behave in order to act appropriately and competently.

If students are to learn how to regulate their behavior, they must have opportunities to (1) make decisions regarding how to behave and (2) follow through on the decisions made. Allowing students to be joint architects in matters affecting them promotes feelings of control and autonomy. Students who know how to manage their conflicts constructively and regulate their own behavior have a developmental advantage over those who do not. Ideally, students will be given the responsibility for regulating their own and their classmates' behavior so that teachers can concentrate on instruction rather than control.

Empowering Students To Be Peacemakers

In order to decide which type of discipline program will work best, it helps to know what types of discipline problems are occurring. Typically, most discipline problems involve either conflicts among students, conflicts between students and teachers, or conflicts between students and standards of acceptable conduct. By training students to manage conflicts constructively, a discipline program can empower students to solve their own problems and regulate their own and their classmates' behavior. Although such programs have been suggested for years (Johnson 1970), only recently have students been trained to be peacemakers.

For the past two years we have implemented a peer mediation program at Highlands Elementary School in Edina School District, Edina, Minnesota. In 30 minutes of training per day for 30 days, students are taught to be peacemakers in three steps. The curriculum Teaching Students to be Peacemakers (Johnson and Johnson 1991) provides role-plays and opportunities to practice the procedures and skills involved in negotiating and mediating until students can negotiate and mediate routinely.

Step 1: Negotiation

The first step in the Peacemaker Program is to teach all students to negotiate constructive resolutions to their conflicts. The negotiation procedure and skills need to be over-learned so that they are available for use when emotions run high and feelings of fear and anger are intense.

1. State what you want: "I want to use the book now."

2. State how you feel: "I'm frustrated."

3. State the reasons for your wants and feelings: "You have been using the book for the past hour. If I don't get to use the book soon, my report will not be done on time. It's frustrating to have to wait so long."

4. Summarize your understanding of what the other person wants, how the other person feels, and the reasons underlying both.

5. Invent three optional plans to resolve the conflict.

6. Choose one plan and shake hands.

Students need to learn the negotiation procedure and become skillful in its use in relatively easy situations before they can be expected to use it to resolve real conflicts. Mediation is easier, and more effective, when students have previously been trained in the negotiation procedure.

The second step is to teach all students how to mediate constructive resolutions of their classmates' conflicts. Mediation is the utilization of the services of another person to help settle a dispute. The purpose of mediation is to help classmates negotiate a constructive resolution to their conflicts. Mediation is usually contrasted with arbitration. Arbitration is the submission of a dispute to a disinterested third party (such as a teacher or principal), who makes a final and binding judgment as to how the conflict will be resolved.

Following is the mediation procedure the students are taught (Johnson and Johnson 1987, 1991).

Introduction: When mediating a conflict, the class mediator first introduces him- or herself. The mediator asks students if they want to solve the problem and does not proceed until both answer "yes."

1. "Mediation is voluntary. My role is to help you find a solution to your conflict that is acceptable to both of you."

2. "I am neutral. I will not take sides or attempt to decide who is right or wrong. I will help you decide how to solve the conflict."

3. "Each person will have the chance to state his or her view of the conflict without interruption."

1. Do not resort to name calling.

2. If you agree to a solution, you must do what you have agreed to do.

3. Anything said in mediation is confidential.

Step 3: The Peacemaker Program

After students are introduced to negotiation and mediation skills, the teacher selects two class members to serve as official mediators each day. Any conflicts students cannot resolve themselves are referred to the class mediators. The mediators wear official T-shirts, patrol the playground and lunchroom, and are available to mediate all conflicts. The role of class mediator is rotated throughout the class so that each student serves as a class mediator an equal amount of time. Mediating classmates' conflicts is perhaps the most dramatic way of teaching students the need for the skillful use of each step of the negotiation procedure. Refresher lessons are taught once or twice a week.

The processes of negotiation and mediation allow students to practice joint decision making within a structure that emphasizes a solution/settlement that is acceptable to all parties involved and is, therefore, fair. Students are given the power to decide the outcome (within the constraints of the school policy and the law). Negotiation and mediation are self-empowering. They enable students to make decisions about issues and conflicts that affect their own lives rather than having a decision imposed on them by teachers and administrators.

Results at Highlands Elementary

At Highlands Elementary School we initially gathered data on the need for a Peacemaker Program. We found that even in a suburban, middle-class school such as Highlands, most students were involved in conflicts daily. The conflicts reported (in terms of frequency) were put-downs and teasing, playground conflicts, access or possession conflicts, physical aggression and fights, academic work conflicts, and turn-taking problems. Before training, students often referred the majority of their conflicts to the teacher. One of the teachers stated in her log, "Before training, students viewed conflict as fights that always resulted in a winner and a loser. To avoid such an unpleasant situation, they usually placed the responsibility for resolving conflicts on me, the teacher."

reduces the number of student-student conflicts referred to teachers and the principal,

results in students mastering the negotiation and mediation procedures and skills taught, and

results in students using these procedures and skills in settings other than the classroom.

If students did not bring the conflict to the teacher, they typically used destructive strategies (such as repeating their request and trying to force the other person to give in) that would escalate the conflict. Negotiating an agreement that both students liked was never an option. Students had no idea how to do so. From these findings, we concluded that students were not being taught negotiation procedures and skills in the home or community at large and, therefore, that all students needed to be trained in how to manage conflicts constructively.

After students received the negotiation and mediation training, the student-student conflicts that did occur were by and large managed by the students themselves without the involvement of adults. The frequency of student-student conflicts teachers had to manage dropped 80 percent. The number of conflicts referred to the principal was reduced to zero. Such a dramatic reduction of referrals of conflicts to adults changed the school discipline program from one that arbitrated conflicts to one that maintained and supported the peer-mediation process.

To determine how well students learned to negotiate and mediate, students were videotaped negotiating resolutions to two conflicts immediately after the training and six months later. They were also given a questionnaire in which they were to write out how they would mediate two conflicts described. Their responses clearly demonstrated that students knew and were able to apply the negotiation and mediation procedures. There is no doubt that the training was effective. That does not mean it was perfect. Students were disinclined to express their feelings and sometimes did not think to reverse perspectives.

Many of the students reported using the negotiation and mediation skills at home with their siblings. A number of parents volunteered to teachers that students used the negotiation and mediation procedures and skills with their brothers and sisters, neighborhood friends, grandparents, and pets. Perhaps the most interesting evidence that the conflict training program worked was that many parents whose children were not part of the project requested that their children receive the training next year. A number of parents even requested training for themselves.

To ensure that the negotiation and mediation procedures and skills will transfer from the training situation to actual conflict situations in and out of school, teachers should follow several guidelines. Students need to learn not only what the procedure is but also how to actually use it. Overlearning is necessary. If students have to stop and think what they should do, often it is too late to manage the conflicts constructively. Booster sessions are needed throughout the year to help students maintain the use of the procedures. Finally, all students must receive the negotiation and mediation training and all students must serve as mediators, not just a select few.

Benefits of Peacemaking

Students do have procedures for managing conflicts, but often the procedures are not constructive and not shared among all classmates. When students are from different cultural, ethnic, social, and language backgrounds, the multiple procedures for managing conflicts within classrooms can create some chaos. Life in schools gets easier when all students (and staff members) use the same set of procedures in managing conflicts.

Currently, few schools systematically teach students the procedures and skills required for constructive conflict resolution. Without direct training in how to manage conflicts constructively, many students may never become able to do so. Classrooms need to become places where destructive conflicts are prevented and where constructive conflicts are structured, encouraged, and utilized to improve the quality of instruction and classroom life.

Conflict in the classroom in and of itself is not bad, but conflict avoided or unresolved is. When a conflict occurs, the students involved first try to negotiate a resolution. If that fails, a classmate mediates their conflict. If that fails, the teacher attempts to mediate the conflict. If that fails, the teacher arbitrates by deciding who is right and who is wrong. If that fails, the principal mediates the conflict. If that fails, the principal arbitrates. When students are taught how to negotiate and are given opportunities to mediate their classmates' conflicts, they are given procedures and competencies to (1) regulate their behavior through self-monitoring, (2) judge what is appropriate given the situation and the perspective of the other person, and (3) modify how they behave accordingly.

Teaching all students negotiation and mediation procedures and skills results in a schoolwide discipline program that empowers students to regulate and control their own and their classmates' actions. Teachers and administrators are then freed to spend more of their energies on instruction.

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Teaching Students to Be Peer Mediators - ASCD

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Discipline problems plague classrooms and schools. Students bicker, threaten, tease, and harass one another. Conflicts involving racial and cultural differences are increasing. Truancy is epidemic. Violence is escalating. Generally, conflicts among students and between students and staff occur with frequency and consume considerable teacher and administrator time.

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Restorative Circles: Creating a Safe Environment for Students to Reflect

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We recommend you register with Notify NYC to receive information about emergency events. It is also important that you create a NYC Schools Account (NYCSA) to receive "real-time" emergency notification from school emergencies. You can call 311 for additional information about a school during an emergency.

General Response Protocol

Schools train and drill all staff and students in the General Response Protocol, which describes what to do in an Evacuation, Shelter-In, or Lockdown. The training is tailored for different grade levels so that students aren't upset by the information.

Schools also sends home a copy of the General Response Protocol, to help you talk to your children about emergency readiness in school.

The General Response Protocol gives schools instructions to follow when an emergency happens. It uses common language to identify the steps to take until first responders arrive.

In every incident, school administrators will first call 911. Then they will look at the unique situation and decide:

whether to lock down (soft or hard), shelter-in, or evacuate.

if any instructions should be changed to fit the specific circumstances.

Lockdowns

Soft Lockdown: No Imminent Danger

Administrative teams, Building Response Teams, and School Safety Agents will meet at the designated command post for further direction.

Hard Lockdown: Imminent Danger

No one should sweep the school in a hard lockdown. All individuals, including School Safety Agents will take appropriate lockdown action and await the arrival of first responders. In a Hard Lockdown, there may be instances where additional action is needed to minimize the danger to individuals. Adults and students will also need to consider all available options during an incident. They may need to run out of the building to remain safe and contact 911 if they are in an area that allows them to do so. They may need to hide (remain in lockdown) to ensure that they are behind a locked door and remain silent, or if faced with an imminent threat in their room or office, they may need to confront their attacker.

In Any Lockdown

A Public Address (PA) announcement made two times:
Attention: We are now in soft/ hard lockdown. Take proper action.

Students are trained to move out of sight and keep silent.

Teachers are trained to:

Check the hallway outside of their classrooms for students, lock classroom doors, and turn off the lights.

Move out of sight and keep silent

Wait for first responders to open door, or for the message:

The Lockdown has been lifted

followed by specific directions

Take attendance and account for missing students by contacting the main office.

Evacuations

Often, the fire alarm system alerts staff and students to start an evacuation.

However, there may also be times when a Public Address announcement starts an evacuation.

Announcements will begin with "Attention" followed by specific directions

They are made two times.

Students are trained to:

Leave belongings behind

Form a single file line

In cold weather, students should be reminded to take their coats.
However, students wearing exercise or gym clothes will not return to the locker room.

Students without winter coats will be taken to safe, warm location as quickly as possible.

Teachers are trained to:

Grab evacuation folder (with attendance sheet and Assembly cards).

Lead students to evacuation location as identified on Fire Drill Posters.

Always listen for additional directions

Take attendance and account for students.

Report injuries, problems, or missing students to school staff and first responders using Assembly Card method.

Shelter-in

There is a Public Address announcement made two times:
Attention. This is a shelter-in. Secure the exit doors.

The Shelter-In directive stays in effect until it is ended by a Public Address announcement
The Shelter- In has been lifted

Students are trained to:

Remain inside the building

Conduct business as usual

Respond to specific staff directions

Teachers are trained to:

Be more aware of their surroundings

Conduct business as usual

BRT members, floor wardens, and Shelter- In staff will secure all exits and report to specific post assignments

Hold

The Hold response calls for no movement throughout the building until the "all clear" is given. While in Hold response, instruction and office tasks may continue as normal but no one may leave the room they are in until the Hold has ended.

Hold is initiated when there is a condition inside the school building, and the immediate need to address the condition requires staff, students, and visitors to remain in place and conduct business as usual until the "All Clear" is announced.

Hold might be initiated to manage an incident in the building that does not place the school community in danger, or whenever directed by First Responders Hold does not replace a soft or hard lockdown.

The Building Response Team and School Safety Agents will sweep the building. Anyone found in the restrooms, hallways, stairwells, or the lobby will be taken to a designated area until the "All Clear" announcement is made.

Announcements must be made to remind everyone to disregard any "end of class" signals. No one may enter or leave their room or office until the announcement is made indicating that the "All Clear" has been issued and the building can return to regular operation.

During a Hold, anyone entering the school must be informed of the Hold. If students are returning from lunch, they must be escorted to a designated area where they can remain, with proper supervision, until the "All Clear" announcement is made.

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All schools train and drill staff and students in the General Response Protocol, which describes what to do in an emergency including evacuations, shelter-ins, or lockdowns.

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Additional Resources on Virtual Field Trips and Benefits of Field Trips

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Additional Resources on Virtual Field Trips and Benefits of Field Trips

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1. FAQs Regarding School Trips

2. 40 Amazing Educational Virtual Field Trips

3. THE BEST RESOURCES FOR ORGANIZING & MAXIMIZING FIELD TRIPS – BOTH “REAL” & “VIRTUAL”

4. A Review of Research on School Field Trips and Their Value in Education

5. Audio: Response: ‘Field Trips Are Powerful Learning Experiences’

6. COMMENTARY: Fewer field trips mean some students miss more than a day at the museum

7. How Field Trips Boost Students’ Lifelong Success

8. Yes, Field Trips Are Worth the Effort- Culturally enriching trips can boost grades and decrease absences and behavioral infractions, new research reveals

9.  Class Trips (UFT)

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During the research process, articles on the negative impacts of field trips on students' learning were scarce. We managed to find some articles on the challenges of organizing a field trip for teachers and concerns from parents, which are linked below.

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Challenges and Concerns Regarding Field Trips

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Challenges and Concerns Regarding Field Trips

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1. Are parents, fears of lawsuits ruining school field trip traditions?

2. The Hardest Problems for Field Trip Organizers – And How to Solve Them

3. The Great Debate: Are field trips beneficial or not?

4. The Educational Value of Field Trips: Advantages and Disadvantages

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Relationship Building With Students Video

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Relationship Building With Students Video

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How to Create a Mistake-Friendly Classroom