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Join us for a day of community, connection, and celebration!

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Understanding ACEs

Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are potentially traumatic events in childhood (0-17 years), such as neglect and experiencing or witnessing violence.

ACEs include aspects of a child's environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding, such as living in a household with substance misuse or mental health problems.

ACEs can negatively impact physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral development. ACEs can also have lasting effects on health, well-being, and prosperity well into adulthood.

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Childhood experiences-good and bad-shape our health, well-being, and livelihoods over a lifetime. This infographic uses data from the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study and recent findings to show how ACEs and prevention can affect people's lives and society.

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The California Teachers Association compiles SEL websites into a resource list. Although most of the information is read at your own pace, the different resources show how to implement SEL in classrooms. The site also indicates a Micro-Certification on Trauma-Informed pedagogy through the National Education Association website.

As of now, the National Education Association is not accepting submissions, but it is a great resource for educators.

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Social Emotional Learning is a fundamental component of education that helps build student and educator skills and emotional development.

SEL Resources

For the Classroom

The following resources may be useful to you in using SEL in your own classroom.

Additional SEL Resources

Here are some recorded trainings with an SEL focus that may interest you.

Micro-Certifications

Here is a micro-certification course on trauma-informed pedagogy that may interest you.

For more information on micro-certifications click here.

When educators and allies raise our voices together, anything is possible. This is how we win the public education every student deserves.

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Social Emotional Learning is a fundamental component of education that helps build student and educator skills and emotional development.

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This page helps parents feel they're not letting their family down by reminding them that it's okay to take some time for themselves. Oftentimes, parents think of their needs last when they should be first. There's no need for parents to be consistently on the go, figuring out the next steps when they haven't had a home-cooked meal or slept for 3 hours. Helping those around you starts with taking care of parents first.

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A Guide to Self-Care for Parents: Why Making Time For Yourself Matters - Waterford.org

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It’s so easy to mistake self-care for self-indulgence. But did you know that self-care is essential for your well-being as a parent?

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This website has a list of resources for parents to click on.

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Support your child's development.

Social-emotional skills play an important role in the lives of parents, caregivers, and children. If you are interested in learning about social-emotional development, activities, tools, and more, check out our list of resources below.

Social-Emotional Development

Self-Esteem and Confidence

Challenging Emotions and Behaviors

Family Guides and Tip Sheets

Activities for Children

Self Care

Support Services

Developmental Concerns

Early Intervention

COVID-19

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Social-emotional skills play an important role in the lives of parents, caregivers, and children. Access resources for support.

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This website explains why SEL matters and qualities the children need to succeed.

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Excellent resource for teachers (and parents) of K-12 on how to have a positive impact on children based on the Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets. These are actionable steps to take based on the age of youth in your class to support them in their development.

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How to Make a Positive Impact on a Child: Guide by Age – Monroe County CASA

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It takes a village. From early childhood to adolescence, children need ever-evolving support and care from their adult role models. If you are looking to have a positive impact on a child in your life, this article builds upon the Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets to offer a series of actionable steps you can take

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This resource provides a research-based guide on how protective factors within a child’s environment can build resilience and help children cope with adversity. The guide includes a variety of resources such as videos, working papers, podcasts, and learning modules that educators can use to better understand resilience and apply trauma-informed strategies in their classrooms.

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Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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A Guide to Resilience - Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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Protective factors within a child’s developmental environment can help build essential skills to help children cope with adversity and foster resilience.

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NCTSN provides trauma-informed resources to families to help them understand how stress and trauma affect children’s behavior, emotions, and learning. It includes family guides, tip sheets, and strategies for supporting children’s mental wellness.

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The National Child Traumatic Stress Network

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Parents and caregivers play an essential role in helping children and teenagers recover from traumatic events. These resources are for parents, adoptive parents, resource/foster parents, grandparents, caregivers, and all others who care for children and teens.

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This website has 15 printable grief worksheets for kids and teenagers to fill out as a way to process grief in a familiar way- in the form of a handout/worksheet. These worksheets can teach a grieving child how to cope through healthy habits, positive affirmations, and self-care.

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15 Printable Grief Worksheets and Handouts for Kids & Teens

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Losing a loved one can make a person feel stuck and alone. Use our printable grief worksheets to help young people process their emotions.

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Soluna is a free wellbeing app for teens and young adults, which allows for users to engage in 1:1 coaching, explore self-guided tools for self-emotional regulation, connect with peers in their support spaces, and much more!

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Free & Confidential Mental Health Support for CA Youth

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Access 1:1 coaching, self-help tools, and care navigation — no insurance, no subscriptions, no waitlists. Available via web or app for ages 13-25, try Soluna today!

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The Harvard Center on the Developing Child is a helpful resource that explains how positive relationships, supportive environments and everyday experiences help children grow and become more resilient. It also offers research, videos and useful tools that educators and families can use to support children's healthy development.

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Edutopia is a great resource for teachers who want to learn more about social emotional learning. It offers free articles, videos and practical classroom ideas that can be used at your own pace. The resources cover topics like building positive relationships, creating a supportive classroom environment, helping students manage their emotions and promoting overall well being.

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Find resources to help students manage their emotions, resolve conflicts, and make responsible decisions—creating the healthiest school culture possible.

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This resource explains how Positive Youth Development (PYD) helps children and adolescents build on their strengths through supportive relationships, positive experiences, and safe environments. It highlights the important roles that families, schools, and communities play in helping young people develop the skills and confidence they need to thrive.

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Based on the literature, the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, a collaboration of 21 federal departments and agencies that support youth, has created the following definition of positive youth development (PYD):

PYD is an intentional, prosocial approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, utilizes, and enhances young people's strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths.

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs developed a research agenda focused on positive youth development. Through a collaborative consensus-building process, representatives from federal agencies identified three research domains (conceptual issues, data sources and indicators, and program implementation and effectiveness) and key research questions that could benefit from future research.

PYD has its origins in the field of prevention. In the past, prevention efforts typically focused on single problems before they surfaced in youth, such as teen pregnancy, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency.

Over time, practitioners, policymakers, funders, and researchers determined that promoting positive asset building and considering young people as resources were critical strategies. As a result, the youth development field began examining the role of resiliency - the protective factors in a young person's environment - and how these factors could influence one's ability to overcome adversity. Those factors included, but were not limited to, family support and monitoring; caring adults; positive peer groups; strong sense of self, self-esteem, and future aspirations; and engagement in school and community activities.

Researchers and practitioners began to report that young people who possess a diverse set of protective factors can, in fact, experience more positive outcomes. These findings encouraged the development of interventions and programs that reduce risks and strengthen protective factors. The programs and interventions are strengthened when they involve and engage youth as equal partners, ultimately providing benefits for both for the program and the involved youth.

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Based on the literature, the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, a collaboration of 21 federal departments and agencies that support youth, has created the following definition of positive youth development (PYD): PYD is an intentional, prosocial approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, utilizes, and enhances young people's strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths.

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This family engagement toolkit offers caregivers and educators practical ideas for building trusting relationships, promoting equity, and supporting children's learning at home and at school. It includes easy-to-use resources that encourage strong partnerships between families and educators.

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The Trying Together Family Engagement Toolkit supports caregivers in bolstering their family engagement practice.

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Los Angeles Youth Development Strategic Plan

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Citywide Youth Development Strategic Plan | Youth Development Department

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Framework for the 40 developmental assets

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The developmental assets framework identifies 40 research-based, positive experiences and qualities that influence young people’s development.

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This is a resource library for SEL. I specifically looked at the resources available for the parents. There are articles to read to support parents to implement SEL in the home, to provide support for students mental-wellbeing, and how to talk to children in traumatic events. In addition, there are other links to websites with even more resources for home. There is also videos to watch to understand SEL and calming videos for parents to use at home. Lastly, there are links to podcasts to hear more on SEL in the home.

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These resources are designed to support adults, educators, families, and students in building wellbeing, connection, and thriving learning environments.

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This document is part of a year-long SEL program. It introduces the concept of a weekly class council, where students take lead to think about positive traits the class has shown throughout the week, as well as discuss SEL strategies on how to develop more positive habits. It is a way for students to build positive relationships and community within the classroom. They work together to think about empathetic and kind ways to get along in and outside the classroom. There is room for discussion of growth in addition to celebrating positive actions and behaviors.

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Creating Wellness Day to give educators (adults) time to strengthen their own social- emotional well-being. This is a valuable resource as it will help guide adults to better model SEL skills for students.

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Adult Social and Emotional Learning Strategies | RethinkEd

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SEL learning begins with adults; do the adults in your school model self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and healthy relationships?

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How to Integrate SEL in the Classroom? 7 Effective Strategies

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This resource is great because it emphasizes on strategies that help students develop empathy and build positive relationship within the classroom/school community.

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Social emotional learning in the classroom has changed the way many teachers approach everything from the primary academic subjects to free time and recess.

Social-emotional learning helps children develop positive self-esteem, manage their emotions, set and achieve goals, show empathy for others, and handle stress.

Nearly 33% of teens age 13 to 18 will experience an anxiety disorder, according to the National Institutes of Health. The number of children and teens with an anxiety disorder has risen in recent decades. Providing children with coping mechanisms through emotional learning may help reduce the prevalence of anxiety, especially if teachers introduce SEL in early childhood.

Many educators view SEL as an essential piece of the puzzle to help students learn the soft skills they need to be productive, successful adults.

Further reading: What is SEL? / Social-Emotional Learning Defined

How to Implement SEL in the Classroom?

Teachers can integrate social-emotional learning into the learning environment side by side with academic curriculum, teach it separately from Math, ELA, and other subjects, or implement it as an overall classroom philosophy.

By teaching parallel, yet age-appropriate, units at all grade levels, students benefit from continuity in SEL lesson plans. Early childhood teaching creates a solid foundation for more advanced SEL concepts.

Districts looking to implement SEL should first decide upon a comprehensive curriculum designed to:

Help students identify their own self-concept

Build self-esteem

Treat others well

Strive for self-improvement in all areas

These seven strategies that can help instructors ensure consistency across all grade levels to achieve the greatest results from teaching SEL.

1. Help students identify their self-concept

A student's self-concept, or self-awareness, stands as a basic tenet of SEL in the classroom. A person's self-concept relates to how they perceive themselves. Interactions with teachers, parents, and peers can shape a person's self-concept.

A person's self-concept relates to their strengths, weaknesses, and self-esteem. Presenting activities that let students get to the heart of who they are, what they believe, and how they feel about themselves forms the bedrock of SEL in the classroom.

Teachers can use activities into other subjects, such as ELA and social studies, or introduce separate discussions and activities that permit students to explore their self-concept.

2. Introduce positive actions for body and mind

Students feel good about themselves when they successfully complete positive actions. Taking even one positive step can set off a cascade effect leading to more positive actions and, ultimately, positive outcomes.

Teachers can easily integrate positive actions for the body into health class, physical education, and, for younger students, on the playground. They can take time out from the school day to let the children play a cooperative sport outside. They can also teach proper nutrition at snack time and hygiene by encouraging hand-washing throughout the day.

Educators can introduce positive actions for intellectual health during any subject by encouraging problem-solving and creative thinking.

Emphasizing positive physical and intellectual health as part of emotional learning helps students establish good habits to set them up for a lifetime of success.

3. Teach students to manage their feelings and their resources

If positive thoughts lead to positive actions and positive feelings, students must learn how to manage their thoughts and feelings to help foster positive behavior.

Integrating SEL in the classroom includes teaching students how to manage not just their thoughts, feelings, and actions, but also their:

By doing so, students will gain a sense of responsibility that improves their self-concept and boosts their self-esteem.

Strategies to teach students responsibility could include giving them assignments with multiple components that need to be completed on a deadline, asking questions to get them thinking about their feelings and reactions to events, and even giving them opportunities to handle money in the school.

4. Teach empathy

Teachers from decades ago used to call it "The Golden Rule": Treat others how you would like to be treated. Today, empathy plays a key role in social-emotional learning in the classroom.

Once students learn how to manage their feelings and reactions, they can learn how to treat others with kindness and respect. Teachers can embrace multiple opportunities to teach and demonstrate empathy.

They can reward positive student behavior by offering a small reward when a student performs a good deed. Some teachers put marbles or tickets in a jar or create a chain of paper links. When the jar is full, or the chain touches the ground, the students receive a party or special treat.

5. Teach students to face the truth

Even the best students don't behave kindly all the time. They might make mistakes in their work or lose focus too easily sometimes.

Social-emotional learning can help students recognize shortcomings so that they can improve. Teachers may integrate self-assessments following tests in major subjects. They can also ensure that students take responsibility for their actions by making sure they complete homework assignments.

Group projects give teachers an excellent opportunity to use SEL strategies related to working together, taking responsibility rather than blaming others, and dividing tasks based on each students' strengths and weaknesses.

6. Help students practice self-improvement strategies

Once students recognize their weaknesses and learn to own up to their mistakes, they can focus on self-improvement.

A growth mindset, or understanding that everyone can learn new skills, plays a key role in knowing how to successfully implement SEL.

Teachers at this phase of integrating social-emotional learning in the classroom should help students identify, set, track, and achieve goals. These goals could be related to academics, personal behavior, or physical and mental health.

Self-improvement ties into all the other elements of SEL, as students strive to grasp the soft skills related to their social and emotional development.

7. Review all aspects

As students continue to strive for improvement, teachers should implement a review of these six facets of SEL incorporation, helping students identify their weaknesses and study the areas where they might feel "stuck."

An important thing that teachers should remember is the Thoughts-Actions-Feelings (TAF) Circle. Positive thoughts lead to positive actions, which lead to positive feelings, which, in turn, create more positive thoughts.

Outcomes of SEL Implementation

Social and emotional learning can help create more confident, kinder students who are better poised to face the stress of the outside world.

But you may be even more surprised by some of the positive academic outcomes teachers have discovered. Positive Action outcomes has been shown to:

Reduce bullying - Using SEL at school has been shown to reduce bullying by 51%, according to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Improve math scores - Students who develop greater self-confidence through SEL may show up to 51% improvement in standardized math tests.

Improve literacy - Students who benefit from an SEL curriculum score an average of 20% better in reading achievement, according to the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness.

Reduce violence in the school - From a reduction in violence in the classroom to a reduced number of threats, social-emotional learning gives students the tools to cope with their anger rather than resorting to violent words or acts.

Reduce suspensions - SEL implementation led to a 73% reduction in suspensions, indicating students are better behaved and following rules.

Reduce alcohol use - SEL in the classroom has helped reduce alcohol use by students, with the numbers of students who have ever tried alcohol dropping by 29%.

Reduce absenteeism - SEL can substantially reduce absenteeism, perhaps by reducing the number of "mental health" days students take or by instilling a greater responsibility to go to school.

Increase family bonding - Parents and children saw a reduction in family conflict and an increase in family bonding.

Increase overall positive development in early childhood - Based on multiple markers, pre-K students showed an increased positive development in areas ranging from self-esteem to physical health.

Perhaps more importantly, the core SEL competencies that students learn, carry through the graduation and their working years. SEL helps create young adults who are secure in themselves, better able to cope with the daily stresses of life, and more empathetic toward others.

How Positive Action Can Help?

Many different programs promise to teach students the skills they need to become emotionally intelligent adults able to cope with life.

By teaching a program that emphasizes how our thoughts become actions, which lead to positive (or negative) feelings, Positive Action makes social and emotional learning easy to understand and easy to integrate.

We guide you every step of the way with strategies to achieve buy-in from the administrators in the district and gradually deploy the program beginning with the earlier grades, where quick and easy lessons can make a significant impact.

During what we call the "Feeder Effect", teachers will soon be able to recognize those students who used SEL. Seeing the difference between students who did and did not experience SEL encourages buy-in from the rest of the district and prompts secondary education teachers to continue with the program so they can continue to achieve a classroom full of emotionally intelligent, confident, empathetic students.

From Pre-K through secondary education, Positive Action can help you integrate our strategies seamlessly. Want to know more about Positive Action? Contact us.

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How to Integrate SEL in the Classroom? 7 Effective Strategies

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Social emotional learning in the classroom has changed the way many teachers approach everything from the primary academic subjects to free time and recess. Social-emotional learning helps children develop positive self-esteem, manage their emotions, set and achieve goals, show empathy for others, and handle stress.

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A STORY OF HOPE...just one example of the impact of our work "I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the students, families, and staff at CPLA. ​CPLA has created a
​wonderful community of professionals who guide and support their clinicians with resources, empowerment, and kindness."
-CPLA Counselor Mikella Polito 2020-2022
Nadia's first words to me were "I don't open up to anyone." In front of me sat a 14-year-old with her face covered behind her hair. She reached out for help because she felt overwhelmed with the hardships of life and the obstacles she has faced growing up. She had fresh cuts on her arms, a heart full of hurt, and a soul bare of hope. As our time together progressed, her hair covered her face a little less, her eyes slowly began to shine a bit brighter, and her physical wounds began to fade along with the ones in her heart.
On our final day together, she had an entire list of hopes and dreams she could look forward to. I have no doubt that she will attain anything she puts her mind to. Nadia not only opened up to me, but more importantly to the opportunities and capabilities she possessed all along (name changed to protect confidentiality).

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A STORY OF HOPE...just one example of the impact of our work "I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the students, families, and staff at CPLA. ​CPLA has created a​wonderful community of professionals who guide and support their clinicians with resources, empowerment, and kindness."

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Latinx Mental Health Conference - UNIDOS: The Power of Collective Care

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Join us to explore how coming together can boost mental health and support in the Latinx community.

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Social Emotional Learning (SEL) equips students with skills to navigate life's complexities and thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. While educators understand SEL conceptually, many lack strategies for fostering it through meaningful relationships with students. This guide explores SEL's five key building blocks, practical applications, its importance for educators, teachers' critical role in SEL practice, and the measurable student outcomes achieved through Mariposa Education's SEL training.

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Educators helping Educators | Mariposa Education

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Describes the social emotional learning techniques for teachers, educators, and caregivers. These techniques help with teacher burnout, staff turnover, and helping with better teachers.

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The Healing Power of Nature is a professional development conference hosted by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County where teachers explore healing pathways using Southern California's natural and cultural landscapes. Educators engage in hands-on workshops, outdoor experiences, and interdisciplinary sessions that integrate science, art, mindfulness, and social-emotional learning. Participants discuss natural disaster recovery and social competency while building supportive relationships with peers across institutions and disciplines.

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Educator Summer Conference: The Healing Power of Nature

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Join us for a professional development conference where educators can learn healing pathways for themselves and their students using Southern California’s remarkable natural and cultural landscapes.

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This resource is from SAMHSA and was published in 2024. It talks about risk and protective factors for children as they grow and face different challenges. I think this fits under Resilience/Protective Factors because it shows how family, school, and community support can help protect children. This resource is helpful because it can help teachers, families, and social workers understand what children need to feel safe, supported, and strong.

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Risk and Protective Factors for Substance Misuse that Present in Childhood

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Behavioral Health is Essential. Prevention Works. Treatment is Effective. People Recover.

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This resource is from the CDC. It talks about school connectedness and how students do better when they feel cared for and supported at school. I think this fits under Building Community because students need to feel like they belong. This resource can help teachers, school staff, and families understand why relationships at school are important.

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School Connectedness Helps Students Thrive

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Learn how school connectedness can help students to do well in school.

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https://recongress.org

Educators teaching in a catholic school, are also considered to be catechists. This 3 day congress scheduled for April 2027, offers professional development and faith formation. Parents and families are welcomed to attend to strengthen their catholic faith.

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https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/services/professional-development/?srsltid=AfmBOorIpkzSmkUkyV0mHiRL8vfpGRsIlAR5SlbKvweOYfLgMskDL2DR

These trainings are not just for teachers, but also for parents and families. These trainings are available to support families to fun engaging learning lessons and child development. Parents and families are welcomed to seek free support in person or live online trainings with professionals.

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https://formed.org

This resource is a must in a catholic school. It straightens families faith formation with free videos, and themed talks. It is structured as a catholic Netflix where parents can select any religious movie in Spanish or English and watch it with their children or alone. For example, it has all the episodes of Brother Francis and all the Saint movies for free.

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This resource provides parents (and parents to be) with tools, resources, and other support services to help them limit the effects of ACEs on their children, teens, and unborn children.

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Your Doctors, Your Care – Kaiser Permanente of Northern California

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"This workbook guide intends to give teachers (not intended for students) the information about youth experiencing homelessness and some suggested tools that will hopefully result in in-classroom

dialogue about inequity and the reality of homeless youth. Use this workbook to facilitate discussions around youth homelessness. We hope this inspires

teachers and students to engage and understand this issue."

- Los Angeles Mission Arts Council

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Partnership for Los Angeles Schools supports Boyle Heights, South Los Angeles, and Watts by creating a college-going culture in their elementary schools.

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Community Partners | The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools

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At the Partnership, we recognize that the needs of our students and schools go beyond what we can directly provide, so we work with community organizations and partners to better serve our students. We work with school leaders and community partners to leverage collective expertise and resources to best serve Partnership schools and our network in transforming schools.

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Educators will have the opportunity to learn about the importance of fostering inclusivity in the classroom.

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SEL4CA and Partner Events SEL4CA works with partner organizations around the state and nationally to bring our members current events and learning

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The CASEL District Resource Center offers free tools, lesson ideas, planning guides, and resources for educators and school leaders implementing social-emotional learning. Resources cover topics such as classroom climate, relationship building, bullying prevention, and family engagement.

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Looking for a tool to support your district's social and emotional learning (SEL) implementation? Search all of the CASEL District Resource Center resources here.

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The CASEL Guide to Schoolwide Social and Emotional Learning provides evidence-based strategies, tools, and resources to help educators build positive school climates and support students' social and emotional growth. It includes implementation guides, classroom practices, and professional learning resources that can be used across grade levels

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Social and Emotional Learning | CASEL - Casel Schoolguide

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Schoolwide social and emotional learning is linked to academic success, building stronger relationships, and leading happier, healthier, more fulfilling lives. The CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL helps schools with using social and emotional learning standards, and implementing social and emotional learning in schools and classrooms.

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This website aims to provide adults with guidance on how they can strengthen their SEL and how they can better manage.

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According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional, Learning ( CASEL), social-emotional learning (SEL) is "the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions."

Self-awareness and self-management are two of the five components that make up CASEL's model of SEL.

Self-Awareness is simply the ability to be aware of one's inner life -one's emotions, thoughts, behaviors, values, preferences, goals, strengths, challenges, attitudes, mindsets, and so forth-and how these elements impact behavior and choices.

A new teacher who is self-aware notices his fearful emotional response on his first day of teaching. He feels his heart beat faster and his stomach clench as he worries about making a good first impression on students. He wants to run out the door before the students enter the classroom, but then recognizes that this behavior is a result of his emotions and thoughts running amok, and he accepts that these reactions can occur when he experiences anxiety.

Skills that develop self-awareness include:

Labeling and recognizing one's emotions

Identifying what triggers own emotions

Analyzing emotions and how they affect others

Understanding the relationship between one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors

Recognizing one's needs, values, judgments, and biases

Identifying personal strengths and areas for growth

Practicing self-compassion

Cultivating self-confidence, positive self-regard, a "growth" mindset, and optimism

Self-management is the ability to navigate and shift one's thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in a healthy way in order to make decisions and reach goals that benefit oneself and others.

A new teacher who was anxious about her first year of teaching remembered learning from her mentor that when she felt the terror of facing her students for the first time, she could change how she felt by thinking differently about the situation. So, instead of dreading her new profession, this teacher decided to look at it as an adventure-one that might bring her supportive colleagues, wonderful students, and exciting opportunities.

Self-management skills include:

Regulating and expressing one's emotions thoughtfully

Demonstrating perseverance and resilience to overcome obstacles

Sustaining healthy boundaries

Applying strategies to reduce personal and interpersonal stress

Setting and monitoring short-term and long-term goals

Advocating for oneself and one's needs

Maintaining attention

Using feedback constructively

Ultimately, self-awareness and self-management are closely linked. For example, being able to stop and calm down when one is upset (self-management), requires skills like recognizing and labeling the emotions that one is feeling and considering how they might be affecting one's behavior choices (self-awareness).
For a deeper dive into the science and practical school-based examples of this science in action, click on the following topics:
SEL for Adults: The Basics of Emotion
SEL for Adults: Emotions and Culture
SEL for Adults: Emotion Regulation

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SEL for Adults: Self-Awareness and Self-Management | Greater Good In Education

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According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional, Learning ( CASEL), social-emotional learning (SEL) is "the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions."

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This resource provides families with tips on how to best build community engagement. Community engagement is vital to student's success. As the saying goes "it takes a village".

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Family and Community Engagement Resources - TNTP

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Join TNTP in transforming education. We lead in research, policy, and consulting for American public education.

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Kessler, R. (2000). The soul of education: Helping students find connection, compassion, and character at school. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Based on moving stories and profound questions of students themselves, each chapter responds to the yearnings young people express: Deep Connection, Meaning and Purpose, Silence, Joy, Creativity - each evokes a gateway to inviting soul into the classroom.

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Kessler, Rachael. The Soul of Education: Helping Students Find Connection, Compassion, and Character at school

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Crain, W. (2015) Theories of development: Concepts and applications (6th ed.). Pearson.

This text introduces students to twenty-four theorists and compares and contrasts their theories on how we develop as individuals.

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Crain, W. 2015. Theories of development: Concepts and applications. 6th ed.

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Tatum, B. D. (2017) Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? And other conversations about race (Rev. ed.). Basic Books.

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum's Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? (published by Basic Books) is a foundational psychology text exploring how racial identity develops across different ethnic groups in America. The book's core concepts offer a deep dive into the dynamics of race, communication, and identity.

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Tatum, B. D. 2017. Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria? And other conversations about race

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Montessori, M. (1995). The Absorbent mind. Henry Hold and Company.

This book takes its title from the phrase that the inspired Italian doctor coined to characterize the child's most crucial developmental stage: the first six years.

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Montessori, M. 1995. The absorbent mind.

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Operation Parent hosts free monthly webinars led by pediatricians, therapists, and child development experts. Topics include children's mental health, anxiety, social media, bullying, substance prevention, technology safety, and effective communication with children and teens. Live sessions are offered throughout the year, and recordings are available for families who cannot attend.

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Parenting Webinars by Operation Parent | Expert-Led, Evidence-Based Guidance

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Join Operation Parent’s free, monthly webinars featuring child psychologists and prevention experts. Topics include teen anxiety, vaping, social media, trauma-informed parenting, and more—designed to empower K‑12 caregivers and spark meaningful conversations.

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The California Head Start Association offers free live and recorded webinars for parents and caregivers on topics such as family engagement, child development, trauma-informed care, immigrant family support, and strengthening children's social-emotional skills.

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Explore our library of pre-recorded webinars—available anytime, anywhere. Learn at your own pace with on-demand sessions covering key topics in early childhood education and Head Start leadership.

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This PBS LearningMedia resource highlights the importance of adult social-emotional learning and explains how educators' well-being directly influences classroom climate and student success. It offers practical strategies for developing self-awareness, emotional regulation, and positive relationships so educators can better support both themselves and their students.

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Focus on Adult SEL | Social-Emotional Learning | PBS LearningMedia

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Learn ways to cultivate a community of adults who engage in their own social and emotional learning and model SEL throughout the school year. For more information about Schoolwide SEL, including how it works and how to implement it in your school, View the CASEL Guide to Schoolwide Social and Emotional Learning.

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Free professional learning that helps educators strengthen their own SEL competencies while building positive classroom communities.

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Leading Schoolwide Social and Emotional Learning - CASEL

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CASEL’s in-depth, multi-session course for SEL teams that are ready to lead SEL strategic planning and implementation in a school setting.

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Compassion Resilience provides resources to support and help professionals in schools/parents or caregivers to maintain their own well-beings while helping to identify stressors on students.

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Compassion resilience is the ability to maintain emotional, mental, and physical well-being while compassionately supporting others through the challenges of daily work. It involves maintaining empathy, strength, and hope in the face of adversity while taking steps to prevent compassion fatigue.

The Compassion Resilience Toolkits are designed to promote compassion resilience by providing resources and support to help professionals and caregivers maintain their well-being and compassion in the face of daily challenges. These toolkits, guided by a facilitator, offer guidance and support to help individuals navigate the demands of their work and maintain empathy, strength, and hope.

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Compassion Resilience Toolkit - WISE Initiative for Stigma Elimination

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Compassion resilience is the ability to maintain emotional, mental, and physical well-being while compassionately supporting others through the challenges of daily work. It involves maintaining empathy, strength, and hope in the face of adversity while taking steps to prevent compassion fatigue.

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This resource helps parents find information to help support children who are struggling with mental health, behavior or learning challenges. It provides topics you can explore and complete parenting guides.

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Family Resource Center - Child Mind Institute

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Find resources and information to help you support children who are struggling with mental health, behavior or learning challenges.

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This resource helps provide support for the best way to protect your child from toxic stress is to build them up before tough things happen. It also provides parenting tips to keep your home free of toxic stress.

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Skip to content

There are four key ways to build resilient kids:

When to see a pediatrician

If you are concerned about your child facing hard experiences, or their behavior has changed significantly, it's always good to connect with your pediatrician. If you don't have one, you can find someone local here.

What to expect

Your pediatrician can help you figure out if your child is struggling with toxic stress and connect you to resources.

They will ask you about any adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) your child has faced. ACEs are hard experiences that your child may have gone through and found stressful.

Know that this is not a judgment on your parenting. It happens to most people and is something you can help your child with.

Once your pediatrician understands the situation, they can guide you to the right resources.

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Stop Toxic Stress Before It Starts | First 5 California Stronger Starts

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Skip to content There are four key ways to build resilient kids: When to see a pediatrician If you are concerned about your child facing hard experiences, or their behavior has changed significantly, it's always good to connect with your pediatrician. If you don't have one, you can find someone local here.

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Online & in-person events focusing around SEL development in classrooms and for adults.

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Institute for Social & Emotional Learning • SEL Professional Development

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Professional development SEL events for K-12 Educators that focused on building equity-rooted community- wide SEL, alongside deep professional and personal renewal.

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https://www.understood.org/

This resource aims to help parents by providing articles and videos that are family-friendly. They include practical strategies that parents can use at home to support their children.

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https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/

This resource is typically used in elementary schools and focuses on practical strategies that teachers can implement in their classroom. The resource hopes to build a positive classroom community.

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California State PTA Family Resource: provides materials where parents can support their children learning at home like reading, writing, and math. California State PTA is a resourceful site where parents can find videos, documentation, and links about learning.

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Supporting Learning at Home | California State PTA

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The mission of the California State PTA is to positively impact the lives of all children and families.

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Wrap Around Services provide support to children and bring families together. Wrap around work closely with social workers, schools, and health care officials to create plans that focuses on youth development, succeed in academic performance, and well being.

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What is Wraparound?

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) describes Wraparound as a strengths-based planning process that occurs in a team setting to engage with children, youth, and their families. Wraparound shifts focus away from a traditional service-driven, problem-based approach to care and instead follows a strengths-based, needs-driven approach. The intent is to build on individual and family strengths to help families achieve positive goals and improve well-being. Wraparound is also a team-driven process. From the start, a child and family team is formed and works directly with the family as they identify their own needs and strengths. The team develops a service plan that describes specific strategies for meeting the needs identified by the family. The service plan is individualized, with strategies that reflect the child and family's culture and preferences. California Wraparound is intended to allow children to live and grow up in a safe, stable, permanent family environment. For children and families in the foster care system, the Wraparound process can:

Enhance strengths by creating a strength-based intervention plan with a child and family team;

Promote youth and parent involvement with family voice, choice, and preference;

Use community-based services;

Create independence and stability;

Provide services that fit a child and family's identified needs, culture, and preferences;

Create one plan to coordinate responses in all life domains; and

Focus on achieving positive goals.

UC Davis Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice (RCFFP)

The Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice, supported by the California Department of Social Services, provides facilitation, consultation, and training to support Wraparound across California.

Statewide Wraparound Meetings

California Wraparound Advisory Committee (CWAC)

The California Wraparound Advisory Committee (CWAC) is a group whose members collectively makes recommendations, identifies and shares solutions, and promotes best practices related to Wraparound policies and programs. The CWAC convenes on a quarterly basis, twice a year in-person meetings, and twice a year via virtual platform.

Email: CalWrapCommittee@dss.ca.gov for further information.

California Wraparound Hubs

The California Wraparound Hubs are regional groups who share information, collaborative practices, and discuss topics relevant to Wraparound. There are currently 3 hubs: Northern, Southern, and Central. The hubs meet quarterly, in-person and via-virtual platform. They are hosted by local Wraparound providers and the meeting locations regularly change.

Email: WraparoundQuestions@dss.ca.gov for further information.

California Wraparound Steering Committee

The California Wraparound Steering Committee is a group made up of Wraparound experts across the state of CA, including the following representation: county, providers, parent partners, youth partners, Wraparound trainers, CDSS staff, and the Resource Center for Family Focused Practice. The purpose of the Steering Committee is to develop a collaborative California Wraparound community that seeks to build continuity in practice and improve equitable safety, well-being, and permanency outcomes for children and families through the provision of high-fidelity Wraparound programs. The Steering Committee meets once a month and is linked to the California Wraparound Advisory Committee. The meetings are closed. Email: WraparoundQuestions@dss.ca.gov for further information.

California Wraparound Evaluation & Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Pilot

The Wraparound Evaluation and Research Team (WERT) from the University of Washington is working with representatives from the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), Children and Family Services Division, and stakeholders representing county child welfare, behavioral health, and probation agencies, along with Wraparound provider to develop a comprehensive evaluation and continuous quality improvement (CQI) plan for Wraparound. The Wraparound CQI Plan is being designed to assess Wraparound implementation, practice fidelity, and outcomes in California. The primary goal of this effort is to facilitate data collection and analysis to track the degree to which Wraparound implementation is consistent with California Wraparound standards. The data can then be used to increase the effectiveness of services for system involved youth with complex behavioral health needs in California.

For more information, please email WraparoundQuestions@dss.ca.gov.

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The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) describes Wraparound as a strengths-based planning process that occurs in a team setting to engage with children, youth, and their families. Wraparound shifts focus away from a traditional service-driven, problem-based approach to care and instead follows a strengths-based, needs-driven approach.

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Los Angeles Public Library offers services for kids, students, parents, and teachers in the community. Check out all the services available on the services tab!

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Student Success | Los Angeles Public Library

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Live one-to-one help with school work is available 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., 7 days a week for K-12 students and adult learners in 40+ subjects. (Closed some holidays.)

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Video and tools for students in elementary to understand how their own brains process information using theory from The Whole Brain Child (Siegel and Bryson, 2012).

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Upstairs and Downstairs Brain – SEL Sketches

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Some general support strategies for educators who are teaching students subject to ACEs

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Anyone who's watched The Breakfast Club remembers John Bender, the student who antagonizes teachers, pushes limits, and meets peers with aggressive sarcasm. On the surface, he's the archetypal "behavior problem" or "at-risk student." The film eventually reveals something that educators know so well: His behavior is his armor, hiding a childhood marked by multiple forms of trauma-what we now call adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

Among the events that researchers consider ACEs are experiencing or witnessing abuse, neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness, parental separation, incarceration, poverty, chronic financial stress, racism, neighborhood violence, housing instability, food insecurity, bullying, and family separation.

These stressors shape a child's developing nervous system, altering how the brain interprets threats, processes emotions, and responds to academic tasks.

Students don't simply announce, "I'm dealing with ACEs." Instead, educators see withdrawal, emotional volatility, perfectionism rooted in fear, hypervigilance, inconsistent work, chronic lateness or absenteeism, and difficulty managing even the most minor of setbacks.

From Trauma-Informed to Trauma-Responsive

For years, teachers have been told to "build relationships," "show empathy," and "assume positive intent." These ideas absolutely matter, and in fact they are part of teachers' makeup.

But students impacted by ACEs don't need a new curriculum or a new buzzword. They need classrooms that are intentionally designed to restore what trauma disrupts: the central nervous system and all it entails.

The following seven strategies are simple, sustainable, and immediately usable. They are the bridge between trauma awareness and trauma-responsive practice.

1. Predictable micro-routines. For many students with ACEs, inconsistency is a trigger. Their nervous systems are trained to anticipate chaos. Micro-routines provide small but powerful anchors. Here are some examples:

The same warm-up activity or routine every day

Familiar transition cues (such as call and response or music)

Daily check-ins (in fun ways)

Clear class structures (seating, rules, etc.) that rarely change

A predictable end-of-class reflection or closing (which can include a breathing or other nervous system regulation activity before the next class)

These rhythms help students feel safe because the next step is predictable. When predictability rises, anxiety drops, allowing their engagement to increase.

2. Identity mentorship. Students thrive when even one adult in the building shows steady, sincere interest in who they are becoming. Identity mentorship might look like one of these:

A weekly check-in about a student's personal goals

Saying "I'm proud of the way you reacted today"

Tracking something positive they shared and following up

Celebrating small wins that they may not notice

Use your staff and think outside the box. Consider lunch aides, substitutes, coaches, and security officers to serve as mentors. When a student forms a trusting relationship with an adult in the building, defensive behaviors are reduced.

3. Choice-based learning. Trauma takes away a child's sense of control. Even small requests seem threatening. Micro-choices restore agency:

Choosing between two tasks

Selecting a partner or peer group for schoolwork

Deciding how to demonstrate mastery

Choice reduces power struggles. Students feel an increased sense of ownership. Importantly, rigor does not need to be diluted; it can actually be strengthened.

4. Somatic reset spaces (not calm-down corners). Calm-down corners can unintentionally stigmatize students while not providing the self-regulation opportunities they need. A somatic reset space is a short-term physiological reset station available to all students in the class. It may feature the following:

Stretch bands

A space for wall push-ups

Breathing prompts

Fidget tools

A punching bag (in the context of physical education)

These spaces work because they normalize parasympathetic regulation rather than pathologizing central nervous system dysregulation. Students use these spaces to manage their nervous systems.

5. Narrative and creative space. Students rarely say, "I'm overwhelmed," or confront their trauma explicitly. When given the chance, they instead often express it through writing, drawing, music, storytelling, or poetry. At Keansburg High School, we offer ample opportunities to do this through our art classes, drama productions, and music department. We have also seen great success with the creation of the Keansburg Coffee House, a night when students can unleash their creative expression through art, music, and spoken word. This enables students to create meaning through their art, which in turn builds resilience.

6. Community contribution projects. Students with ACEs are often labeled as problems to be fixed. Providing opportunities for their contributions can help them instead see themselves as assets to the community. Let students do the following:

Join peer mentorship programs

Create a fundraiser and hold it in the school (confronting their trauma through philanthropy allows them to fight back)

Lead a school event or club

7. Play and humor. Often, students with ACEs have been deprived of a childhood. Play and laughter lower stress hormones and create an open space for learning. A quick warm-up game, a knock-knock joke, or a mini-challenge can change the classroom. It's OK to have fun with students! (Yes, even in high school.)

From Trauma-Informed to Developmentally Restorative

Supporting students with ACEs is not about softening expectations. It's about creating environments that align with how the stressed brain learns and thrives. Small, intentional design choices can change a child's trajectory and help educators mitigate the negative consequences of ACEs.

While we may not know every student's story-and we may never see Hollywood-style emotional breakthroughs-we can build classrooms where students feel safe and where they feel they belong.

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Practical Ways to Support Students With Adverse Childhood Experiences

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For children who have experienced trauma, trusting adults and navigating the classroom may be difficult, but there are simple ways to help them feel safe and supported.

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Age appropriate guidance for children and teens whose parents are going through a divorce; materials may help educators get a bead on the perspective of children and teens whose parents are divorcing.

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Parents

Help your kids deal with separation. Make decisions in the best interests of your children.

VIEW PARENT GUIDE

Teens

Guidance to help teens cope with a family break-up and move beyond the grief.

VIEW TEEN GUIDE

Kids

Kids ages 6-12: Learn about separation, divorce and the feelings you are having.

VIEW KIDS GUIDE

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Help your kids deal with separation. Make decisions in the best interests of your children. VIEW PARENT GUIDE Guidance to help teens cope with a family break-up and move beyond the grief. VIEW TEEN GUIDE Kids ages 6-12: Learn about separation, divorce and the feelings you are having.

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Explore practical strategies to battle teacher burnout and bring excitement and creativity into the classroom.

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Explore practical strategies to battle teacher burnout and bring excitement and creativity into the classroom.

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15 Social-Emotional Learning Activities for Elementary Classrooms!

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Explore 15 impactful (SEL) social-emotional learning activities for elementary classrooms that help students build life skills.