SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING NEWS
SEL - SERVICE LEARNING - CULTURE & CLIMATE
Guilford County Schools
October 2019
The Vision
Our Team
We are always here to serve you. Please do not hesitate to reach out to a member of our team if we can provide any support. To find out which SEL Specialist is assigned to your school, click here.
Social Emotional Learning Specialist
adamsl2@gcsnc.com
Lisa Brenner, MSW
Director of Social Emotional Learning
brennel@gcsnc.com
Cynthia Brown, M.Ed
Social Emotional Learning Specialist
brownc2@gcsnc.com
Tawanda Carpenter, MS
Positive Supports and Bullying Prevention Coordinator
carpent@gcsnc.com
Shan J. Carter, MPA
Social Emotional Learning Specialist
carters6@gcsnc.com
Charissa Cowley, MS
Transition Coordinator
cowleyc@gcsnc.com
Jacob Hicks, MS
Service Learning and Character Education Coach
hicksj@gcsnc.com
Sherry Rogowski, Ed.S.
Positive Culture and Climate Coordinator
rogowss@gcsnc.com
Tinisha Shaw, MS
Social Emotional Learning Specialist
What is Social Emotional Learning?
Social and 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.
The Big 5
- Self-awareness: Recognizing your emotions and thoughts and their influence on behavior.
- Self-management: Regulating your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations.
- Social awareness: Taking the perspective of and empathizing with others from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
- Relationship skills: Establishing and maintaining healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups.
- Responsible decision-making: Making constructive and respectful choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, and social norms.
SEL Quick Wins
Take this easy personality test. Use the results to help you see how your personality shows up for you at work and in your personal life. http://www.16personalities.com.
Get a new perspective on emotions.
Watch the movie "Inside Out". Consider the SEL connections to the movie.
Purpose Driven
We are all driven by our why and our purpose. Examine your why and purpose. Consider your legacy. List 10 hopes you have as a teacher or leader. Put a star by the three that are most important. Consider what you want students to say about you in 15 years. (adapted from The Onward Workbook: Daily Activities to Cultivate Your Emotional Resilience and Thrive by Elena Aguilar.)
Service Learning Updates
Service learning is taking place in our schools starting with elementary all the way through high school. Remember to always follow the service learning process which can be found in our service-learning handbook.
Elementary schools check out this awesome guide for service learning created by Scholastic.
Middle schools check out this informative article on how to work with service learning at the middle school level provided by the Association of Middle School Education.
High schools check out this awesome webinar on how to access and navigate x2VOL.
Please reach out to Jacob Hicks (hicksj@gcsnc.com) the coach of service learning if you need help or would like to co-facilitate a service learning opportunity at your school.
The Media Center
Quotation Station
Check out some ideas on how to utilize quotes here.
Reading Corner for October
K-5 Book Choice: The Invisible Boy
Meet Brian, the invisible boy. Nobody ever seems to notice him or think to include him in their group, game, or birthday party until, that is, a new kid comes to class. When Justin, the new boy, arrives, Brian is the first to make him feel welcome. And when Brian and Justin team up to work on a class project together, Brian finds a way to shine.
6-8 Book Choice: If I Ever Get Out of Here
Lewis "Shoe" Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing through his roof. What he's not used to is white people being nice to him - people like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual passion for music, especially the Beatles, Lewis has to lie more and more to hide the reality of his family's poverty from George. He also has to deal with the vicious Evan Reininger, who makes Lewis the special target of his wrath. But when everyone else is on Evan's side, how can he be defeated? And if George finds out the truth about Lewis's home - will he still be his friend?
9-12 Book Choice: Crossing Lines
Volponi’s novel centers on a jock named Adonis who, along with his teammates, makes a game out of making fun of Alan, a new kid who wears lipstick and is part of the Fashion Club. But when the football team concocts a plan to truly humiliate Alan, Adonis isn’t sure he wants to be a part of it. Volponi, who’s taught teens on Rikers Island how to read and write, asks a big question with this book: Do you want to be the person who fits in with the crowd, or the one who stands up for what’s right?
Staff pick for Educators: The Positive Dog
We all have two dogs inside of us. One dog is positive, happy, optimistic, and hopeful. The other dog is negative, mad, sad, pessimistic, and fearful. These two dogs often fight inside us, but guess who wins the fight? The one you feed the most. So begins the story about a negative mutt named Matt and a big dog named Bubba who teaches him how to feed himself with positivity each day and in the process Matt transforms his own life and the shelter they call home. The Positive Dog is an inspiring, heartwarming story that not only reveals the strategies and benefits of being positive but also an essential truth for humans: Being positive doesn't just make you better. It makes everyone around you better.
School Tools
Positive Culture & Climate
Workshop 3: 10/1, 10/2, 10/15
Description:
The bridge or link between academic achievement and appropriate student behavior is student engagement and positive relationships. Establishing high engagement and respectful and positive relationships is multi-dimensional and significantly impacted by adult practices and environmental variables.
CHAMPS: A Proactive and Positive Approach to Classroom Management assists classroom teachers in designing (or fine-tuning) a classroom management plan that when implemented will establish adult practices and environmental variables that positively impacts student engagement and positive relationships. CHAMPS covers the MTSS for behavior core components that the effective teacher research indicates are critical for a positive and effective classroom environment.
MTSS Behavior Supplemental -Check-In Check-Out (CICO)
10/7 and 10/8 (2 day workshop)
Description
CICO is a program to support students in your building who need a little extra help managing their behavior. Students check in with an adult at the beginning of each day to be sure they are prepared for class and ready to learn. Throughout the day, students check in with teachers and receive points and feedback related to how closely they met behavior expectations. At the end of the day, students check out with an adult who totals up the points and gives them additional feedback. Students take their point cards home to share with their parents and the card gets turned in the next morning at check-in. CICO will help reduce problem behaviors and increase academic engagement. Participants will be taught the Check – In Check – Out (CICO) system and plan for implementation at their schools. The specific responsibilities of the CICO Coordinator will be discussed as well as the roles and responsibilities of staff members. How to identify the students in need of CICO, the forms you will need and the process for beginning and ending students on CICO will all be covered.
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN MTSS AND SEL
When schoolwide SEL is implemented, it impacts the entire MTSS framework. This happens because social and emotional competence is essential for all kinds of learning—whether a student is learning behavioral expectations, exploring how to partner with another student to solve a math problem, mastering how to join a game of kickball on the playground, or practicing taking the perspective of a character in a story. Learning is an intrinsically social and interactive process. When all students have opportunities to develop and practice social and emotional skills, mindsets, and attitudes, students are empowered and the demands of school and life become easier to navigate.
Settling Into the School Year
Tips for managing behavior as you continue the school year
As October approaches, we are settling into instruction and moving past the excitement of a new school year. How is your classroom running? Smoothly, except for a few stubborn behavior issues? Or, are more than a few students exhibiting off-task, disruptive, or disrespectful behavior?
When dealing with misbehavior of any kind, look at why the misbehavior is occurring. Some students misbehave to satisfy a need for attention. In this case, any intervention effort that provides attention to the student when they are misbehaving only feeds into the cycle. One powerful strategy to combat this behavior is to increase your ratio of positive to corrective interactions. Remember, what you pay attention to grows! A recent study found that student-teacher interactions were a major predictor of behavioral and academic success. According to the study, “such reciprocal interactions based on principles of reinforcement can lead to positive outcomes of increased task engagement and academic achievement.”
Misbehavior might also be related to ability. Often, students who are unable to complete a task use misbehavior as a distraction. Naturally—why would you want to do something you’re certain you’ll fail? Providing clear lesson plans, examples of goal behavior, work samples, and step-by-step instructions may help these students achieve success.
Remember, no matter how well you organize your classroom and teach your expectations, some misbehavior may still occur. When this happens, take a moment to analyze why the misbehavior is occurring, and view each misbehavior as an opportunity to help the student learn a better way!
Bully Prevention
October is National Bullying Prevention Month.
UNITY DAY is the signature event of National Bullying Prevention Month. It is a day that YOU can acknowledge your committment to stand against bullying. It is also a day for you to wear and share ORANGE and for us to unite in kindness, acceptance and inclusion.
For more information regarding Unity Day on Wednesday, October 23, 2019, please visit https://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm.
We would love to catch you wearing and sharing your committment to standing against bullying!!! If you plan an event at your school or site, please let us know so that we can come out and support. Order your Unity orange shirts here.
If you are interested in small group lessons and/or additional resources for your school, please contact Tawanda Carpenter, Positive Support and Bully Prevention Coordinator at 336-370-2303 ext. 715108 or carpent@gcsnc.com.
Alternative to Suspension Programs
N.A.R.I.O.P.
Guilford County Schools partners with New Light Missionary Baptist Church to offer students (K-12) an opportunity to engage in an alternative learning environment while suspended from school. NARIOP is the acronym for New Light At Risk Intergenerational Outreach Program. It features academic coaching, mentoring, counseling, character building and leadership development. It serves GCS students enrolled in grades K-12. Students can spend up to 10 days in the program and will receive lunch and snacks. Transportation is not provided.
Contact NARIOP to make a referral at 336.273.9671 or GCS Transition Coordinator, Charissa M. Cowley at 336.402.5973.
“Students Overcoming Situations (SOS) Program.”
Guilford County Schools partner with the Greensboro Police Department to offer this program. It is designed to help connect officers and kids to learn about safety while building a relationship. Currently the program is in select elementary schools: Frazier, Brightwood, Sedgefield, Falkner and Pilot. The program also focuses on the Social Emotional Learning Competencies (SEL) during the lessons with the 5th grade students. Officer Porter (GPD’s, Therapy Dog) accompanies the officers/detectives on some of the visits.
Communities In Schools
CIS surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Please see links below for more information regarding Communities In Schools.
To learn more about Communities In Schools of High Point click here.
To learn more about Communities In Schools of Greater Greensboro click here.
If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Charissa M. Cowley (Transition Coordinator) at 336.402.5973
Upcoming Events
Check Performance Matters in the next few weeks for professional learning opportunities.
10/1-10/31
- National Bullying Prevention Month
10/14
- Workshop 2 of MTSS – Behavior in the Classroom: CHAMPS – Classroom Management: Any GCS employee may sign up here.
10/20-1026
- Character Counts: Find resources here.
10/23
- Unity Day: Resources can be found here.
10/23-10/31
- Red Ribbon Awareness
10/26
- Make A Difference Day: Resources can be found here.