SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING NEWS
SEL - SERVICE LEARNING - CULTURE & CLIMATE
Guilford County Schools
February 2020
A Season for Love
Let's celebrate brotherly love, that love for others simply because they are. "At the heart of every religious tradition is a message of love and compassion. It's' not just religion. It is science too. All of the research is pointing in the same direction: Basic human nature is compassionate. We are hardwired to connect and care for each other. Our brains get the same pleasure from helping someone else as we do from gratifying personal desires. Religion and science are just different mechanisms to find the same thing: Love is the only way." Elena Aguilar, 2018
Practice Love this month:
- Do a simple act of kindness for someone else.
- Jot a note of thanks to someone who has helped you.
- Share a hug with someone.
- Treat yourself to a simple pleasure. (Self-love is important too.)
The SEL Spotlight
SEL Meeting
SEL Cohort Principals
Ferndale Middle School
General Greene
Brooks Global Studies
Early College @ Guilford Engages is SEL 101
The Academy of Smith
Alderman Elementary School
GTCC Middle College- High Point
SEL Focus of the Month
This month's SEL focus is Relationships and Responsible Decision Making. Relationships is the ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups. This includes communicating clearly, listening actively, cooperating, resisting inappropriate social pressure, negotiating conflict constructively, and seeking and offering help when needed. Responsible Decision Making is the ability to make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on ethical standards, safety concerns, and social norms. Make a commitment this month to invest in your personal and professional relationships. During this time take a moment to develop your communication and listening skills as well as to accept and celebrate differences.
SEL Quick Wins
Listen
Practice active listening. Make eye contact with the speaker. Try not to interrupt. Refrain from inserting your ideas or own stories. Summarize what you heard and look misinterpretations.
Monitor your body language
Be careful that your body language and facial expressions are not sending a message contrary to your words. This congruence can breakdown trust and hinder relationship building. Practice monitoring what you are putting out.
Pause
When receiving messages from other (verbal or nonverbal), pause before making your own interpretations. Refrain from drawing quick conclusions. Create space between your observations and your assumptions. Pause, reflect, and ask questions.
Ideas for Meeting SEL Openers & Optimistic Closures
SEL Openers and Optimistic Closures are great ways to build relationships among your school or department teams. They also help connect us to the 5 competencies. Want to include SEL openers or optimistic closures in your team meetings? Need ideas to start? Use the link below to find openers and closers that you can use with your team. Share your experiences or results by tagging us on twitter. Our handle is at the end of this newsletter.
Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunity
#13770 GCS-Equity: The Power of Unconscious Bias and What To Do About It
We can (and do) hold unconscious/implicit biases about many different groups of people. During this session, we will primarily learn about unconscious bias as it plays out in terms of race and racial groups. The goals of the session will be to help you do the following: 1) Think about what you think that may influence your actions toward students in marginalized groups and toward colleagues of color; 2) Think about what you say – and don’t say – that may rise out of unconscious, unintentional bias; and 3) Think about actions and behaviors that may ultimately cause harm – disciplinary, academic, and social/emotional. We will also focus on brain activity, consequences, priming, associations, assumptions, and strategies for mitigating bias. You will leave this session transforming.
Course # 13756 GCS-SEL: Understanding Social and Emotional Learning Using Digital Learning Tools
In this course, participants will utilize digital learning tools to explore and demonstrate the key components of social and emotional learning (SEL). The course will highlight digital learning tools that can effectively introduce the meaning of SEL, demonstrate the five key competencies of SEL, and highlight the overall impact of adult SEL on school and class climate. Participants will explore how digital learning tools can foster SEL skills of self-awareness, social-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making within their classroom and professional learning communities. Participants will utilize these digital tools to develop products that demonstrate their understanding of SEL.
Use the following link to register: Understanding SEL Using Digital Learning Tools (Spring 2020)
School Tools
Reading Corner for February
K-5 Book Choice: The Bravest of Us All
A simple story told with the authenticity of oft-told family history is set in flat, Midwestern farm country (ostensibly Kansas) in an indeterminate time that appears to be the 1920s. Velma Jean is the boldest of all her brothers and sisters, unafraid of breaking colts, of meeting strangers, even of the fierce bull, Alfred. By comparison, her admiring sister Ruby Jane feels quite ordinary. "Somehow, bein' the best kitchen helper wasn't near as exciting as bein' the bravest." But Velma Jean harbors a secret, which is revealed when a tornado brews, and the family must seek shelter in the root cellar. Velma Jean is afraid to be cooped up underground, and it is Ruby Jane who has the courage to go after her sister and urge her to safety. The watercolor illustrations set the scene in a slack and windy style.
6-8 Book Choice: Amal Unbound
Life is quiet and ordinary in Amal's Pakistani village, but she had no complaints, and besides, she's busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when--as the eldest daughter--she must stay home from school to take care of her siblings. Amal is upset, but she doesn't lose hope and finds ways to continue learning. Then the unimaginable happens--after an accidental run-in with the son of her village's corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family's servant to pay off her own family's debt.
Life at the opulent Khan estate is full of heartbreak and struggle for Amal--especially when she inadvertently makes an enemy of a girl named Nabila. Most troubling, though, is Amal's growing awareness of the Khans' nefarious dealings. When it becomes clear just how far they will go to protect their interests, Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to exact change in a cruel status quo, and if Amal is ever to achieve her dreams.
9-12 Book Choice: Trapped
In early August 2010, the unthinkable happened when a mine collapsed in Copiapó, Chile, and 33 miners were trapped 2,000 feet below the surface. For sixty-nine days they lived on meager resources and increasingly poor air quality. When they were finally rescued, the world watched with rapt attention and rejoiced in the amazing spirit and determination of the miners. What could have been a terrible tragedy became an amazing story of survival.
Now, with exclusive interviews with rescuers and expert commentary, Marc Aronson brings us the backstory behind this incredible event. By tracing the psychological, physical, and environmental factors surrounding the rescue, Trapped highlights the amazing technology and helping hands that made it all possible. From the Argentinean soccer players who hoped to raise morale, to NA SA volunteering their expertise to come up with a plan, there was no shortage of enterprising spirit when it came to saving lives.
STAFF PICK for Educators: Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution that's Transforming Education
“Ken Robinson, an internationally recognized leader on creativity and human potential focuses on one of the most critical issues of our time: how to transform the nation’s troubled educational system. Robinson argues for an end to our outmoded industrial educational system and proposes a highly personalized, organic approach that draws on today’s unprecedented technological and professional resources to engage all students, develop their love of learning, and enable them to face the real challenges of the twenty-first century. Filled with anecdotes, observations and recommendations from professionals on the front line of transformative education, case histories, and groundbreaking research—and written with Robinson’s trademark wit and engaging style—Creative Schools will inspire teachers, parents, and policy makers alike to rethink the real nature and purpose of education.”
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 and in this awesome webinar.
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.
Check out this awesome resource for implementing Service Learning at the High School level here.
Many schools are completing service learning daily and do not even realize it. Reach out to Jacob Hicks to assist you in making these connections.
Positive Behavior and Bully Prevention
NCDPI is offering a training so that adults are better prepared to support this subgroup.
March 27. 2020 8:30 am -4:30 pm (Franklin Blvd.)
Conflict vs. Bullying: What’s the Difference?
60-second answer:
Bullying is different from conflict.
Conflict is a disagreement or argument in which both sides express their views.
Bullying is a negative behavior directed by someone exerting power and control over another person. Bullying is done with a goal to hurt, harm, or humiliate. With bullying, there is often a power imbalance between those involved, with power defined as elevated social status, being physically larger, or as part of a group against an individual. Students who bully perceive their target as vulnerable in some way and often find satisfaction in harming them.
In a normal conflict, children self-monitor their behavior. They read cues to know if lines are crossed and then modify their behavior in response. Children guided by empathy usually realize they have hurt someone and will want to stop their negative behavior.
On the other hand, children intending to cause harm and whose behavior goes beyond normal conflict will continue their behavior even when they know it's hurting someone.
Quotation Station
Check out our February resource for using quotes here.
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. http://bit.ly/SELSP
LaTrayl Adams, MS
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
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