Inspire: Leading In Learning Summer Newsletter
Inspire: Leading In Learning Summer 2019 Newsletter
The summer season is coming soon, and Inspire: Leading In Learning is excited to share news about our recent successful events, our upcoming webinars, and additional resources to support social emotional learning.
Partnership Summit Success!
For two days in April, we heard from engaging thought leaders and inspirational teachers about best practices in social emotional teaching, dynamic classroom instruction, and trends in teacher education programs. We hosted over 60 guests at our Partnership Summit who heard inspirational presentations and participated in collaboration time.
Thank you for your participation and partnership!
Special thanks to our keynote presenters and panelists:
Dr. Lynn Gangone, President and CEO of AACTE
Dr. Doug Fisher, Distinguished Author and SDSU Professor
Alex Kajitani, 2009 California Teacher of the Year
Dr. Brian McDaniel, 2018 California Teacher of the Year
Additionally, special thanks to our esteemed guest panelists:
Dr. Judy Mantle, Dean, Sanford College of Education, National University
Dr. Joseph Johnson, SDSU Professor
The summit sessions emphasized collaboration, inspirational teaching, and social emotional learning. Dr. Doug Fisher, SDSU professor of educational leadership and author, engaged our partners through his inspirational session during which he described the importance of social emotional learning. All attendees received a copy of his book “All Learning is Social and Emotional.” As the summit concluded on April 30, attendees left inspired and motivated to continue their mission of creating inspirational teachers and addressing the social emotional learning needs within their communities.
Check out our video highlighting the Partnership Summit!
Inspire: Leading In Learning-Harmony Webinar Series
Inspire: Leading In Learning is pleased to co-host our monthly webinar series with Harmony SEL where, education thought leaders share inspirational teaching and social emotional learning strategies.
You can register and view past and upcoming webinars on our website!
All webinars are free! Once you register, you will be sent the link to view them at any time!
We Look Forward to You Joining Us for Our Upcoming Webinars:
Mandy Manning, 2018 National Teacher of the Year
June 18 at 1 p.m. PST
Ms. Manning will share ways to support students who have experienced trauma and help maintain their strong academic focus.
Our Summer Video Series will take place starting in late July, presented by International Teacher Award Winner Chelonnda Seroyer. In the series, Ms. Seroyer will share ways to set up your classroom for success, how to create connections with students from the start of the school year, and how to support strong parent partnerships.
The three 15-minute videos will be distributed over the course of three weeks. Now you’ll be able to learn at your convenience while enjoying your summer break! Look for the registration link for the series in late June!
Social Emotional Learning in the News
(xSEL Labs, Clark McKown, April 23, 2019)
Social scientist and leading expert on SEL assessments Clark McKown outlines the pros and cons of two approaches to teaching social and emotional skills: adopt an SEL program or adopt bite-size practices that support SEL development. When adopting an SEL program, evidence shows academic, social, behavioral, and emotional benefits if programs are implemented to fidelity. However, the challenge is high quality implementation. Bite-size SEL practices, also known as “kernels,” are simple and low lift, but it’s not clear what it takes to make them effective. McKown offers a solution to overcome the challenges of both approaches given the state of SEL now and possibilities for the future.
(Greater Good Magazine, Lisa Flook, April 23, 2019)
Research across many fields confirms that children benefit from a “whole child” approach when it comes to learning. Lisa Flook, a senior researcher at the Learning Policy Institute, writes how LPI distilled the research into four pillars of school success: positive school climate, productive instructional strategies, social emotional development, and individualized supports. Taken together, these four pillars form an integrated approach to help students reach their full potential. Keep reading for a deeper dive into why these pillars are important and how to implement them.
Additional Resources
Social emotional learning has the potential to empower youth, promote civic engagement, and ultimately influence social change. Yet, when it comes to SEL, some educators teach in a vacuum, avoiding the larger sociopolitical context, for a multitude of reasons, including fear of losing their jobs, lack of knowledge, and discomfort addressing inequities. In response to this, Dena Simmons, assistant director at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, offers Strategies for Teaching Fearless SEL.
