Local News and Resources
Know of local resources geared towards strengthening adult strategies and practices that support social emotional skill development in young people? E-mailmgrife@ydekc.org. YDEKC Social and Emotional Learning Landscape Scan
Webinar, 12/14/2018, 10:00AM-11:00AM
Join YDEKC’s Executive Director Jessica Werner and SEL Strategy Senior Manager Mona Grife as they discuss Social and Emotional Learning Landscape Scan: Systems & Structures that Support Whole Child Outcomes in the Road Map Region, including themes from across the region, examples of SEL-related efforts, and recommendations for strengthening whole child, whole day efforts.
Register here!
Public Lecture: Creating Authentic Relationships with Youth & Sharing Trauma-Informed Mindfulness
Kane Hall at the University of Washington, 12/7/2018, 7:00PM-8:30PM
The Center for Child and Family Well-being at the UW periodically hosts free public lectures. Dr. Sam Himelstein will share perspectives on mindfulness in a relevant way for providers working with youth, including the teaching of formal meditation. Registration is required. Register here. To learn more about other resources and events, including a companion workshop to this lecture, check out their website.
Upcoming Series: Positive Discipline in the Classroom
Sartori Elementary School, 1/24/2018, 4:30PM-7:30PM
Sound Discipline is back with their interactive workshop series focused on creating classroom and school environments where youth feel connected and valued. Sartori Elementary School in Renton will host this series, starting on January 24. Register here.
Advocacy Day for Youth Development and Expanded Learning
Olympia, 1/15/2018, 8:00AM–5:00PM
Do you believe in the importance of youth development programs, and ensuring equitable access is provided to all? Join YDEKC and partners School’s Out Washington and SOAR on Tuesday, January 15 for the 2019 Advocacy Day for Youth Development and Expanded Learning. This is an opportunity to meet with your legislators to promote your program and the field of expanded learning. Training and meals are provided. Register here to attend.
Save the Date for Winter Symposium for Expanded Learning Opportunity Staff
Tukwila Community Center, 1/31/2018, 8:00AM-4:15PM
School’s Out Washington will be hosting a full day symposium for expanding learning opportunity professionals with the theme From Wellness to Empowerment. The event will take place at Tukwila Community Center on January 31, 2019. Click here for more information.
Local Teacher Resource and YouTube Show
Bryan Manzo, counselor at Sand Point Elementary School and past SEL symposium presenter, has launched www.whytheface.org, a hub for resources for SEL. He has also launched a YouTube show about SEL, intended for middle/high school students, families, and teachers. The goal of this show is to provide teachers research-based SEL content designed with Advisory period in mind.
Best Starts for Kids: TIRP grantees launch projects this school year
Thirty-two organizations received awards from Best Starts for Kids to expand trauma-informed and restorative practices in schools across King County, and their programs have been launching this fall. This blog post describes how awardees are incorporating innovative approaches to transform our local education systems. From building capacity through knowledge and skill building to promoting positive identity development, while also taking time to learn from each other, our local community leaders are committed to developing supportive and healing environments for youth.
Youth Voice Highlighted at Annual Bridge Conference
School’s Out Washington hosted the annual Bridge Conference for out of school time professionals and cross-sector leaders October 29-30 on the shores of Lake Washington. This year’s theme, Elevate Youth Voice, explored how to implement practices and strengthen systems that drive equity and support young people in affecting change. Check out materials from a wide array of workshops here.
Practicing Self-Care at YDEKC Member Organization RAYS
In this blogpost, Renton Area Youth & Family Services (RAYS) Youth Life Coach Troy Landrum reflected this summer on the strengths of seeing self-care for staff as a vital part of our work with youth.
National News and Resources
Social and Emotional Learning in Out-Of-School Time: Foundations and Future
There is so much interest in social and emotional learning, and yet confusion: what does it mean? How does it get implemented in out-of-school time programs? Social and Emotional Learning in Out-Of-School Time: Foundations and Futures, the latest book in the “Current Issues in Out-of-School Time” book series, provides a clear framework and language, shares current trends, and highlights opportunities for alignment with other fields. YDEKC’s very own Sarah Terry co-authored a chapter on “Measuring Social and Emotional Skills in OST Settings: Opportunities and Challenges.”
Social and Emotional Learning and Equity in School Discipline
This journal article from Future of Children was published in 2017 and it is still relevant as we head into 2019 as our local districts strive to change disciplinary practices and incorporate social emotional skill development into school and out of school time settings. Anne Gregory and Edward Fergus suggest that discipline reforms that don’t take into account power, privilege, and cultural differences and focus only on students, rather than students and adults, may be limited in their effectiveness in influencing disparities in discipline.
Finding the Fluoride: Examining How and Why Developmental Relationships Are the Active Ingredient in Interventions that Work
Policy makers, practitioners, funders and researchers from various organizations are continuously evaluating ways to address the opportunity gap. This recent report from the Search Institute aims to pinpoint the active ingredient in interventions that work. They are in the midst of a multi-year effort to study and strengthen developmental relationships in young people’s lives. This report is a summary of what they have learned so far.
The Power of Conversation: A New Tool for Parents, Teachers, and Caregivers
With her card game, “52 Essential Conversations,” Jenny Woo, Ed.M.’18, has created a tool for parents, caregivers, and teachers to support children’s social-emotional development. Aligned with the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, the cards raise questions in six different topic areas: self-awareness; relationship skills; self-management; social awareness; responsible decision-making; and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
A Simple, But Powerful Class Opening
Check out this Edutopia article that provides a quick, but meaningful strategy for building community and developing student voice.
CASEL SEL Assessment Guide is Now Live!
CASEL’s SEL Assessment Guide is now available. This resource offers advice to districts and schools on how to choose and use student SEL competency assessments; provides a catalog of assessments; and showcases real-world examples how the assessments are being uses. Users can search by SEL competency, grade level, and assessment type.
The Future of Healing- Shifting from Trauma-Informed Care to Healing Centered Engagement
Shifting
Professor Shawn Ginwright’s compelling article reflects on the limitations of the term ‘trauma-informed care after hearing these words in a healing circle, “I am more than what happened to me, I’m not just my trauma.” Explore Healing Centered Engagement, a shift from trauma-informed care to an approach which “promotes a holistic view of healing from traumatic experiences and environments.”
Learning is Social & Emotional
Education Week hosted a Learning is Social & Emotional blog by the Aspen Institute National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development. Posts have covered topics including building positive relationships with students, the role of social emotional learning in civics education, and how social emotional learning programs support mental health. The Commission will release its final report on January 15, 2019. The event will be livestreamed—look for News & Updates here.
Creating Policies to Support Healthy Schools
The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes 10 components of a healthy school environment: health education; physical education and activity; nutrition environment and services; health services; counseling, psychological, and social services; social and emotional climate; physical environment; employee wellness; family engagement; and community engagement. What policy opportunities would support this or similar frameworks? This report from Child Trends describes findings from interviews and focus groups with state policymakers, educators, and students.
Building Partnerships in Support of Where, When & How Learning Happens
Aspen Institute convened a workgroup of folks from the youth development sector to ensure that the sector was fully reflected in the commission’s recommendations on developing a comprehensive PreK-12 education ecosystem. Their brief presents a framework for broadening our understanding on where and how learning happens and recommends ways for educators, policymakers, and funders to partner with youth development organizations. They also include a brief on resources and examples from the field that includes YDEKC’sPartnership Toolkit!
SEL Demonstration Initiative: Measuring Social and Emotional Learning in Out-of-School Time
In 2017-2018, the Forum for Youth Investment and the David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality partnered with the Susan Crown Exchange and four out-of-school time networks, including YDEKC’s local partner School’s Out Washington, to learn more about integrating social and emotional measures and improvement supports into a continuous quality improvement process. This new report highlights lessons learned.
People’s State of the Union: An Annual Civic Ritual and Participatory Art Project
Demonstrating an awareness of other’s identities, learning how to communicate with people, and contributing to the well-being of our communities are all social skills adults and youth can strengthen. For the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture’s People’s State of the Union 2019, Story Circle participants are encourage to share their own stories, such as “a time you felt a sense of belonging—or the opposite—to this nation or your community” or “a story of an experience that inspired you to take action in the past year.” Whether with colleagues, in a classroom, or in an after-school program, this kind of activity encourages us to build stronger relationships with each other and practice our social emotional skills.