A field-tested, classroom-based approach for developing the critical thinking, social-emotional, problem-solving, and discussion skills students need to be good citizens and effective changemakers. We often hear that a key purpose of schooling is to prepare students for informed and active citizenship. But what does this look like in practice? How do teachers pursue this goal amid other pressing priorities, including student mastery of both academic content and social-emotional competencies? Students Taking Action Together, based on a program of the same name developed at Rutgers University, clarifies that the way to prepare young people for life in a democracy is by intentionally rehearsing democratic behaviors in the classroom. This field-tested program ("STAT" for short) is built on five research-backed teaching strategies that work with existing social studies, English language arts, and history curriculum in the upper-elementary, middle, and high school levels. Incorporating these strategies into your lessons is a way to meet students' natural desire to be heard with skill-building that empowers them to Adhere to norms of civil conversation, even when topics are controversial and emotions are high; Speak confidently and listen actively; Engage in respectful debate aimed at understanding issues rather than winning points; Target communication to different audiences, needs, and contexts; and Examine problems from many sides, considering potential solutions, drawing up action plans, and evaluating these plans' effectiveness against historical examples. In addition to vignettes that show the five STAT strategies in action, you'll find practical teaching tips and sample STAT lesson plans. For school leaders, there is a road map for schoolwide STAT implementation and guidance on communicating the program's value to stakeholders. Are you ready to help students understand complex content, confront pressing social issues, and engage with the structures of power to advocate for change? This book is for you.

Tap the power of emotional intelligence and watch school-wide achievement soar! `Bringing all this information together in one spot is quite a contribution... There isn't too much research or theory here, but lots of emphasis on 'What can I do on Monday?' -David A. Squires, Associate Professor, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven `I highlighted at least two dozen specific ideas that I will implement in my classroom next year.' -Steve Reifman, Teacher, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, CA `Relevant and meaningful for today's educators.' -Beverly Eidmann, Principal, Arvada Middle School, CO `Useful, unique (not a crowded field at all!), practical, clearly written.' -Robert DiGiulio, Professor of Education, Johnson State College This comprehensive guide to emotional intelligence (EI) is a state-of-the-art collection of proven best practices from the field's best and brightest minds. Edited by educational leaders Maurice Elias and Harriett Arnold, this guide creates a new gold standard for bringing social-emotional learning into every classroom, with chapters by Daniel Goleman, Rachel Kessler, Marty Sleeper and Margot Strom, Janet Patti, Eliot Rosenbloom, Pam Robbins, Mark Greenberg, Sheldon Berman, Susan Wooley, Rose Reissman, Carol Cummings, and many others. Key features cover: Theory and context for EI, including brain development, multiple intelligences, service and citizenship, school-to-work, and health Teacher preparation and professional development 17 best-practice programs in action, relevant to grades PreK-12 An Application/Reflection Guide for note-taking, follow-up, contacts, and ideas for immediate implementation This book is sure to be an essential resource for all teachers, counselors, and school administrators who want their school communities to educate healthier, more responsible, and more successful students.

First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Get students thinking and learning by getting them talking! Transitioning from home to school can be chaotic-but it doesn't have to be. When you make Morning Classroom Conversations (MCCs) a regular part of your homeroom or advisory period, you give students a safe space to practice critical and creative thinking, build active listening skills, learn to respectfully disagree with others, and strengthen peer relationships... all while improving overall classroom climate. Written by expert practitioners in the area of SEL, this book provides teachers, school counselors, and other conversation leaders with a wealth of tools to guide successful MCCs from start to finish-in just 10-15 minutes! Features include: Three calendar years' worth of thought-provoking prompts and themes An overview of the underlying structure and goals of MCCs Sample scripts Vignettes and student and teacher voices Adolescents need to feel heard and understood-by adults and by their peers. MCCs teach them to channel scattered thoughts and strong feelings into dynamic discussions while also strengthening social, emotional, and character development and building the skills they will need to achieve their goals as they transition to adult life.

Nurturing Students' Character is an easy-to-use guide to incorporating social-emotional and character development (SECD) into your teaching practice. The links are clear-elementary and middle school students have better odds of academic success if you nurture their social and emotional skills. Drawing on broad field experience and the latest research, this book offers intuitive techniques for infusing your everyday teaching and classroom management with SECD opportunities. With topics ranging from self-regulation and problem solving to peer communication and empathy, these concrete strategies, practical worksheets, and self-reflective activities will help you foster a positive classroom culture.

Nurturing Students' Character is an easy-to-use guide to incorporating social-emotional and character development (SECD) into your teaching practice. The links are clear-elementary and middle school students have better odds of academic success if you nurture their social and emotional skills. Drawing on broad field experience and the latest research, this book offers intuitive techniques for infusing your everyday teaching and classroom management with SECD opportunities. With topics ranging from self-regulation and problem solving to peer communication and empathy, these concrete strategies, practical worksheets, and self-reflective activities will help you foster a positive classroom culture.

Stories help us make sense of the world, give us hope when we feel down, give us wonder and excitement when our lives seem ordinary, and help us find fairness in a world that sometimes seems unfair. The ten stories in this book are timeless-and each one is followed by a "Parent and Teacher EQ Guide" to help children explore their inner thoughts and feelings. The guide includes questions and comments to provide insights about the meaning of the story and raises relevant psychological issues, help children think about how the story applies to their lives and sharpen their emotional intelligence, and d escribes activities children can do so the themes of the story are not only heard but also experienced.

Develop emotional intelligence and strengthen social emotional skills in adolescents with this practical, hands-on resource.Helping students develop emotional intelligence (EQ) and social emotional skills is essential to preparing them for success in college, careers, and adult life. This practical resource for educators explains what emotional intelligence is and why it s important for all students. Boost Emotional Intelligence in Students lays out detailed yet flexible guidelines for teaching fundamental EQ and social emotional skills in an intentional and focused way. The book is split into three modules, which correspond to three main skill areas: 1.Self-awareness and self-management 2.Social awareness and relationship skills 3.Responsible decision-making and problem-solving Each module features ten hands-on, research-based lessons, which are focused on a critical EQ concept and centered around productive and respectful discussion. All lessons are designed to take approximately 35 minutes each but can easily be adapted to meet the specific needs of a school or group as they work to develop emotional intelligence and social emotional skills in their students. Digital content includes reproducible forms to use with students.

Social-Emotional Learning Lab: A Comprehensive SEL Resource Kit (SEL Lab) provides students with concrete lessons to help them think rationally in the emotionally charged, stressful situations that children face every day. This valuable resource helps school counselors, psychologists, and social workers, as well as educators and after-school program providers by giving students the tools to develop the skills needed to deal with the stressors occurring in and out of school. Counselors and educators use this important tool to help students achieve personally, socially, academically, and vocationally. This curriculum is designed to complement and enhance any program that addresses both self-awareness and social skills by focusing on self-control, cooperative skills for working within groups, problem-solving, decision-making, and everyday skill application. The SEL Lab can also function as a "stand-alone" in schools where there are no social-emotional programs being implemented. The book includes an implementation manual, tutorials, a decision-making guide and more than 100 downloadable worksheets to assist instructors in the step-by-step process of initiating and implementing an SEL Lab in your setting. You will find all the forms, worksheets, games, and activity instructions you will need, available for photocopying, or you can download the Lab Kit materials. Note, the book is plastic coil-bound. These materials are designed to prepare you for your work as a Social-Emotional Learning Lab Facilitator or Lab Coordinator for your school or after-school program. In setting up this program, you will have many roles, including teacher, problem-solver, and mentor to your students. Who Should Take Advantage of the SEL Lab? The following is a list of behaviors that suggest who should be considered. Students who: Behave inappropriately in social interactions with peers. Exhibit aggressive or violent behaviors. Exhibit low self-esteem. Are verbally abusive to others. Lack self-control. Take a long time to settle down or are unable to "process" following a "meltdown." Are unable to problem-solve to prevent trouble. Have special needs, ADD/ADHD, or physical and other challenges. Have weak family support. Demonstrate an inability to work effectively and cooperatively with peers. Are new to the school. Need to fill out more than one problem-solving worksheet or reflection log. Have three or more incident reports in a marking period.

Urban Dreams: Stories of Hope, Resilience, and Character is a collection of essays written by students in an urban community in New Jersey. The essays are the encapsulated life stories of their authors, writers from urban elementary, middle, and high schools were given a chance to reflect on their own lives and articulate their Laws of Life: strong values and principles that guide them in everyday decision and actions. Their stories allow the hearts of children to speak and gives adults the opportunity to listen, learn, and act.

In this practical manual, the authors demonstrate the important relationship between social emotional and ethical education and school safety. They combine traditional crisis management and emergency planning with all of the principles that have become the cornerstones of the field of evidence-based, social emotional learning and character education. Featuring real-life examples and best practices, they cover widespread concerns, ranging from student behavioral issues such as bullying and social exclusion to gang-related violence and other tragic events. This essential resource will help schools be proactive in preventing tragedies, as well as effectively reactive when they occur.

This manual is an approved Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program. It presents a thoroughly tested and effective approach for helping students succeed in middle school. At this critical point in their lives, young adolescents can move in a positive and hopeful direction, or they can enter into a negative, downward spiral. SDM/SPS provides students with basic school survival skills and strategies for responsible decision making and problem solving. It is designed for use with a broad spectrum of learners, including those with emotional and behavioral disorders. Helps reduce school violence, foster social and emotional intelligence, improve academic effort and attention, develop multicultural perspectives, and prevent at-risk students from giving up. Also provides strategies for encouraging parent involvement and for implementing a school-community service project. Includes assessment tools for tracking progress. An accompanying CD of all the reproducible forms and student handouts is included with the book. Awards/Recognitions SDM/SPS has been recognized as: Select Evidence-Based Social-Emotional Learning Program, CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) Statewide Model Program for Substance Abuse Prevention, New Jersey State Department of Education Promising Program, Expert Panel, U.S. Department of Education Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools Exemplary Evidence-Based, School-Based Learning Program, NASP (National Association of School Psychologists) Model Promising Program, OJJDP (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention)

Tap the power of emotional intelligence and watch school-wide achievement soar! `Bringing all this information together in one spot is quite a contribution... There isn't too much research or theory here, but lots of emphasis on 'What can I do on Monday?' -David A. Squires, Associate Professor, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven `I highlighted at least two dozen specific ideas that I will implement in my classroom next year.' -Steve Reifman, Teacher, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, CA `Relevant and meaningful for today's educators.' -Beverly Eidmann, Principal, Arvada Middle School, CO `Useful, unique (not a crowded field at all!), practical, clearly written.' -Robert DiGiulio, Professor of Education, Johnson State College This comprehensive guide to emotional intelligence (EI) is a state-of-the-art collection of proven best practices from the field's best and brightest minds. Edited by educational leaders Maurice Elias and Harriett Arnold, this guide creates a new gold standard for bringing social-emotional learning into every classroom, with chapters by Daniel Goleman, Rachel Kessler, Marty Sleeper and Margot Strom, Janet Patti, Eliot Rosenbloom, Pam Robbins, Mark Greenberg, Sheldon Berman, Susan Wooley, Rose Reissman, Carol Cummings, and many others. Key features cover: Theory and context for EI, including brain development, multiple intelligences, service and citizenship, school-to-work, and health Teacher preparation and professional development 17 best-practice programs in action, relevant to grades PreK-12 An Application/Reflection Guide for note-taking, follow-up, contacts, and ideas for immediate implementation This book is sure to be an essential resource for all teachers, counselors, and school administrators who want their school communities to educate healthier, more responsible, and more successful students.

"Schools cannot teach character . . . School have to create an environment that models and promotes character development, and then they have to allow the children to 'catch' character from the behavior of the adults and students around them."
?From Chapter 1 by James P. Comer

Combining emotional intelligence (EQ) with academic intelligence (IQ) is the essential key to developing knowledgeable, caring, healthy, and successful students in today?s troubled world. Social-emotional skills often are not taught at home, but they are in fact the crucial connection that enables students to master and retain content knowledge while also creating a classroom atmosphere filled with proficient, civic-minded students with sound judgment and problem-solving skills that will last a lifetime.

In this dynamic new book, today?s educational leaders offer their best ideas for building school communities that are safe, smart, caring, successful, and emotionally intelligent.

Key topics include:

• Transforming the Lives of Children (James P. Comer)
• Leadership for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (Mary Utne O?Brien, Roger P. Weissberg, Timothy P. Shriver)
• How New Knowledge About the Brain Applies to Social and Emotional Learning (Ronald S. Brandt)
• A Vision of Schools with Heart and Spirit (Linda Lantieri)
• Institutionalizing Programming for Social and Emotional Learning (Linda Bruene Butler, Jeffrey S. Kress, Jacqueline A. Norris)
• Implementing a Social and Emotional Learning Program (Carol Apacki)

"Schools cannot teach character . . . School have to create an environment that models and promotes character development, and then they have to allow the children to 'catch' character from the behavior of the adults and students around them."
?From Chapter 1 by James P. Comer

Combining emotional intelligence (EQ) with academic intelligence (IQ) is the essential key to developing knowledgeable, caring, healthy, and successful students in today?s troubled world. Social-emotional skills often are not taught at home, but they are in fact the crucial connection that enables students to master and retain content knowledge while also creating a classroom atmosphere filled with proficient, civic-minded students with sound judgment and problem-solving skills that will last a lifetime.

In this dynamic new book, today?s educational leaders offer their best ideas for building school communities that are safe, smart, caring, successful, and emotionally intelligent.

Key topics include:

• Transforming the Lives of Children (James P. Comer)
• Leadership for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (Mary Utne O?Brien, Roger P. Weissberg, Timothy P. Shriver)
• How New Knowledge About the Brain Applies to Social and Emotional Learning (Ronald S. Brandt)
• A Vision of Schools with Heart and Spirit (Linda Lantieri)
• Institutionalizing Programming for Social and Emotional Learning (Linda Bruene Butler, Jeffrey S. Kress, Jacqueline A. Norris)
• Implementing a Social and Emotional Learning Program (Carol Apacki)

Developed over three decades of implementation in a wide range of schools, this research-validated curriculum focuses on teaching students to be reflective, nonimpulsive, and responsible decision makers and problem solvers-while emphasizing essential literacy skills. It is ideal for classroom use and can be adapted for small-group settings.The program uses a variety of cooperative learning methods, including small-group brainstorming, problem-solving, and role-playing activities. Students learn skills such as self-control, listening, respectful communication, giving and receiving help, and working cooperatively and fairly in groups. The manual and accompanying CD include numerous reproducible worksheets. SDM/SPS influences student behavior, academic learning, and social and emotional life. It promotes a multicultural perspective by building group cohesion, acceptance of differences, and the ability to understand different points of view. SDM/SPS has been recognized as: an Exemplary Evidence-Based Social-Emotional Learning Program by CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) a Statewide Model Program for Substance Abuse Prevention by the New Jersey State Department of Education a Promising Program by the Expert Panel, U.S. Department of Education Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools an Exemplary Evidence-Based, School-Based Learning Program by NASP (the National Association of School Psychologists) Separate volumes of the SDM/SPS curriculum are available for grades K-1 and 2-3. As an ideal extension of the elementary curriculum, the authors have also written an SDM/SPS manual for working with middle school students.