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What Is Social and Emotional Learning? DSC_0624.JPG Social and emotional learning (SEL) involves the processes through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.  SEL programming is based on the understanding that the best learning emerges in the context of supportive relationships that make learning challenging, engaging and meaningful.  Social and emotional skills are critical to being a good student, citizen and worker; and many risky behaviors (e.g., drug use, violence, bullying and dropping out) can be prevented or reduced when multiyear, integrated efforts are used to develop students' social and emotional skills. This is best done through effective classroom instruction; student engagement in positive activities in and out of the classroom; and broad parent and community involvement in program planning, implementation and evaluation. 

These interactive whiteboard games are a great way to review units of study in the classroom. All are based on popular TV shows and are fun and engaging for the whole class. Download the templates, customize them to your own needs, and you will be ready to play these great games on an interactive whiteboard or LCD projector.

A great collection of free online physics games. You can even embed them directly into your website, wiki or blog.

Physics Games.net, as the name implies, is a website of games based on simple physics concepts. Physic Games offers dozens of games based on a physics concept or two. Each game can be played directly on the Physics Games website or embedded into your blog or website. The one downfall of the site is that before each game starts there is a short commercial. I checked out a few different games, and I did not see any advertising that would be unacceptable in a public school classroom. 

Music Transforms the College English Classroom by Maryann DiEdwardo is based on her case study research.

Music Transforms the College English Classroom by Maryann DiEdwardo is based on her case study research.

A book by Robert Delisie that exams "How to Use Problem-Based Learning in the Classroom." Through ASCD. Internet edition of text.

Great description of the merits of using a wiki in a classroom.

Editorial about a recommendation by the AFT Pres to develop a professional certification for teachers.  It's about time...

Mark & Michelle, thank you for your comments. When I posted this I knew the words "standardized test" would be a flashpoint. It is for me too. With nearly 40 years in the classroom, teaching a creative art (music) to all different levels (kindergarten through college and well beyond), I have often railed against reducing any education, any student, to a number. Very little in what I have taught can be measured with a pencil-and-paper test. What I see here is different than this. It is the union that she is saying should be the "gate-keeper" to our profession, rather than some generic government standard test. Yes, tests would be a part of the certification, but from what I read, so would much more, including actual classroom work. The certification would be similar to the AMA for physicians or the Bar for attorneys. These are certifications designed and administered by the profession - not the government - and validate a candidate's readiness to practice. Yes, I too am strongly against the government, or any organization outside of our profession, to certify, to validate, a teacher's ability to do the job. But we have to admit there is a problem with teacher certification and validation. There are people who simply should not be in the classroom (haven't we all seen them?). It is very difficult to remove folks who are dragging the respect for our profession down. Yes, there is remediation. Yes, it should be a difficult process to remove someone in order to protect against administrative abuses. But what is talked about here is the profession policing itself - something that the teacher's unions, in general, have steadfastly refused to do. What the AFT Pres is suggesting is that the best thing we can do to raise the status of teaching as a profession is to take action ourselves to make it happen. Really, if we in the profession do not do this, then it will be imposed from those outside who do not know what we do, how we do it and why we do it.

You are still talking about a standardized test. Let's face it--doctors have to have specific knowledge to do their job. Whether or not they are creative or engaging is not as important as their knowledge base. The same with lawyers--knowledge of the law is essential, and everything else is secondary. However, in teaching, although educational theory and knowledge of their subject area is important (and already tested, by the way) the most essential aspect of teaching is how you can creatively engage students, interact with parents and peers, and stay organized and motivated. These things CAN'T BE TESTED. Right now, teachers already go through extensive training, evaluation, and continuing education. Do you REALLY think that a standardized test will really improve teaching? I know a lot of university professors who can easily pass a test, but few of them can teach worth beans.

Thinking about how to create a classroom that allows for authentic innovation and investigation. 

Info on how to rethink how to use iPads to the best utilization

"The Open Educational Resources Research Hub (OER Research Hub) provides a focus for research, designed to give answers to the overall question 'What is the impact of OER on learning and teaching practices?' and identify the particular influence of openness. We do this by working in collaboration with projects across four education sectors (K12, college, higher education and informal) extending a network of research with shared methods and shared results. By the end of this research we will have evidence for what works and when, but also established methods and instruments for broader engagement in researching the impact of openness on learning. OER are not just another educational innovation. They influence policy and change practices. In previous research (OpenLearn, Bridge to Success and OLnet) we have seen changes in institutions, teacher practice and in the effectiveness of learning. We integrate research alongside action to discover and support changes in broader initiatives. Our framework provides the means to gather data and the tools to tackle barriers. The project combines: A targeted collaboration program with existing OER projects An internationalfellowship program Networking to make connections A hub for research data and OER excellence in practice The collaborations cover different sectors and issues, these include: the opening up of classroom based teaching to open content; the large-scale decision points implied by open textbooks for community colleges; the extension of technology beyond textbook through eBook and simulation; the challenge of teacher training in India; and the ways that OER can support less formal approaches to learning. By basing good practice on practical experience and research we can help tackle practical problems whilst building the evidence bank needed by all."

"Creation-based tasks promote higher-order thinking, encourage collaboration, and connect students to real-world learning. Whether you're teaching in a project-based learning classroom, engaging students with authentic assessments, or committed to pushing students to analyze and synthesize, providing opportunities for creation is a must."

Project-based learning, or PBL, grew out of early 20th century education reform, like the works of John Dewey. It generally involves directed, open-ended questions, real-life problem solving, and presentation to an authentic audience. .. We're really looking forward to hearing how you use PBL and the Projects feature in your classrooms. We're so excited, in fact, that we rounded up a few resources from around the web to help you out:

TED@Palm Springs presentation on game-based learning; creation of "immersive learning environments." Meyers, A. (2009). A Vision for 21st Century Learning [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mirxkzkxuf4

I disliked this video. Is my classroom extraordinary? The rest of the classrooms in the U.S. have unmoving, silent children stuck in desks all day? The students don't talk to each other? They don't collaborate to solve problems? They don't read? They don't write in order to analyze and express opinions? They don't use math manipulatives, do science experiments, build, draw, and do projects? They don't laugh together, digress, and then get back on track? Because that's what we do. It doesn't strike me as a response to the Industrial Revolution as much as a response to students' curiosity and to their future needs. "If we get it right, kids won't even know they're learning something." So, we're doing it wrong if the kids are actually aware that they're learning? Better they should be metaphorically anesthetized by the computer experience? We don't want them inoculated against feeling the discomfort of struggle. Every respected neuroscientist on the planet says struggle is necessary to wire neurons together, which is the physical manifestation of learning. The simulation of the village looks very cool. I love computers. But if all their learning about ancient Rome is based on this simulation, where are the primary sources? Will students encounter any? Or is their experience of the village based on someone else's interpretation of primary sources? If so, then someone else gets to decide what is important to include in the Roman village. They get to choose and interpret the facts that are used to create the virtual ancient Roman experience. That goes against best practice teaching of the social sciences.

Play, design and share games.  Focuses on game design

a very popular web-based game design environment. Global Kids http://olpglobalkids.org/ is using it to run social benefits game design contests and badging programs. They are getting 100+ new game design entries per week. From the parents' guide: Gamestar Mechanic is currently supported by a partnership between the Institute of Play and E-Line Media. The game was originally developed by Gamelab in partnership with the Institute of Play and the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Lab (AADLC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Initial funding for the game and companion learning guides came from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The design of the game is based on research by some of the leading academics in the field including Katie Salen (Executive Director of the Institute of Play and curriculum author for the New York City Public School Quest To Learn) and James Paul Gee (author of What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy).

This site has students creating games from scratch and putting them out into the world for feedback within the Gamestar Mechanic community. Students use math, problem solving, writing skills and more to make their games interesting. I think this could be used in the classroom as a theme-based project or just to get students interested in coding.

"When lap­tops first arrived in my class­room, I wor­ried about class­room man­age­ment. How could I cre­ate an envi­ron­ment where stu­dents used their com­put­ers as tools rather than toys?" Great practical tips here!!

Flipping in a standards or outcome based curriculum.

"In Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, Robert Marzano (2001) and his colleagues identify nine high-yield instructional strategies through a meta-analytic study of over 100 independent studies. Marzano and his colleagues found that these nine strategies have the greatest positive effect on student achievement for all students, in all subject areas, at all grade levels, especially when strategically matched to the specific type of knowledge being sought."