| By: Committee for Children Marshall Memorial Fellowship for Board Member Zithri Ahmed Saleem Zithri Ahmed Saleem has been a member of Committee for Children's board of directors for three years, a natural role given his work in preparing underserved U.S. students of color for success in college and careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)-related fields. Read More
| By: Committee for Children Federal Update We're working hard in Washington, DC, to make sure social-emotional learning (SEL) is included in federal policy that relates to children and youth. Here are a few updates on our efforts:Read More
| By: Committee for Children At the Local Level Efforts here in WA State to make SEL a requirement in schools have had bipartisan support in the legislature. Across the country in MA, their pioneering SEL Alliance for Massachusetts is planning their fourth annual conference.Read More
| By: Committee for Children What Our Partners Are Doing The National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation have published their six key policy pillars and we support them!Read More
| By: Committee for Children Early Learning: More, More, More! One of my roles in the school district I worked in previously was providing Second Step curricular trainings and supports for staff. When I visited elementary schools, I often heard the kindergarten, first, and second-grade teachers asking if they could have the “groovy” materials the early childhood staff used and created. During early learning lesson skill practices, the teachers would draw others’ interest with their entertaining, engaging ways of modeling and practicing. I also remember how fun it was to co-teach the early learning lessons or just observe in the classrooms. Read More
| By: Committee for Children Book Review: The Magic Fan Yoshi has always built useful things for his village. One day, though, he gains strange inspiration from a magic fan he finds, and his friends are not pleased. He must learn not only to rely on his own “magic,” but also to stand up for himself so that he can be a more helpful member of the community.Read More
| By: Committee for Children How Can We Turn Around K–12? Take a Page Out of Preschool! By focusing on academic standards and high-stakes tests, American public education is missing a key contributor to students' school, work, and life success – something that could help it turn around K-12 education and outcomes for students. This missing piece goes by many names: social-emotional learning, self-regulation skills, growth mindset, grit, character, non-cognitive skills, soft skills, habits of mind, and non-technical skills, just to name a few.Read More
| By: Committee for Children Let’s RIG Our Classrooms for Success! Part 2 of 2 Last week, in Part 1, you learned how to begin RIGging your classroom for success with Routines. This week you'll learn how Individuals and Groups can help you teach those social-emotional skills throughout the day! Read More
| By: Committee for Children Let’s RIG Our Classrooms for Success! Supporting social-emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom can be hard at times. SEL is much more than just behavior management, which even by itself can be an overwhelming task. My rule of thumb is to keep it simple. The more complicated systems get, the more confusing they get, and there's less follow-through. Read More
| By: Committee for Children The Call On the first Friday of my first week in my first year of teaching, I had to make the call. “Peter” came to school with a huge bruise on his forehead. I asked him what happened, and he said his dad hit him. There was further discussion, and as a first-year teacher, I had to make the call right then and there. Not just the actual call to Child Protective Services (CPS), but the call that as a teacher, I would do anything in my power to keep children safe – physically, socially, and emotionally. Read More