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Pedagogy of Social Emotional Learning

7/23/2017

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Schools spend hours of professional learning time on pedagogy, the theory and practice of teaching. Typically, this time is spent on best practices for teaching academic standards. However, as adults we can see that success in the world around us is grounded in skills like time management, work habits, help-seeking behaviors, or metacognitive strategies.
Schools spend hours of professional learning time on pedagogy, the theory and practice of teaching. Typically, this time is spent on best practices for teaching academic standards. However, as adults we can see that success in the world around us is grounded in skills like time management, work habits, help-seeking behaviors, or metacognitive strategies. How can we support the learning of noncognitive skills in students through the PLC framework used widely in education? Recently, I have been working with a team in my district to dig deeper into noncognitive factors and how we support students in social emotional learning. I am extremely proud of this work. ​
Noncogntive Skills: sets of behaviors, skills, attitudes, and strategies that are crucial to academic performance in their classes, but that may not be reflected in their scores on cognitive tests.  
​~  University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research 
Schools spend hours of professional learning time on pedagogy, the theory and practice of teaching. Typically, this time is spent on best practices for teaching academic standards. However, as adults we can see that success in the world around us is grounded in skills like time management, work habits, help-seeking behaviors, or metacognitive strategies.Schools spend hours of professional learning time on pedagogy, the theory and practice of teaching. Typically, this time is spent on best practices for teaching academic standards. However, as adults we can see that success in the world around us is grounded in skills like time management, work habits, help-seeking behaviors, or metacognitive strategies.

Professional Learning Communities

Professional learning communities are groups of educators that work together to not only to ensure good teaching is taking place but that students are learning. The PLC is founded in four questions:
  1. ​What do we want students to learn?
  2. How will we know they are learning?
  3. How will we respond when they don't learn?
  4. How will we respond if they already know it?
What if we extended the PLC concept to move beyond academic standards to encompass noncognitive skills? This goes beyond behavior management and office discipline referrals to real social emotional learning. As school counselors we are in a unique position to lead this work. 

What noncognitive skills are embedded in this lesson or unit?

The first core question of the PLC is "what do we want students to learn?" Often we see noncognitive skills as separate from core academic learning. However, all learning requires noncognitive skills. Instead of thinking of social emotional learning as separate, let's ask ourselves which noncognitive skills are embedded in a unit or lesson. For instance, if a class is working on creating math video tutorials, which skills will they need to be successful? The ASCA mindsets and behaviors are a great place to look for skills necessary to successfully complete this work.

How will we know students are learning?

Right now, behavior, specifically office discipline referrals are the most frequent indicator that students are not learning the noncognitive skills needed to be successful. However, by the time an office referral happens, the time for learning has passed. Looking at the ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors, we see observable behaviors that could be assessed. In the PLC, we can look at the noncognitve skills we planned for students to use and learn and then determine if they effectively learned this skill. In our math tutorial example, we would make a plan to see that students were able to:
  • Demonstrate creativity,
  • Apply media and technology skills,
  • Demonstrate ability to manage transitions and ability to adapt to changing situations,
  • Use effective oral and written communication skills and listening skills,
  • Use effective collaboration and cooperation skills,
  • Use leadership and teamwork skills to work effectively in diverse teams.

How will we respond if they don't learn?

Here is the key, the moment of change for all the work that school counselors do. Right now, when students lack noncognitve skills we typically wait for them to fail and then proceed to an intervention to "fix them." What if, instead, we were talking about students and their social emotional learning along the way, using the skills that we had defined as embedded in the academic lessons being taught. If students needed additional support in learning these skills, the intervention could be put in place before the lack of noncognitive skills caused them to be sent to the office, lack friends, or fail a grade. 

How will we respond if they already know it?

Hint- the answer isn't to make them take care of the other kids. Let's face it, typically our students with robust noncognitive skills are tasked with helping others around them. While this works in small doses, it can be frustrating for both students. What if students who had developed noncogntive skills were given more choices and independence in their learning. If they were able to self manage, were self aware with social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making then the classroom is open to them to explore in depth and create their own learning. Thinking back to the video tutorial example, this might mean that students with robust noncognitive skills were able to create tutorials independently or to learn a video editing software not originally introduced to the entire class. It's both a reward (increased freedom) and a chance to expand their skillset. 

Role of the School Counselor

School counselors aren't in the classroom daily to implement many of these ideas but we play a large role in collaborating and consulting with teachers, interventionists, and administration. One of the simple strategies that I have used is to align my lessons with noncognitive skills that support the academic content currently happening in the classroom. For isntance, I taught a lesson on cooperation while my first grade classes were learning about job sharing. If I were to do it again, I would take it one step further and have the first graders create a cooperation rubric for job sharing in the classroom. If you're interested in learning more, ASCA has a great page of resources on Using Noncognitive Skills to Improve Student Success. How do you support noncognitive skill development in your school?
Schools spend hours of professional learning time on pedagogy, the theory and practice of teaching. Typically, this time is spent on best practices for teaching academic standards. However, as adults we can see that success in the world around us is grounded in skills like time management, work habits, help-seeking behaviors, or metacognitive strategies.
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Using Twitter to Create a Professional Learning Network

7/10/2017

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There are many ways to become an amazing school counselor. Some people spend a few years in the classroom before making the transition, while others jump right in after college or grad school. No matter how you arrive in the field, you should follow the sage advice of the nation’s best school counselors. But how do you find them?
I am excited to welcome Thomas Broderick, a Northern Californian freelance writer and consultant in the education field who occasionally blogs for Teach.com to talk about creating a professional learning network using twitter. This is even more meaningful to me as I have been blowing up my twitter account with the amazing things I have learned at #ASCA17. 

​Using Twitter to Follow the Best School Counselors

There are many ways to become an amazing school counselor. Some people spend a few years in the classroom before making the transition, while others jump right in after college or grad school. No matter how you arrive in the field, you should follow the sage advice of the nation’s best school counselors. But how do you find them?

At first glance, the social network Twitter may seem a world away from counseling. In fact, the opposite is the case. America’s best counselors regularly use Twitter to reach out to others in their profession. For aspiring school counselors, there is no better way to get insider information about counseling best practices than straight from the horse’s mouth.  
 
In this article we’ll explore some of Twitter’s most influential counselors, and how you can use Twitter to expand your personal learning network (PLN). That said, let’s get started!

Using Twitter

If you’ve never used Twitter, set up a professional profile that includes where you work and a link to your school’s website. If you already have a personal Twitter account, go ahead and set up a second professional account. It’s free!

NOTE: Make sure your professional account is open to anyone, and your personal account is only open to accepted followers. This is good advice for anyone working in a school. 

When setting up a professional account, go ahead and follow every teacher/administrator at your school who uses Twitter. If they follow you back (and they should), they will be able to see the counseling best practices you retweet from the nation’s best school counselors. You can also use your professional account to share the amazing work you do in your building. 
 
It’s now time to FOLLOW INFLUENCIAL COUNSELORS!

Three Great Counselors to Follow Right Away

​Terri Tchorzynski
Twitter Handle: @ttchorzynski
 
In January 2017, First Lady Michelle Obama awarded Terri the school counselor of the year award. Her Twitter feed is full of solid advice for counselors both new and seasoned. Her retweets come from a variety of professional counseling organizations you may want to follow, as well.
 
Chris Belser
Twitter Handle: @CBelser_PSC
 
A nationally board-certified school counselor, Chris has spent the last six years researching counseling best practices. His Twitter feed is full of links to research studies and articles that can help counselors connect to students of all ages.
 
Matthew J. Beck
Twitter Handle: @mattjbeck
 
Matthew is an excellent resource for school counselors who work with LGBT students. His Twitter feed and website are full of personal examples from which all education professionals can gain valuable wisdom.

Using These (and Other) Resource

After you follow a few counselors, you are likely to discover a treasure trove of informational Twitter profiles to follow, as well. But your PLN is only just beginning. As you retweet only the best material, consider reaching out to the counselors you follow. Ask them questions. Bounce ideas off their heads. You’d be surprised about how many people on Twitter actually answer the questions their followers ask them.
 
Establishing these relationships can greatly benefit the work you do with students and teachers. ​Twitter is a valuable tool for school counselors. It connects the nation’s counselors together, allowing the best to teach the rest. Using Twitter in this way, passionate counselors new on the job can achieve long-term professional success.  ​

Final Thoughts

Thanks Thomas and Teach.com for sharing some great ideas about using Twitter! Make sure you use #scchat in your posts so that you can connect with other amazing school counselors. Not sure what a hashtag is? I gotcha. Here are a few of my favorite peeps that I work alongside with on Confident Counselors all in one beautiful twitter list for you. 

Ahem, also, make sure you follow me :)
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There are many ways to become an amazing school counselor. Some people spend a few years in the classroom before making the transition, while others jump right in after college or grad school. No matter how you arrive in the field, you should follow the sage advice of the nation’s best school counselors. But how do you find them?
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    Rebecca Atkins

    Welcome to my blog where I talk about all things school counselor and encourage others to Counselor Up!

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