SEL and Character Building Resources

Sam Piha

The word is out: social emotional learning and character building are very important to young people's healthy development and their success in school, work, and life. As a result, educators and expanded learning professionals now have access to a number of resources to shape their practices accordingly. Below, we cite several resources that are useful.

Webinar - Take Center Stage: A Free Webinar for Educators, February 17, 2016
This webinar, hosted by Lynn Johnson of Go Girls! Camp, is focused on supporting the social/emotional health of girls and is geared specifically towards teachers, mental health professionals, youth workers, and teaching artists who work with girls in educational settings. Please RSVP for the webinar even if you think you can't make it!  This way, you will be sure to get the recording later plus a copy of a free e-book.

Webinar - Creating the conditions for social and emotional learning
This webinar offers a great discussion on best practices for encouraging social and emotional development in afterschool and summer learning programs. Speakers include Deb Moroney and Jaime Singer from American Institutes for Research (AIR), Stacey Daraio from Temescal Associates, and Aleah Rosario from California School-Age Consortium (CalSAC).

Publication - AfterSchool Today: Supportive Afterschool Learning Environments
This Winter 2016 edition from the National AfterSchool Association (NAA) contains a number of articles on social emotional learning and practices that promote it. It contains an article authored by Ruth Obel-Jorgensen (CalSAC) and Sam Piha (Temescal Associates). The article is focused on Expanded Learning 360°/365: Skills for Success in School, Work, and Life  and their paper, Student Success Comes Full Circle: Leveraging Expanded Learning Opportunities.

Guide - Preparing Youth To Thrive, by the Susan Crown Exchange and the David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality
"This field guide sheds new light on how out-of-school programs can equip teens with valuable social and emotional skills. Inside the guide, readers will find key staff practices drilled down and described for each of the eight programs."

SEL Planning and Reflection Tools - Beyond the Bell at American Institutes for Research (AIR)
On the AIR website, they offer a number of resources including planning tools and assessments for educators and expanded learning professionals. The above link is a search for "SEL", which provides a list of SEL resources. The 360°/365 project is currently working with AIR to adapt their SEL reflection tool to incorporate into our work with schools and afterschool programs.