Indianagram_October2020

OCTOBER 2020 ■ VOLUME 22 ■ NUMBER 9

Social Emotional Learning

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OCTOBER 2020 ■ VOLUME 22 ■ NUMBER 9

The Indiana Association of School Principals leads in the advocacy and support of all principals in their commitment to every child.

Social Emotional Learning President’s Letter - Social Emotional Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Social-Emotional Learning: The Time for Action is Now. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 P2R2 - A Formula for a Successful SEL Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Resilience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Come Home to the TSC: One Corporations’ Journey in Social and Emotional Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Finding HOPE Beyond Wounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Principal and School Counselor Collaboration to Support Social-Emotional Learning in a Virtual Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 STEM Integrations Community Partnership Series: Supporting Students’ Social-Emotional Learning Competencies through School-Community Partnerships in STEM/STEAM Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 SERVICE

Riley Kids Caring & Sharing Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Spotlight on Service Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 LEGAL REVIEW

Situation Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Civil Rights Law & Free Speech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Return to Table of Contents

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Tiffany Barrett Steve Samuel Kelly Storms Matt Stark Debra Misecko Jared Leiker Roy Hufford Keith Burke Adam Long Kevin Rockey Andrew Hawk Troy Albert Rick Hunt Chrystal Street Lori Graham Nicholas Mitchaner Jason Cary

11025 East 25th Street Indianapolis, IN 46229 1-800-285-2188 or 317-891-9900 www.iasp.org tbarrett@iasp.org

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PRESIDENT’S LETTER

Social Emotional Learning In the 1990s scientists were able to grow trees in a sealed biosphere but found that the trees fell over before maturing. They discovered that trees need wind to cause stress on the trees. That stress ensures trees grow strong enough to support themselves.

I’m sure right now it feels more like hurricane-force winds rather than a gentle breeze in your lives, but it is in difficult times that we can grow stronger and better. Jon Gordon reminds us that the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge were built during the Great Depression. It isn’t that we ignore the difficulties. It is how we tackle the difficulties. Do we see them as an opportunity or an obstacle? One builds and one destroys.

Although our outlook on stress can help us through stressful situations, living in a constant state of stress is not healthy either. As we examine SEL in this issue of Indianagram, I would like to offer some ways that administrators can handle some of their own social-emotional well-being.

We can begin by taking the time to identify things that are within our control that are creating stress and try to eliminate them. One of the greatest stressors within our control is negativity. We may not be able to eliminate negative people in our lives, but we can eliminate things that bring negativity to our lives.

For me, I have found social media to be a mixed bag. On one hand, social media has been a great source for my own professional development. On the other hand, I have found that the more time I spend on social media the worse I feel.

My social media feeds seem to be full of negative interactions. For example, I follow a lot of educators on Twitter. I get some great resources and hear some awesome ideas to implement personally and professionally. I have also found that more and more “educators” bash other educators in the name of making education better. I haven’t eliminated social media (yet) from my life, but I don’t swim in the cesspool of negativity either. I have eliminated the most negative. I target notifications from individuals who are more positive and funnier. I may take a dip in the pool to try to find those precious gold nuggets, but I don’t take a daily swim or spend as much time swimming.

I also have found focusing on having a grateful heart to be very beneficial. It is difficult to focus on how thankful you are for something and be stressed out at the same time. I’m not sure that being thankful comes naturally, though. At least for me, I’m easily drawn into the negativity and complaining. I must make a concentrated effort to be thankful, so before I roll out of bed and before I close my eyes to sleep, I consciously name things that I am thankful for. On my way to work, I speak out loud things that I’m thankful for which includes my teachers and support staff. I set my phone to go off at 4:20 to remind myself to be thankful for something. I know others who keep “Thankful Journals” where they daily write down things they are thankful for. As we spend more time being thankful, there is less room for negativity and stress to take seed in our lives.

What are some things within your control that create stress? What can you do to eliminate them?

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FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

IASP Executive Committee Eric Gilpin President Aimee Lunsford President-Elect Our October issue of the Indianagram is here to support your students, teachers, and you! Each article will contain an element that you can use in your school right now, or something to make you think a bit as you find a little time to reflect on all that has occurred since we started school in August. This month we also begin a new feature within the Legal Review section of the Indianagram. We’ve added the “Legal Issues” column to provide you perspective on broad topics so that you can understand both the finer points of a legal question (thanks Dave Emmert!) and also what you should be considering as you build your school program. Finally, October is National Principals Month, and Governor Eric Holcomb has proclaimed October 19-23 as Indiana Principals Week. You deserve this recognition and far more for all that you have done this year. We hope you take a bit of time this month during a fall break to recharge. We appreciate you!

Dr. Todd D. Bess IASP Executive Director

Matt Shockley Vice President Lizz Walters Past President Kelly McPike NAESP State Representative Dave Strouse NASSP State Coordinator Steve Baker Liaison to the DOE Amy Boone Assistant Principal Liaison

Future Indianagram themes Interventions (RTI/MTSS) Professional Learning Communities

November 2020 January 2021

Alternative Education/Traditional Education

February 2021

Digital & Physical Building and School Safety

March 2021

Culture/Celebrations

April 2021

Highlighting Community Partnerships

May 2021

Professional Development

June 2021

Share your thoughts on the Indianagram https://forms.gle/sCmLHwnh4aYcTJdr8

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SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Social-Emotional Learning: The Time for Action is Now Dr. Brandie Oliver Butler University No one could predict the events that have transpired over the last several months. Our school communities are facing extremely challenging and uncertain times. Students and educators are entering classrooms with increased anxiety, fears, and exposure to traumatic events. The country has been overwhelmed with two pandemics. One pandemic is COVID 19, and the second pandemic is racism, which has been entrenched in our country’s founding and still pervasive today. COVID-19 has taken over 100,000 deaths in the U.S., and systemic racism was forced to the forefront of collective consciousness with the death of George Floyd.

Defining Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines SEL as the process through which both students 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.”

Importance of SEL The evidence is robust to support the integration of SEL. Neuroscience shows that emotion, attention, and learning are linked. With increased feelings of stress, fear, and uncertainty, a student’s brain can be in a constant flight, fight, or freeze mode – making learning nearly impossible. Infusing SEL skills within instruction that focus on emotional regulation, attention, and connection will help alleviate the anxieties and allow the brain to engage in learning.

These pandemics reaffirm and illuminate the need for SEL to help care and support educators, students, and their families. With these pandemics, exposure When teachers embrace and implement SEL The evidence is of the existing inequities in education will within their practice, benefits include reduced robust to support continuously shape how we ‘re-invent’ and ‘relevels of stress, a stronger focus on learning, the integration of imagine’ school. More than ever, priority must and better relationships with students. Positive SEL. Neuroscience be given to empathy, resilience, relationshipschool climate starts with positive relationships. shows that emotion, building, and emotional intelligence. In doing Research also shows SEL has a direct impact attention, and so, we will work collaboratively and proactively on school climate. Additionally, comprehensive learning are linked. to innovate and rebuild our education systems SEL has been found to have a positive impact on and further develop the necessary SEL skills for academic achievement. lifelong success.

Many school systems across the state have delved into the The effects of the pandemics have resulted in school implementation of SEL, finding innovative strategies to support communities, administrators, teachers, counselors, students, educators, students, and families. These include providing and families have learned to live in what some may say, a developmentally appropriate strategies for identifying constant state of uncertainty. In preparing for this academic and regulating emotions, intentional relationship-building semester, educators have been tasked with an almost strategies, increasing stress-management capabilities, and impossible challenge to try to anticipate, plan, and respond practicing self-care. An ongoing vision and systematic approach to numerous possibilities they may encounter. Stress, worry, to SEL cultivates a caring, compassionate, participatory, and varying levels of excitement all surround the start of this and equitable learning environment. This approach actively school year. However, it is critical to acknowledge our adult involves all students in their social, emotional, behavioral, educators, students, and families will need a different level and academic growth. The systemic approach will infuse of support than years past. Much discussion has taken place SEL into every aspect of students’ daily lives—across every about the loss of academic time and learning deficits that will classroom, throughout the school day, and in their homes and need to be addressed. While both of these issues are important, communities.

I recommend the primary focus needs to be on SEL. To do so, dedicate time, effort, and attention to strengthen relationships While SEL alone will not solve all the current needs, it is an with every student and building community through SEL integral component and needs to be integrated within every and culturally responsive re-engagement strategies. The school’s plans, policies, and procedures. In closing, here are a development of SEL knowledge and skills is critical for few key takeaways as well as fundamental SEL strategies that addressing the emotional and mental health challenges facing can be implemented quickly and comprehensively. today’s youth and adults.

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SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Key Takeaways 1. SEL knowledge, attitudes, and skills development need to occur and be embedded within academic learning, not in isolation.

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2. High-quality, ongoing professional development is required to help educators develop their own SEL knowledge and skills.

3. SEL knowledge, attitudes, and skills need to be based on measuring dispositions and skill development, not on traditional and solely academic gains.

Fundamental SEL Strategies A Smile: A simple smile can elevate moods and increase positive emotions. Smiling helps build connections with others.

By greeting students with a smile, educators can increase engagement, reduce misbehavior, and promote a sense of belonging.

Learning Names: Ensure educators know the names of their students. It is crucial to identify and call students by their names, as well as know the correct pronunciation. In some events, educators may be tempted to shorten names that are perceived as difficult to pronounce.

Accentuate the Strengths: Use a strength-based approach to teaching and learning. Help students identify and develop their personal strengths. When praising students, notice and label the strength the student demonstrated.

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Reflect Restore e z i l a t i v e R e t a r e n e Reg

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SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

P2R2 - A Formula for a Successful SEL Program Rick Hunt Principal Rockport Elem., Rockport, IN Have you ever longed for a bag of magic dust that you could sprinkle over the heads of your students and make all the behavior issues, confidence issues, and other classroom concerns just disappear? P2R2 IS NOT a recipe for the magic dust… sorry. However, if you believe success is a process and not a destination, then P2R2 IS a formula for the type of positive learning environment and social emotional learning program that will allow your students to succeed. P2R2 stands for being positive, proactive, responsive, and restorative. P2R2 is a program we use at Rockport Elementary, and is something of a mashup of a number of programs and best practices; Positive Behavior Supports, Responsive Classroom, and Restorative Practices being key elements. From those programs, we have drawn the best practices and built them into the ethos of our school.

P1 - Being Positive There is a website that is called The Death Clock. The opening page touts, “the internet’s friendly reminder that life is slipping away…second by second.”

Warm and fuzzy sounding, right? On the site, you plug in your birth date, sex, how positive you see the world, your BMI, and smoking status. Playing on the site and changing up a few of the answers to your positivity and your BMI and such can have a dramatic effect on what the clock says you have left in your timeline. In fact, the thing that seems to add the most years to your life is your outlook. If you are a pessimist, you are going to live a very short and angry life while the optimist grows old!

This isn’t junk science on the internet.

In fact, studies at the Mayo Clinic found that a positive outlook and positive emotions can increase life expectancy by 10 years! That is twice as much as the 5.5 years smoking a pack a day www.iasp.org

takes away from your life. Dramatic benefits come from the fostering of positive emotion.

Our students are much the same. In the classroom and in the school, the power of a positive environment can have broad implications. Specifically: Academic learning happens best within a positive social context. Optimal learning happens when teachers pay lots of attention to teaching children positive social skills within the context of daily routines and activities. As teachers demonstrate their belief in all their students’ potential for competence and goodness, children will also feel more empathy and tolerance for and interest in each other.

(Responsive Classroom, NEFC 2007) Keeping a positive environment is one key element to the formula of success.

In truth, it is probably the key secret in the sauce. It is important to find ways to promote positive interactions, highlight the good behaviors, spotlight growth no matter how small, and keep a growth mindset.

A positive program is developed by: Promoting a growth mindset: Michael Jordan made basketball look easy like it came naturally and without any effort, when in fact it took him thousands of hours to perfect his game. Students also need to be aware of what it takes to be an expert at anything. In Outliers, Gladwell (2008) calls it the “ten thousand hours of practice” rule. He states that no one can reach excellence without that much deliberate practice. Ericsson’s (Ericsson et al., 1993) studies referred to this same principle as the “tenyear rule.” Since most deliberate practice requires about 1,000 hours per year, they are saying the same thing. It is important that adults tell students the truth about what it takes to reach the top. We need to cultivate a growth mindset.

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of a process measured in years of dedicated practice. Adults need to have conversations about progress ( fast or slow) with kids. Help them identify failure as opportunity.

Parents and teachers should take every opportunity to point out the intentional, purposeful practice it takes to get better at anything. (Fall Down 7 Times, Stand up 8). The prime point being, YOU CAN GET BETTER! Everything, every misstep, every miss, every step backward is a part of the process of learning to move forward.

We all can grow.

Using the right teacher language: The way we speak, our body language, the tone we use, the volume of our voice, and the words we use can all have a huge impact on our students.

Skillful teacher language is language that supports students in three broad ways: gaining academic skills and knowledge, developing selfcontrol, and building their sense of community. Across all of these areas, language is a tool that helps teachers articulate a vision, convey faith that students can attain it, give feedback that names students’ strengths, and offer guidance that extends students’ skills. From The Power of Our Words: Teacher Language That Helps Children Learn, 2nd Edition, by Paula Denton. © 2014 Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc. 5 to 1 Ratio: The distribution of positive comments to negative ones must be within a 5 to 1 ratio for relationships to be healthy and whole. That is, there must be five positive comments given for every one negative comment. Amazingly, in 1992 psychologist John Gotman had 15 minute conversations with newly married couples and used the 5 to 1 ratio to predict whether or not these marriages would end up in divorce. Ten years later his predictions were 94% accurate. This is a simple but powerful strategy that must be employed. You will have to correct, but take time to point out the positives at a much higher frequency.

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SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

P2 - Proactive Frequently, the question is asked, “Why should I have to teach kids to be good? They already know what they are supposed to do. Why can I not just expect good behavior? It’s common sense!” In the words of Dr. Phil, “How is that working for you?”

We know many of our students do not come pre-taught with positive social norms and behaviors because of their home environments or external influences; not because they are obstinate or defiant. They simply don’t know better or they do but it isn’t yet a habit. Common sense isn’t common until it is explicitly stated, modeled, and reinforced. For school appropriate behavior to become common sense it must be explicitly taught in a proactive manner. We need to teach our kiddos what we expect, and underpin those lessons by providing consistent feedback and reinforcement.

A proactive school program is developed by: Create School-wide Expectations: Having a few simple, positively stated expectations facilitates the teaching of behavioral expectations across school settings. For example, at Rockport we use Be Safe, Be Respectful, and Be Responsible. These simple words can be used in every area of the area of the building. This helps because students learn our expectations through consistent language. By focusing on the core expectations, it is easier for students to remember expectations in each area of the school. Expectations are explicitly taught for each area of the school, and a considerable amount of time goes into that instruction.

Celebrate Those that Meet Expectations: Shining a spotlight on students who are meeting expectations is important. Research has shown that recognizing students for following the expectations is even more important than catching them breaking the expectations. By stating expectations positively, the hope is that staff will be more likely to use

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the expectations to catch students engaging in the appropriate behavior.

Teach the “Soft” Skills: Why do some children succeed while others fail? The story we usually tell about childhood and success is the one about intelligence: success comes to those who score highest on tests, from preschool admissions to SATs. But in the book How Children Succeed, Paul Tough argues that the qualities that matter most have more to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, optimism, and self-control. Search the web for what companies value you most in identifying candidates to hire. Technical knowledge of the job is often far down the list below those things we call soft skills. To be honest, I rather dislike that term. I’d prefer to call them success skills or critical life skills… It can be argued that a student proficient in the soft skills — but who struggles academically — is better prepared for the next step in life than his or her straight-A peers who lack skills like self-management or grit.

Time must be spent in supporting and developing our students’ soft skills toolbox.

These are not skills that will always be able to be taught in a direct lesson. Often they are an intentional product of good modeling, feedback, recognition of students who show these skills, practice and routine.

In an effort to reinforce character development, Rockport Elementary integrates specific character traits into our program each month. We believe that these character traits will assist each student in becoming a better person. Each month we will have a specific character trait that we focus on as a school. We celebrate students who show outstanding effort in these areas as well, and we promote the character traits in our community.

The traits we focus on are: Be a Rockport Student - Safe, Respectful, and Responsible, Leadership, Integrity, Gratitude, Spirit of Adventure, Purposeful, Kindness, Perseverance, and Synergy.

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R1 - Being Responsive We have to be prepared to be responsive to each student’s individual needs and development. To do so you must develop an organized, data-driven system of interventions, strategies, and supports that impact school-wide and individualized behavior planning. The goal is to positively impact student comportment at three key behavioral tiers: Universal or primary (whole class/school); Secondary (individual child or group of at-risk children); and Tertiary or Intensive (children with complex needs and behaviors that severely impact the child, school and/or community functioning). A successful program is responsive to each individual student’s level of need.

A Responsive School is Developed by: Implementing Data Driven Planning and Corrections at 3 Tiers: Tier 1: Tier 1 provides high quality instruction and behavioral supports for all students in general education.

More than 85% of students will be successful in this tier. Classroom management and individual student behavior is based on expectations, responsibility, and proactive feedback.

Tier 2: If a student fails to learn appropriate behaviors at a rate similar to his/her classmates, a change in the type of instructional or behavioral strategy must occur.

Tier 3: Students may be referred to a behavior team after overall attempts to correct inappropriate behaviors are not working. The behavior team will implement more individualized and intensive behavioral interventions.

For high quality behavioral interventions at each tier and for specific behaviors visit: https://www. pbisworld.com/ Working with Families: One of the most impactful ways to support student behavior is our relationships with them and with the family. If you have a good working relationship with the parents of your student, you have the opportunity to support the student both at school and see that support followed through at home.

Like all relationships, the parent/

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SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

teacher relationship takes effort.

Communication, understanding, give and take, and mutual respect are key.

Address issues right away. Don’t wait.

Be willing to admit your mistakes (we all make them), and keep calm even if things get heated.

R2 - Being Restorative Have you ever “landed in the doghouse” in a relationship? You said something or did something that upset your spouse or a friend. Like the cute pup in the movie Up said, “I do not like the cone of shame.” Nobody likes living in the doghouse wearing the cone of shame!

So how does that get fixed? What process happens that restores that relationship? Maybe a little time needs to occur to allow everyone to cool off.

Maybe an apology needs to happen.

Much of the following adapted or taken from “The Restorative Practices Handbook for Teachers, Disciplinarians and Administrators” by Bob Costello, Joshua Wachtel, and Ted Wachtel.

Restorative practice is a process that allows a student who has taken a misstep to be fully restored in their relationship with their teacher, their peers, and the classroom and school community. Just like every doghouse moment at home looks different and runs a different course to restoration, there will be varying paths to restoration for our students.

There is no specific checklist of must do’s to get back in good graces. Each case will determine the logical steps to restoration.

Balancing the task of holding students accountable for their actions and keeping a positive environment is challenging. The teachers and staff, the student, the offended party, the parents will all look at the situation from a different perspective and their feelings about the outcome may be very different. Often we run up against the ideas of “fairness”, “punishment”, “being too lax”, “being too harsh”…

A Restorative School is Developed by: Logical Consequences: Consequences are determined by the offense, and

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must be logically applied to the situation. For example: A student shoves another student on the playground. He is sent to the office with a referral, and he is given an opportunity to discuss the situation and a consequence is given. A common consequence might be to give a recess time out the next day. For the offending student who came to the office and was willing to take responsibility for their action, understood their behavior had hurt someone else, and was willing to give a sincere apology, this consequence may seem logical. Depending on the circumstances, to another student this punishment may cause resentment and seem punitive. To another it may seem permissive. It will ultimately depend on the situation, an understanding of the circumstances, the student’s willingness to accept responsibility, how they perceive their involvement in the situation, and what opportunity the consequence will provide for the student to be restored back into the group.

Overall, the consequence is not the goal. Simply applying a consequence is not immediately restorative. The nature of process is what makes it restorative or not. Restorative practices have the goal of ensuring limits and discipline are connected with a balance of encouragement and nurturing. They try to foster understanding of the impact of the behavior: ■ Seek to repair the harm that was done to people and relationships ■ Attend to the need of the victims and others in the school ■ Avoid imposing on students intentional pain, embarrassment, and discomfort Actively involve others as much as possible Consequences will need to be applied to situations, and they may involve time away or restitution.

The goal is that the process around the consequence helps the offending student understand

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why the consequence is necessary and productive for themselves and others. This can take time, and is certainly not an easy path. Ultimately however, when logical consequences are applied through a process and relationships are restored, students will feel more connected to the school community. They will be less likely to make the same mistake again.

Repair the harm: Students also must repair the harm they have caused. Reparation of harm generally falls into two categories: concrete reparation and symbolic reparation, or a combination of the two. Concrete reparation is repairing or replacing something tangible: returning a stolen calculator or repainting a graffitied wall. Symbolic reparation is saying or doing something that acknowledges feelings, demonstrates remorse or restores peace and harmony.

Reparation should stem from the desire to make things right.

Being positive, proactive, responsive, and restorative are the secrets in the sauce. How they look in each building may be very different. But each of these key elements must be in place for a social and emotional learning program to be effective. Certainly this article was not an anthology of every great social emotional learning program, student management program or student discipline model. I do not believe there is a one-size-fits all, magic bullet that will make all your student management concerns or social and emotional issues disappear (if you find such a thing, bottle it and sell it!). What I hope you found is a framework of ideas and practices that are proven to support the culture and environment that is the best for our students’ emotional and academic growth and development.

UPCOMING EVENTS IASP hosts events throughout the year to support the growth and development of Indiana school administrators and students. Each event is intentionally designed to encourage and engage you in the pursuit of learning!

FIND A FULL LIST OF EVENTS AT IASP.ORG/EVENTS

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SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Resilience Ashlee Bruggenschmidt Principal, Sharon Elementary Warrick County School Corp.

From stay at home orders, daily data displayed on COVID-19 illness and death rates in the media, and of course the scare of reopening schools, SEL (Social Emotional Learning) has moved from a “nice to do” to a “MUST DO” in preparing for the student and staff return to school. Whatever the reentry to school is, the social emotional well being of each child has to be considered before any academic advancements or remediation take hold.

With schools reopening in the middle of a pandemic we need to model resilience over fear. Building relationships is now more important than ever before. We must set the tone IMMEDIATELY that we are ready to answer this call...We Are Resilient!

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2019-2020 Indiana Elementary Principal of the Year This is our opportunity to shape a new generation of resilient learners that will impact our country for years to come. Our messaging to staff and the community should put an emphasis on resilience and grit while acknowledging our vulnerability. Teachers must have grit and perseverance to be resilient so they can model and teach resilience to our students. Teacher self care is paramount during this time. Without stamina, grit and resilience, our schools and communities will cave to the negative pressures and fall further behind with an increase in mental health needs for all involved.

As Elizabeth Edwards said, “Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before.

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You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.” Schools need to work together to create something that is good for our students, staff, and communities in this time of uncertainty.

If you haven’t checked out the IDOE documents on social emotional learning, I highly recommend them.

They have sample lesson plans to help teach our students and staff about resiliency, grit, self care and regulating their emotions. If you would like more information or sample SEL lesson plans we are utilizing, please let me know. I can be reached at abruggenschmidt@ warrick.k12.in.us.

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SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Come Home to the TSC: One Corporations’ Journey in Social and Emotional Learning Dr. BeAnn Younker Tippecanoe School Corporation Megan Ulrich Tippecanoe School Corporation Anne Marshall Tippecanoe School Corporation Some of the best frameworks in a school district come from moments that are unexpected. The unplanned conversations or work that turns into a comprehensive plan that changes the culture of your corporation. This is what happened in our school district, the Tippecanoe School Corporation. The TSC Social and Emotional Journey began in 2017 after the district actively began working on an SEL framework to address social and emotional needs within our broader community. This came on the heels of being denied the Lilly Grant, intended for funding comprehensive school counseling programs. The blessing in this disappointment came in the opportunity to step back and take a long, close look at a framework that would be specific to our needs as a school community, evidence-based and sustainable. A comprehensive needs assessment was developed to inform our action plan and was distributed to schoolcommunity stakeholders. A town hall meeting took place to more deeply understand and assess the social emotional needs of the TSC. The conversation continued (as it actively does today) as we saw an urgent need for addressing social and emotional needs to effectively educate the whole child and support our adults.

Where does a school corporation start? We had to take a look at what our stakeholders were telling us. Based upon the items identified in the comprehensive needs assessment, TSC funded an inaugural behavior instructional coach position (Neuro Educator). The goal of a Neuro Educator (a.k.a. TSC’s Brain Teacher) is to apply focused preventative applied educational neuroscience strategies to the classroom setting. A Neuro Educator delivers professional development to all stakeholders as a TIER ONE framework connected to the 4 pillars of applied educational neuroscience: educator brain state, attachment, regulation, and teaching neuroanatomy. A Neuro Educator aligns to social-emotional learning as it relates to coaching TSC parents, students, and teachers on building a regulated community of care. www.iasp.org

Why did our district decide this was the start or foundation of our SEL work? We were fortunate to have Dr. Lori Desautels, an expert in the field of Applied Education Neuroscience, and Butler professor, speak to our staff in a welcome back to school program. Quite frankly, that moment changed our lives, and we did not even know it at the time. We started to discuss how we could make the most long lasting impact on adults and students in our district. Who could argue with brain science?

If we adopted a lens of science as a TIER ONE preventative initiative for all stakeholders, could we build a foundation for Social and Emotional Learning in our district? Year One included working with corporations that have gone before us in this work. We also recognized the need to give our Neuro Educator time to engage in professional development in order to be ready to roll out, train and share the Applied Educational Neuroscience Framework. In October of our first year, we rolled out the AEN framework to our schools by way of the structure of our professional development time, daily, or weekly, led by our Brain Teacher.

We certainly were “building the airplane as we flew it” as we worked through year one. In this first year we offered each of our nineteen schools time with our Neuro Educator and specific professional development based on individual building needs. In the end, our schools were actively engaging in the framework and wanted more--more time, more strategies, more professional development!

We evaluated how to share the AEN framework. Our survey after year one provided data that 97% of the staff and students who received professional development of our AEN framework began utilizing tools and strategies immediately.

We knew our one human in the Brain Teacher role was making a significant difference with our staff and students.

We also needed Year One to recognize the PBIS programming and frameworks that many schools utilized. What we did not want educators to say was that the AEN framework was just one more thing to do or one more program to implement. This is a framework about people, not programs. As we explained to our stakeholders, there is a place for this framework in any model of PBIS you utilize. AEN is brain aligned, TIER ONE supports and strategies for all. PBIS is the model for behavior while AEN offers the tools and strategies that create brainaligned and adversity-responsive classrooms. What began to grow as a common bond for our corporation is that our Applied Educational Neuroscience framework was one that provided immediate results for staff and students because the lens is science and science alone.

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As we rolled out this TIER ONE framework, the importance of branding became paramount to our journey as well. We needed our stakeholders to be able to visibly recognize the work of our Neuro Educator by seeing a visual prompt.

Because our TIER ONE was brain science, we needed to create a brain logo.

It was very important that our process started grassroots and worked its way up the district organizational structures.

The next logical step was to create a stakeholder leadership team from all grade levels in order to continue our social and emotional learning work. The TSC Brain Brigade was created as our corporation’s Social and Emotional Learning Leadership Team. This group was tasked by our leader, Dr. Scott Hanback, to move our social and emotional journey forward for the Tippecanoe School Corporation. One of the first efforts was writing the North Central Health Initiative Grant to support future SEL work.

This leadership team started to examine the important work of looking at our existing frameworks, partnerships and see where AEN aligned or partnered. We had a very successful health initiative taking place in TSC called INtegrate. We saw an obvious place for our TIER ONE in SEL to match and align with our wellness initiative. Staff wellness is one of our 4 AEN pillars and a major emphasis in our SEL journey. “Dysregulated adults can not regulate dysregulated students.” For our Welcome Back Meeting in year two, our superintendent, Dr. Hanback adopted the theme “TSC State of Mind” focusing on mindfulness, brain science, and wellness for staff. During the kickoff, our SEL journey was described as detailed in this article. Staff were reminded that taking care of themselves is the first and most important step in order to best serve our students.

Staff were given glasses to fill with water and encouraged to adopt a mindfulness commitment. Leadership in changing a culture begins bottom up and top down. Our superintendent and assistant superintendents were key in promoting and understanding the need for our AEN framework as part of our social and emotional journey.

Prevention lessons (secondary) as well as hiring a district-level NCHS Grant Coordinator/Mental Health Liaison. The goal of the Mental Health Liaison/NCHS Grant Coordinator is to provide Mental Health resources, information and accessibility support to the TSC students, families, staff and community.

Accessibility grows through community collaboration and partnerships, professional development for staff, consultation with staff, and consultation with families as needed to connect to services. In year two, we were ready to position our social and emotional journey beside our academic journey. We created a TSC Social and Emotional webpage to house our resources provided by our Neuro Educator, along with our Mental Health Liaison. If you think of our Social and Emotional Learning foundation as a three legged stool, one leg is our AEN framework, another leg of the stool is our Mental Health supports, and our third leg of our stool is community and family partnerships.

As we embark on the 2020-2021 school year, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to provide professional development, resources and supports in the form of: the 4 Pillars of Applied Educational Neuroscience, Conscious Discipline, the addition of Conscious Discipline Building Champions in each TSC School Building, the Conscious Discipline Book Study, ACES Training, Mental Health/Intensive Supports for our students and staff needing services beyond foundational level supports, Resiliency Team Trainings for individual school buildings, the TSC SEL Re-Entry Plan to support Staff and Stakeholders and the first TSC SEL Orientation Day Training.

Our theme for year three of our social and emotional journey is “Come Home to the TSC.” We wanted to share that TSC is a community cultivating healthy, safe, and caring support for staff, students, and families. Our TSC Brain Brigade worked on an SEL-Re entry plan that gave our stakeholders access to tools and strategies as we came back to school in the fall. Our goal is for all stakeholders to be “home” or regulated. In year three we want to reach deep and wide in our TIER ONE supports and grow our Tier 2 and Tier 3 Mental Health supports. We believe we are still in the beginning phase of this journey, and yet the enthusiasm, capacity and sustainability within our corporation continues to grow exponentially! We are purposeful and intentional in our training, research, and listening to the voices of all stakeholders. Our airplane of social and emotional learning is far from built, and will never completely land. It will continue to be a growth process, and one that we will return home to for years and years to come.

In the summer of 2019, TSC was notified that we were recipients of a $1.1 million grant from the North Central Health Services (NCHS)/Resilient Youth Initiative. This grant provided us with additional tools to support our AEN framework. It gave us the opportunity to research and roll-out a like-minded framework, nestling beside our TIER ONE initiative of Applied Educational Neuroscience in supporting and educating our stakeholders. We had the opportunity to obtain and implement the Conscious Discipline framework district-wide, and Real 14

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Finding HOPE Beyond Wounds Joe Hendershott, Ed.D. Co-Founder Hope 4 The Wounded, LLC Dardi Hendershott Co-Founder Hope 4 The Wounded, LLC Back when we first started presenting at conferences in 2006, we heard lots of things about “at-risk” students, but it seemed we were missing the boat with a large population of children being lumped into that at-risk category. We felt like some children are beyond atrisk, so we decided to utilize a different word: Wounded. Studies show that 47.9% of children in America have experienced at least one traumatic event, and unfortunately with the current challenges in our world, the expectation from some is that this number will be on the rise. If someone is at-risk of something, it makes sense to put preventative measures in place to right the ship. However, if a child has been wounded, preventative measures are no longer appropriate. We need to understand the impact of a child’s wounds on their attitude, behavior, relationships, and learning in order to reach them, teach them, and avoid using consequences that could very well exacerbate their wounds. In other words, our strategies need to become responsive in nature and be rooted in social-emotional understanding and connection.

To assist schools and communities, we developed The Hendershott Model, which is practitioner-developed and has flexible parameters so that it can be utilized in any setting.

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We could probably spend a whole professional development day discussing various doable strategies for each step in the model, but for today, let’s talk about HOPE. HOPE sounds like a warm-fuzzy, neat and tidy ideal, doesn’t it? Here’s the real deal: It’s central to this model because it’s pivotal in a child’s education, but sometimes we must dig deep to help kids find it again. Some kids come with a lot of layers that have to be chipped through, and some insist on repeating the same unbecoming behaviors and attitudes more than once creating an emotional obstacle course for you to find your way through. This is where your inner Warrior comes in. Socialemotional practices sound nice and tidy, but in reality, education has become a battleground where we’re fighting against all the distractions and trauma this world has to offer. We need Warriors of HOPE in education. We need you.

are passionate about a comprehensive approach to social-emotional learning practices, which includes attention to the wellness of educators! Our book on the topic—Supporting the Wounded Educator: A Trauma-Sensitive Approach to Self-Care—was released in February.)

So how do we get to HOPE? Here are three fundamental strategies to get started: ■ Looping back to the model, it begins with understanding the typologies and repercussions of wounds. The first step to any type of transformation is to build from a foundation of understanding about where we’ve been and where we hope to go.

■ Transformation happens in safe spaces, so building relationships is key. Within healthy relationships, we can discover students’ mind space and what false beliefs are impeding their ability to HOPE. ■ Relationships become the bridge to reaching students and positioning them to critically think. This is where learning takes place and they can begin envisioning something beyond just surviving, which makes learning relevant.

What does HOPE have to do with education? If HOPE is a “belief or trust that something good is possible,” it would appear it has everything to do with it. We must position kids to have HOPE in order for their education to be relevant. Otherwise, why does behavior matter? Why do grades matter? Why does any of it matter? One of the biggest telltale signs that a person is wounded is hopelessness. They’re living in survival mode, which doesn’t allow vision or growth toward purpose. Instead, students feel stuck, which in turn makes you feel stuck, too. (As a side note, we

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It’s been our pleasure to work with schools and communities around the world through this model rooted in Joe’s 30+ years as a teacher and administrator in traditional, alternative, correctional, and higher education school settings and is backed by research. We always welcome the opportunity to delve into how this model is doable and different, customizing strategies based on the unique strengths and challenge points within your team. Whatever you do, make your goal to keep bringing HOPE! To find out more about training and resources, please visit www. hope4thewounded.org.

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IPLI is a premier professional development opportunity for the practicing principals of Indiana. We are here to support you, encourage you, and provide growth in your leadership as we learn together, lead together, and connect with one another. IPLI is so excited to begin taking applications for Cohort 9 participants and mentors, scheduled to begin July 6, 2021, on Sunday, November 22, 2020. Information about Cohort 9 will be available on IPLI’s website - http://indianapli.org/, starting November 1, 2020. If you or you know a principal who wants to grow their leadership, please consider connecting with IPLI. Stay up to date with IPLI through Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Upcoming IPLI Seminars: ■ November Seminars: - Cohort 7, 8, & IPLI Extended Seminar, Sunday, November 22, 2020, JW Marriott in conjunction with IASP Fall Conference, with Rick Wormeli - Principles First, and Tina Boogren - 180 Days of Self-Care for Busy Educators - Cohort 7, 8, & IPLI Extended Cohort 2 Regional Focus-Cohort Meetings, Monday, November 23, 2020, JW Marriott in conjunction with IASP Fall Conference

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Principal and School Counselor Collaboration to Support Social-Emotional Learning in a Virtual Environment Funding SEL activities may require funding. The process to determine a budget for SEL initiatives should be collective through discussions with school leaders, educators, and school counselors to determine SEL needs. The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) provides additional resources on funding SEL initiatives within schools, including a “SEL Budget Planning Tool.” Budgeting for SEL activities is more attainable when specific goals are discussed, and principals should hold SEL planning and funding meetings to make these decisions.

Rachel L. Geesa Ball State University

Mak Ceresa Ball State University

Kaylee McDonald Ball State University This article was developed in collaboration with the Ball State University Educational Leadership and School Counseling Lilly Endowment Grant Team During these times of uncertainty, students are in need more than ever of strong social-emotional skills to cope and succeed with the many life and educational changes that surround them. The incorporation of social-emotional learning (SEL) activities within academic curriculum has been shown to improve academic performance, skill attainment, and social behaviors and attitudes (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2020). The implementation of SEL in school curriculum can help aid in student success and emotional regulation in classroom environments, leading to a more successful school year for students, teachers, school counselors, and leaders. With education program shifts to remote or hybrid delivery however, SEL may be set aside while newfound challenges in remote instruction are being tackled.

We are committed to enhancing school counselor-principal collaboration to better address the SEL needs of students and prepare students for success in careers and higher education opportunities. This collaboration is critical, as principals often determine how school counselors spend their time. As school principals guide the vision and mission of their schools in how to best address students’ academic, social, and emotional needs, it is key that they are aware of the importance of SEL so they can support school counselors appropriately. The following resources and tips on incorporating SEL into schools can better equip leaders, school counselors, and educators, and provide ways for these stakeholders to connect to the surrounding communities.

Collaboration In order for SEL initiatives to be successful, collaboration is necessary. Meeting with educators from all departments, collaborating with school counselors, and directly speaking with students are ways principals should be engaged in this important work. During these times of a global pandemic, meetings can be held via virtual meeting platforms such as Zoom or WebEx. School counselors and principals may enhance collaboration and communication about SEL in schools in the following ways: ■ Hold monthly meetings with educators - Discuss ways to combine core curriculum with SEL within classroom activities and assignments ■ Hold bi-weekly meetings between leaders and school counselors - Share common goals and action plans ■ Interact with students - Hold virtual interviews/focus groups of distribute surveys School Counseling Support School counselors need to be active in advocating and establishing SEL programs or lessons within school curriculum.

Principals should encourage school counselors to engage with classroom educators and/or hold small group discussions with students over various SEL topics. School counselors should spend 80% of their time on direct student services, and they can better support students in SEL throughout the school when they: ■ Hold one-on-one meetings with classroom educators - Meet with educators to better explain the importance of SEL and demonstrate ways to incorporate activities in already established lessons plans

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■ Utilize breakout rooms via virtual meeting platforms - Use breakout rooms to hold small group discussions from a distance Networks It is important to maintain strong communication with parents, guardians, and representatives of surrounding communities. With the start of the school year and fall season, “Back to School Night” or “Fall Festival” season has shifted due to the need to socially distance. These types of meetings and community building nights are important to engage families and community partners throughout the school. School counselors and principals share activities and information to support SEL for students, families, and other stakeholders when they: ■ Send monthly newsletters - Create and distribute monthly updates on school changes, student success, and state updates ■ Host drive-by fall festivals - Distribute prepackaged standards-based activities, healthy snacks, and other resources

■ Organize online student discussion/study forums - Share a place for students to collaborate to increase competency in subject areas leading to overall improved student success The format of education may have changed this year, but the importance of SEL has not. Utilizing these many resources and ideas within the school can ensure that students and educators are experiencing the benefits that accompany overall emotional, social, and behavioral wellness. More SEL resources and programs can be found on the IDOE, Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Wellness website; including established lesson plans and virtual programs.

References: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (2020). What is SEL?. https://casel.org/what-is-sel/ Indiana Department of Education (IDOE). (2020). Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Wellness. https://www.doe.in.gov/sebw

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Francesca Varga Ball State Principal’s License Student

Master’s in educational administration and principal’s license: Ranked 11th in the nation for 2020’s Best Online Programs by U.S. News

Student of principal’s license program teaches others how to lessen the learning gap.

Francesca Varga is associate director for blended learning with the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program.

She coaches teachers, building leaders, and principals on best practices, with the goal of closing the achievement gap between majority and marginalized student populations.

She’s convinced that Ball State’s online principal’s licensure program improved her instructional leadership skills.

instruction I received through this program was some of the “ The best instruction I have ever received in my academic career. ” Upcoming Webinar October 14 | 4 p.m. Eastern Register at bsu.edu/online/edadmin.

Learn more from Academic Advisor Casey Schultz: cmschultz@bsu.edu

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STEM Integrations Community Partnership Series: Supporting Students’ Social-Emotional Learning Competencies through School-Community Partnerships in STEM/STEAM Education Krista M. Stith STEM Integrations, LLC

The IDOE adopted this definition and developed the Indiana PK-12 Social-Emotional Learning Competencies, which includes seven domains embedded in a neurodevelopmental and culturally responsive framework. These competencies are Mindset, Collaboration, Connection, Regulation, SensoryMotor Integrations, Insight, and Critical Thinking.

Rachel L. Geesa STEM Integrations, LLC Oftentimes, when we consider science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEM/STEAM) community partners in education, we think about the academic resources that community partners can share to enrich curricula and provide real-world and authentic experiences for students.

However, to support PK-12 students to be career and college ready, community partners may also provide resources and opportunities for students to move toward or sustain social, emotional, and behavioral wellness. In this second installment of our community partner series, we anchor community partnerships within STEM/STEAM education practices that provide opportunities for positive social and emotional learning (SEL) development. We also offer exemplars of potential partners that extend throughout Indiana.

In formal and informal education settings, students must have opportunities to learn how to process their unique reactions, experiences, and stressors with their still-developing physical and emotional maturity. SEL education guides educators to recognize these individual needs and address them. The Indiana Department of Education’s (IDOE; 2020) Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Wellness website provides numerous resources to support SEL of students. According to Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL; 2020), SEL is “the process 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.”

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We share specific Indiana-based examples of how educational leaders may encourage student development of the seven SEL competencies through STEM/STEAM learning and community partnerships in the following ways: ■ Mindset- A student’s mindset plays a critical role in developing occupational interest, capacity, and emotional connections to pursue STEM/STEAM fields. Leaders and educators need to cultivate a mindset of “yes I can” for students from a young age and support them with realworld experiences to develop STEM-related knowledge and skill sets. Girl Scouts of Central Indiana provides a spectrum of hands-on activities that foster growth mindsets in STEM/STEAM. The K-12 curriculum inspires girls to think and do as scientists, technologists, engineers, artists, and mathematicians.

■ Collaboration- Educational leaders can promote educators to include lessons with students working together in teams to develop relationships skills. In STEM/STEAM activities, students ideate solutions to problems, design and test solutions, celebrate their successes, and manage conflict. Leaders may foster collaboration with community partners to further cultivate social competencies. FIRST Indiana Robotics partners with schools and provides grant opportunities for students to interact with one another and build upon one another’s contributions in robotics challenges.

■ Connection- When students can connect with themselves, their peers, and the adults in their lives, they develop respect and social awareness. Active listening, for example, can connect students to others and develop respect and cultural sensitivity. Community partners can also serve as active listeners to students. At Yorktown Community Schools, STEM teacher Kristen Alcorn, has partnered with the Modern School in New Delhi, India. Yorktown students connect with students on the other side of the world to ideate solutions to the region’s poor air quality.

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■ Regulation- The capacity to manage feelings, regulate emotions, and practice positive self-discipline are critical skills in the presence of failure, such as in engineering design activities. A community partner that supports art integration within STEM/STEAM activities provides an avenue for students to incorporate healthy stress relieving activities and an outlet to calm emotional reactions. Arts for Learning, with a robust list of volunteer teaching artists, partners with schools throughout the state to offer artsintegrated experiences for students.

■ Critical Thinking- Students preparing to enter society in adulthood should possess transferable and marketable critical thinking skills-making rational and reasonable judgments though synthesizing, managing, and analyzing multiple streams of information. The Purdue Science K-12 Outreach program through Purdue University creates and facilitates state-wide programs that cultivate critical thinking skills through collaborative interactions with faculty, leaders, teachers, and families.

■ Sensory-Motor Integrations- The relationship between the sensory system and the motor system of the body integrate together so that the brain receives and organizes input from the environment and the body appropriately responds. In STEM/STEAM education, minds-on-hands-on activities support students in a variety of learning styles, but particularly kinesthetic learning. Leaders may work with 1st Maker Space in Indiana to build and develop maker spaces, as well as provide maker curricula and products.

Community partners in the STEM/STEAM fields can not only support the academic experiences of PK-12 students, but support their social, emotional, and behavioral wellness as well.

Through schools and districts working with external partners, such as the examples listed above, students are exposed to STEM/STEAM knowledge, attitudes, and skills within contexts that encourage them to regulate emotions, set goals, empathize with others, develop sustainable relationships, and use rational decision-making.

■ Insight- Intuitiveness and deep understanding of cause and effect supports students developing capacity in insight. STEM/STEAM education initiatives support the development of insight, such as through exposure to STEM careers. Better Youth Outcomes partners with employers across the state to connect students to these work-based opportunities, such as apprenticeships, internships, job shadowing, and site visits.

For more information, please contact us at www. stemintegrations.com or contact@stemintegrations.com.

References: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.

(2020). Overview of SEL. https://casel.org/overview-sel/ Indiana Department of Education. (2020). Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Wellness. https://www.doe.in.gov/sebw

National Association of Elementary School Principals Serving all elementary and middle-level principals

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Riley Kids Caring & Sharing Update Susan Miles Officer, Kids Caring & Sharing TM Riley Children’s Foundation The frost is on the Punkin It’s more than the beginning of fall that gives me chills each October. I was in the 6th grade when my favorite teacher had each of us memorize and recite in front of the class all four stanzas of James Whitcomb Riley’s When the Frost is On the Punkin. Little did I know that activity foreshadowed a now 20year career with an organization and hospital that has greatly impacted me and my family.

One of my three daughters became a “Riley kid” at age 12 when she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, just one year after I started working with the Riley Children’s Foundation. Talk about an event that motivates your work! Because of fabulous donor support that helps make Riley Hospital the very best place in Indiana for pediatric healthcare, my daughter is able to accomplish everything she sets out to do in life. After caring for kids in Riley’s pulmonary unit and Trauma Center for many years she is now a private practice Nurse Practitioner caring for and sharing her knowledge with others to keep them healthy and living their best lives.

2019-2020 Recognition in the Works In response to the challenges posed to last spring’s traditional KCS awareness building and fundraising activities, recognition for those who were able to participate in KCS 2019-2020 ended in September instead of the usual June. Please watch for your KCS 2019-2020 participation decals to arrive in late October early November.

Schools able to raise more than $1 per student will be recognized as Red Wagon schools. School corporations whose every member school attained Red Wagon status will be recognized as Red Wagon Corporations and will receive a framed certificate acknowledging that achievement. School corporations who had every member school participating at some giving level, or whose participating schools were able to raise an amount equal to or greater than the entire school corporation population, will receive a Riley Corporation certificate.

If your school needs a new KCS multi-year plaque on which to display your participation decals, or you think you may be missing decals for any years between 2006-07 and 2019-20, please contact smiles@rileykids.org.

Every gift to Riley Hospital is an investment in the lives of the children and families who turn to the hospital for hope and healing. Thank you for being such important shareholders!

KCS – Social Awareness a Core Competency of SEL While Mr. Riley himself may no longer appear in Indiana core education standards, his birth anniversary, October 7, or anytime, is a great opportunity to engage students in relevant classroom lessons that can bring to mind this famous Hoosier poet and the nationally-ranked, comprehensive children’s research hospital created in his memory.

Kids Caring & SharingTM (KCS) participants have long known that teaching students about empathy at an early age and encouraging them to move into action on behalf of others leads to life-long giving and active citizenship. In-class Social and Emotional Learning opportunities combined with active extracurricular activities can help cultivate a caring, participatory, and equitable learning environment where students develop their social, emotional and academic growth. How might your school be able to add a philanthropic component to a Riley mindful lesson? Riley Curriculum Guide

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Let’s work together to find creative ways to keep supporting Riley!

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Spotlight on Service Learning Beth Smith Consultant, INSPIRE3

Service-Learning and Social Emotional Learning Blend Well Together

The transition to increased blended learning was not one that happened by choice for most educators. There was an almost “helpless” feeling as content delivery changed from in-class to virtual overnight due to the pandemic. Imagine the effects these major changes have had on students.

Where educators felt overwhelmed, students felt the same sensation while experiencing the loss of connection with their peers and their teachers. One way to bridge the gap and create a feeling of hope is with the incorporation of service-learning and social-emotional learning into content in the blended and the traditional classroom.

When youth contribute to a civil society they feel empowered and see themselves as agents for good which gives them a positive outlook on their education and their future.

Other key benefits of incorporating service-learning into the blended classroom are: opportunities for diverse youth to have positive interaction in their communities; students can project their voice and choice; service-learning collaboration promotes collegiality among peers while fostering respect of diverse cultures, ideas, and skills. Service-learning also develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills, but most importantly it promotes connection with others which is especially important in effective blended and virtual learning. While engaged in service-learning from home or in school, students have the opportunity to acquire and hone social-emotional skills that are taught and perfected during the SL process. Skills taught and used in meaningful and appropriate settings are more likely to generalize, producing life-long mastery.

The Learning to Give website has lessons for grades K-12 in all content areas that are connected to Indiana Academic Standards.

Educators can search for lessons by content area, specific Indiana Academic Standard, or by topic. While engaged in servicelearning, students have the opportunity to develop the following social-emotional competencies: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social-Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsible Decision-Making.

NEW on the LTG site is an area called Social Awareness under their “Teach” tab. In the Social Emotional Learning for Community section, there are five guides for each SEL competency that provide a definition and activities that connect both community and generosity. From kindergarten to twelfth grade, young people will learn about and address needs while interacting with their community. Each competency has a resource guide that includes the definition of the competency and activities to develop the core competency as they relate to youth finding their personal and collective role in community.

Another section on the LTG Social Awareness page is Teaching Social Justice and Building Remote Community. According to the LTG website, “Whether we are teaching remotely or using a hybrid model, our learners need connections to a social community and a purpose bigger than themselves. In these times, everyone has something to give to make our lives a little better. Taking a generous role in society helps us feel connected in a difficult time. Our intent with these three grade-level appropriate resource guides is to provide activities and experiences that promote generous collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. The culminating service involves generous listening and storytelling in a StoryCorps style project.” There are three guides available for grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12:

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■ Building Virtual Community with Empathy and Equity (K-5) - This resource guide includes video, literature guides, activities, and lessons that may be used individually or as a comprehensive unit. The discussions and lessons are intended to empower youth voice and guide them toward a service project of listening to someone’s story through an interview and classroom reflection.

■ Personal Decision-Making for Community and Equity (6-8) and Teaching Social Justice in High School (9-12) - These resource guides include video, literature guides, activities, and lessons that may be used in order or selectively. The discussions and lessons are intended to empower youth voice and guide them toward a service project of capturing someone’s story through an audio recording and sharing it with others. The two themes are building a classroom community even though you are not together and raising awareness of social justice and our role as citizens of a diverse country.

Also available on LTG is the Current Events tab. As students explore current events, they are able to discuss the events and ways that they can have an impact and be civically engaged. Students can take action for the common good while actively exercising their voice and choice.

Learning to Give has professional development courses for educators to assist them as they seek meaningful ways to incorporate service-learning and connect youth with important skill acquisition, social-emotional learning, and real-world application of content. Here are some mini-courses available on their Professional Development tab for all educators ( free of charge!) with certificates to submit to building leaders for PGP: ■ Raising Philanthropic Children - Raising children includes instilling values and habits that help young people grow into caring and productive members of society. Throughout this course educators will learn some of the theory, concepts, and practices that guide young people to be giving and empathetic adults.

■ Using Spoken Word Poetry for Justice - Here’s one creative way to engage youth voice to take voluntary action for the common good -- teach them to use spoken word for the causes they care about. This mini-course provides background, examples, and tips for teaching spoken word poetry.

■ Student Activism In this mini-course, educators learn what student activism looks like, why it is important to teach the knowledge and skills of social action, and ways to include activism in practice that gives students more purpose and ownership in their learning and volunteerism.

Learning happens best when students have a “calm brain”. A whole-child approach to learning will help facilitate greater student achievement. Incorporating content area lessons with service-learning and social-emotional learning simultaneously, develops the whole child and has positive and lasting effects while offering opportunities to explore individual talents and acquire 21st century skills.

Visit the INSPIRE3 page on the IASP website here and on the IMLEA website here. ALL Spotlight or Service-Learning articles, written by Beth Smith, are archived on the Spotlight on Service-Learning page . Snapshots of Service-Learning from Indiana schools can be found here. For more information see our Contact Us page.

Explore the free resources on Learning to Give and generationOn to find service and service-learning lessons and resources , meaningful ways to serve others and give meaning to content, help students discover their passions, and help them develop empathy through incorporation of service-learning into the existing content.

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LEGAL REVIEW

Situation Briefs Dave Emmert Emmert School Consulting The following issues have been presented to this writer in the recent past by school administrators. The summary responses are shared to improve administrator recognition of problem areas and to give a brief legal background to assist in problem resolution. Consultation with the school attorney is very important because each situation is different and the law to be applied is more complex than what is revealed in these responses. This column is intended for informational purposes only and should not be viewed as legal advice. Dave may be contacted on his cell at 317-432-4514 and on the web at; davidjemmert@gmail.com.

Issue: We (administration) received an e-mail from a teacher last week stating: “Just a heads up as I know this has been an issue, i.e.: (student name) is supposedly wearing a mask that says, ‘I feel like George Floyd. I can’t breathe.’ Thought I would let you know. I have not seen it just heard about it “ Today we had a staff member tell our assistant principal that this same student was wearing the same mask and that a female African American student was offended by it.

Can we ask the student to stop wearing the mask since it was stated by a staff member that it was offensive to a student? Would this be considered a school disruption?

Response: I do not see this as a substantial disruption of the school day or a part of the day, like a class setting or an extracurricular activity. The Supreme Court in its landmark student free speech case of Tinker ruled that the school, as a governmental body, can only limit student expression if there is evidence of an already occurring substantial disruption, or a reasonable forecast of a substantial disruption. www.iasp.org

The facts that you gave me do not come close to even being a normal disruption, and hence, are far, far away from being a substantial one as required by the Supreme Court. The fact that one, or even several students for that matter, felt offended by the remark, does not constitute a substantial disruption.

Issue: A student displayed two signs on his vehicle in the school parking lot. One was a picture of the Confederate Flag and the other a statement saying, “Black Lives Matter.” Do I have the authority to have the signs removed?

Response: The legal issue is whether the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause protects this student’s expression. The Supreme Court’s Tinker case rule is that government schools may only limit or deny student expression that either creates a substantial disruption or a reasonable forecast of such. You did not indicate any facts that there was any disruption at all, so my analysis will only involve the second part of the Tinker test, i.e., whether this expression could reasonably forecast a substantial disruption.

This is rather difficult to do since there was no indication that this was an unusually sensitive or heated matter at your building. It is doubtful that a court would back you up if you made the student remove the signs because the message(s) conveyed are many, and, therefore, reasonable people could disagree on their meaning. The effect, therefore, would be watered down, resulting in the unlikelihood that a substantial disruption could be forecasted.

Issue: We are going to transition back to 100% traditional schooling starting second semester. If we offer all classes to meet the needs of the students’ diploma tracks, but seat students in their classes by extra-curricular groups/teams that they are on to avoid those students being quarantined due to sitting next to a general ed student who is not involved in any clubs/teams, can we do that?

Would that be considered segregation or profiling or some other legal term I am not familiar with?

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Response: Definitely a unique inquiry, but after a number of analytical approaches, I found nothing invalid about it. Even though it has a discriminatory component, so do a lot of things that occur in a school every day.

Most discrimination is “legal” for two reasons. First, under the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, as long as the differentiation is not based on denial of an advantage to a protected group, such as race, national origin, or gender, the government need only prove that it had a rational or logical basis for its different treatment. Second, independent of constitutional equal protection, are federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws, such as Title VII and Title IX, which are limited in the areas that are protected. Since, most all decisions of school officials that create differences are not covered by these laws, and are logically based so that they cannot be voided by a finding of being arbitrary or capricious, your decision to seat students according to participation and non-participation in extracurricular activities would withstand attempted judicial intervention.

Issue: A number of teachers have posted “Black Lives Matter” signs in their rooms that have caused some negative reactions from parents as well as students that appears to be growing and I am concerned that it could put our building in the middle of a community battle over the issue. Please provide some legal perspective for me to consider.

Response: Through the lens of “the law,” it is fortunate that this sign was not a student’s posting which would create the need for a First Amendment speech analysis. Since it was posted by staff members, public school employees do not possess the same free speech rights as students that would require a greater legal burden on the employer to have evidence of a substantial disruption, or a reasonable forecast of such, before the employer could remove the sign.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Garcetti ruling and the Seventh Circuit’s Mayer decision involving a Bloomington, Indiana 29

LEGAL REVIEW

elementary school teacher both apply to government-employee speech made while performing their official duties, and clearly indicate that these teachers in your school who posted the BLM sign were acting in their role as public school teachers and not in the role of citizens.

The leading Supreme Court teacherspeech case (Pickering, 1968) established the legal balancing test to be applied when the government employee speaks as a citizen (and not as an employee) on a matter of public (as opposed to personal) concern. Under this test, the public school can only prevail by proving either that the speech caused harm to its efficient operation or that it would have dismissed the teacher for reasons others than the speech.

Because the Constitution does not protect your two employees’ personal speech in the form of this BLM poster while performing their official duties because they were not speaking as citizens, the reason for the school deciding to remove it need only be rational in order to win the arbitrary/ capricious test. In my view, your reason met this criterion because you indicated that there were a number of persons who called the school and of students who came to the office due to each group’s disagreement with the sign. Also, you noted that students were getting into arguments over it.

Issue: We are caught in the middle of a custody issue this week. It involves a 16-year-old girl who went home with paternal grandmother after school on Wednesday of last week, and ended up at the father’s house in another school district.

The mother called the cops because she did not come home like normal on the school bus that night. Police called us later that evening to confirm a few details. Since then, the girl has stayed with her father against the mother’s wishes and has not attended school anywhere. The mother is extremely mad at us for allowing her grandmother to pick her up. But it was after school and the girl lied to us and told us that mom knew what was going on. If the dad or grandmother had come into the building to pick her up, we probably would have 30

verified, but she didn’t. They waited until dismissal with all other students and walked to her car at the end of the day.

The father called Friday and wants to enroll her in our virtual academy that we are offering due to COVID. The mother says “absolutely not” and had a few choice words for me as well.

The Divorce Decree says they have “joint legal custody” but Petitioner (the mother) has primary physical custody.

The mother thinks because it says that she has sole decision-making rights in regards to the girl, we need to honor her wishes.

Our attorney advised that we go ahead and honor the father’s request since the best interest of the girl is to provide her education, which she is not currently getting because she is not attending school. The mother has threatened to call all media outlets and post anything she can on social media about us is we allow that to happen.

The mother mentioned that they have a custody hearing in November sometime and the father made a comment about the girl staying with him until then.

What is right? Do we just count her absent until mom and dad find a resolution? Or do we honor dad’s request and move her to virtual?

Response: The term “parent” for purposes of a “right or obligation” under Title 20, the Education Code, is defined at IC 20-18-2-13(4) in the situation of a divorce as the one that the divorce decree “awards custody or control” of the child. So, under your facts at this moment in time, the “parent” in my opinion is the mother because she is the one who was granted, and still maintains, primary physical custody (even though the child is staying with the father apparently until the next custody hearing).

Therefore, even though you are in a difficult middle position where the father has actual physical custody at the moment, the Indiana Code provision gives us a different answer by making the mother the legal parent due to the Return to Table of Contents

court granted divorce decree. Hence for Title 20 purposes with regard to education decisions, it is my opinion that since the mother still has Title 20 custody, she is the “parent” with final legal authority to deal with you, the school, not the father.

Issue: I have a parent complaint about a teacher posting a “Black Lives Matter” sign in her elementary school classroom.

What are the legal issues that I need to be aware of ?

Response: The overall issue involves the personal expression of teachers in the government’s classroom or playing field. As to teachers’ speech made as citizens on matters of public concern off school grounds and on their own time, the Supreme Court in the Pickering and Mt. Healthy cases has made it clears that such expression is protected by the First Amendment, unless the school can prove that it caused harm to the school’s efficient operation or that the speech consisted of false statements that were knowingly or recklessly made.

However, teachers’ personal expression made while in the performance of their duties for a public school do not have this protection because they are not speaking as citizens.

The Supreme Court’s 2006 Garcetti case established the rule that “when public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, the employees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline.”

A year later, the Seventh Circuit Federal Court of Appeals adopted and applied the Garcetti rule when it upheld the dismissal of a teacher who alleged that she was fired for making the statement that she “honked for peace” in response to an elementary school student’s question during an in-class current events discussion about this country’s involvement in the Iraq war. See Mayer v. Monroe County Comm Sch. Corp., 474 F.3d 477 (7th Cir. 2007).

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LEGAL REVIEW

Civil Rights Law & Free Speech Séamus Boyce Attorney Kroger Gardis & Regas, LLP (KGR) Portia Bailey-Bernard Attorney Kroger Gardis & Regas, LLP (KGR) 2020 has presented many challenges to education leaders.

Protests involving issues of alleged discrimination are widespread. With these protests, we are seeing more and more attention to issues of discrimination and the freedom of expression. This article highlights student-based civil rights laws and the First Amendment.

Title VI (Race) Title VI provides that “[n]o person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” As such, schools must comply with Title VI and operate in a nondiscriminatory manner in areas including, but not limited to: admissions, financial aid, discipline, grading, recreation, physical education, athletics, housing, recruitment, counseling/guidance and classroom assignment.

To be liable for violation of Title VI, school officials must have had “actual knowledge” of the discrimination which was “so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it …deprives the victims of access educational opportunities” and school officials were “deliberately indifferent” to the discrimination.

Courts have determined that to possess “actual knowledge” schools officials must either witness the discrimination or have it reported to them.

Title IX (Sex) Title IX provides that “[n]o person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” Key issue involving Title IX include: sexual harassment, admissions, recruitment, discipline, single-sex education and treatment of pregnant and parenting students.

New Title IX regulations went into effect in August which significantly changed how education leaders must address sexual harassment allegations. Regardless of the form of Title IX issue, liability issues are similar to Title VI in that it depends on whether school officials reasonably respond to allegations of discrimination once it comes to their attention. For more details on Title IX changes, please see the June Indianagram feature (page 9) on this topic. www.iasp.org

Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Disability) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 provides that “[n] o otherwise qualified individual with handicaps in the United States . . . shall, solely by reason of her or his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance....” Schools are required to provide a “free appropriate public education” (FAPE) to students with a disability. Schools can be liable for not appropriately responding to allegations of a disabled student being harassed due to a disability.

Freedom of Speech The First Amendment to the US Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” The Supreme Court’s decision in Tinker v.

Des Moines from 1969 provides guidance to education leaders regarding student speech rights. In Tinker, the Court concluded that students should not be disciplined for their expression unless school leaders can reasonably “forecast substantial disruption of or material interference with school activities.”

Recently, however, a federal court determined that Tinker is not applicable to social media posts made off-campus social.

This federal court decision does not control Indiana, but it is something to watch as school leaders decide where and when their jurisdiction to discipline students ends. This is particularly important in situations when education leaders must balance respecting student speech rights with the obligations to address discriminatory misconduct.

What Should Education Leaders Be Doing Now? Education leaders should be reviewing and updating nondiscrimination policies and related documents. They should also ensure accessibility of such documents to students and all educational community members including but not limited to prominent locations of the organizational website. Now is also the time to look at staffing and provide training to ensure implementation of policy. Of course, education leaders should respond promptly when they learn of discrimination allegations. The response to the allegations should include an appropriate investigation and, for misconduct that could be criminal, coordination with law enforcement. If the conduct in question involves student expression, education leaders must determine whether expression is protected by the First Amendment and proceed accordingly.

How Can IASP Help?

As IASP understands the deep impact these issues can have to all education leaders, it will continue to provide members with resources, including the IASP Shared Solutions, and through personnel support.

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Join IASP for the EPIC Episodes! These informative sessions will be offered in a 2-part series that builds on the valuable information included. These will be recorded and made available on the IASP website for your convenience if you are unable to attend both sessions. This EPIC Episode is tailored around Social Emotional Learning for Administrators and will focus on how we can care for the social emotional needs of ourselves and our staff. We hope that you are able to register and join us as Dr. Brandie Oliver, from Butler University, shares her tools and strategies in this informative session. Click here to register!

Click the images above to register for each event!

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FUTURE INDIANAGRAM THEMES Interventions (RTI/MTSS) Professional Learning Communities Alternative Education/Traditional Education Digital & Physical Building and School Safety

OCTOBER 2020

Social Emotional Learning

November 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021

Culture/Celebrations

April 2021

Highlighting Community Partnerships

May 2021

Professional Development

June 2021

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE INDIANAGRAM HTTPS://FORMS.GLE/SCMLHWNH4AYCTJDR8

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