3. Dig deep into your

school’s data

Another valuable way to

evaluate the success or

struggles of your school is to

look at data generated by

the daily activities of your

staff and students.

What are the attendance

rates?

How many students were

referred to school support

personnel for behavior

issues?

How many students needed

to be suspended due to their

behavior?

All of these data points can

come together to measure

the overall progress of the

school year.

Regardless of the data type

or collection, I strongly

recommend that you begin

to look at alternative

indicators of successes or

struggles as you continue to

grow as a professional. Solid

data, collected over time,

will lead you to

understandings and

conclusions that you may

have never thought of

before.

Click HERE for the complete

article.

Excerpts from an article

By Brian Gatens

Everybody in education

knows that standardized

tests measure only a fraction

of a school’s

accomplishments. But how

do we quantify things that do

not produce test scores?

First, we have to get in the

habit of challenging the

thinking behind how we do

things.

So now that we’re in the

mood for thinking

nontraditional thoughts, let’s

take a look at three ways to

look beyond testing for

other ways to document a

school’s successes:

1. Measure the

‘kindness quotient’ of

your school

I’ve always maintained that

while the primary role of a

school is to provide for a

child’s academic growth, I

also strongly believe that the

social growth and

development of the child is

just as important.

How has your school

reached out to others?

How many students took

part?

Did every child have the

opportunity to help others,

no matter how small or

minor the activity might have

been?

How many of those activities

were student-generated and

student-run?

2. Conduct a community

survey

This one takes a little bit of

guts. Twice a year, I ask our

community to anonymously

and thoroughly assess the

quality of our academic

program, school

environment and work

expectations placed on the

children. I hope to have

many parents from across

multiple grade levels reach

out and share their honest

feedback about their

experience with our school.

September 2018 Volume 7 Issue II

The Teachers’ Newsletter

from Illinois Classrooms in Action Grade band lessons, ideas and information

Focus: Integrating Social and Emotional Learning

Inside this issue:

Assessment 1

ELA 2

Math 3

Science 4

Social Studies 5

Learning Support 6

Published monthly by

ISBE

Content Specialists

Nin

th th

rou

gh

Tw

elfth G

rad

e

If you have any

suggestions, questions or

concerns, click HERE to

contact our editors.

Three Ways for Educators to Look Beyond Test Scores

ISBE Assessment has the

most up to date

information on the testing

windows for all state

mandated testing.

Click HERE and then

locate 2018 2019

Assessment Dates under

Resources on the left.

Testing Dates

2018-2019

An English Language Arts

(ELA) and literacy curriculum

is enhanced when it is

intentional about developing

social and emotional learning

(SEL) core competencies.

There are three Social

Emotional Learning Goals.

Goal 1: Develop self-

awareness and self-

management skills to

achieve school and life

success.

Teachers should encourage

students to see connections

between current tasks and

their personal goals and

interests; reflect on their

personal aspirations, goals,

and objectives in writing

assignments. In addition,

students should develop

skills for focusing attention,

managing stress and anxiety,

and accomplishing goals in

order to effectively

participate in classroom

learning.

Goal 2: Use social-

awareness and

interpersonal skills to

establish and maintain

positive relationships

Students must develop

empathy and perspective-

taking in their thinking,

reading, and writing

processes. In addition, they

should develop speaking and

listening skills for

presentations and learn to

collaborate in groups where

they are encouraged to

consider the perspectives

and thought processes of

their peers.

Goal 3: Demonstrate

decision-making skills and

responsible behaviors in

personal, school, and

community contexts.

Students should have

opportunities to use writing

to reflect on choices and

goals as a way of developing

strong decision-making skills.

In short, core social and

emotional learning

competencies can help

students to develop stronger

ELA skills and to become

college and career ready.

Click here for additional

strategies for the 9th-10th

grade classroom.

Click here for additional

strategies for the 11th-12th

grade classroom.

Connecting Social Emotional Learning and ELA

Page 2 ELA

Grades 9-12

Career One Stop: Connecting Skills to Careers

Students will have a chance to

address the Social Emotional

Learning Goals (see article

above) with the website

Career One Stop. Students

will reflect on their strengths

and skills as well as to

consider possible careers that

match their skills. This website

has many tools that will allow

them to look at how those

strengths and skills can be

connected to careers and

colleges. Advisors on the site,

take students to a page that

offers two exploration links:

Identify interests

Explore careers

On both of these pages

students can use their list of

strengths and skills to identify

careers that would match

with what interests them.

Take this “tech step” further

and have them create a

presentation or Infographic

about one of the careers that

match their strengths/ skills.

Students can also check out

the video library to discover

additional options and the

education level required.

Social and

emotional

learning can

improve positive

attitudes

towards self and

others and

increase

students’

academic

performance by

11 percentile

points.

Integrating Social and

Emotional Learning and

the Common Core State

Standards for

Mathematics: Making the

Case lays out the rationale

for considering the strong

connections among the

Common Core State

Standards for Mathematical

Practice and key social and

emotional learning

competencies. While the

entire document, a project

of The Charles A. Dana

Center at The University

of Texas at Austin and

CASEL, is incredibly

enlightening, the most

impactful information for

classroom teachers is

found in Appendix B (page

17) which explicitly

illustrates the connections

between the Standards for

Mathematical Practice and

social and emotional

learning (SEL)

competencies in an easy to

read table.

The graphic to the right is

an excerpt from the table

and highlights some of the

connections illuminated by

this resource.

the tools they need to allow

students to ask the question

"What are the problems

that my community is facing,

and how can I use math to

understand and help solve

them?"

The site includes news,

events, resources and links,

how-to guides, and

hundreds of lessons

SEL Goal #3 is to

“Demonstrate decision-

making skills and responsible

behaviors in personal,

school, and community

contexts.” A great way to

address this goal in the math

classroom is to use math as

a tool to investigate social

issues. RadicalMath, created

by Jonathan Osler, is a site

that supports teachers with

arranged by topic, social

justice issue, or resource

type. Check out this lesson

plan for high school

students, Banking on a

Good Turn: Examining Key

World Economies and

Comparing Their Current

Volatility (#40 on the list).

“Making the Case” for SEL in the Math Classroom

RadicalMath

Mathematical Freedom

improve-math-class/

YouCubed.org has a

whole page dedicated to

“Mathematical Freedom”

including articles, research,

videos, tools and teacher

supports. The following

image illustrates the shifts

that must occur for these

freedoms to flourish.

“For many people, the

words “math” and

“freedom” can’t be put in

the same sentence —

because they’re taught

mathematics as a subject of

rules, conformity and

constant performance” -Jo

Boaler http://time.com.

(2018). Time. Retrieved 24

August 2018, from http://

time.com/4970465/how-to-

Mathematics Page 3 Volume 7 Issue II

Grades 9-12

www.youcubed.org/resource/mathematical-freedom/

One way to integrate social

emotional learning into

science and meet the vison of

the Illinois Learning Standards

for Science is through

increased classroom

discussion. Talk Moves, a

highly structured discourse

process, helps students share

and clarify their thinking,

interpret what others say and

build consensus. This aligns

well to SEL Goal 2A and 2C,

where we want students

demonstrating an ability to

listen to others, paraphrase

what others are saying and

use communication

effectively. TERC maintains a

Talk Moves Checklist,

training videos and other

documentation. See more at:

https://inquiryproject.terc.edu/

prof_dev/

Goals_and_Moves.cfm.html

and neighborhoods. For high

school students, HS-ESS3-2,

where students evaluate

design solutions for use if

mineral resources with cost-

benefit ratios, would be a

good place to start. For more

information, visit:

http://yparhub.berkeley.edu/

Contributing to the well-

being of the school and

community is a focus of Goal

3 of the SEL Standards, and

Youth Participatory Action

Research is a fantastic way to

engage students in science

within their community. Using

the YPAR framework in

science can get kids focused

on content in a way that

positively affects their schools

Classroom Discussion Integrates SEL and Science

YPAR to Engage Students in the Community

Improving Group Work in Laboratory Settings

Culture Content Specialists

have developed Collaboration

Kits; these kits contain items

like sorting sticks and roles

for group work, as well as

facilitation information. Using

these kits can make lab time

run more smoothly for all

students. Access it at: http://

www.ilclassroomsinaction.org

/classroom-collaboration.html

Finding combinations of

students that work well

together can be a frustrating

process, particularly when

there is a limited time to

complete laboratory work

safely. Goal 1of the SEL

Standards, aimed at

developing self awareness and

management skills, provides

opportunities to improve

group work. The Climate and

"Every kid starts

out as a natural-

born scientist, and

then we beat it

out of them. A

few trickle

through the

system with their

wonder and

enthusiasm for

science intact “

Carl Sagan

Page 4 Science

Grades 9-12

The Social Emotional Learning Standards are

most meaningful to students when embedded

into all curricular areas. The new emphasis on

inquiry-based learning and collaboration in the

Illinois Social Science Learning Standards

provides numerous opportunities to

incorporate meaningful social emotional

learning into social science classrooms.

Connecting social emotional learning to real-

world situations will assist students in

acquiring these skills.

The Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Standards

focus on several overarching areas:

• Goal 1 – Develop self-awareness and self-

management skills to achieve school and

life success

• Goal 2 – Use social-awareness and

interpersonal skills to establish and

maintain positive relationships

• Goal 3 – Demonstrate decision-making

skills and responsible behaviors in

personal, school, and community

contexts.

In the social sciences, students should be

focusing not only on content but also on the

process of inquiry. To provide students a

productive and safe environment to engage in

inquiry, instructors should strive to emphasize

the key components of social emotional

learning. Building a classroom rapport and

establishing guidelines for safe discussion

provides opportunity for an authentic and

meaningful discussion of social emotional

issues within the classroom.

Using inquiry, students will be able to practice

the skills of collaboration, critical thinking, self-

management, decision-making, and

interpersonal skills that are inherent in the

Social Emotional Learning Standards.

Using Inquiry to Emphasize Social Emotional Learning Standards

Social Emotional Tools for the Social Science Classroom

Social Science Page 5 Volume 7 Issue II

Grades 9-12

How can educators give students the opportunity to practice using their social emotional skills?

Check out some of these great tools to incorporate social emotional learning in the social science

classroom.

All Sides (https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news) Their slogan “Unbiased news does not

exist, we strive to provide balanced news and civil discourse” really highlights the mission of this

site. The goal of their All Sides For School program is to teach students how to consider and

discuss topics with respect and reason so that they can make better decisions. The resources

allow educators to foster communication, civil conversations, seek diverse views and participate

in democracy. This site allows students to discover how something can be seen from different

perspectives, a major component of SEL Goal 2 and extremely important to civil discourse!

Heroes Among Us (http://themedalofhonor.com/character-development) This site provides

character development lessons and guides from by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation.

Educators can create an account to access middle and high school appropriate content which

features non-fiction accounts of Medal of Honor Recipients' and citizen heroes' actions.

Highlighting these award winners not only allows students to examine the recipients’ traits of

courage, commitment, integrity, sacrifice, citizenship, and patriotism but also may inspire students

to take action in their community, a key part of the Inquiry Skills Social Science Standards.

For more great options be sure to check out the Social Emotional Learning section of the Illinois

Classroom Tech page! - https://ilclassroomtech.weebly.com/social-emotional-learning.html

Educating the

mind without

educating the

heart is no

education at all.

Edutopia

Educators today need to have many strategies

for the diverse academic needs of their

students. The Social Emotional

Learning skills of each student is

also very diverse. Students

experiencing trauma might get

overlooked.

Being able to understand the

trauma that affects our students

and how their behaviors are often

times masking the student’s actual

emotional state. Students of trauma may

be seen as academically delayed or have

attention issues such as ADHD. Students with

trauma can consistently be in a “fight, flight, or

freeze” mindset. When they don’t feel safe, are

frustrated or just “lost” this will be the

priority in their brains, therefore the

learning activities will be difficult to

process. Students must feel safe in

the classroom in order to be

successful.

Not only is behavior impacted by

trauma but also the student’s ability

to learn. Children affected by trauma

suffer from social, psychological,

cognitive, and biological issues—difficulty

regulating emotions, paying attention, forming

good relationships. All of this makes it difficult

for a child to succeed in school.

Calm and predictable transitions can help a student manage the triggers before entering survival mode. The panic of “Uh Oh, what will happen next” can be controlled. Educators can play music, ring a calming bell or have a catch phrase (1-2-3 eyes on me) to signal when it is time to transition. Building a routine around transitions for students will help them know what is happening, what they’re supposed to be doing and what is next. This gives the students some controlled understanding in their environment. Secondary educators can have a signal when there are 10 minutes left of the class period.

Recognize “Survival Mode”-

Deer-in-the-headlights look

Turn red & clench fists

Breathe more rapidly

Begin “moving” - ready to run

Burst into tears or look ready to cry

Respond with kindness and compassion. “I see you are struggling with this” and then offer choices the child can do, at least one should appeal to this specific student. This will allow him/her to gain a sense of control. Over time the student will build the relationship to be able to say “I need help.” For more suggestions download the Child Health Data Resource packet.- http://bit.ly/2PhJsCj

Praise Publicly, criticize privately to allow the student to build confidence in their abilities and understand that mistakes are okay. Find the moments when the student is doing really well and point it out, be specific. “Thank you for helping your classmate with math!” This will help build his/her self-worth and connections to their peers. When re-directing or correcting work do so privately as possible and in as calm a voice allowed for the environment. “When we get frustrated we can’t yell in the classroom. Is there something else we could choose to do when frustrated?” Let the student guide the discussion to

Are Classrooms Ready for Trauma?

Check us out on the web:

Illinois Classrooms in Action

The CDC show in a recent study that 1 in 10 students will have experienced 3 or more ACEs. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

***Does not include Economic Hardship***

The most prevalent ACEs students in Illinois experience are 23% Economic Hardship, 16% Divorce, 9% Alcohol and 8% Violence. (Nationally– 26% Economic Hardship, 20% Divorce, 11% Alcohol and 9% Violence.) Data from ChildTrends 2014—http://bit.ly/2B8tWpq

•Physical abuse •Sexual abuse •Emotional abuse •Mental Illinois of a household member

•Problematic drinking or alcoholism of a household member •Illegal street or prescription drug use by a household member

•Divorce or separation of a parent •Domestic violence towards a parent •Incarceration of a household member

Strategies for the Classroom

Remember: Everyone in the

classroom has a story that

leads to misbehavior or

defiance. Nine times out of

ten, the story behind the

misbehavior won’t make

you angry. It will break your

heart.

-Annette Breaux

Educational Author

Teaching and

Learning

Supports

High

School