Thomas said . “ I almost gave up so many times , but my teacher kept reminding me to stay positive and develop a growth mind set . She even worked with my girlfriend and helped her get back into school . I graduated last June , and my girlfriend will graduate soon . Our son was in the audience when I walked across the stage in May . I have never been more proud than I was that night .”
Thomas ' s story is typical . Many CBK students enroll and then drop because they have not developed the social-emotional competencies to persist and self-manage a long-term goal .
In 2014-15 , the CBK staff experienced professional development in social-emotional learning ( SEL ) and immediately realized that if we could teach these skills to our students , we could not only increase our retention and graduate more students , but we would really be preparing our students for adulthood .
SEL skills go far beyond a school or classroom management plan and develop selfawareness and self-management strategies students will use throughout their lives .
There was a collective sense of urgency to develop a comprehensive strategy for addressing the social-emotional needs of our students that was echoed by our stakeholders during regional Local Control and Accountability Plan meetings . Comments included : “ Teach us to have hope and not give up on ourselves ” and “ Teach us to believe in success .”
However , the CBK instructional setting and unique student population presented a challenge for the delivery of SEL instruction , as it is typically taught in a traditional school setting .
CBK is an independent study dropout recovery and prevention charter school operated by Riverside County Office of Education . More than 90 percent of our students are between the ages of 18 and 24 , and virtually all of them have experienced multiple educational , social and emotional challenges that have affected their educational success .
Our goal was to provide a tier one intervention that would improve retention and graduation rates , as well as develop social capital with adult students and staff . The development of the Values and Decisions course in an online learning platform , blended learning model was the result .
A team from CBK and Collaborative Learning Solutions ( CLS ) met to design the first of its kind SEL blended learning course . The goal was first to develop the capacity of staff to be SEL coaches for their students , and second to create an engaging , self-paced course featuring the Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning and Social Emotional Character Development competencies .
From August to April , CBK teachers met monthly in designated SEL professional learning communities , where they developed their coaching skills by engaging with the online content and the modeled coaching strategies from a CLS coach .
Teachers assigned the Values and Decisions course to students . The course content was delivered in modules stored on our learning management system . Next , students met with their teacher coaches weekly to set SEL goals and to discuss their progress incorporating SEL strategies into their daily lives .
Values and Decisions is a two semester elective course composed of 10 online learning modules . It is a schoolwide intervention funded in our LCAP and addresses the State Priorities of student engagement , school climate and other student outcomes . It is also our belief that increasing our students ’ social-emotional skills will lead to increases in student learning and ultimately high school graduation .
In the 2015-16 school year , students found the assignments to be exciting and challenging with many projects , learning videos , non-fiction articles , unique activities / projects and collaborative assignments that featured current research and models that students find relatable and exciting .
In Module 1 , “ Mind Matters ,” students take an assessment evaluating their own mindset , learning quickly what they can work on to decrease a fixed mindset and increase their growth mindset . They meet Harvard Professor Carol Dweck on video and begin to rethink their own potential for learning anything in life .
In Module 2 , “ Breath and Brain ,” students learn the benefits of and how to practice “ mindfulness ” for focusing , controlling impulses and living with gratitude . One student said her father noticed her doing the breathing exercises one day and was gratefully surprised that she had learned a new skill for improving her impulsive responses and ability to focus for test-taking and completing her work .
Other modules include : Self Awareness , Self Management , Social Awareness ; Responsible Decision Making , Positive Relationships ; Optimizing Optimism and Holding on to Happiness ; Cultivating Character with Mindfulness Based Strengths Practice ; Strengthening Altruism , Empathy and Compassion in Self and Others ; Service Learning – Giving Back to Your Community ; Finding Forgiveness and Growing Gratitude ; and Igniting and Nurturing Your Spark .
“ Embed SEL into the educational experience . These are the things , ultimately in the real world , that are the main factors in getting hired and getting fired .”
– George Lucas , filmmaker
The 2015-16 year was a pilot year , and further research will include the CBK Student Wellness Pre-Survey in Module 1 and the Post-Survey at the end of Module 5 .
In a seat-based comprehensive school environment there is more opportunity to teach SEL skills in a larger dose and to reinforce skills along the way . Our goal is to create this same result with online / blended learning , where the SEL teacher coach supports his or her students working in an independent study model .
For the 2016-17 school year , the staff will evaluate the effects of student growth from pre / post surveys and compare student attendance rate , retention rate and enrollment in advanced courses by students who have completed the Values and Decisions online SEL course .
Janice Delagrammatikas is principal of CBK and Debra Sacks is an educational consultant with Collaborative Learning Solutions .
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