Bookmarked

The Gallup Survey, Dear America, SEL and Leading and Learning

 //  Sep 12, 2017

The Gallup Survey, Dear America, SEL and Leading and Learning

Below are a few education stories I've bookmarked recently.

Last week Scholastic Education's CAO Michael Haggen wrote in a back-to-school message that it is imperative for educators (and families) to read widely with children, so that as a community we can all work to understand the world we live in.

He wrote, "Those of us who spend our days helping kids navigate the world must establish a powerful community of readers and learners so that we all may be informed citizens."

Yesterday The Atlantic published Dear America: Reading Through History by Amy Weiss-Meyer, who describes her experience as a New York City elementary school student on September 11, 2001. Not long afer, she discovered the Dear America series, and dove in to the world of historical fiction. "Dear America was, on some level, a comforting reminder that I was not the first, nor would I be the last, to live through history in the messy, unfolding present."

Speaking of helping children navigate the world, 2015 Washington State Teacher of the Year Lyon Terry argues in EdWeek in Social-Emotional Skills Should Be an Integral Part of Every Lesson We Teach  that social-emotional learning must be integrated into learning, not viewed as a separate add-on: "Integrating social and emotional skills with our content lessons helps our students see others as thoughtful, engaged people. These skills give them the ability to interact, create knowledge together, and understand an individual's role in group dynamics. Social and emotional skills are also the roots of love and empathy, emotions that are needed today more than ever."

On HuffPo, Chris Minnich (Council of Chief State School Officers) and Deborah Delisle (ASCD) write in Learning and Leading: Giving power to the professionals to learn and lead together that "teachers are lifelong learners and need to be supported through each stage of their careers. Most importantly, we recognize that one of their most powerful learning endeavors is when educators connect and learn from one another."

Finally, The Gallup 2017 Survey of K-12 School District Superintendents. Of note: Superintendents say that "their district's greatest challenges are helping students whose circumstances affect their achievement and dealing with budget shortfalls."

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