Teach Well: Integrate SEL and Academic Learning Standards

For the past 4-5 months, I've been writing a book with a couple of colleagues. The work has been intense and the learning amazing. The challenging part to writing a book, making a movie, or inventing is that it's an endless proposition--you can always do more, but at some time you decide it's good enough.

My colleagues and I have met and met and met. Throughout that time we have pushed each other, encouraged each other, and synthesized our various areas of expertise to provide educators real-time tools and information with which to integrate SEL and academic learning standards. Educators and administrators will be able to use this book to pinpoint STEAM and Literacy standards that they are able to enrich with SEL focus areas of self awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, self management, and responsible decision making.

By integrating SEL and academic learning standards, educators and program developers will be better able to teach, inspire, and elevate the a child's whole self, not just the academic side.

We hope that this book will be ready for educators in August so that they can choose a number of activities to embed into their curriculum programs in 2017-2018 and beyond. We've carefully identified the CCSS, NGSS and IB PYP standards that connect to the more than 50 activities included in the book.

If you'd like to learn of the book's publication details, please add your email to this list and we'll send you news of the book's publication when available.

As I worked on the book today, I realized that every child should write a book, make a movie, and/or invent something of merit by the time they graduate high school. These kinds of endeavors, particularly when completed in collaboration with diverse colleagues, are an amazing way to learn.