County office and LEA leaders came together on June 11th for the southern California inaugural meeting of the California SEL Community of Practice. Following the successful March 29th kick off meeting at the Sacramento County Office of Education, 15 county offices and 15 school districts attended the replicated network meet up at the Orange County Dept. of Education in Costa Mesa.

These SEL leaders explored the foundations of SEL, the CDE SEL Guiding Principles, and their personal ‘why’ for SEL. Participants planned for future meetings and these dates for the 2019-2020 academic will be announced soon. On July 29th, an in-person SEL community of practice meet up will be held at the CA MTSS Professional Learning Institute at the Long Beach Convention Center.

Social and emotional learning (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.

CASEL

1. Consider this space as a safe zone.

2. Listen actively.

3. Be open.

4. Recognize individual preferences and styles of working and communicating.

5. Work together on a common, achievable goal.

6. Empower the facilitator.

• Welcoming Ritual (2-­‐10 minutes)
  Activities for inclusion: establish safety and predictability, connect with one another, and create a sense of belonging
  
  

• Engaging Practices
  Sense-­making and “brain breaks” : foster relationships, cultural humility, empowerment, and collaboration
  
  

• Optomistic Closure (3-­‐5 minutes)
  Reflections and looking forward: provides intentional closure, and transitions on a positive note

Resource link below on these practices. See google folder for Playbook for more SEL Practices for Adult Learning.

Slide Deck

Guiding Principles (short and long version; and gallery walk template)

3 Signature SEL Practices (Summary and Playbook)

CASEL Competencies

SEL Domains

Social & Emotional Development Fast Facts

There will be an SEL Community of Practice meet-up as well as several great sessions related to SEL. Three hour sessions on SEL, Restorative Practices, Behavioral Supports, Universal Design for Learning, and School Climate and Culture are available during the pre-conference the morning of July 29th.

• Brent Malicote, Director, Educational Services, Sacramento County Office of Education

• Dareen Khatib, MPH, MCHES, RDN, Administrator, Educational Services Division, Orange County Department of Education

• Sandra Azevedo, Coordinator, Continuous Improvement, Butte County Office of Education

• Katie Brackenridge, SEL Advisor, on behalf of Partnership for Children and Youth

• Lucy Vezzuto, PhD, Coordinator, Orange County Department of Education