1. Building Culture and Climate
Department of Social and Emotional Learning
Summer 2012

2. Integration Culture and Climate Explicit Instruction
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING
How does your school and your classroom feel to all the members of the learning community?
Integration
Culture and Climate
How are you intentionally teaching the knowledge and skills of SEL?
How do you intentionally address SEL through other academic areas and instructional strategies?
Explicit Instruction
Third leg culture and climate whether in the SEL initiative or not, culture and climate remains an area in which focus never ends. Every meeting you have – every interaction you have - builds or detracts from the positive culture of your campus.
Elementary counselors have been using “Have you filled a bucket today?” with students for years

3. What can I do now? Work on climate and culture
Building community
Student voice
Focus on areas of effective SEL and instruction
Engagement strategies
Student talk vs teacher talk
Reflecting on skills in group/cooperative learning

4. Getting to know you
Teacher Preference Inventory I prefer to receive praise: In public In private Other:___________ I prefer to receive constructive feedback: In person phone message Other:_____________________________________. If you want to motivate me, try __________________________________________________________. I feel valued when ____________________________________________________________________. I feel devalued when__________________________________________________________________. My productivity would improve if ________________________________________________________. Traits I value in a supervisor are ________________________________________________________. Something important to know about me is _______________________________________________.

5. Meeting and Greeting
One of the most effective ways to build community in your staff is to change the way they sit in your meetings. How do most people choose to sit?
At your table, think of three other ways that you could have people sit. For example, by month of birth. (wait 2 minutes)
Share out – encourage people to say, “we had that” when agree with one shared. – Chart and type to send later

6. Building Strong Teams
Use note cards with points for community building for movie activity – pair people, give card and markers

7. More ideas Mix it up lunch Experts and learners
Lessons in art, music, P.E.
Write a social contract or social compact together
Share an org chart with everyone
Have clear expectations for communication
Allow people to solve their problems
Consistently focus on what is best for students