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Social and Emotional Learning in K-12 Math Classrooms

Social and Emotional Learning in K-12 Math Classrooms

Katy Fattaleh

Senior Program Director • The Nora Project

Now, more than ever, Social/Emotional Learning (SEL) is a critical component of classroom instruction. Welcoming students back to in-person learning this year has meant learning how to support students in new ways after a traumatic 18 months. Students are showing up differently in our classrooms, requiring new and different support, and engaging in different ways than we are used to when it comes to their peers and their schoolwork. In order to rise to the occasion, teachers everywhere are turning to SEL to help students feel comfortable and confident in the classroom environment so that they are ready to learn.

The mathematics classroom is not always the first place we think of when we think about incorporating SEL, but when you think critically about it, SEL is truly embedded in the study of mathematics. Students engage in real-world problem solving, collaborate with their peers, weigh different approaches to solving problems, and discuss the merits of those solutions. By integrating SEL into daily instruction in small, simple ways, math teachers can build students’ skills and improve their ability to engage with mathematics content. 

In our recent webinar, “Incorporating Social and Emotional Learning in K-12 Math Classrooms for a Changing World” Dr. Laurie Boswell, Courtney Adams, and myself dig into SEL’s role in the math classroom. We share more about what SEL is and give ideas for simple ways to weave it into your existing instruction. SEL does not have to be flashy, time-consuming, or even obvious. We share strategies for boosting students’ independence, interpersonal skills, and executive functions so that they can be their best selves in the math classroom.

For more information and tips for how to incorporate SEL on a daily basis in your math classroom and beyond, watch this webinar replay!

Incorporating Social and Emotional Learning in K-12 Math Classrooms for a Changing World

Presenters: 

Laurie Boswell, Ed.D
Award-winning math teacher, trainer, and Big Ideas Math® Author

Courtney Adams
Director of Lifecycle and Community Programs at The Nora Project

Katy Fattaleh
Senior Program Director at The Nora Project

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Incorporating Social and Emotional Learning in K-12 Math Classrooms for a Changing World

Incorporating Social and Emotional Learning in K-12 Math Classrooms for a Changing World

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is needed now more than ever in K-12 classrooms. Students are coming into classrooms with more diverse school and life experiences than ever before with this changing world. Addressing your students’ social and emotional well-being is critical in ensuring your students are ready and available to learn. Do you know how easy it can be to incorporate it into math class, and beyond? Learn strategies and tools you can incorporate today!

Laurie Boswell, Ed.D.

Award-winning math teacher, trainer, and Big Ideas Math® Author

Courtney Adams

Director of Lifecycle and Community Programs
The Nora Project

Katy Fattaleh

Senior Program Director
The Nora Project

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is needed now more than ever in K-12 classrooms. Students are coming into classrooms with more diverse school and life experiences than ever before with this changing world. Addressing your students’ social and emotional well-being is critical in ensuring your students are ready and available to learn. Do you know how easy it can be to incorporate it into math class, and beyond? Learn strategies and tools you can incorporate today!
 
In this webinar replay, you will:
Ups and Downs

At the End of the Road: How We Change

At the End of the Road: How We Change

Lillygol Sedaghat and Cory Howell

Multimedia Storytellers • Suān tián kǔ là: The Flavors of Life

Join us in this three-part series as we bike 800 miles down Oregon and California, exploring the impacts of COVID and climate change in coastal communities. This series focuses on stories of people, place, and change.

The City sprawled on the other side of the Bridge. White homes and glass monoliths, patches of grass and beach and trees covered the peninsula. From here it looked like a diorama, cut from construction paper and held together with cheap glue and invisible tape.

Our bikes stood against the railing. Compared to the bridges on the Oregon coast, the Golden Gate seemed so stable, its pathway so wide. And even still, I got a pulling in my stomach when I glanced over the edge.

We tried taking a few photos, tried shooting some video.

It felt like we needed to do something to celebrate, like we needed something to mark the fact that we’d biked all 800 miles.

But mostly, we just stood and looked out at the Bay.

As we crossed into San Francisco, dodging other cyclists, threading our way through hikers and walking groups and tourists taking selfies, I was surprised at the sheer number of people.

I was surprised too, that everyone here was actually wearing masks.

At the start of our trip, it struck me that COVID-19 really was affecting the rest of the world. Intellectually, I knew masks and social distancing weren’t confined to our hometown. But seeing it in person, recognizing other communities were also struggling through the pandemic, it made it feel more real.

And it made the divide feel more immediate.

We saw it at the cafe in North Bend that didn’t mandate masks. It surfaced again in a Mendocino coffee shop, where a family flatly refused to wear face coverings. We felt it at the diner in Klamath where the waitress and cooks and customers–all maskless–stopped and stared at us like we’d walked in from an alternate reality.

We could feel the frustration–the frustration at the mixed messaging, at the constant changes. The frustration that businesses and individuals often feel when they’re left to figure it out on their own.

Mostly we saw people trying to make it work–they followed local guidelines, they put up signs. They adapted.

But everywhere we went, whatever the response, we could feel the fatigue, we could see the desire for normalcy. We could see the longing for things to get back to the way they were.

Everywhere we went, we could see that people just wanted to live their lives.

Social Distancing

We walked the last three blocks. After being out on country roads for so long, all the cars rushing around and hunting for parking, the delivery trucks occupying half the street with their flashers on, the pedestrians looking down at their phones, the urban bikers ignoring traffic signals–it all seemed so overwhelming.

When we found the apartment, actually got inside, and leaned the bikes in the entry hall, we hugged.

“We made it,” I said. “We made it.”

We’d resolved to explore the City on foot today and tomorrow, to avoid the stress of navigating SF on wheels. We changed into dry clothes and headed out to find lunch.

Before walking out the door, we paused, and looked at our bikes. They stood there against the wall. And we left.

CLASSROOM APPLICATION

Our attitudes towards the virus and the way we’ve adapted are strongly influenced by our social environments and cultures. Consider how the pandemic has changed the way you view space, time, and people.

  • Compare and Contrast: How has COVID-19 changed your social perceptions? Compare and contrast attitudes you’ve seen before and during the pandemic regarding personal space, punctuality, and how people interact with public areas.
  • Create a Vlog: Pretend to be a Professor of Human Geography 30 years in the future preparing a lesson on the coronavirus pandemic. Discuss how social practices and life have changed in your community as a result of the pandemic. 
  • • Creative Writing: Pick a favorite song and rewrite the lyrics to reflect the changes you’ve had to make as a result of the pandemic. How have these changes affected your perception of life before the COVID-19?

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Navigating Climate Change on a Bike: Riding Through Fire Season

Navigating Climate Change on a Bike: Riding Through Fire Season

Lillygol Sedaghat and Cory Howell

Multimedia Storytellers • Suān tián kǔ là: The Flavors of Life

Join us in this three-part series as we bike 800 miles down Oregon and California, exploring the impacts of COVID and climate change in coastal communities. This series focuses on stories of people, place, and change.

We just wanted to sleep in. But when we woke up, our legs sore from the previous day’s 43 miles, the eerie orange light streaming through the window caught our eyes. Something wasn’t right.

We pulled on our sweatshirts, our sockless shoes.

And when we stepped outside, the sky was an apocalyptic yellow. Something about all the smoke made the air seem thick–like we could swim through it, like we could touch it and feel it.

The fires had erupted seemingly overnight. Dry conditions and high winds created a nightmare situation that would ultimately lead to 1,000,000 scorched acres and 40,000 evacuees in Oregon in that week alone.

Flecks of ash began to gather on my shoulders. I saw headlights shine dimly through the smoke. A truck heavy with timber rumbled by–slow, like it was driving through fog or rain–and disappeared at the end of the block.

“What do you think?”

I didn’t know what to say. It couldn’t be healthy to ride our bikes in this, it couldn’t be healthy to breathe this in.

But the fires hadn’t overtaken our route yet. And the longer we stayed here, the worse it might get.

I used to think of climate change as something that affected other places.

Rising sea levels would get to Florida and Louisiana and the Pacific Islands first. Hurricanes are a Gulf Coast problem, typhoons a problem in the Philippines. Drought and extreme heat would strike at the equator.

Growing up in California, fires were an ever-present danger, but the extreme cases only seemed to hit every five or ten years. Recently, it’s felt like every year is a bad one.

I’ve heard the argument that when climate change becomes a real issue, we’ll have the technology to solve it. We’ll grow plants in space. We’ll terraform Mars.

But climate change is here. And I wonder if we’re ready.

We decided to make the 28-mile ride. It felt like our best option was to keep moving.

At first, it didn’t seem so bad. We could breathe through the smoke as long as we took it easy.

We stopped at a cliffside viewpoint in the San Sebastian Scenic Corridor. Up there, the air felt a little thinner, the ocean view lost to the smoke.

We were exhausted when we finally rode into Brookings, our eyes scratchy, our throats dry. The ocean fog seemed to mix with the haze here, the smell of salt and burning wood filled our senses.

My head started pounding for the last few miles of the ride. I just wanted to get into warm clothes and get something to eat.

We were supposed to ride the next day, but the fires out east were mostly uncontained, and the dry and the wind persisted. We still had a decision to make, but we resolved to rest for now. And tomorrow, we thought, we’ll do what we can.

DISCUSSING “CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION” IN THE CLASSROOM:

Human Geography is about understanding our place in the world. Different physical, geological, and cultural elements affect how we live, and how we adapt to our surroundings.

Climate change will affect different parts of the world in different ways. As the earth’s climate changes, what might this mean for the region you live in?

  1. Create a map of your school, town, or region. Outline what areas are prone to climate change. Consider things like water supply, public health, and agriculture, as well as natural factors.
  2. Create your own climate adaptability plan.
    • • What effects do you think climate change will have on your region?
    • • Create an infographic or step-by-step plan on how you would deal with these changes.
  3. Find your city or region’s climate adaptability plan.
    • • Based upon the plan, what effects might climate change have on your region?
    • • Are there any environmental concerns you have that the plan doesn’t address?

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How Google Classroom Prevails in a Post-Covid Landscape

How Google Classroom Prevails in a Post-Covid Landscape

Megan Fileccia

Senior Product Marketing Manager • Digital Learning Platforms • National Geographic Learning | Cengage

How many of us have a notebook or at least one Post-It(s) somewhere in our office with a password written down for online access to something?  According to a new study (2021), BetaNews.com reports that 57 percent of American employees are currently writing down work-related passwords on sticky notes.

Teachers and students, like those of us at our own jobs, must manage many accounts to access various online tools and resources.  COVID resulted in the need for even more account creation, which in turn, led to more required login credentials.

As a result, MANY of these impacted schools, in an effort to streamline access points for themselves and their students, began to increase usage of Google Classroom.

Several teachers that I spoke with recently indicated that they used Google Classroom as their one-stop shop for everything related to classroom management.  Within Google Classroom, teachers can post assignments, post discussion questions, post videos, and host virtual classes through Google Meets all in one place. 

Students also benefit greatly from Google Classroom. Taryn, a student from a school district in a Chicago suburb told me, “I use google classroom for multiple hours every day as my teachers post classwork, homework, lesson presentations, and other resources.”  Parents that I spoke with who had students using Google Classroom felt like it was easier to support their student’s classwork and be more engaged in their student’s schoolwork.

Given the prevalence of Google Classroom across the country, I was excited to hear about how student learning materials provided by publishers like National Geographic Learning can be made available right at point-of-use for students.  Students log into their Google Classroom class and with one click are able to access their coursework seamlessly. Thinking about my Post-It note of usernames and passwords, it will be nice for students to have less to manage.

I also know from those recent conversations with teachers how cumbersome it was at the start of the school year to register students into all the different systems. Now that is eliminated once their Google Classroom is linked to their NGL/Cengage course. What a relief!

How does it work at National Geographic Learning?  The instructor will create an account and course from NGLSync, our access portal. Then they just link that course to their Google Classroom class. That simple!  When the students log into their Google Classroom Class they see their NGL course link and once selected they have seamless access to their materials.

Being able to access content the way that works best for me based upon my preferences and workflow is important to me.  My educator friends have shared that same sentiment.  Having easy to access content by having to register/create and manage fewer accounts and passwords sounds like a WIN/WIN to me.  How would having to manage fewer account logins impact your work?

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Biking the Pacific Coast: People, Place, and Change in a COVID World

Biking the Pacific Coast: People, Place, and Change in a COVID World

Lillygol Sedaghat and Cory Howell

Multimedia Storytellers • Suān tián kǔ là: The Flavors of Life

Join us in this three-part series as we bike 800 miles down Oregon and California, exploring the impacts of COVID and climate change in coastal communities. This series focuses on stories of people, place, and change.

We were biking a towering cliff, a 300-foot drop to rocky shores and cold waters.

Low railing on our right was all that separated us from a downward tumble. On our left, cars zipped along a single lane, semi-trucks and RVs flew past, each one blowing a powerful wind that pushed us closer to the edge.

This part of Oregon’s Highway 101 lacked a shoulder for bicyclists. When we heard a revving engine approach from behind, we gripped our handlebars, gritted our teeth, and waited for them to blast by. 

When we told people we were biking 800 miles from Portland to San Francisco, we got one of two reactions: “That’s awesome!” or “You must be crazy.”

Now that we’re out here, I get the feeling it’s a little of both.

The idea for the trip came because we wanted to learn more about the effects of COVID-19 and climate change on coastal communities. 

This route was both geographically and culturally close to home. Doing this journey on bikes would have a smaller carbon footprint, afford us a closer view of the communities we visited.

It’s only been a week, and the journey has changed our perspectives. We live in a city where using a car is the dominant means of transportation, our sedentary lifestyles only broken up by dancing and the occasional hike. 

Now, mileage isn’t just a number on a sign, it’s something we traverse with our own bodies. Cars seem faster than we remember–and louder. Food and water don’t just get us through the day, they’re necessary fuel for the ride. 

Even our perceptions of people have changed.

Before the trip, I was worried our bright yellow vests, biking shorts, and bulging packs might attract unwanted attention. Would people see us as dangerous because we’re outsiders? Would they see us as carriers of the virus? 

But every place we’ve stopped, people have been open and friendly. More than anything, they’re curious. 

“How far are you biking?” 

That’s usually how it starts. 

The tight lanes of Highway 101 opened to a viewpoint overlooking the Pacific. We hopped from our bikes, leaned them against the stone wall perimeter of the parking lot. 

Lilly pulled a lemon poppyseed scone and an oatmeal sugar cookie from her pack. A friendly barista at a cafe had given them to us; he said he’d done long-distance biking before and knew what it was like to be hungry on the road.

I leaned my hands onto the wall and looked over the edge, at the sheer drop below. From here, from my stationary safety, the white foam and sharp rocks didn’t seem as scary. 

The road we’d just biked stretched along the cliffside, distant, steep, narrow. An RV barrelled along, almost scraping against the guardrail as it took a tight curve.

Did we really just come from there?

We munched on the sugar cookie, passed it back and forth as we surveyed the horizon. The road stretched out ahead, and we still have far to go.

APPLYING “CHANGING PERSPECTIVES” IN THE CLASSROOM:

Human Geography is about understanding our place in the world. There are many different ways to live, and even making small changes to your routine can help you understand these differences.

You don’t have to bike 800 miles to change your perspective, you can discover something new right where you are! 

  • Write a short story, create a note for a friend, or eat a meal using only your non-dominant hand.
  • • Try to go an entire day sitting in new physical locations–find a different chair, sit on the floor, or do your homework someplace new. Even a small move can make big changes!
  • • Create a short (1-2 minute) documentary about a day in your life but tell it from a documentarian’s point of view. View your day from an outside perspective and see what you find!

Assessment Questions: How did this exercise change your daily routine? How can adjusting our space or actions affect how we view ourselves and others?

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Marc Hendrix

Teaching Phenomena-Based Earth Science Using the Geology of Yellowstone

Teaching Phenomena-Based Earth Science Using the Geology of Yellowstone

In this session, we explore a wide variety of earth science phenomena and how to apply these to high school earth science lessons. We tour Yellowstone’s unique geologic system and consider how it can form the basis for phenomena-based lessons that will meet several high school Next Generation Science Standards.
Marc Hendrix

Marc S. Hendrix

Professor of Geology, University of Montana
Author, National Geographic Earth and Space Science

In this session, we explore a wide variety of earth science phenomena and how to apply these to high school earth science lessons. We tour Yellowstone’s unique geologic system and consider how it can form the basis for phenomena-based lessons that will meet several high school Next Generation Science Standards.
 
This session includes an overview of the Yellowstone Volcano and other natural hazards including earthquakes, hydrothermal explosions, and extreme wildfires. We examine glaciation, surficial deposits, and the impact of recent and ongoing climate change on the park’s ecosystem. We also look at the thermophilic microbes and what they can tell us about life on other planets. You’ll get access to real-time datasets of seismicity, thermal activity, and hydrologic changes within the park.
 
In this webinar replay, you will:
Deborah_Short

Let’s Talk About Content

Let’s Talk About Content

In this workshop, participants explore techniques that develop students’ academic oral language skills through science and history topics. By integrating language and content, teachers create relevant lessons and enhance student motivation. These collaborative discussion tools also help students apply academic vocabulary and information from texts in engaging ways.
Deborah_Short

Deborah Short, Ph.D.

Director, Academic Language Research and Training, LLC Arlington, Virginia

In this workshop, participants explore techniques that develop students’ academic oral language skills through science and history topics. By integrating language and content, teachers create relevant lessons and enhance student motivation. These collaborative discussion tools also help students apply academic vocabulary and information from texts in engaging ways.
 
In this webinar replay, you will:
Fileccia_Lees

The New Social Studies Classroom: Making the Most of Distance Learning with Exciting Digital Resources

The New Social Studies Classroom: Making the Most of Distance Learning with Exciting Digital Resources

Learn how to engage your students from your laptop to theirs when you can’t be together in the classroom. Explore approaches to online resources in core social studies programs to engage your students while inspiring their curiosity and igniting their passions. Connect social studies to their lives whether it’s reading a Cast Study in Human Geography, or learning about why salt has been a global commodity for hundreds of years. We’ll be joined by teachers who’ll share their own experiences and we hope you’ll stop in for a worthwhile hour as well.

Ellen Lees

Senior Director, Product Marketing at
National Geographic Learning | Cengage

Megan Fileccia

Senior Product Marketing Manager at 
National Geographic Learning | Cengage

Leading Educator Panelists

Brittany Brazzel
Social Studies Teacher, Department Chair
DeForest High School

Chris Eadie
AP® Lead Teacher, National Board Certified
Santa Fe High School

 

Learn how to engage your students from your laptop to theirs when you can’t be together in the classroom. Explore approaches to online resources in core social studies programs to engage your students while inspiring their curiosity and igniting their passions. Connect social studies to their lives whether it’s reading a Cast Study in Human Geography, or learning about why salt has been a global commodity for hundreds of years. We’ll be joined by teachers who’ll share their own experiences and we hope you’ll stop in for a worthwhile hour as well.
 
3 Key takeaways
 
In this webinar replay you will learn how to: 
Chris_Botello_2021

Real-World Projects Using Adobe Software

Real-World Projects Using Adobe Software

Join National Geographic Learning for a tutorial of projects to offer students in digital media and graphic design courses using Adobe® Creative Cloud software with our author of the forthcoming 2nd editions of The REVEALED Series for Adobe® Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator Creative Cloud. The REVEALED Series offers more projects than any other Adobe® curriculum, extending step-by-step software instruction to creative problem-solving with a real-world impact. Through our exclusive partnership with National Geographic, students create unique and meaningful projects inspired by National Geographic storytellers with a focus on design principles, all while meeting 2020 Adobe Professional Certification requirements.

Chris Botello

Author, best-selling text books on Adobe software
and Graphic Design teacher at Sierra Canyon School

Join National Geographic Learning for a tutorial of projects to offer students in digital media and graphic design courses using Adobe® Creative Cloud software with our author of the forthcoming 2nd editions of The REVEALED Series for Adobe® Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator Creative Cloud. The REVEALED Series offers more projects than any other Adobe® curriculum, extending step-by-step software instruction to creative problem-solving with a real-world impact. Through our exclusive partnership with National Geographic, students create unique and meaningful projects inspired by National Geographic storytellers with a focus on design principles, all while meeting 2020 Adobe Professional Certification requirements.
 
Learning Objectives: Learn tips and tricks for…