Transforming School Culture: Building Community and Confidence in Every Classroom

Outline

1. Welcome and Framing: Learning Is Emotional Before It Is Cognitive (5 minutes)
- Brief introduction connecting neuroscience and belonging.
- Participants reflect on a moment they felt unseen or supported in their own learning.
- Purpose: establish emotional connection and shared context.

2. Story of Practice: Shifting from At-Risk to At-Promise (10 minutes)
- Presenter shares classroom experiences integrating SEL and restorative practices.
- Show data on engagement, attendance, and student feedback.
- Purpose: ground the session in authentic classroom transformation.

3. Core Frameworks: Belonging, Voice, and Agency (10 minutes)
- Explain how SEL, restorative practices, and reflection tools reinforce these pillars.
- Use real student reflections and sample classroom tools.
- Audience polls and brief pair-share discussions.

4. Application Activity: Designing for Belonging (20 minutes)
- Participants analyze a classroom scenario and identify barriers to connection.
- In small groups, they co-create one strategy or routine to strengthen belonging or agency (e.g., daily reflection prompt, restorative check-in, student-led goal tracker).
- Groups share examples via digital padlet or chart paper.

5. Reflection and Takeaway Planning (10 minutes)
- Participants complete a short reflection: “What is one practice I will implement next week to strengthen connection and agency?”
- Share key insights aloud or via quick round-robin.
- Provide a takeaway resource: Belonging & Agency Planning Template.

6. Closing and Q&A (5 minutes)
- Summarize key principles: Cultivate Belonging, Ignite Agency.
- Invite participants to share contact info or connect for follow-up collaboration.

Outcomes

After this session, participants will be able to:
- Identify key practices that foster belonging, voice, and agency through SEL and restorative approaches.
- Analyze examples of reflective tools and data-informed interventions that support at-promise learners.
- Design an actionable strategy or next step to strengthen connection and engagement within their own classroom or school community.

Supporting research

CASEL (2020). SEL Framework: What Are the Core Competencies? Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.

Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Damasio, A. (2007). We Feel, Therefore We Learn: The Relevance of Affective and Social Neuroscience to Education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(1), 3–10.

Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Corwin Press.

Ferlazzo, L. (2020). Building Student Agency: Strategies to Empower Students to Take Ownership of Their Learning. Education Week.

Jagers, R. J., Rivas-Drake, D., & Borowski, T. (2018). Equity & Social and Emotional Learning: A Cultural Analysis. CASEL.

Vaandering, D. (2014). Implementing Restorative Justice Practice in Schools: A Reflective Guide for Practitioners and Policymakers. Springer.

Brackett, M. (2019). Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive. Celadon Books.

Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Hattie, J. (2016). Visible Learning for Literacy: Implementing the Practices That Work Best to Accelerate Student Learning. Corwin Press.

Noddings, N. (2005). The Challenge to Care in Schools: An Alternative Approach to Education. Teachers College Press.

Fullan, M., Quinn, J., & McEachen, J. (2018). Deep Learning: Engage the World, Change the World. Corwin Press.