Welcome to Beyond the Clasm PBS39.

I'm your host, Joe Pacettid it's a pleasure to sit down with you this evening.

On this week's episode, wel explore the world of social emotional learning or ACL h representatives from two oe primary intermediate unitso serve the greater Lehigh Valley.

We're going to discuss what roles they organizations py and how they provide servis for school students and caregivers across the regi.

From there we'll talk aboue what, why and how behind sl as the driver of their wor, the idea of educating the e child, supporting their well-being, sense of self outlook and learning self-regulation and academs has been a cornerstone of research since the late 19.

We've talked before on this program about how all studs have to live in safe, nurturing, learning environments to grow and achieve.

And the existing research n cells shows a strong, posie relationship between sociad emotional health and acadec success.

I'm eager to hear what my colleagues have to say ando find out how we can all fos on sL social emotional leag in our homes and classroom.

I'm thrilled to be joined tonight by two representats from two of the issues that serve the greater Lehigh Vy this evening we have Courty Pfanner over here from the Colonial IU 20 and Mike Mi, who is from the ACLU.

21.

So if you wouldn't mind jut briefly introducing who you are, what your roles are ad then we can have a more expanded discussion about t an intermediate unit is.

So Courtney, do you want to begin?

Sure.

So as you said, my name is Courtney and thank you for having us representing IU Tiffany and we serve Northampton County Monroe County.

And we also have one distrt up in Pike County.

So my main role now is in r professional learning department as training and consulting staff.

So I get to the opportunito work with our 13 member districts and provide professional development.

Upcoming trainings relatedo education.

And prior to this role I wa special education teacher r our IU as well.

It's a mouthful.

Don't worry.

It's fine.

It's fine.

Excellent, Mike.

Yeah.

So we're neighbors to you, Tony.

I'm the coordinator of Curriculum Instruction and Educational Technologies.

We serve Clarendon Lehigh County.

We really take a lot of pre in individualizing our sers to what our districts need, ranging from improvement planning and comprehensive planning, particularly.

I work a lot in the schooln the area of school climate.

Prior to this role I came r in 2019.

I was actually a building administrator for seven, et years.

So that experience has reay helped me a lot in my linef work.

Now that's excellent.

So the IU generally right s kind of there are a numberf different views.

Obviously there's 2021 at e very least of what we havee tonight.

Could you briefly explain t the structure of NIU is, wt it functions as?

I know that many folks out there understand generallyt it can do.

But my understanding is tht there is definitely a litaf services that go into whatU actually serves our studens for.

So could you illuminate usa little bit on that?

Sure, absolutely.

And Mike, feel free to chin because there is a lot thae provide for our area.

So one of the main areas tt we are known for is our spl education program, at least within our regional area.

Not all I use have those.

So we have highly specialid special education classroo, mostly for students who hae more significant disabilit.

If it's a cognitive disabilities such as intellectual disability, autism, we also serve studs who have emotional and behavioral needs that may t be able to be met within yr typical classroom.

So our special ed program a big area.

We also provide early intervention services.

So that's for our young students.

Prior to entering school a, which should be our kindergarten students, we e services for students who t be at risk or who may alrey be identified as having soe areas of difficulty.

So having a team of teaches well as therapies like speh and language pathologist, teachers of the visually impaired, etc, they are the for those young children up through about the age of te or four before starting sc.

As I introduce myself, I td about the professional leag department.

So one of the areas there s going out into the schoolsd as Mike was saying, customr Shonn within your are sames with IU 20.

So really finding out whate the needs happening withine schools.

How can we best serve those needs, whether it is provig and a large group setting r working with teams of teacs and even one on one with teachers providing coachind consulting services.

Oftentimes it is tied to students with disabilitiesr who are covered by the Individuals with Disabilits Education Act.

Yes.

So she did a great job reay hitting all of the special services piece and a lot of that really aligns to whate you does as well.

So when physically in our building, when you go downstairs, you're in curriculum and instruction.

So what a lot of people dot realize is there's this nek of intermediate units throughout the state who hd to build a conduit betweene department of Education ane local school districts that most people are aware of.

So really one of our main s is to take the initiativest happen at the state level d make sure that our local districts are able to delir those things and make sure they're effective for studs and teachers in the classr.

So so we get a statement to work every year.

We really kind of know what we're charged with.

And then we kind of hit the ground running and plan whs the best way to get out tor schools.

So you mentioned initiativ, Mike, from the state.

What are some of those initiatives this year that you're working on?

Yeah, so the big one rightw is accelerated learning.

So really trying to look ae state of districts, the ste of classrooms, the state of learning to look at if thee was any learning loss lastr and how we can implement strategies to try to closee of those gaps in our classrooms.

It's a large lift, but we l like the EIU that we can ry provide a lot of assistancr our schools to make that happen.

And one of the topics toni, which is why I'm pretty exd about this topic, is I thik one of the things that haso be at the forefront of our focus Nesquehoning Courtens you are you charged with te same tasks that the IU 21 d be charged with?

Absolutely.

So all of our I use througt the state and there are 29e all serve and those areas, those statements of work tt we get from the state so certainly accelerated learg is one of those areas.

Others are such as behavio, looking at positive behavir interventions and supports, certainly looking at the ml health supports with our students, things like math initiative as well.

Literacy I have coworkers o work on those leads.

We really kind of you name, we are available to help support.

That's excellent.

So you've both mentioned in some way components of whae topic of the show is, which school or social emotional learning?

It's a phrase or an acronym very often that people seed might not fully understand because they know it encapsulates a lot of difft services, a lot of differet things and involves a lot f different stakeholders.

Could you speak to what CEs in terms of its history?

So let's start with where o come from and why are we looking at it today?

So so a lot of the research that we have comes from Cae SAC., which is the collaborative for academic social, emotional learning.

There are really two leades nationwide and even localln the research that we have.

And we know that it's this concept of scale comes from five components and reallyt starts with self-awarenesse ability to manage self andn it begins to move into the social piece of social awareness, relationship building and then finally responsible decision makin.

So we really know where wed to focus and how those this work together.

The complexity comes in wog with different populationsd age groups and what that ls like through a K-12 span.

So with that because againI know there's a lot to unpak with the idea of FCL.

So you had mentioned one oe challenges.

And Courtney, I'd imagine s the same for the IU 20 and really all of us in any kif educational entity is realy dealing with that differentiation piece or bg able to address how are we doing this K through 12 bee looks very different, righ?

I would imagine for a kindergartner versus twelfh grader, what does it look e if you were to give a conce example, coordinate, you k, in a kindergarten classroor if I'm dealing with K thre?

Sure.

So we want to be developmentally appropriat.

So things that we're doingh our kindergartners, althoue might be focusing on self awareness, we would also do self awareness at that high school level.

So one of the key componenf self awareness is being abo identify your thoughts, yor feelings.

So what are emotions?

And it starts with kindergarten.

Be able to identify that pn is happy or sad or excited.

Now what does that look lie when you get to the high sl level?

It's going to be taking a p further.

So not only being able to identify those emotions, bt also the impact that emotis have both on yourself as wl as others and we start to o into that self-management, which is the second piece e you're able to recognze emotions, thoughts, etc hoo you manage that?

So we're looking at self regulation skills such as f you're feeling upset, whate some coping strategies?

Maybe even if you're feelig excited, you have a lot of energy, but you're supposeo be sitting in the classroo.

What are some reasonable or adaptive things that you co to kind of let out that but of energy?

So it's not just about keeg emotion that some people mt think of as negative emoti.

There is no good or bad wih our feelings.

They are what they are.

But it's how can we support that and manage to engage h others as well?

Keeping ourselves safe both physically and mentally.

So at that high school lev, it might be I'm feeling frustrated maybe in my romc relationship there is a brp while what happens from th?

How are you interacting, engaging with others and ao maintaining your own mental health with.

So if it is doing mindfuln, which I know that you've hd guys talking about that orf it is calling a friend and being able to kind of ventd talk through that, those ae some examples of self regulation which first stas with that awareness level.

And I think just to piggybk on that, I think one of the challenges as we progress through the K-12 system, yu know, we know that our elementary teachers inherey sort of build in Seattle already as part of their elementary curriculum.

One of the challenges as we progress through the middle school and high school grae bands is really being more deliberate in making sure t we incorporate those strats that Courtney was talking about.

One thing we try to talk at it at IU 21 is this idea of building in welcoming and inclusive strategies, engagement throughout the lesson and then an optimisc closure to make sure studes know that they're welcome.

They want to come back thet day.

So there are a lot of difft ways to tackle this.

We just know that as a stus progress through the systet is a little bit more of a challenge that needs to be deliberate.

And I'm just thinking as a parent of young children, e all three of us are we have young ones at home.

I was a former high school English teacher for a decae and that was one of the ths that I struggled with mighy is trying to figure out exy what it looks like in my classroom without making it feel forced and kind of connecting it really meaningfully with the acadc piece.

So could you speak to whatt kind of looks like?

Because I know that there's always this tension between where parents might have a perception that, well, youd to be learning this.

This is the content, right?

This is you need to learn w to read, write and calcula.

But at the same time, we ao need to make sure that your self regulating and learnig those strategies, how do te two things connect?

Yeah, I think it's a littlt of a paradox that educators need to adopt, which is the got to invest more time ine relationship building up ft even beyond before the acac piece to make sure that lar on the achievements can ben better.

So I think it's as an educr understanding adopting that mantra first that I reallyd to invest a lot of time ino this.

And I think each day in thr lessons really trying to ce opportunities to give studs a voice, allow them to make connections to the school d to the classroom.

You it's OK to get to knowr students a little a more personal level and make thm understand that you care at them.

Just beyond the math, Engl, foreign language, what have you.

So it's a deliberate proce, but I think it's got to bea daily building of value and equity.

And what you're trying to accomplish.

Yeah, switching frames of reference.

Right.

So we talk a lot about teas in the services, you know, offer to two teachers specifically as well as soe students.

What about parents and caregivers at home?

So what are some of the red services that the IU respectively might be ableo provide parents if they're having a difficult time?

It might be early intervenn or identification.

The student with a disabily or any other litany of thi.

What does that look like fr parents?

Right.

So if you do have a young child, an early interventin might be your first phone l that you are making to fint if your child is at risk os been referred by your pediatrician for different areas of things such as developmental disabilities.

If there seems to be a speh delay, if there's physical limitations, your child mit not be progressing with sof their motorcycle and those would often be flagged by a pediatrician.

Or if you look up a developmental checklist, wt milestones to my child be reaching now at 18 months,o months?

So that's one area, another area that has unfortunately been growing due to high nd is we're in a mental health crisis.

I think we hear that acrose nation.

It's true for us as adultss well as our very young children.

So within our IUE, our rese program and they really tae the charge on mental health programing has really grown exponentially over the lasw years and even it was starg at about ten years ago, I d say.

So some services that we provide are not only school based services for students might be having those struggles, but we also offr services outside of those hours, such as having a behavior specialist.

If anyone's familiar with e acronym of A, B, C so behar specialists coming in as wl as therapeutic support stoo really help support the stt with behavioral managements well as some counseling services.

So those are the two main s a parent might receive supt outside of the typical schl structure as always, having that open conversation that open door to communication between our EIU teachers wh the families and when I see teachers, I also am includg our service providers or therapists who provide essential services to our students as well.

Yeah, and it would be a she if we didn't mention the pandemic and the impact and really we don't have to ale time.

But we know that you now me than ever the need for thee services and the focus on h Whitehall and mental healts Courtney was talking abouts really critical.

We have students who are cg back into the classroom foe first time this fall, in se cases over a year, year ana half.

So we really saw some, you know, a spike in some of te numbers that we're really concerned about the well-bg beyond the academics of our students who are coming bak into our system.

So it's really a critical topic.

Yeah, well, and that's so u mentioned the pandemic.

So while we're on the topi.

Right.

So I think one of the thins that longitudinally is interesting to me is seeing when did we start doing SEn earnest like when was thisa charge for the use and whes this a charge for schools d what kinds of gains have we seen because this happenede pandemic.

Right.

This is something that hasn around for some time.

What are the associated gas between students receivings or them getting some of the strategy at home and practg them and their outcomes lar on?

Yeah, so I think right offe bat we see an increase in academic outcomes.

There's a lot of research t says that if we implement h fidelity into our curricul, we'll see more positive academic outcomes.

You can definitely make a e for attendance and engagem.

And you know, one of the ts that I find interesting ist the skills that we've been talking about are directly related, your career readis skills.

So, you know, we're inherey preparing our students to n better opportunities latern beyond the K-12 system.

By working on these skillso our daily lessons.

So what does and just froma point of clarification, the career readiness skills, cd you describe what those ar?

Yeah, it's really the abily to work with others, the ss to be able to communicate effectively, to understandr own emotions.

It's much like what we described already.

But what do they look likee we get out into a Portlandt into it's time to get a jo.

It's time to, you know, bee responsible so they evolve.

But if we don't learn earl, we start to create gaps.

Now we don't know how to function.

It becomes time for those decisions.

So in addition to the outcs that we have that are thate academically based.

Right.

And again, I want to kind f shift back to parents now because it's always like selfishly in my mind to isa parent coming home at the d of the day, I let's say thI want to get more informatin about what SEO is.

Do I pick up the phone or l the EIU directly and say, , what is this all about?

Because my understanding is that schools do this differently depending the district that you're in, depending on the high schol that you're in, even withia district school might look different.

There's different programs, different self-management strategies, things of that nature.

Where do I go?

Yeah, I would say if your d is already in school, thenr first point of contact shod be the school should be the teacher because we always t to be first promoting those relationships because thats the direct relationship you have, whether it's the classroom teacher or buildg administrator, you can kinf give you some more informan if your question is, hey, t are you doing to support sl and our classrooms, you mit also find that informationn on your school website.

So although we at the IU ae not providing direct traing to family members at this e and I UGI we can still acta liaison with our district.

So if a parent might bringp and need to districts and e districts are identifying a need within their school sm that they might extend that phone call to the IU at tht and say like, hey, can youp support us around this?

Many of our schools do have curriculum.

So like commercial curricu, programs that they are implementing within their schools and sometimes becos part of what we call the hn curriculum.

So maybe you're not seeing explicit instruction, but e think about some things sus social awareness, if we are reading a book about a different country or maybea different city, if I live n the city and then we're reg a story about a child who s in a rural setting making e connections that's helpingo increase social awareness,s that perspective taking?

This person is living a vey different life than I and that's OK.

So learning about sometimes it's not quite as explicitm a specific curriculum, buts Mike was saying, how can we intentionally embed withine lessons that we are already doing, whether it is your experience as a teacher and secondary being very intentional about the noves you're choosing.

If you're a parent at home talking to your kids aboutt they're reading, sitting wh them, if they're watching a movie or watching a show ad engaging in those conversations, identifying emotions with them and identifying how did that decision impact to others around?

So there's really a lot of opportunities in the class.

But parents, families, we e the first teacher for our children.

And so leveraging yourself, maybe it's a simple Google search.

See a ACL again, Castle.

That would be our go to ple as a starting point to fint a little bit more about the five areas.

And I saw this great quote.

You know, when we were kide didn't realize that mom and were growing up with us ate same time.

Right.

And you know, when you stao have kids of your own, you really understand what that means.

And I think that's critical because as parents need to understand that we're goino make mistakes.

We're not always going to t it right.

So I think one of the most important pieces of this cl talk at home is making to e care of yourself first.

Right.

If you're not healthy, youe not in a good space, it's g to be hard to take care ofr children.

And according to saying, yu know, we've got to be deliberate.

We've got to you know, this idea of being present and presence.

Right.

We can be there, but we've really got to be there forr for our children and when y experience emotions, help m work through that for the t time, as you talked, you k, having young children wheny eight year old experiencest first whatever emotion, its new for all of us.

Right.

We all have got to work thh it together.

And that special.

But being able to do that together is what's going to build those really healthy bonds and increase hopefuly Gracedale skills.

Yeah.

So let's share some success stories.

So let's look at schools.

I know that each of you hae been embedded in schools er as teachers, administrator, cetera.

I know that I can share a t of success stories myself,t I'm more interested in othr places.

Right.

What is a great example tht you can think of if you weo pick one?

I know there might be manyf us working really well for kids.

Yeah.

So one thing that comes tod first is there is a program called Zones of Regulation, which is fairly widespread.

Many of our schools do uset and it is explicitly teachg or intentionally teaching students first.

How do they identify their feelings teaching them theo identify their triggers?

So if this happens, then I might become very upset ors might kind of set me off, f you will, and also teaches tools.

So even outside of zones of regulation, these are sortf typical steps that we would take for a child who's leag how to manage their emotio.

So taking out self awarenes and then self management.

So even as a classroom tear and I did teach students wh significant cognitive disabilities, I had severao had behavioral needs as we.

So talking through validatg their feelings and this is something we can do at homd I do with my four year oldt home and even 18-month-old.

But identifying I see or Ir you maybe I see your siste, you're feeling angry.

So kind of providing that language for our children f they are not yet able to express it themselves and n taking it that next step.

So after we have modeled tt reinforce and really suppod that we have seen children start to do those things on their own of saying, you kw what, for me, Mrs Pfanner,e I need a break.

I'm feeling upset.

Maybe it's I feel like my s are getting clenched and my heart is racing.

I need to go take a break.

So it's actually teaching e strategies to students fort self-management.

Yeah.

So I've been able to partnr with several school distri, Gordon, Lehigh, Lehigh andn Palmerton and several othen collecting school climate a which measures the percepts of parents, community membs and teachers as well.

And one of the domains mead Zio.

So I credit those districtd some others that I'm workig with because they're couras to look at the data honesty and see what it tells them.

And then from there we've started to design to get io the schools and really have great conversations with te entire teaching staff.

In some cases, the entire district to be able to reay discover sort of through tr own view, meaning the teac, you know that this is someg that we need to work on ane need to start to look at se of our teaching strategieso improve DCL in our distric.

So I really give those districts credit because is a large undertaking, but it also requires a lot of hony and internal auditing, if u will, Yeah.

So do you talk to you becae what kind wrap up with a me personal kind of question r each of us right.

How have you seen it work r you as a parent?

The big question I sorry I didn't Ivyland that you kn, Mike and I had had an earlr conversation and I am thanl for my background in educan because I want to say for r families who do not have tt background, it is hard ands absolutely like that.

I mean, it is a learning adventure for everyone.

So as a parent, I have seen those little wins as I am supporting my four year old my 18-month-old as I'm tryg to shape him to.

But even like at home for y four year old, she was comg up on three when her brothr was born.

But you know, he makes mes.

He's very excited to be end with her staff and she useo get incredibly frustrated.

She's so from time to timel yell, scream his name, scrm no.

But there are more times tn not that after I have moded for her.

So it's also called co regulation as I have helped regulate with her.

I know you're upset.

Remember, he's starting to learn.

This is how we are explori.

She is now doing that.

She is finding a differenty for him to have.

But that wouldn't have hapd without teaching and being alongside with her to showr those opportunities.

So little wins.

They're hearing her expresr feelings rather than maybe throw self on the floor sc.

What would like to is likeu can feel your own feelingso and then model exactly howu can regulate them.

Right.

That's fantastic.

That's great.

Yeah.

And I mean, I would agree,u know, there's two sides to.

You can get on the other at in your house nervous with using the lingo I think sometimes.

Right.

Like let's work health car, you know.

But you know, I find myself especially with my childrey daughter, who's a specific really, you know, trying to reason with her and get heo understand that getting escalated doesn't get us anywhere.

You know how to work throuh problems in a more sound fashion, you know, regulatg our emotions.

So it's interesting becausu start to intrinsically do t because you do it in your u know, as part of your work.

But at home it sort of coms out differently.

But now it's sort of in yor system, I guess, and it jut comes out in a different w. So yeah, I really love it.

I enjoy the work and it's u know, it's definitely valu.

That's great.

So we have a couple of min.

Could you just quickly go r if you had a go to resource that you could recommend to parents?

I know that you had mentiod Castle.

You had mentioned reachingt to the school, the teacher being the first primary pot of contact there.

But for each of you, what a preferred resource, do you think would be beneficial r caregivers if they went rit now for Assael specificall?

I would still say Cassol.

But then there's also PBS s several videos as well.

You weren't paid that, by e way.

No, I wasn't.

But to be honest, I used at of those resources and in training I did earlier this year.

It was last school year by earlier and this current y.

So that's a really great resource to look at to fint more about social emotional learning and how you can bt support your child and lean alongside with the biggest pieces that modeling.

So there's the saying if yu can't take care of others l you have taking care of yourself or fill your own p first and is absolutely tr, we as adults need that emotional intelligence or emotional IQ.

And that's what we're tryio teach our children as wellh this piece we need as adul.

There's some good links one PD side.

If you get out to the Pennsylvania Department of Education site and you stao peruse around, you'll finde some really nice resourcest there that will often leadu out to things like Utopia t Serge and some others thatl give you some nice tips.

I mean, honestly, alluded t earlier.

You can just Google the toc nowadays.

There are so many different great documentations out te and publications and reseah articles that parents can d a lot of great strategies n this specific topic.

Excellent.

Courtney, Mike, thank you o much for joining us tonigh.

I appreciate it.

We have a much better understanding of what the s can do and it is clearly at right for our schools, forr families and our students.

So thank you both for yourd work every day for our kids across the valley.

We really appreciate both f you as the proverb goes, it takes a village to raise a child and we hope that youl consider our program part f your village.

Do you have questions or comments?

We want to hear from you.

Go to PBS39, Joe Gale clasm or join the conversation on social media.

I'm your Jafarzadeh tellinu to watch Daniel Tiger on P.