Format
Individual Presentation
First Presenter's Institution
Thomasboro Academy
Second Presenter's Institution
Thomasboro Academy
Third Presenter's Institution
NA
Fourth Presenter's Institution
NA
Fifth Presenter's Institution
NA
Location
Session 5 (Ballroom F)
Strand #1
Social & Emotional Skills
Relevance
A.R.E: Establishing a New Normal is relevant to the Heart Conference Strand. This program strives to improve social emotional learning and create a sense of community in classrooms & schools. The strategies taught within this program aim to identify ineffective social and relational norms and replace them with evidence based norms to increase academic resilience and student empowerment.
Brief Program Description
A.R.E : Establishing a New Normal provides students tools to develop self awareness, self regulation and self empowerment so they can create A New Normal in their learning environment. A.R.E Strategies integrate evidenced based practices into the learning environment to promote social emotional responsibility.
Summary
A.R.E . is a holistic approach to foster positive shifts within the school community. Establishing a New Normal is an action based paradigm shift of identifying effective ways of investing in teachers and students for optimal outcomes; academically and interpersonally. This is a shift of changing how school leaders, teachers and students interact. Unfortunately, students learn from adults that are closest to them and adults are not always the best examples of how to deal with noise, conflict and confrontation. The Old Norms only focused on the student interactions, but The New Norm will focus on healthy and effective ways to deal with these distractions.
Mindfulness is an evidenced based practice of focusing one’s awareness in the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings thoughts and bodily sensations. Awareness, Regulation and Empowerment (A.R.E.) can not exist without Mindfulness.
A.R.E: Establishing a New Normal is a train the trainer model of teaching skills to increase self-awareness , self-regulation and self-empowerment . The who, what, when, where and why of self awareness is crucial to understanding why students react and relate to their peers the way they do. Self regulating actions can not occur if you ignore the bodies signals when we are challenged or feel uncomfortable. Self empowerment happens when students recognize and communicate how they feel, what they think and what they want.
We will highlight A.R.E Strategies and provide examples and learning opportunities through group discussion, role plays and motivating take and shares. Presentation will provide an overview of ineffective norms embedded in noise , conflict and confrontation and transition to a New Normal of awareness, regulation and empowerment.
Evidence
Research shows that SEL not only improves achievement by an average of 11 percentile points, but it also increases prosocial behaviors (such as kindness, sharing, and empathy), improves student attitudes toward school, and reduces depression and stress among students (Durlak et al., 2011).
Several disciplines and practices can cultivate mindfulness, such as yoga, tai chi and qigong, but most of the literature has focused on mindfulness that is developed through mindfulness meditation — those self-regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control and thereby foster general mental well-being and development and/or specific capacities such as calmness, clarity and concentration (Walsh & Shapiro, 2006).
Biographical Sketch
Mr. William Humphrey is a School Social Worker at Thomasboro Academy in Charlotte, NC. Mr. Humphrey has worked with Title I students for over 18 years and is very passionate about helping students overcome barriers to be successful in the classroom. Mr. Humphrey believes all people want to be respected and children are no different. Respect means being open minded and diverse in finding ways to meet the social and academic needs of our children.
Mrs. LaSonya Brown is a School Counselor at Thomasboro Academy in Charlotte, NC. She has worked with Title I Schools for many years and continues to find ways to meet the needs of our students and the surrounding community. Mrs. Brown believes students want to learn and it’s our job to eliminate all barriers that hinder their learning process and breaking down barriers See attached Resume and Curriculum Vitae for additional information
Presentation Year
2020
Start Date
3-10-2020 10:15 AM
End Date
3-10-2020 11:30 AM
Recommended Citation
Humphrey, William and Brown, LaSonya D., "ARE: Establishing A New Normal" (2020). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 69.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2020/2020/69
ARE: Establishing A New Normal
Session 5 (Ballroom F)
A.R.E : Establishing a New Normal provides students tools to develop self awareness, self regulation and self empowerment so they can create A New Normal in their learning environment. A.R.E Strategies integrate evidenced based practices into the learning environment to promote social emotional responsibility.
