Raise Them UP

Presenters

Julia Gabor, kid-gritFollow

First Presenter's Institution

kid-grit

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Julia Gabor is an award-winning educator. She was born and raised in NYC; she comes from a diverse urban background. Julia has several dynamic life experiences to share. She is a creative and passionate youth development specialist, a mentor to many, and a hands-on trainer. She is the Mindful Founder of kid-grit, a company that focuses on social-emotional learning, mindfulness and youth development for youth and adults. She has trained thousands of educators in schools and expanded learning programs for 18+ years. Julia has 21+ years of hands-on experience working with urban, rural, suburban, and marginalized youth. She is also a national keynote speaker. And at the young age of 40 years old, she obtained her master’s in educational leadership from Antioch University. Her thesis topic was teacher effectiveness and student engagement. She has received multiple awards for her outstanding contribution to education communities across the nation from agencies such as CAL STATE Fullerton, U.S. Representative for California's 46th congressional district, Lou Correa and the BOOST Collaborative.

Document Type

Event

Primary Strand

Social-Emotional Learning

Relevance to Primary Strand

This session shares a holistic approach to social and emotional learning for adults and youth. We examine ourselves first in order to have first-hand knowledge and experience of different activities based on the CASEL framework.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Student Learning and Development

Brief Program Description

In this workshop, we will engage staff in addressing self-regulation in areas of mindfulness, healthy behaviors, tolerance and empathy, and digital/social consciousness. This workshop provides a BRAND-NEW approach to helping staff develop motivation, positive behavior and resilience. We will provide team building and hands-on activities to implement in your organization as soon as tomorrow!

Summary

in this session, participants will experience 3+ social-emotional learning activities firsthand. When they leave this session participants will have access to a free foundational SEL and wellness tool called the Holistic Wellness Wheel ^TM (HWW). The HWW allows humans of all ages to explore their own wellness and emotional practices over time. Participants will also have opportunities to share ideas and discuss the SEL concepts we present.

Evidence

The actvities and content we present are all aligned with the CASEL framework (see below) and built on the foundational concepts from Building Block for Learning, K. Brooke Stafford-Brizard, Ph.D. of Turn Around for Children.

1. Self-management: The ability to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal and collective goals.
2. Responsible decision-making: The ability to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.
3. Relationship skills: The ability to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.
4. Social awareness: The ability to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.
5. Self-awareness: The ability to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose.

Learning Objective 1

Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how mindfulness and social emotional learning is a relevant and powerful tool to implement with staff, urban, rural and suburban youth.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will leave with practical activities in the areas of mind, body, community, digital and social awareness and service learning to apply with staff and in their programs as soon as the very next day

Learning Objective 3

Participants will learn how to use the CASEL wheel and understand social emotional learning and how to embed these strategies into their programs.

Recommended Citation

Gabor, Julia, "Raise Them UP" (2023). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 7.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2023/2023/7

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.