Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) refers to the process through which individuals learn and apply social, emotional, behavioral, and character skills required to succeed in schooling, the workplace, relationships, and citizenship. In public discussion of SEL, not everyone can quite agree on what it is. To some, it involves a set of tools for…

While it's acknowledged that some children demonstrate giftedness in leadership and social domains, it's still one area often overlooked by educators and parents. Literature on leadership has been geared mostly toward adults, not children. What does exist for student leadership has been typically organized around situations that focus on adapting…

Traditional behavioral plans for children with Asperger syndrome often neglect what they need to learn to manage their anxiety and the underdeveloped skills that contribute to their anxiety. School personnel often identify a desirable target behavior and try to reinforce it through rewards (stickers, praise, etc.), which usually does not work.…

Executive functions (EFs) involve a number of interconnected systems that, when compromised, can result in difficulties that affect a child's ability to perform tasks across early childhood settings, including the home and community-based settings. In retrospective research studies, researchers have found that a young child's…

Understanding the nature of brain development in adolescence helps explain why adolescents can vacillate so often between mature and immature behavior. Early and middle adolescence, in particular, are times of heightened vulnerability to risky and reckless behavior because the brain's reward center is easily aroused, but the systems that control…

Self-monitoring is used to increase on-task behavior of students by encouraging them to monitor their own behavior (Hallahan, Lloyd, & Stoller, 1982). According to Daly and Ranalli (2003), there are many benefits of self-monitoring: (1) It is an effective tool for changing behavior; (2) It promotes generalization of the appropriate behavior to…

In this document, 15 strategies are offered for enhancing attention and managing attention problems. This listing is by no means exhaustive, but rather is meant as a place to begin. The best resources for strategies are the creative, inventive minds of enlightened assessment professionals, teachers and parents, in partnership with the students…

Describes the development and use of the Verbal Plan and Evaluation program, an instructional model applicable for free play time and based on Vygotsky's view that teachers' active involvement in children's verbalization of planning and evaluating play activities facilitates the development of their mental processes. Presents teaching strategies…