With an unlikely about-face on his own educational journey, Chris Balme went from a student dissatisfied with the traditional education system to a passionate advocate for the transformative power of middle school education, and an expert on how social emotional learning unlocks it. If you're a middle school educator or leader, this episode is for you. 

In this episode, Chris highlights the importance of understanding the transformative nature of middle school and the need to create a supportive environment for students as they navigate this crucial stage of significant physical, emotional, and social changes during a period that plays a pivotal role in shaping students' character and attitudes towards learning. 

In this conversation with Wayfinder’s Head of Marketing Morgan Joseph, Chris explains why students' middle school experiences are critical in defining who they become as adults and addresses the unique needs and challenges of this age group.

Chris Balme, an innovative educator and school leader, has dedicated his career to transforming the middle school experience. With a passion for social-emotional learning (SEL) and a deep understanding of the challenges middle school students face, Chris has made it his mission to help them navigate this critical stage in their lives. As the co-founder of Millennium School in San Francisco and the current principal of an international lab school in Japan, Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. His focus on project-based learning and advisory programs has not only shaped the lives of his students but also inspired educators around the world.

Chris’ new school Hakuba International School is hiring! Learning about job opportunities on their website.

Read Chris’ book Finding The Magic of Middle School

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When Leatrice Woods noticed a stark contrast between elementary and middle school teaching approaches, she took action to bridge the gap with social emotional learning. 

Leatrice Woods, the dedicated Assistant Principal at Skyline Middle School in Harrison, Virginia, has consistently prioritized the social and emotional wellbeing of her students. With a background in elementary education, Leatrice brings a wealth of experience and knowledge about integrating social emotional learning into every day of the week up to middle school. Listen to hear Leatrice break down her successful SEL implementation and how Skyline has embraced a regular schedule of SEL activities, incorporating gratitude, mindset and other practices to foster feelings of empathy, love, and trust among students and staff alike.

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Jenna Madsen, a 9th and 10th grade English teacher at Maria Carillo High in Santa Rosa, California is a passionate SEL advocate. She integrates the five pillars of social emotional health into her core content area with an inspiring blend of enthusiasm and inclusivity.

In this episode, we discuss the when and how of Jenna's method for bringing SEL learning in her classroom, what it is about SEL that creates a safe learning environment for students have rich, meaningful conversations about the literature they’re reading for class, and how SEL supports student engagement on difficult topics that arise in those same books. 

This episode is a must listen for teachers wanting to integrate SEL into their core curriculum at the secondary level.

Learn more about SEL with Wayfinder

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Watch the video version of the ep on Wayfinder's YouTube Channel 

How do you implement an SEL curriculum across grades K-12 at a school of high-achieving students who just want extra time to study and teachers brand new to SEL? 

Mikki McMillion, the Director of Student Wellbeing at Khan Lab School, a private independent school in Mountain View, California admits that their now two year-old rollout got off to a bumpy start.

But, by carving out intentional time for SEL lessons at the start of each day, using SEL to foster collaboration across the grade levels, and creating SEL-inspired rituals for staff and students, Khan Lab School is slowly but surely building a comprehensive SEL scope and sequence that takes students from their kindergarten year all the way through high school graduation. 

Mikki is joined on this episode by Jessica Gonzalez, a first grade teacher at Khan Lab School who talks about practical strategies she’s used to weave Wayfinder's SEL curriculum into every subject with her first graders. 

Our conversation explains intentionality in scheduling and vocabulary as effective SEL strategies to increase buy-in amongst teachers and create a school-wide SEL culture of understanding and empathy. 

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Watch the video version of the ep on Wayfinder's YouTube Channel 

Jenelle Peterson, the Director of Curriculum and Innovative Learning at Hawaii Technology Academy, has spent the last 10 years bringing SEL to campuses across the Hawaiian islands. In this episode, Jenelle shares insights and reflections on the long game of SEL implementation and the wins her school has seen along the way.

In Jenelle’s attempt to honor student requests and teachers’ sovereignty in their classrooms, she discovers the challenge of creating a balance between teacher autonomy and mandating an intentional SEL rollout. In this conversation, she shares some hard won tips and tricks to get the balance right. 

Learn more about SEL with Wayfinder

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Watch the video version of the ep on Wayfinder's YouTube Channel 

LaTrayl Adams, Director of Social-Emotional Learning and Restorative Practices at Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools in North Carolina, faced the daunting task of implementing an SEL curriculum across dozens of unique school sites in her district.

 LaTrayl’s solution? Empowering leaders and educators at each school site to incorporate the new curriculum in the way that worked best with their school culture and initiatives, along with assembling a stellar team of coaches committed to leveraging their new SEL curriculum to foster a wider school community where students, staff, and families feel connected and supported

In this episode of SEL In Practice, LaTrayl shares the rigorous process of choosing an SEL curriculum with input from a variety of diverse stakeholders and shares her thoughts on centralized versus decentralized approaches to curriculum implementation at the district level. LaTrayl also speaks to the benefits of folding SEL curriculum into existing initiatives and using Professional Learning Communities to track progress.

Learn more about SEL with Wayfinder

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Returning to the classroom after two years of remote learning during COVID, the divide between students and teachers was never greater. In this episode, Xiomara Pescador of Bronx Envision Academy talks about how she used Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) to bridge the gap to her students and get SEL buy-in from her principal and fellow teachers. 

Xiomara shares her journey of trial and error to find the magic combination of SEL activities that transformed her 11th and 12th grade classrooms, the power of leveraging data to demonstrate — and engineer — program efficacy, and the stories of when she saw the tide start to turn for her students.

Xiomara is an inspiring example of how one powerful advocate can improve school culture. Her story of dedication to her students and patience for the process will ignite a flame in all educators looking for ways to bring SEL into their schools. 

Learn more about SEL with Wayfinder

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Watch the video version of the ep on Wayfinder's YouTube Channel 

Dr. Avril El-Amin makes a bold claim: No matter what issue you’re facing as an educator, there’s an SEL practice that will help you solve it. 

Dr. El-Amin joins SEL in Practice, Wayfinder's podcast on implementing SEL in school settings of all kinds, to discuss her work with 22,000 scholars from pre-K to 12th grade at Uplift o Network in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area. 

In this episode, Dr. El-Amin breaks down why a 20-minute language acquisition lesson that comes after 20 minutes of SEL is more effective than 40 whole minutes spent teaching content knowledge. She also explains why you can’t treat educators as a pass-through if you want SEL to stick at your school, and she offers valuable advice for school leaders to keep in mind when working with educators who are brand new to SEL.