Community of Practice - February 8, 2019

Community of Practice - February 8, 2019

Thank you to everyone who attended the PSELI Community of Practice on February 8, 2019. It was a full day of site-level work as well as cross-site collaboration. We hope you found the goal planning and other activities help you to focus on what you would like see for your program beyond year two. We appreciate your dedication and commitment to this project, your schools, programs and the children and youth that are reaping the benefits of your continued efforts.

The School District of Palm Beach County, in partnership with Prime Time Palm Beach County, participated in site-level work, as well as cross-site collaboration during a full day of Community of Practice. PSELI site teams began the day with a community breakfast and opening activity called the “SEL Life Wheel” in which participants reflected on the current state of SEL practices on their campuses, and future goals for the SEL work they aspire to achieve.

The stage was then set for a full day of SEL goal planning comprised of a two-part session. Planning tools, which included a reflection chartsite-level SEL data graph and guiding questions were provided to drive site-level discussions and goal-planning. Table facilitators were present to help assist the PSELI siteteams through their goal-setting. Part one of the two-part session included a cross-site activity in which SEL site teams participated in a Gallery Walk. This provided each site with the opportunity to explore a noteworthy goal from a site other than their own, and discuss the “why” and “how” with that site.

In part two of the goal-planning process, SEL site teams participated in a cross-site activity known as the Problem-Solving Lab in which each site team was asked to identify challenges to their SEL work. Each site was then offered feedback on how to address these challenges from the perspective of other PSELI sites. In a concurrent session, PSELI principals participated in an informative SEL Data Integration presentation, in which the most effective methods for examining and utilizing SEL data were explored.

In a final cross-site activity titled: Kernels of Practice, site teams were asked to read the article titled: Kernels of Practice for SEL: Low-Cost, Low-Burden Strategies and identify  kernels of practice implemented at their sites to share with other sites. This interactive exercise also helped the SEL site teams further refine their goals through a collaborative, contemplative process.

The Community of Practice concluded with a Positive Closure activity to unite the seven PSELI sites and reinforce our commitment to the SEL work we do each day.