Culture & Anti-Racism Workshops
Our culture and anti-racism workshops are designed to help schools support transformation. We always do what we always did and we always get what we always got, to coin an Oprah Winfrey phrase. Teachers and administrators talk frequently about how they want to transform their school to a more progressive institution that supports student engagement, a culture of growth and respect, and a climate of integrity and security. The seminars we offer are focused on the whole school and how the whole acts to create the common good you want your community to have. Too often schools are stuck in a culture of repetition and misdirected growth. MJM will help you get from stuck in a cycle to unstuck and into a progressive movement for teachers, students, administrators and parents. Building a true community school is the future of American education, and we have programs that are proven to do just that, transform and progress into a new world order.
Diversity: Understanding Culture,
Race And
Community
Building a school of inclusiveness and respect: A workshop for teachers that enlists practical and daily strategies so they can begin to understand the need for a school community that comes to realistic and relevant terms with its biases, prejudices, and lack of inclusion. This program supports teachers in what they already know, helps them find positions and ideas to empower themselves with relevant and realistic answers to the age-old questions of prejudice and bias. The workshop helps teachers look at the undercurrent of their conditioning and how they systemically have been conditioned to set up their classrooms to perpetuate the “out-casting” of specific student groups. A complete leave behind the program is available that helps both teachers and students build a community based on shared responsibility, mutual respect and diverse understanding of all cultures, races, thoughts, genders and sexual orientation. This program is based on the Character Educational Partnership organization, a nationally recognized social awareness program out of Washington DC.
Classroom Management
There is an extensive body of research available pertaining to the significance of classroom management. This workshop on classroom management will teach classroom teachers the process in how to create and maintain appropriate behavior of students in a classroom setting.
The purpose of implementing classroom management is to reinforce appropriate student behaviors while increasing student academic engagement. MJM Educational Consultants will demonstrate classroom management applications across subject areas and K-12 grade levels. When using a tiered model in which school-wide support is provided at the universal level, classroom behavior management programs have shown to be effective for 80-85 percent of all students. More intensive programs may be needed for some students and will be discussed further in detail.
Hyper-Local Learning: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Workshop
Students need to be able to see themselves, their experiences and their future in every aspect of their education in order to truly connect with what they are learning. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is a theory developed by Dr. Ladson-Billings which promotes a heightened engagement with material and also allows students to believe that their own stories and existences are important. It also creates a framework that students can use to transform their own communities and society as a whole.
MJM employs a Hyper-Local approach to this theory which provides students with a critical knowledge of their own history and their communities history. Students can then use this deeper understanding to create change in their own backyard. Hyper-Local Learning is not only a transformative experience for students, but for their educators as well. It promotes a mutual-learning space where both educators and students can engage with their community on a deeper and more intentional level.
This program is designed to provide educators the tools to embark in a year-long journey that benefits children’s education, self-esteem and interpersonal skills for the rest of their lives. During this two-day workshop, participants will complete a comprehensive and dynamic set of lesson plans that incorporate aspects of CRP while also meeting a number of TEKS standards regarding Culture, Citizenship, Social-Studies Skills and History.
Social and Emotional Learning Skills
What is Social and Emotional Learning?
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines social and emotional learning as the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Teaching social and emotional learning skills is the pathway to improving academics, improving students’ social and emotional well-being, reducing negative behaviors such as bullying and bigotry, creating positive and inclusive classroom and school climates, and producing supportive and participatory citizens for our future.
Why do we need Social and Emotional Learning Skills?
Social and Emotional Learning provides the foundation to academic success, and much more. Students achieve more when they feel safe, supported, and included. Studies consistently prove that students with a growth mindset outperform students with a fixed mindset. Employers in every industry emphasize the need for employees with certain foundational skills that include academic fundamentals, but quickly assert there remains an overwhelming need for employees with skills like teamwork, problem-solving, work ethic, and integrity—skills that are taught within social and emotional learning. Teachers are tasked with teaching content standards, but more importantly, they share the responsibility to shape the future of their students. A classroom grounded in SEL leads to improved academic performance, improved behaviors, and a long-term positive impact on students’ lives.
What will participants get out of a Social and Emotional Learning Skills Workshop?
Using the CASEL framework, teachers will explore and develop a deep understanding of the five Social and Emotional Learning Core Competencies: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsible Decision-Making, as well as the Teaching Tolerance anti-bias domains: Identity, Diversity, Justice, and Action. Participants will use this learning to design practices to promote supportive and unified campus cultures that address adult and student needs, as well as strategies to introduce, teach, reinforce, and assess social and emotional learning skills at all grade levels and in all content areas.
What workshops does MJM Educational Consulting offer?
MJM Educational Consulting will customize workshop offerings to the individual needs of the campus or district using surveys, self-evaluations, and interviews with stakeholders. Options range from a two-day workshop focused on applying the principles of social and emotional learning, to a year long plan that includes building capacity through teacher workshops, a teacher leadership team, an administrator team, and student groups. In all options, participants will leave with concrete plans for implementing social and emotional learning skills into their content as well as explicit ways to embed SEL in their classroom culture.