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A conference for teachers, principals, policy-makers, researchers & the public

Saturday May 22, 2010
Bank Street College
610 W. 112th Street, Manhattan
8:30 am - 4:00 pm

Keynote speaker
DANIEL GOLEMAN
Psychologist & author of Emotional Intelligence

Conference fee $20 in advance, $25 at the door. For more information, please email Mara Gross at: mgross@morningsidecenter.org.


MORNINGSIDE CENTER for Teaching Social Responsibility educates young people for hopeful and intelligent engagement with their world. A national leader in fostering social and emotional learning (SEL), Morningside Center reaches tens of thousands of educators and students each year through an array of programs that develop such skills as handling anger, being assertive, solving conflicts creatively and nonviolently, and dealing well with diversity. We help teachers make their classrooms more caring and productive. We support students in taking leadership to improve their communities--from the classroom to the world. Support our work by making an online contribution!

See the services we provide for schools:

Elementary Schools
Middle Schools
High Schools

See Morningside Center's newly published
2008-2009 ANNUAL REPORT



It's official!

New gold-standard study shows our 4Rs Program helps kids do better socially, emotionally & academically.

Top researchers at New York University, Fordham University, and Harvard have published their findings from a three-year, federally funded study of Morningside Center's 4Rs Program (Reading, Writing, Respect & Resolution). The study tracked the development of children in nine New York City elementary schools that implemented the program compared with children in nine control schools.

Findings from the first two years of the study are now official: Compared with children in the control schools, children in the 4Rs schools were less hyperactive, less aggressive, and saw their social world as less hostile. They were happier and more likely to resolve interpersonal problems competently.

What's more, during the first year children judged to be at greatest behavioral risk by their teachers had better attendance than their counterparts in the control schools and made better academic progress as rated by teachers. By the second year, they were also doing better on standardized tests. In addition, 4Rs schools had significantly higher levels of overall classroom quality compared to control schools.

What's New on TeachableMoment.Org


TeachableMoment.Org, Morningside Center's website of free teacher resources, provides timely, inquiry-oriented lessons on issues of the day. Newly posted items include:

HOWARD ZINN: People's Historian (2/3/10) The important and often controversial historian and social movement activist Howard Zinn died on January 27. A student reading about the man and his ideas is followed by discussion questions and suggestions for further inquiry and citizenship.

Supreme Court Rejects Limits on CORPORATE ELECTION SPENDING (1/27/10) A student quiz, reading and discussion explore the court's role in interpreting the Constitution and its recent decision to lift limits on corporate & union election ad spending.

HAITI CRISIS (1/19/10) Help your students learn about the earthquake and Haiti's history, and brainstorm about how they can help Haitians now and in the long run.
High School: DEVASTATION IN HAITI
Elementary & Middle School: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN HAITI?

STONES INTO SCHOOLS (1/20/10) Alan Shapiro reviews the new book by Greg Mortenson, whose mission is to "promote peace through books, not bombs" in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King: THE POWER OF NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE (1/13/10) Through engaging activities, video, and small-group discussion, elementary or middle school students consider the Montgomery Bus Boycott and how they might stand up against injustice in their own lives.

THE DRONE STRIKE CONTROVERSY (1/13/10) Two student readings explore the controversy over the use of remotely-piloted aircraft to drop bombs in the Afghanistan/Pakistan war. Discussion questions, a fish bowl activity and a writing assignment follow.

The SENATE FILIBUSTER & DEMOCRACY (1/6/10) A classroom activity has students simulate a US Senate filibuster. Two student readings then explore the Senate's less-than-democratic 60-vote rule and possible methods for reforming it. Discussion questions, writing and citizenship activities follow.

BRINGING THE IRAQ WAR TO A 'RESPONSIBLE END' (12/29/09) Three student readings and discussion questions probe current conditions in Iraq and the U.S.'s moral responsibilities there.

Check out Morningside Center's new how-to guide for schools!

Beginning with the Children:
A Guide to Creating a
PEACE HELPERS PROGRAM

Mohandas Gandhi said, "If we are to reach peace in this world and if we are to carry on war and against war, we shall have to begin with the children." A Peace Helpers Program is a concrete way to do just that.

Our new 73-page guide describes a field-tested, step-by-step process schools can use to train and support young students (Grade K-2) in serving as "peace helpers" in their classrooms. Peace Helpers take part in workshops to develop their skills in listening, handling feelings, mediating conflicts, and leadership. Then they and their teacher establish a classroom peace corner, where students can go if they are upset or having a conflict. Peace Helpers are available to talk with their classmates in the Peace Corner or help fellow students talk out a conflict. (See Edutopia's video about our Peace Helpers Program at PS 24 .)

Download a pdf version of the Peace Helper guide. Or, to order bound copies, please email Morningside Center's Leslie Dennis at ldennis@morningsidecenter.org.

Beginning with the Children was produced with support from the JAMS Foundation.

 

Our Diversity Work In the Media

  • As part of its documentary The New York Connection, Dutch Public TV turned its cameras on Morningside Center trainers Marieke van Woerkom and Emma Gonzalez, student diversity panel members, and a mediation session led by young peer mediators -- all part of our ongoing diversity program at Brooklyn's PS 24. See our work in action in this 5-minute video clip.

  • See Eleanor J. Bader's richly drawn portrait of Morningside Center's work in schools, focusing on Brooklyn's PS 130, in the online publication On the Issues --Beginning with the Children: To Teach Peace.


PBS NewsHour features
Morningside Center's Work

On July 21, the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aired a segment on the remarkable success of Morningside Center's programs at Brooklyn's P.S. 24. The segment highlights our classroom-based 4Rs Program (Reading, Writing, Respect & Resolution), an innovative, research-based approach for fostering students' social and emotional learning. more>>

See the NewsHour's story about our work at PS 24:

Learning Matters, which produced the NewsHour segment, also produced a great bonus video interview with Tom Roderick, Morningside Center's executive director.


More on our work:

  • Teachers: How can you foster social & emotional learning in your classroom? Here's a sample unit from our 4Rs curriculum. more>>

  • Parents: See a sample activity from 4Rs Family Connections, which uses books children are reading in 4Rs class to help open up parent-child communication. more>>

  • Peacemaking 101: Ten tips for dealing well with conflict.


See the Edutopia VIDEO about PS 24!



Edutopia, the website of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, features Morningside Center's work at this stellar public school.


GETTING TO KNOW YOU: Classroom Activities for Starting Off the School Year

Our 28-page PDF booklet includes great activities to get your class (grades preK-12) off to a good start in the new school year.


A School of Our Own:
Parents, Power & Community at the East Harlem Block Schools

by Tom Roderick

"A powerful story of the generation of hope and of the power of a community to educate its young."
--Educator/author Herb Kohl

Morningside Center's Executive Director Tom Roderick tells the moving story of the Puerto Rican parents who created better schools for their children, led a winning campaign to improve early childhood services in NYC and empowered themselves in the process.

Available through Teachers College Press or through Amazon.com.


Photos on this website are by Carolina Kroon www.carolinakroonphotography.com