As part of our Starting Smart and Strong work, Franklin-McKinley School District has been focused on responding to teachers’ requests for help learning how to manage challenging classroom behavior. The approach being implemented includes the teacher's ability to explicitly teach social-emotional skill development, paired with ongoing coaching and peer collaboration. Teachers in grades Pre-K to Kindergarten, paraprofessionals and school site principals have been learning to become behavior detectives and analyze student data to decrease challenging behaviors in the classroom. The video below highlights the change in teacher practice and understanding of the importance of explicitly teaching self-regulation skills.
About Starting Smart and Strong: Starting Smart and Strong is our shared long term
commitment that every child in San Jose grows up healthy and ready for kindergarten. Achieving this goal requires that we do more than just make sure every child has access to early childhood education. It means that every adult in a child’s life—whether a formal educator like a K-3 teacher or informal caregiver like a family member—has the tools he or she needs to support that child’s development every day. Funded by the Packard Foundation, and made possible by partnerships throughout our community, Starting Smart and Strong empowers adults to create healthy, nurturing, and engaging connections with children, so that our children are on track to reach their full potential in school and in life.