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Students’ capacity for empathy can be developed by learning to appreciate other people’s stories. During this webinar, we’ll explore a strategy in which students share their own and other's stories in order to develop insight into the nuances of others' lived experiences, values and perspectives.

Storytelling is a powerful tool for eliciting emotion and curiosity. It can be especially valuable in prompting students to reflect on their own identities and values, and to recognize that despite people’s differing stories, we all share commonalities. Stories allow us to bridge difference through understanding and connecting emotionally with others, even when we are physically apart. This session will share a strategy in which students identify and investigate their personal set of values and what/who matters to them. Students will use these values to guide the telling of (and making sense of) their own story.

Creating an equitable, inclusive school culture can be key in preventing a wide array of social and emotional problems and promoting the development of caring, responsible, and respectful children, even when school is remote. Because students primarily take signals from other students about social norms and what is ethically acceptable, and because students have inside knowledge about social dynamics, it is mainly students – especially acting together – who can change norms. One way to empower students to create positive social norms is by creating school climate committees comprised of students who work with peers and staff to develop these norms. This session focuses on the School Climate Committee, a strategy designed to help students – and adults – work collaboratively to shape their school environment. This session focuses on:

• how to create a strong, effective committee of youth leaders that represents a diversity of voices among the student body and works with school staff to prevent bullying and other school social problems

• how to use data to inform decision making and improve school climate, including creating more caring, inclusive social norms

• how to provide students with a sense of agency and empowerment

We look forward to sharing evidence-based best practices. This will be an interactive experience, so we look forward to hearing what's working in your school community too! Please email caringschools@makingcaringcommon.org with any questions.

Research shows that acting with kindness and care makes people feel good by building connections with others and reinforcing a positive view of themselves. This sense of connection is all the more important in a time when students may not be interacting in person. Kindness and caring are contagious—they can spread and influence people to do good deeds beyond their existing networks.

This session will share a strategy to help students practice intentional acts of caring and to share and learn from their experiences. Learn how to help students reflect on and discuss how to encourage more kindness and caring, for themselves and others, at their school and beyond. They will practice regular intentional acts so they become routine and normalized parts of students’ lives. The activity encourages a variety of kind and caring acts, including self-care.