Breakfast Club Blog
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is a curated space where bloggers from around the world contribute content on a continual basis about a variety of topics relevant to in and out-of-school time. The BOOST Breakfast Club blog is at the heart of an ongoing dialogue where expanded learning and education professionals share their personal thoughts and stories from the in and out-of-school time field. They also tell us what they ate for breakfast!
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!
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Raising Kind Kids through Social-Emotional Learning (Webinar #4)
In 2018, Indiana Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy partnered to host a free 4-part webinar series designed to support next-gen leadership and giving. The fourth webinar, “Raising Kind Kids through Social-Emotional Learning,” explores research that points to a decline in empathy, as well as how we can work to foster empathy and kindness in youth. Background In 2014, IPA became involved in social-emotional learning by developing a curriculu...Read More
Back to School? It’s Time To Let The Kids Do The Talking!
There is power in letting the kids do the thinking and the talking and you can make this happen as you are thinking about starting a new year with your kiddos. A successful day for an after-school leader is when s/he goes home rested and the kids are exhausted from all of the thinking and collaborating! I’d like to share some tips for facilitating more and talking less. In short, working on being a “guide on the side” so that the children do the majority of the thinking and talking. There are pl...Read More
Three Simple Solutions to Get Kids to Quiet Down
The new school year is about to begin. Kids are excited and staff is reenergized to start the year off on the right foot. Unfortunately, trying to calm kids down and organize them in a physically active environment proves to be extremely frustrating. What staff tends to do is start yelling louder and then find they are losing their voice AND losing their battle of getting everyone to quiet down. The solution is to have some simple and fun techniques that will immediately get their attention and ...Read More
You Shouldn’t Play With Your Food, But You Should Play With Your Data!
I’ve worked with many expanded learning programs in many settings over the years, making me one of the luckier researchers out there. Too often, though, I see program staff dedicating a lot of time and effort to collecting data, and almost none to learning from it. What a bummer. One reason why data goes in, but doesn’t come back out, is because teams have too few experiences with exploratory, low stakes, playful explorations of their data. Instead, data is used in a last-minute rush to get the ...Read More
Leaders Who Inspire Us: Alex Kajitani
Editor’s Note: Continuing with our Leaders Who Inspire Us campaign, check out today’s featured leader Alex Kajitani! Keep an eye out for more inspirational people in our field who are change-makers. If you want to recommend someone, please send a note to [email protected]. Alex Kajitani (Kaw-juw-taw-nee) is the 2009 California Teacher of the Year, and a Top-4 Finalist for National Teacher of the Year. He is the co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Teachers, ...Read More
Delivering On Mission – How To Determine Whether Your Organization Measures Up
It seems like nearly every conversation and strategy session that I am part of lately includes discussions about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI.) As I listen, read, and watch organizations grapple to embrace these values, I am compelled to look deeper and measure the impact of efforts on youth programs. When asked, most leaders point to policies that have been adopted but few share the difference that policy alone makes. At TGR Foundation – A Tiger Woods Charity, our staff meetings have tu...Read More
#SummerSwap: 5 Ideas to Boost Your Breakfast Game
Healthier Generation and Kohl’s are teaming up to inspire families to prioritize a healthy lifestyle in their home and wherever children, live, learn and play. This July, we’re kicking off #SummerSwap, presented by Kohl’s Healthy at Home, and you’re invited to join us! To get you started, here are 5 ideas to boost your summer breakfast game. Try one swap each week to build a new healthy habit for the rest of the year. Try a Homemade Meal or Snack Morning convenience purchases can add up an...Read More
How Improv Makes Me Better At My Job
If you are a child of the 90’s, like me, you may remember the British version and first iteration of “Whose Line Is It Anyway” with Clive Anderson. I had a huge crush on Ryan Stiles when I was in 5th and 6th grade. I used to rush home to watch episodes of the show. I loved it! The participants were so quick, they were so witty, and they always made each other look good! Three skills that I now try to use in my everyday life. I have also done research on Improv (even took classes) and one of my f...Read More
Build Your Kids’ “Moonshot-ability”!
Creative thinking. Bold imagination. Tenacity. Rising to a challenge. Innovation. Know-how. Skills we work on building in kids in afterschool, right? It’s also what it took to put together an amazing feat that made history, when on July 20, 1969, humans first landed and set foot on the surface of the Moon. President John F. Kennedy announced to the world NASA’s “Moonshot” challenge in May of 1961. NASA answered the challenge with a series of missions to the Moon, each making more progress toward...Read More