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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10 Tips to Include Expanded Learning in Program Planning
This is a shout out to School and District Leaders, and everyone doing the work planning for a safe return to school in the Fall. The following list of 10 promising practices reflects what I have learned and experienced over the past 15+ years working in an ASES Expanded Learning Program, as we are classically known to be an afterthought. Just as you School and District Leaders are, we, your local Expanded Learning Program, are proactively planning for a successful student-centered school year. ...Read More
Taking a Pause for Equity
Slow down to move fast. Sounds counterintuitive, right? But knowing when to press pause is a critical decision that all leaders face. Here are some thoughts on why taking a break is the right thing for all leaders right now. As leaders in expanded learning, we often evaluate our practices against a set of criteria, perhaps aligned with a specific grant, or internal goals and objectives. What if instead, we took a step back and really looked at how our efforts and decisions impact the very commun...Read More
How to cheat at Zoom!
With the transition to online learning, meetings, and trainings, platforms like Zoom have been getting a lot of attention. The definition of Zooming has been expanded beyond just moving quickly, to also mean that state of participation in web-based video calls. Zoom Bombing and Zoom Fatigue have become things we are aware of – things that were not on our radar at all just 4 months ago. So how do you Zoom all day? Really, this was a big question that came up in our household. My daughter wa...Read More
Focusing on the Three Rs this Summer
In a recent principal training, a participant raised his hand and asked a question I have heard too often: “How can I afford to invest in SEL (social-emotional learning) when my students have fallen so far behind?” I struggled to maintain my composure. This principal had been in at least three brain development workshops that unpacked the connections across the social, emotional, and cognitive functions of our limbic system. According to our biology, learning is a social and emotional process – ...Read More
Hey Afterschool Leaders, We’ve Been Called In
Most of us are compelled to work in afterschool programs because we want to empower youth, nurture young talent, even level the playing field. Despite doing this important work daily, we are painfully aware that the conditions of schools, neighborhoods, and economies just never change. So, we find ourselves, though well-intended, propping up a system that still doesn’t equitably serve all the people in this country. As agency leaders, we are witness to, and work daily against, the pressures, pol...Read More
Leading with Heart
I come from a family of immigrants, a fact that I will always take pride in. When my mom first immigrated to the US from the Philippines in 1978, she came as a nurse and settled in Chicago before ending up in Los Angeles. She spent over 30 years in the healthcare field as an RN here in LA at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and absolutely loved her job — it was her calling — until she retired a few years ago. It was her cousin, my Uncle Vic’s calling too. He followed the same pattern, ending up on th...Read More
Leadership in Times of Crisis
Leadership in times of crisis reminds us how challenging it is to manage your own stress while supporting others. While much of the world is sheltering in place or physically distancing themselves from others to prevent the spread of COVID-19, many people are finding themselves unemployed or facing incredible uncertainty. How we lead in moments like this can significantly impact the lives of others. How do we manage our own stress and anxiety with the weight of this responsibility? Here are a fe...Read More
Are You Focusing Too Much on What Is and Not Enough on What Could Be?
As a leader, no matter how many decisions you make or actions you take, nothing matters as much as your ability to bring people with different experiences and interests together in a common purpose that gives them a clear sense of direction and drives them toward excellence. Whether you’re just starting out or have been in your organization for some time, there’s a reason you’ve been given the opportunity to be in your position at this time in your life — and it’s likely to be more importa...Read More
Enhancing SEO in the After School Space
The purpose of student engagement and outreach (SEO) is to provide holistic student-centered programs and services that enhance student life. Creating lasting memories through community engagement, connection building, and creative exploration is what after school is all about! Strong attendance with engaged students are signs of a successful after school program. It means that your program is inclusive, interesting, and valuable for children and parents alike. On the other hand, a lack of solid...Read More
C.A.L.M.M Classroom Break – 5 Simple Chair Poses to Calm The Chaos
Educators, you know that moment when the energy in your classroom feels like utter chaos and you imagine yourself running out of the room and never looking back?! We’ve all had those moments when our students are distracted, dysregulated, and disconnected and it feels as if whatever you say is going in one ear and out the other. Most likely this is actually the case. When children’s nervous systems are dysregulated, their pre-frontal cortex can tend to be offline. The prefrontal cortex is implic...Read More
Creating A Space To Learn: 3 Essential Steps
The foundation of learning happens in spaces where youth feel safe, seen, and respected. Unfortunately, all learning environments are not developed with this in mind. The structural evolution of today’s K-12 classrooms has made little progress over the years. As youth practitioners and educators, we have the opportunity every day to support a more equitable learning environment by laying the groundwork, before youth enter our doors. It is an incredible responsibility for one person. Therefore, w...Read More
What Is So Special About After School?
After 20+ years of working in after school, I have learned that there are many things that make after school special. Some might be apparent, but others might be less obvious. One go-to resource for me is information from the Afterschool Alliance, This is Afterschool, which reminds us of all of the benefits of after school. They sum it up in a few words. “Decades of research prove afterschool helps kids attend school more often, get better grades, and build foundational skills, like communicatio...Read More