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 views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Enjoy the brain food.

The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!

Interested in becoming a blogger? Email [email protected]

Click here to Register for a free account or click here to Login to your existing account.

On-Site Staff / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

Interview With CEO Edward Franklin At The BOOST Conference: Real Talk On Social Emotional Learning

Tiana Brown No Comments

I peered out into a large crowd of people sitting at tables eating lunch. I walked around for a few minutes trying to find a place to sit. Randomly, I pulled out a chair at a table with a few people chatting and eating. Hungry and eager to listen to the keynote speaker, I looked around to see when lunch was arriving at our table. Shortly after sitting down, the gentleman to my right greeted me with a friendly hello and immediately we sparked up a conversation. We talked about work, where each ot...Read More

On-Site Staff / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

The Cutting Edge of Youth Learning and Development: Six Things You Should Know and Three Things You Should Do

Jeff Davis No Comments

Four years ago, I wrote a blog post for the BOOST Café titled, Positive Youth Development, an Idea Whose Time Has Come…. Again and Again. The blog highlighted that new research on Grit, Growth Mindset and Social Emotional Learning supported what we in the out-of-school time field have known for a long time. Four years later, the most recent research, once again, supports the importance of a foundation of program quality grounded in Positive Youth Development. A groundbreaking new report recently...Read More

On-Site Staff / Opinion / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality

2 Terrific Tips on Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) For Adults

Zach Wilson No Comments

  This blog is about SEL for adults, exploring why and how we must practice SEL in our collective work, both in and out of school. I believe there is no such thing as a coincidence. I asked my close colleague, who sits just across from me in the office, what I should write about in this next blog.  Understanding my ongoing, organic theme about creating conditions for youth voice and choice, he suggested I write about the competencies within us that allow for this to happen. I was intrigued ...Read More

On-Site Staff / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

Are We Modeling Social Emotional Skills?

Daren Howard No Comments

Social-emotional learning requires the same kind of intentionality as academic learning and as adults, we have to model the social-emotional skills we hope to build in our students. Here is a painfully ironic example: Joshua Trump is an 11-year-old who was one of President Trump and first lady Melania Trump’s guests at the State of the Union. He is not related to the President but has been bullied over the last few years because of his name. “He said he hates himself, and he hates his last name,...Read More

On-Site Staff / Opinion / Partnerships and Building Relationships / Program Design, Development, and Quality / Staff Leadership and Management

#ButterflyEffectChallenge

Justin McGlamery No Comments

but·ter·fly ef·fect noun (with reference to chaos theory) the phenomenon whereby a minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere   As an experiential educator and group facilitator working in the realm of social-emotional learning and leadership development, I am used to helping people “get out of their comfort zones.”  As educators, it is not only our duty to encourage people to go beyond where they are comfortable and into this place called “learning” but to...Read More

On-Site Staff / Program Design, Development, and Quality

Yoga & Mindfulness to Support Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Emotional Intelligence

Shawnee Thornton Hardy No Comments

What is SEL? Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) as:  “The process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”1 SEL prepares students to Solve Problems, Manage Emotions, a...Read More

On-Site Staff / Opinion / Staff Leadership and Management

Social-Emotional Fitness: Neophobia vs. Neuroplasticity

Carlos Santini No Comments

“What were you thinking?!” “I can’t believe you did that!” These are just some of the favorite phrases of “disbelief” we like to use as adults when we come face to face with mistakes made by youth. I know this personally and professionally.  I have two daughters ages 7 and 11, and I will admit that these words have been a part of my “go-to” statements when trying to figure out what led to them messing up. When you understand the mental and emotional state of adolescence, the question referenced ...Read More

Opinion

My Resolution For A Better Me

Eric Evans No Comments

As we begin 2018, how many of you made a New Year’s resolution? I know I am taking advantage of this opportunity to make a commitment to myself and to make changes in myself. A new year is a perfect time to engage in a fresh start. I, like many people, could resolve to eat better, exercise more, or curb frivolous spending, but instead, I am going to take steps toward better mental health in the new year. For inspiration to help with my resolution I am turning to Mahatma Gandhi. His gentle approa...Read More

On-Site Staff / Opinion / Staff Leadership and Management / Uncategorized

Bringing in 2018 with Full-On Gratitude

admin 1 Comment

This blog discusses a topic that I found really useful in 2017, almost life-changing. And now that I am aware of how powerful gratitude is, I use gratitude as a practice for healing and finding calm in my crazy days! Whether it is professional or personal, when I use gratitude as a tool for establishing a healthy mindset, life just gets better. Let’s make the shift in 2018… WHAT: Bringing in the New Year with gratitude can be refreshing, soothing and a hopeful way to start anew! WHY: Findi...Read More

On-Site Staff / Staff Leadership and Management / Uncategorized

5 Ways to Address and Help: Self-Injury

Eric Evans No Comments

Have you found yourself concerned for a young person with cuts or scratches on their thighs or noticed a wound on their arm that seems to not heal? Has there been a youth or student that you suspected might be harming themselves? Do you know how you would talk with a youth that is engaging in non-suicidal self-injury? Before you address someone’s non-suicidal self-injury, it is important to understand what self-injury is, why someone might engage in it, who is at greater risk of self-injury, and...Read More

loss football loss football
On-Site Staff / Staff Leadership and Management

Growth Mindset: Losing is the New Winning

Frank Escobar No Comments

Spending more than half of my life in and out of a locker room, one gets very used to sound of competition. Sayings like, “failure is not an option” and “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” were common echoes in my upbringing. From one coach to the next, it was always about winning, getting better, playing your best, minimizing mistakes, practice makes perfect, etc., etc. It’s no wonder that I wanted to quit after losing my first soccer game ...Read More

306-365-InfographicKey-041715 306-365-InfographicKey-041715
On-Site Staff / Opinion / Staff Leadership and Management / Uncategorized

Three Shining Lights Against a Dark Cloud

Katie Brackenridge No Comments

Under normal circumstances, I’m not one to be political in a public and professional forum, but really, I’m in need of some writing therapy. Every day, I read the latest news story about another negative appointment to the President- elect’s cabinet. Who knew there were so many people who both seem to despise the role of government AND also want to lead it? While alarming, those aren’t even the most upsetting parts of my daily doldrums. What really brings me down are the ...Read More