Blog Posts Archives - Peace Learning Center

14 03, 2023

An Interview with Clare Wildhack-Nolan, Our Director of Equity Learning

Katrina Brown2023-05-26T10:52:15-04:00March 14th, 2023|

This month we had the opportunity to chat with our Director of Equity Learning about her vision for Equity work at PLC. Clare Wildhack-Nolan has been with Peace Learning Center over a decade. 1. What is your vision for our Equity pillar moving forward? What do you foresee in PLC's future in this area? My vision for the Equity pillar is to create strong and brave leaders for equity work in our city. I believe the Peace Learning Center can do that by facilitating dialogue, offering awareness building workshops, and supporting leaders in connecting with resources and community relationships to better move their own institutional change forward. Right now in our state, as in many states across the nation, educators and educational institutions, youth and families, are being targeted in anti-equity legislation, especially around race and LGBTQ+ oppression. It is important that we know our rights as well as feel a sense of communal power and bravery in order to continue the long history that we have in the United States of educators being key leaders in our work for multicultural democracy and human rights. I hope that we can play a part in supporting people being catalysts for peace, justice, and equity. 2. What is your why? What brought you to this work? As a young person, I was brought up with a lot of strong values and morals in my family around kindness, love, compassion, and community

30 09, 2022

Recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month 2022

Brandi Metzger2022-09-30T12:54:47-04:00September 30th, 2022|Tags: awareness, community, education, indianapolis, Mindfulness, Social and Emotional Learning, social justice|

Peace Learning Center joins the nation in celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 - October 15). We believe this country is made greater by the culture, history, and contributions of Hispanic Americans. In this blog we have included 1.) a brief explanation of terms, 2.) local groups whose work center the Hispanic community, and 3.) local events where we can join others in celebrating this special time! 1. Terms Hispanic refers to people of Spanish-speaking origin. “Hispanic” is an ethnicity. The term was adopted in the 1970s by the U.S. government to try to classify people from Latin America under a common identity (NPR). Under federal policy, Hispanic is not a race. However, many multiracial Americans consider their Hispanic background as part of their race (Pew). Latino (grammatically masculine) or Latina (grammatically feminine) refers to people residing in the U.S. who are of Latin-American descent (NPR). Some use Latinx or Latine as gender-neutral terms. “Brazilians are Latino because the country is located in Latin America. But Brazilians aren’t considered Hispanic because the country’s primary language is Portuguese. Meanwhile, Latinx identity brings together people in South and Central America, who may share a history of Spanish colonization, but that category isn’t defined by having Spanish-speaking ancestry,” (Vox). 2. Local Groups La Plaza OUR MISSION: La Plaza strengthens Central Indiana by advocating and preparing Latino students for educational success and by connecting Latino families to health and social services. OUR

9 06, 2020

A New Chapter for Tribes Learning Communities

1909digital2020-06-09T13:20:58-04:00June 9th, 2020|

When Jeanne Gibbs wrote the first Tribes book in the 1970’s, little did she realize that the Tribes Learning Community process would help build community in educational settings well into the 21st century. In the last 25 years, with the support of many dedicated staff and district trainers, Tribes has reached over 46,000 educators and their students in over 10,500 schools in 43 countries. This leading social emotional learning (SEL) program currently offers training for elementary, middle and high school educators, as well as after school and youth development programs. The future of Tribes is now brighter than ever! Jeanne and her home tribe are pleased to announce that Peace Learning Center in Indianapolis will be leading Tribes Learning Communities forward. After years of collaborative efforts between CenterSource and Peace Learning Center, two like-minded organizations, we are collectively excited about this new chapter for Tribes. TLC to PLC… a perfect fit! Peace Learning Center’s approach to social emotional learning and bullying prevention involves engaging the entire school community to change the culture of the school into a place where differences are embraced, youth have a voice, and everyone can coexist peacefully. Peace Learning Center programs empower youth to be peacemakers while inspiring them to take responsibility for their education and their actions. Longtime Tribes Staff Trainers will continue to facilitate training, consult and mentor new trainers under PLC’s direction. This collaborative union of talented staff will ensure a successful transition for Tribes and

26 04, 2020

Engaging Online Learners through Social Emotional Learning

1909digital2020-04-26T15:23:43-04:00April 26th, 2020|

Engaging online learners can be done well with a variety of resources. Tribes Learning Communities is an effective resource for group development, SEL (Social Emotional Learning), and putting F2F learning experiences online. Enjoy these resources from our Basic Online Course (BOC). For more information, please contact us. Here are a few Tribes suggestions and strategies that work online. Tips: Begin every session with some kind of Inclusion - whether it is a question, or an activity.Review agreements - or better yet, have students review and/or define the agreements for the session.Give “project-based-SEL” homework, as in: find a video that supports a Tribes agreement. Below are some downloadable goodies that are provided to participants in our online Tribes courses. The Video list is a bit dated but has suggestions for K-12.[download id="116"] Weekly Tribes - Getting Started is great for starting the school year... and even this far into the school year.[download id="115"]Final Countdown can be used EVERY day. [download id="114"]I've Got a Strategy is a list of every strategy we do in the online course, and its application to curriculum.[download id="117"] Here is another resource that Tribes contributed to: https://tribes.com/everydaycircles/ and you can sample more Everyday Circles cards here: https://teachheart.org/education-resources-home-schooling-coronavirus/ Keep up your excellent work and stay healthy and safe.

25 03, 2020

Everyday Circles – Easy and Every Day

1909digital2020-03-25T09:36:51-04:00March 25th, 2020|

If you are looking for an effective and affective SEL-based curriculum for your students to access remotely, in these days of school closure, look no further! Everyday Circles is 180 pre-planned activities and strategies that students can engage in to focus on self-awarenessself-mamagementsocial awarenessrelationship skillsresponsible decision-making Peace Learning Center, HEART, and Tribes Learning Communities came together in 2018 to fill a need seen in classrooms, and especially now, in communities. Compassion, empathy, reflective practice, and academic skills all find a place in Everyday Circles through a thoughtful and engaging approach to learning skills students need to help them in school and beyond. Many teachers and parents are looking for a resource to engage students and enhance online learning. https://tribes.com/everydaycircles/ offers you six activities to try for free, as well as an easy-to-download electronic version.

25 08, 2019

Get Everyday Circles Cards NOW!

1909digital2019-08-25T11:39:29-04:00August 25th, 2019|

This is a project that Tribes Learning Communities, Peace Learning Center, and HEART came together to create…and now it is ready for you to put to use in your classroom! You can check it out here: www.tribes.com/everydaycircles/ For just 27 cents a day, you can have an everyday circle strategy for every day of your school year, ready to go…and don’t worry about starting late on those 180 strategies if school has already started – you are free to do more than one in a day – because you will like these activities and strategies that much! Say hello to an SEL competency-based collection of awesomeness.

12 06, 2019

Ontario Tribes Training from Beneve Educational Consulting

1909digital2019-06-12T08:03:04-04:00June 12th, 2019|

Beneve Educational Consulting Donna Bennett and Michael Eveleigh are your Certified Tribes TLC® trainers in Ontario. With over 35 years each as educators, Donna and Michael have used Tribes for over 16 years as teachers, counsellors and administrators, having trained over 4000 educators in Tribes in Ontario, Quebec, and overseas in the Middle East. Visit Donna and Michael's website to learn how you can bring Tribes TLC to your learning community. Hear about Tribes TLC from two of their Queen's University students in this short video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=192&v=b9NOaYh2vOw

29 05, 2018

Weekly Tribes 2018: End of the school year celebrations

1909digital2018-05-29T08:09:12-04:00May 29th, 2018|

Another school year is coming to a close and ‘Weekly Tribes’ is going to take a summer vacation. Here are some suggestions to celebrate the end of a great school year with your students and staff… Draw names and make a certificate for that fellow student or staff member. Get some wallpaper samples to make for some interesting design choices. Certificates can be heartfelt, awards, notable achievements, and just for fun. Have your students compose an “I used to be (not know…) and Now I am (know)” poem and then combine the statements for an introduction to your next year class. Take some time in community circle to celebrate…with pictures, drawings, little fun writing assignments about the beginning of the year to the end. Reflect-reflect-reflect. If you are really ambitious, take the time to write a thank-you card to every one of your students. Have a party and have each student bring some thing to eat that they can prove to be educational – example – phyllo dough in the shape of an open book with chocolate syrup as the writing on the pages?! Have each student pick a teacher from the past and write that teach a thank-you note. (You will make their day!) Have an ‘Energizer Fest’ with students doing to facilitation. Make a ‘Dream Quilt’ about experiences of things learned this year and you have a lovely wall decorated to start next year. See you in August!

23 05, 2018

From our friends at Commonweal

1909digital2018-05-23T10:35:02-04:00May 23rd, 2018|

Dear Friends, I write to share exciting news: There is a new 12 minute film about Power of Hope made by local filmmakers Brad Coley and Cassidy Friedman. It is an amazing documentary that captures the deep creative transformation that happens every summer at Commonweal. This film launches our online campaign to raise scholarship funds to send 20 teenagers from the Bay Area to the Power of Hope Summer Camp in July. This camp brings together youth from all different backgrounds to immerse themselves in a week of creative arts, hosted at Commonweal, that builds community and changes all involved. We still have a few spots for teenagers at camp, please help spread the word! Visit the GoFundMe page today to learn more, donate and to see Brad and Cassidy's shorter 2 minute video about Power of Hope. With deep gratitude for all your support and help, Oren Slozberg Executive Director l Commonweal

7 05, 2018

Weekly Tribes 2018: ‘Dekaaz’

1909digital2018-05-07T09:47:07-04:00May 7th, 2018|

Here comes another offering from Catch the Fire. Musician and facilitator Rachel Bagby has created an elegant group reflection tool – a new poetic form called dekaaz. Consisting of three lines with just ten syllables, it’s a simple, fun, and powerful form for distilling and sharing insight. Dekaaz can consolidate a vast amount of experience into a tiny poem, and the brevity offers a democratic way for many voices to be heard in a relatively short amount of time. A dekaaz is constructed like this: two syllabes in the first line three syllables in the second line five syllables in the third line Flowers Are Earth’s way Of laughing out loud – Jeff Vander Clute, executive director, New Stories Rachel says a ten-syllable poem doesn’t officially become a dekaaz until you speak it out loud to another living being. Thus, the dekaaz process is innately interactive. This entry is from page 115-116 in Catch the Fire.