Introducing the 21st CCLC NTAC!
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From the Desk of Dr. La’ Shawndra Scroggins | |
Get a warm welcome from Dr. La’ Shawndra Scroggins (21st CCLC Group Lead), who will greet you at the door of the new technical assistance center and show you around. Watch the welcome video or read the blog post! | |
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Thank you to all who visited our booth, attended our sessions, and connected with us throughout the Beyond School Hours (BSH) conference last month, hosted by our partners at Foundations, Inc. We’re honored to have had the opportunity to exchange ideas, share resources, and gather feedback to inform and enhance our approach to supporting 21st CCLC programs. A few of you even graced our social media by sharing what tools you’re using and shouting your programs out! We are now putting all the valuable insights and information gathered into action to empower out-of-school time professionals like you. Follow us on X and LinkedIn to see how your colleagues shined at BSH!
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Becoming a Leader
When you think about leaders you’ve had in your life, what qualities or actions set them apart as good or bad at their job? If you’re in a leadership role, or if you help to build leaders or want to become one, consider the behaviors that characterize servant leadership. That’s a leadership style that nurtures workplace culture, equity, and compassion. The 21st CCLC NTAC’s mini-course on becoming a leader will help you assess your own leadership performance and apply strategies to strengthen your skills and those of your staff. It comes with a toolkit that’s sure to set your new leaders up for success!
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For Frontline Staff: Guiding Positive Student Behavior
When you’ve struggled with managing student behavior, what have you done? Have your leaders told you to make your activities more engaging or develop a social contract? Are you frustrated? When you think of behavior, adjectives like polite, focused, hard-working, hyperactive, disorganized, and rude might come to mind. These adjectives describe subjective judgments about a student’s behavior, but they don’t provide specific, objective data about the behavior itself. Sometimes we interpret students’ negative behaviors as reactions to us as individuals, but that’s rarely the case. More often, student behavior reflects life circumstances they — and we — cannot control. In the 21st CCLC NTAC’s mini-course on guiding positive student behavior, you’ll gain knowledge and strategies to help you manage your activity space and guide your students to express their emotions in healthy ways.
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Featuring 21st CCLC NTAC events for very important professionals like you!
Our Servant Leadership Webinar Series!
Take a deep breath — and invest in yourself. On the first Wednesday in April, the 21st CCLC NTAC will continue its 10-part series on the pillars of servant leadership, and you’re invited! There’s no better time than now to develop your leadership skills and practices. You’ll benefit, and so will those you lead and serve. Come ready to engage in conversation and self-reflection, and get strategies you can use in your work.
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Empathy: The Power of Compassion (April 3, 1-2:30 p.m. ET) “I feel sorry for you, but we still have to get it done.” How many times have you heard (or said) those words? Leaders don’t have to choose between empathy and performance. Join us as we look closely at empathy and how it can create a healthy, thriving workplace. Register now.
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Self-Awareness: Who Are You? (April 17, 1-2:30 p.m. ET) How does “who you are” inform your passions, values, and goals? Take time to explore your sparks and how they impact your work. Bring some sticky notes and a pen to this session. During this third webinar in a 10-part series, the 21st CCLC National Technical Assistance Center continues to provide a space where you can invest in your own leadership development and practices. Register now.
Stay tuned! We’ll be sharing more about the series on social media and in the April newsletter.
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Topics for our “Focus On” segment will change monthly and revolve around free activities, events, or resources from the 21st CCLC NTAC (or from other sources) related to one of our focus areas, such as literacy, math, financial literacy, and rural programming. This time, the focus is STEM.
National STEM Festival
Grab your beakers, calculators, and passion for creativity, and head to Washington, DC, on April 11-13 for the first-ever National STEM Festival. This exciting new festival will spotlight inspiring student STEM innovations that tackle urgent global challenges. Presented by the U.S. Department of Education and EXPLR. Sign up for updates!
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Best Practice Takeaway for Program Leaders | |
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This segment will feature a monthly takeaway, backed by evidence, that you can use to strengthen your staff and programs.
Why and How to Align Academically With the School Day
Aligning your out-of-school time (OST) program academically with the school day can play a meaningful role in improving student achievement and closing the gap between low- and high-performing students. A What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide recommends these strategies:
- Use OST program coordinators to develop relationships and maintain ongoing communication between schools and the OST program.
- Designate a school staff person to coordinate communication with OST programs and help them support school needs.
- Connect OST instruction to school instruction by identifying school-based goals and learning objectives.
- Coordinate with the school to identify staff for OST programs.
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Here, you’ll find a quote, statistic, data, or research finding that’s relevant to the 21st CCLC mission. Whether you’re an SEA Coordinator, program leader, or frontline staff member, look here for interesting tidbits that will help you look at things through a new lens.
The Magic of Productive Struggle
It might feel like the last thing you want to do is present your students with challenges that make them struggle. After all, you don’t want to scare them away, right? But here’s the thing: What’s known as productive struggle can lead to better learning. Productive struggle happens when students don’t solve a challenge with ease, but they don’t struggle to the point of extreme frustration and anxiety either. Instead, they do something else: They persist. As they “stick with it” to work out a challenging math puzzle, write a poem, or build a better mousetrap, their brains produce a substance called myelin, which acts as the brain’s “pavement” to smoothly transmit brain signals. A well-myelinated brain signal travels over 100 times faster than an unmyelinated brain signal. Now that’s magic!
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We want to know what you think! Here, you’ll find a fun, interesting, or thought-provoking survey, poll, or quiz. We'll share the results in a future issue of The 21st CCLC NTAC Messenger, so be sure to check back and see what your peers had to say. | |
| What’s your biggest challenge in helping students recover academically in your OST program? | | | Check back in May's newsletter to gain some insight for the betterment of your program and to see what your colleagues thought. | |
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We’re proud to have a wide array of partners, and we’re all dedicated to enriching your programs. Check here each month for a partner resource or event.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education
Our partners at Foundations, Inc. created the AI in Education webinar series to help you prepare students for the future. It offers frameworks for partnering with AI as a teaching tool, and attendees share their productive practices. You can watch the recorded webinars on YouTube:
See our External Resource Library for additional resources from other organizations.
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Disclaimer: This resource was developed by the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) National Technical Assistance Center (NTAC), funded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education (Department) and administered by Synergy Enterprises, Inc. under Cooperative Agreement No. 287E230009 with the Department’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the Department or the federal government. The 21st CCLC NTAC project officers are Dr. Janell Wood and Ms. Andrea Jackson. | | | | |
