Inspire Educator Healthy Learning Units: Now Available
Harmony Professional Learning has expanded its professional development resources to support your needs. In addition to more than 70 original research-driven modules, we have launched two new units in Educator Professional Learning and Harmony-Academic integration.
What is Educator Well-Being?
The new resources in Educator Professional Learning will complement the current content and help you build strong relationships, manage your emotions, practice self-care, foster a healthy learning community, and more. According to Richie Ressel, Sr. Director of the Office of Operations & Innovation, “By creating a work environment that focuses on adult well-being, educators will learn how to identify stress symptoms they are experiencing and possible causes of that stress. It will also help leaders as they foster a supportive emotional environment in school for adults and students.”
Why Harmony-Academic Integration?
Research has shown that having well-developed relationship competencies helps students succeed academically, personally, and professionally well into adulthood. Dr. Frances Gipson suggests, “Healthy learning is no longer a nice to have, it is a must have. Now academically integrated, with an even stronger understanding of a JEDI mindset (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion), we are seeing the social, personal, and academic practices that are needed to match who we need to be for our learners.”
Our new modules will help you integrate healthy learning into your teaching with an initial focus on 10 teaching practices that promote healthy learning environments developed by our Director of Strategic Initiatives Dr. Nick Yoder, and one focusing on the three components recommended by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) using interactive instructional practices and structures.
We look forward to supporting you in new ways and we are excited to offer this growing resource for professional development and educator well-being to educators at no cost. Thank you for being an inspirational teacher!
Register at Harmony Professional Learning for access to our full collection of resources and follow us on social media for more updates! updates!
New Partnership Brings Award-Winning Healthy Learning Curriculum to Youth Afterschool Programs Nationwide
National University and National 4-H Council will integrate proven Harmony Curriculum into afterschool and youth development programs nationwide
SAN DIEGO, CA (September 30, 2022) — National University, one of the largest private, nonprofit universities in the United States serving more than 45,000 youth, today announced the launch of a new educational partnership that will bring its award-winning Harmony Healthy Learning program to youth participating in in 4-H programs across the country.
“Study after study continues to show that youth who develop strong healthy learning skills are more likely to thrive academically and also more likely to thrive in their personal and professional lives in the long term,” said Dr. Michael R. Cunningham, chancellor of the National University System. “The combination of Harmony healthy learning activities with the reach and community impact of National 4-H will greatly expand access to positive learning environments and for our youth.”
Nationally, the iconic 4‑H program reaches almost six million young people each year in rural, urban, and suburban communities in every state across the nation. Young people participate in 4‑H through school and community clubs, in-school and after-school programs, and 4‑H camps, delivered by more than 3,500 4-H professionals and 500,000 volunteers.
The collaboration between National University and National Council will make it possible for 4-H educators to use the proven healthy learning activities as part of their ongoing club programming and activities. Through the program, youth learn to develop and improve interpersonal skills in areas such as communication and cooperation.
“We are pleased to be partnering with 4-H to expand access to Harmony’s innovative healthy learning approaches that have been demonstrated to support student achievement and that are creating a strong foundation for a healthier, more collaborative society,” said Scott Page, senior vice president of Harmony Academy at National University.
Developed and perfected by classroom teachers, the Harmony program helps youth improve skills in areas such as conflict resolution. Harmony is already in various stages of adoption nationwide reaching more than 13 million young people.
The partnership officially launched recently at the National 4-H Council Legacy Awards held in Washington, D.C., an annual event highlighting the impact 4-H has made in the lives of youth and alumni.
About National University: National University, a veteran-founded nonprofit, has been dedicated to meeting the needs of hard-working adults by providing accessible, affordable, achievable higher education opportunities since 1971. As San Diego’s largest private nonprofit university, NU offers over 75 online and on-campus programs and flexible four-week classes designed to help students reach their goals while balancing busy lives. Since its founding, the NU community has grown to over 25,000 students and 180,000 alumni around the globe, many of whom serve in helping industries such as business, education, health care, cybersecurity, and law and criminal justice. Learn more at NU.edu.
About Harmony: Harmony Academy is an affiliate program of the National University System. These no-cost programs strive to ensure that every student feels part of a safe, supportive learning community and that every teacher and provider is equipped to create inclusive and engaging learning opportunities. By offering social, personal, and academic skill development experiences across contexts through relationship-driven activities, Harmony helps young people build and sustain relationships, giving them tools to grow into compassionate and caring adults. Learn more about Harmony at harmony-academy.org.
Back to School With Harmony
By: Mimi Seeley
It’s that time of year again: notebooks, binders, and pencil pouches in vibrant colors and designs line the entryway of store aisles across the country. “Back to school” is upon us. Some of you may have been back to school for a week or two already.
As a former educator, I always felt equally excited and nervous leading up to the first week of school. I could not wait to meet my students, and I planned all sorts of fun “get to know you” activities for us to do together. I was also extremely anxious about how that first day might unfold. Thoughts like, “What if, over the summer, I have somehow forgotten how to teach?” and “When that 8 a.m. bell rings, will I still know what to do?” raced through my mind.
As we approach the beginning of another year, I want to remind you of something: your students are both excited and nervous, too—you are in this together. I encourage you to take this first week of school slowly and use it to foster relationships, begin to develop community, put routines into place, and take care of yourself in the process. We are here to help!
We recently launched our newest edition of Harmony on our online portal, Harmony Third Edition. We have The First Ten Days of Harmony, designed to assist you in establishing routines to support the use of Harmony’s Everyday Practices and create a strong community within your classroom through fun and interactive activities.
On Day One of the First Ten Days of Harmony, we provide detailed instructions on introducing the first two steps of the Harmony Everyday Practice of “Meet Up.” To begin, you will have your students practice “greeting” one another with our “25 Ways to Say Hello.” From there, you will implement the “Sharing and Responding” portion of “Meet Up.” You could model “sharing” by telling the class a little about yourself and how you felt as you prepared for this first day with them. You can then invite students to share or offer up responses. We have provided several example responses that students can use if they struggle to produce ideas. With regular practice, your class is sure to become expert communicators!
As you move through the first couple of weeks, you will create Class and Personal Harmony Goals while simultaneously introducing the last two steps of “Meet Up”: “Checking In” and “Connecting.” They allow you to gradually build upon these practices, firmly establishing them at the beginning of the school year.
In addition to “Meet Up,” you will introduce the Everyday Practice of “Buddy Up” on that first day, using a Quick Connection Card activity. An example of an initial “Buddy Up” activity would be to play “How Many Can You Name?” and have buddies work together to list as many of their favorite things as possible!
Finally, The First Ten Days of Harmony’s Building Community unit also offers quick mini-lessons to build connections and relationships. In the mini-lessons, you use the storybooks to introduce our beloved character Z and all the Clubhouse friends. You also get to play games, like the Commonalities Game, to help students learn more about one another.
As you move into Unit 1, the focus will shift from “Building Community” to “Being My Best Self.” In this unit, students start exploring emotions and the fact that we all have them, which connect to our thoughts and contribute to our actions. Students will learn the importance of paying attention to their emotions and the emotions of their peers as a means of being their best selves.
As a former first-grade teacher, I am particularly interested in Unit 1, Lesson 1: All About Emotions. In this lesson, students play a charades-style emotion game where they can act out various emotions with their buddy, who then guesses the portrayed emotion. This activity allows students to begin practicing identifying emotions and recognizing that we all display our feelings a little differently—such awareness is a crucial component of a strong community.
The unit progresses with students learning about situational influence over thought and emotion; how thoughts, emotions, and actions work together; strategies to support emotional regulation; and how employing a growth mindset and flexible thinking can empower them as individuals. What an impressive way to start the year!
In addition to this focus on developing community and establishing a routine, through the first few weeks (and the entire school year, really), you must prioritize filling your cup. Our 2019 National University Teacher of the Year, Tom Whisinnand (aka Mr. Whiz), has some great advice on this:
“Starting another school year can be a stressful time. There are many tasks that need to be accomplished and there is limited time to accomplish them. Starting a year by keeping YOUR personal worth in mind is mega-important! Teachers MUST look after their own well-being. Just as we set up routines in our classrooms that empower students to embrace healthy learning, we MUST also start the year with intention regarding our personal well-being.”
Additionally, he shares his tips for all-important educator self-care during the upcoming school year.
“During this upcoming year, I will be looking after my own well-being in the following ways: 1) I will be visiting a gym on a regular basis; 2) I will create and maintain professional/personal work boundaries, AND 3) I will engage in a creative activity (painting/writing/drawing/producing YouTubes) at least once during any given weekend.”
Mr. Whiz is spot-on. You need to consider how you will maintain your own mental, emotional, and physical health during what is often a chaotic time.
We at Harmony wish you a fabulous first week—and month—back at school! It is okay to be nervous while also welcoming all the excitement. Do not forget to check out harmony-academy.org for professional learning opportunities happening throughout the month. We are here to support you.
Mimi Seeley is the Client Success Associate for Harmony Academy.
Meeting the Moment Together: Resources and Support for Processing the Uvalde, Texas Tragedy
To Harmony Friends, Families, and Partners:
The tragedy that unfolded in Uvalde, Texas — a horrific, senseless act — reminds us that our children should feel safe and at their happiest when they are learning and engaging in school environments. No child, parent, educator, or caregiver should face such trauma. We remain stunned, horrified, and saddened by the loss of life.
On a personal level, it’s common to have feelings of uncertainty while navigating through fear and trauma. For our children, it can be even more challenging to work through the trauma of the tragedy and the emotions of their peers. Children shoulder so much — they shouldn’t face these feelings alone or be the tragic reminders of inaction.
Supporting student social and emotional well-being is more important now than ever. Resources, from Harmony and others, provide strategies educators can use to deepen connections, heal together, and have conversations with students so that they can begin to feel safe and supported again. Below are some helpful resources to support these conversations in your family or school today:
Harmony Resources
Quick Connection Cards — provides educators and families with quick conversations to help students to connect, a great strategy in helping students heal
Harmony at Home — provides families with resources and strategies to support student social and emotional learning at home
Harmony will continue to offer support and resources to help ensure our children feel connected, loved, and seen. If we all work together and meet the moment, we can change the future and make it one our children deserve. We’ll be with you every step of the way, with SEL-informed strategies to support students from all walks of life.
We stand in solidarity with Uvalde, Texas, and every educator, student, and family as they navigate this tragedy. Now is the time to take sensible, informed action to help stop this needless cycle of violence.
Together, we can make an impact.
Enhanced Harmony Curriculum Unit Now Available
Here at Harmony Academy, we’ve been working on improving our healthy learning materials to enhance the Harmony experience for you and your students. Much of what you know and love about Harmony is staying the same, but we’re excited to introduce the first two phases of Harmony Third Edition to you today!
Here’s what you can access so far:
Enhancements to Everyday Practices
In addition to refreshing our existing Everyday Practices, we’ve added two new Everyday Practices: Personal Harmony Goals and Mindful Minutes. Your students can now track their personal goals as well as class goals, and take a Mindful Minute to check in with themselves and exercise their ability to self-regulate.
Building Community Pre-Unit
In our new Building Community Pre-Unit, we provide a day-by-day plan to introduce or reinvigorate your Everyday Practices during the first ten days of the Harmony Curriculum, as well as our getting-to-know-you activities that help create a welcoming classroom community.
Unit 3: Communicating With Each Other
Take a look at refreshed lessons, activities, and stories to support teaching students effective communication strategies, including updated Harmony-Academic Integration suggestions and educator well-being options!
Unit 4: Learning From Each Other
Unit 4 has been renamed “Learning From Each Other,” and it helps students learn constructive ways to approach and solve problems while building healthy relationships and strengthening friendships. The enhanced unit has new lessons, activities, and stories for you to introduce to your students! The activities are now only 20 minutes long, with optional introduction and closing sections if you would like to engage in a longer activity.
Once all phases of the Third Edition are rolled out, you’ll find access to a data dashboard, educator well-being strategies and self-assessment instruments, suggestions for Harmony-Academic Integration, aligned literature guides, digital games, aligned on-demand Harmony Professional Learning modules, and more.
Ready to give Harmony Third Edition a try? When you access your Harmony Online Learning Portal, click the button at the top of the page to easily toggle between Second Edition and Third Edition!
If you would like support in transitioning from Second Edition to Third Edition, we’re here to help! Live training sessions can be accessed from the Online Learning Portal and include:
Harmony Third Edition Overview
Refresh Your Everyday Practices with Harmony Third Edition
Everyday Practices for New Users of Harmony Third Edition
More Third Edition updates will roll out in the coming months, so keep an eye on our blog for updates. We hope you enjoy the enhanced content!
Unit 1: Being My Best Self, Out of School Time (OST) Units 3 and 4
Unit 2: Valuing Each Other, OST Units 1 and 2
Digital Games, Educator Self-Assessment, Data Dashboard, OST Lessons
Unit 5: Supporting the Community, Culminating Unit Projects, Aligned Literature Guides, On-demand Trainings, CCSS Alignment
Understanding the Research and Teacher Experience Behind the Refresh of Harmony Third Edition
April 2022
Understanding the Research and Teacher Experience Behind the Refresh of Harmony Third Edition
by Nick Yoder, PhD, Senior Director of Research and Professional Learning
Abstract
Harmony is refreshing the look, feel, and content of the healthy learning program that educators know and trust. To meet the current demands of teachers, counselors, out-of-school time providers, and other educational professionals to nurture student well-being, Harmony is engaged in a rigorous refresh process, including discovery, development, and quality review phases. In the current white paper executive summary, find out — at a glance — what was originally included in the program, what remained the same (with a refresh), and what program features we expanded.
We’re thrilled to introduce you to some of Third Edition’s exciting enhancements, starting with Harmony Storybook Clubhouse Friends. In our new stories, the Clubhouse Friends will explore cooperation, listening to others, and so much more, with backgrounds that make their stories relatable to students and enrich the learning experience.
We pride ourselves in providing CASEL-aligned curriculum that continues to evolve based on the latest research and findings in healthy learning education. Harmony Third Edition is no exception. The new enhancements will:
Build upon our trusted healthy learning curriculum.
Give teachers easy ways to bring healthy learning to life for students through stories, activities, and everyday practices.
Equip educators to foster communication, connection, and community in and outside the classroom.
As we approach the launch of Harmony Third Edition, we will share more exciting highlights. You’ll also see that a lot of what makes Harmony unique remains the same, particularly our commitment to fostering healthy relationships and inclusive learning environments.
Check back with this page for each new sneak peek of upcoming enhancements. And rest assured, the current edition of Harmony will remain available in the Online Learning Portal to help make your transition to Harmony Third Edition as easy as possible. Not a Harmony user yet? Register at no cost today!
Get ready for new games, storybooks, and unit structures.
June 2, 2021
Implementing Harmony into your learning environment will be easier than ever before when Harmony Third Edition launches! In March, we announced that we were updating Harmony with additional games and storybooks and an all-new unit structure, but that’s not all we have in store for you.
Based on the latest research in healthy learning, our new unit structure centers on building harmonious relationships and creating inclusive environments where all students feel valued and heard and develop a sense of agency within their educational experience.
The new unit structure will include a curriculum map to aid in implementation and a revised lesson structure for increased accessibility to our content. With Harmony Third Edition, you’ll be able to complete lessons in just 15-20 minutes!
To create a truly comprehensive program, Harmony Third Edition will offer grade-level specific content for all grades, as well as offer point of use access to Inspire Teaching & Learning modules to support adult well-being. We will also be expanding our out-of-school-time offerings, customized for OST program providers.
In an effort to support the evolving needs of today’s learners, educators, and families, Harmony Third Edition’s curriculum will focus on enhancing cultural competence, equity, and student voices.
As the needs of learners and educators evolve, Harmony evolves with them. These upcoming changes will be available beginning in the fall, ensuring you have the tools you need to implement Harmony Third Edition.
We will continue to support long-term needs and safe, inclusive learning environments. Harmony’s program will continue to empower the voices of students and teachers, equip educators and caregivers with culturally responsive practices, and support development and academic success. Thank you for choosing Harmony for the students in your life!
Register in the Harmony Online Learning Portal for access to our full curriculum, and follow us on social media for more updates!
Educators Across the Country Find Value in Harmony SEL
See what teachers and SEL implementers had to say in our latest broad usage survey.
Since the inception of Harmony SEL, researchers have examined the benefits of our program in several studies (e.g., DeLay et al., 2016; Hanish et al., 2016; Miller et al., 2017). The initial research found that students who participated in Harmony experienced a variety of positive results. These outcomes include increased writing and math performance, friendship development with diverse peer groups, relationship-building with feelings of inclusion, and engagement in school, as well as decreases in teasing and aggression.
From the research, we know that Harmony produces positive effects in youth. We also want to understand the perceptions of educators who have used the program. In 2019, a group of 999 teachers, school counselors, instructional coaches, SEL learning specialists, speech-language pathologists, and site coordinators responded to a survey about their use of Harmony SEL from the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University. This easy-to-read infographic presents educators’ survey responses reflecting their reactions to Harmony, perceived impacts on students’ competencies, and how often they used Harmony resources. Download and review the infographic here:
