The Design Camp project is an effort to look more deeply at the day-to-day experiences of students.

Empathy Interviews provide an opportunity to really understand a student, or group of students, by diving deeper than the surface-level question, “How are you?” and receiving the typical response, “I’m fine.” These interviews inform intentional classroom and school-level action by elevating student voices and garnering a better understanding of student needs (SEL and well-being), and experiences (engagement). This resource provides step-by-step instructions on how to conduct an empathy interview.

Modeling SEL offers students positive examples of how to navigate stress and frustration and maintain healthy relationships while simultaneously influencing the learning climate. You can engage staff in this activity to reflect on how you will intentionally model SEL as part of schoolwide implementation.

Educators and OST providers understand and believe in the power of SEL, but often seek clarity about how to demonstrate and observe SEL in action.
The Optimistic Closure Activities are practical ways to introduce and broaden the use of SEL practices in classrooms, schools, and even workplaces.

Educators and OST providers understand and believe in the power of SEL, but often seek clarity about how to demonstrate and observe SEL in action.
The Engaging Strategies and Brain Breaks are practical ways to introduce and broaden the use of SEL practices in classrooms, schools, and even workplaces.

Educators and OST providers understand and believe in the power of SEL, but often seek clarity about how to demonstrate and observe SEL in action.
The Welcoming Inclusion Activities are practical ways to introduce and broaden the use of SEL practices in classrooms, schools, and even workplaces.

Educators and OST providers understand and believe in the power of SEL, but often seek clarity about how to demonstrate and observe SEL in action.
The 3 signature practice activities are practical ways to introduce and broaden the use of SEL practices in classrooms, schools, and even workplaces.

Research suggests stand-alone anti-bias training may not change long-term behavior. For leaders working to make their schools more equitable, studies suggest some alternatives to common pitfalls.

Recurrent problems are often symptoms of deeper issues. Learn the 5 Whys technique to get to the root cause of a problem.

This activity will help you ensure you have support for every student to find their purpose. Identify the three interrelated factors essential to fostering purpose, and examine if the supports and opportunities each student is receiving align to their skills and strengths.

This activity will help your leadership team assess and identify how inclusive practices, supports, and structures, such as co-teaching and teaming, are at your campus.

Are the environments on your campus (classrooms, extracurricular and common areas, virtual spaces) set up to be most welcoming and accommodating for your students, or for the adults?

This activity is designed to reflect on how you are engaging students to share their experiences, and to garner what they need from school. This is an opportunity to identify groups of students who need increased opportunity to share their thoughts and dreams.

In this activity your team will discuss what purposeful learning means to you (teachers, staff and leaders) in your school, and begin to develop a set of tools to support purposeful learning every period of every day at your site.

This activity is designed for the entire school community and will be conducted with staff, leadership teams, families, and students. This is an opportunity to look into the future, and envision your school identity and culture with all your stakeholder groups.

An activity designed to develop a shared understanding of a school’s identity and explore specific values and beliefs that are necessary to implement a (MTSS) in secondary schools.

Develop schoolwide Life Readiness pathways so students feel prepared and empowered for their next steps. Reflections and activities from all of these experiences should be aligned with the school’s shared vision for readiness and collected in portfolios that each student adds to throughout their school journey and are used in Senior Exit Interviews.

This activity will be conducted with your students to allow them an opportunity to think about how they feel empowered at school, and what things (if any), prevent them from becoming leaders.

This activity will guide your team to examine how student empowerment can be incorporated into students’ daily lives. Are your students empowered to change your school for the better? Are they encouraged to advocate for what they need when they need it?

Develop a course for students to explore their purpose and gain a better understanding of who they are, and what they value.

Empower students to positively impact their communities, country, and the world. Consider projects from Design for Change.

Give students the opportunity to think about and practice empathy. Use lesson plans from Teaching Tolerance.

Use design thinking, or a hackathon approach, to give students the opportunity to envision how their daily school experience should change to allow students to better manage their own learning.

Train teachers to better understand and facilitate learning that motivates students. This teaching guide provides some strategies and key concepts connected to student motivation.