New Animated Cool School™ Program Helps Teachers Provide Students with the Tools and Strategies Needed to Stand Up Against Bullying Behavior
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From the developers of “The Social Express®,” Cool School includes lesson plans, interactive videos, assessments and everything else teachers need to educate and empower students
Encinitas, Calif. – Aug. 26, 2014 – According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, nearly 1 in 3 students report being bullied during the school year. States have implemented strict anti-bullying laws, but any educator will tell you that punitive action alone won’t extricate the problem. Students need to be taught – from an early age – how to recognize bullying behavior and how to respond when confronted with or witnessing the behavior.
To help educators accomplish this all-important task, The Language Express®, developers of the award-winning The Social Express®, a web-based program that teaches social and emotional learning, have created Cool School™. Click to Tweet. This new, highly engaging and informative interactive software program will give schools an easy-to-use tool to modify anti-social behavior by promoting pro-social interactions. Designed for elementary school learners, the program will be available for purchase beginning September 15, 2014. Pre-orders can be placed by going to http://www.coolschoolcentral.com.
“There are numerous programs and campaigns aimed at addressing bullying in schools, but none provide what is an essential element of behavior modification: video modeling of effective and ineffective behaviors alike. Interactive videos are the foundation of the Cool School program, and they serve as the touch points for student reflection, class discussions and exercises,” said Marc Zimmerman, founder and CEO of The Language Express®.
“I believe that the program is well suited for its target audience. I know the students will love the animation and the content aligns perfectly with our Positive Behavioral support programs already in place,” said Dr. Sherri Wexler, a school psychologist at Encinitas Unified School District in San Diego County.
The comprehensive, six-week Cool School program begins with a pre-assessment to help each student understand their place in the cycle of bullying, whether they have engaged in bullying behavior in the past, have been a recipient or have witnessed bad actions by others. Students in grades K-2 will partake in one lesson a week at skill Level 1, students in grades 3-4 will also have one lesson per week at Level 2, and those in grades 5+ will engage in two lessons per week at skill Level 3. Each lesson, which lasts approximately 40 minutes, consists of one interactive episode, followed by class discussion and then personal journal writing centered on strategies for developing and displaying appropriate pro-social behavior. In addition, the program can extend beyond the six-week time frame as teachers are encouraged to give “Promo Passes” or badges to students who demonstrate pro-social behavior, making those students Cool School Agents.
“Giving students time to reflect by way of the journal writing offers a great way to gauge their comprehension of the content,” stated Zimmerman. “And recognizing good behavior builds awareness. It’s critical that we teach students about the effects of bullying behavior as early as possible as it often begins when students enter kindergarten and, sadly, continues for some through adulthood. With our new Cool School program, we are providing teachers with an easy-to-implement resource that teaches and reinforces pro-social behavior and advocates against bullying behaviors.”
About The Language Express
Headquartered in Encinitas, California, the Language Express® was formed in 2010 and launched its first product, The Social Express® in 2011. The award winning Social Express® is an engaging, educational software solution for children and young adults with social learning challenges. The software is designed to teach users how to think about and manage social situations, helping them to develop meaningful social relationships and succeed in life. For more information, visit www.thesocialexpress.com or call 877-360-0155.
