Research Press Publishers recently talked to Jaime Dombrowski, the author of our latest publication, Power Up: Gamification Tools for Social and Emotional Learning where you can also listen to the podcast, Prosocially Yours. Dr. Dombrowski says: “They can do all of the lessons in one day, in a 30–45-minute session, or they can break it up into 10-minute sessions per day with an optional activity that they can do to extend the lesson. There are a lot of really great ways to adapt this.”
The easy-to-use program offers step-by-step guidance on each lesson and the flexibility to tailor the program to a student’s needs. The book offers curricula for daily lessons, small groups, and virtual classrooms as well as all handouts and game materials. Dr. Dombrowski adds that there are virtual lessons with the program: “Each of the lessons has a virtual component and it relies heavily on students learning from each other and discussion boards and teachers giving them some information and a prompt. It’s not too heavy in the sense that there is a lot to prep and look after but it really gets students thinking and it really teaches them skills and they get to learn from each other because peer-learning is just so powerful.”
Author Jaime Dombrowski holds degrees in educational psychology and counseling. She is also a licensed mental health counselor, registered play therapist, and a certified school counselor. Dr. Dombrowski currently serves as an SEL Specialist for Florida Virtual School and enjoys researching the most effective strategies to support students in their social-emotional learning journey, as well as grant writing to fund and support SEL efforts.