April 28, 2023 21st CCLC and JAKAPA: A Step By Step Guide
Youth Development and 21st CCLC Grant Programs Youth development is one of the four critical areas in any 21st CCLC grant program, and JAKAPA can
Dr. Lisa Riegel
May 25, 2023
Developing Soft Skills isn't like developing content knowledge
Developing soft skills isn’t like developing content knowledge, but many schools implement curriculum that has students learning through discrete lessons with no ongoing practice. When that curriculum is used by a subset of teachers, you fail to develop institutional knowledge and support for students as they try to apply what they learn. Sharing information about skills or providing an experience in a classroom is a start, but it will not build the habits and thinking processes to make change. Just as math needs to be practiced repeatedly over a long period of time, so do soft skills.
Soft skills are learned through daily practice
Our brains learn through repetition, experience and emotion. To develop soft skills in our students, we need to encourage daily practice in a variety of settings and we need the experience to be personalized and relevant. We also need to have shared language and clear understandings about the skills we are trying to develop, so all teachers and staff can reinforce learning.
Students and Teachers Learn Together
JAKAPA can help. We build a growth minded culture where students and teachers learn together. Our assessments develop shared vocabulary and definitions for each skill and yield objective data to build self-awareness and to inform goal-setting. Our daily challenge system incrementally provides activities that help people understand the skills, contextualize them so they can make sense of how they impact their success, practice them, measure them and track growth.
Ready to See What JAKAPA
Can Do for You?
"My JAKAPA demo quickly helped me understand how easy it would be to implement THE JAKAPA soft skill solution IN My school."
—Missouri Educator
JAKAPA is for everyone at your district
JAKAPA is for everyone at your district. When teachers use JAKAPA as part of their professional development and as a data source to inform professional goal setting, you create a culture of learning. Teams get stronger, teachers recognize how their skills impact their success with engaging students, and teachers gain the skills needed to cope with a very stressful career. When teachers are learners, they can more authentically teach the skills and reinforce them with students. When we learn together we grow together and the whole system benefits.
Learn how JAKAPA can be implemented at your district.
Call us today to schedule a demo and learn how JAKAPA can become a central part of your school’s culture, tie into your PBIS tiers and improve student and teacher outcomes.
