How Chandler School, a phone-free school, supports academic excellence and empowers responsible tech use among their students through #WinAtSocial
In 2023, 95% of students reported being active on social media platforms, and nearly half reported being online “almost consistently.” As of October 3, 2024, eight states have implemented a state-wide ban or restriction on cell phone use in schools. Between increased social media use among students and digital distractions in schools, students are navigating social media & tech in ways never experienced by any generation before.
In the modern age of digital technology, how can educators empower students to use tech responsibly without the heavy lifting of additional lesson planning?
To answer this question, The Social Institute huddled with Rob Evans, the Director of Middle School at Chandler School in Pasadena, CA, to discuss how they are equipping middle school students to strike a balance with their time on tech and equipping them with life skills for the modern day.
Fostering a Lifelong Love of Learning
Chandler School’s mission is to provide each student with the highest quality and most academically challenging education in a nurturing, balanced, and diverse environment. Not only do educators at Chandler School equip students with a strong core education, but they aim to foster a love of learning in each student.
While it is important that each student receives a robust education, Evans highlighted that Chandler School wants to leverage innovative teaching to support student well-being and empower responsible tech use. “We’re focusing on three areas, and it’s ultimately been informed by research. For academic excellence, that’s looking at inspiring, responsive, and differentiated work. We’re thinking about belonging, diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and well-being– the social, emotional, and physical health of kids.”
To fuel academic excellence while supporting student well-being, Chandler School looked for an innovative and easy-to-implement program that would set their school apart, and they turned to #WinAtSocial to help them reach that goal.
Implementing and Integrating Modern Life Skills Education into the School Day
To successfully implement a modern life skills program that the entire school community could align on, Chandler School needed something timely to engage students and something that would not add to teachers’ workloads.
Evans shared that they found this in #WinAtSocial: “The #WinAtSocial Lessons are already designed. So it’s really an opportunity for you to open it up and read it a few minutes before running a lesson if you need to, but not have to do the heavy lifting of going to gather all of the resources necessary to run a lesson.”
In addition, #WinAtSocial Lessons are designed using the “Understanding by Design (UBD)” framework – a feature that Chandler School has appreciated while reviewing lessons. With minimal prep time needed before running a lesson, Evans saw how easy it would be to implement #WinAtSocial across their middle school.
After prepping teachers to run #WinAtSocial, Evans observed students actively using #WinAtSocial language in the classroom and fully engaging with the lessons.
“When I was with my students the other day and told them we’re going to do a #WinAtSocial Lesson, they immediately got excited. So I think their excitement tells me a lot about how this is going over with them.”
When discussing #WinAtSocial Lessons, Evans highlighted one of the latest Trending Lessons that empowered students to have meaningful, face-to-face conversations. “We’re using #WinAtSocial in our media literacy classes, activity periods, advisory program, and in our health classes. I most recently had an opportunity to do the navigating anxiety lesson with sixth graders using [the Pixar movie] Inside Out 2 and that went over really well.”
With little to no heavy lifting for teachers, and students engaged and excited to learn from #WinAtSocial, it was easy for Chandler School to implement the program and focus their time on fueling academic success and supporting student well-being.
Balancing Social Media & Tech Education with Cell Phone-Free Learning
After explaining how Chandler School easily implemented #WinAtSocial into the school day, Evans discussed why they chose #WinAtSocial to address concerns related to cell phones. “The Surgeon General has talked about the impact of technology and social media on young folks. Most recently, the discussions following Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation fueled that conversation and the overall bans on cell phones.” Evans revealed that between those two factors, Chandler School wanted to help students navigate challenges like cell phone use in school and having respectful conversations with others online.
“We made the move to [ban cell phones] the school year before the state of California and LAUSD, and all of the other schools started making that move. We just really wanted to see kids talking to each other and not having their faces in their phones, in class, or in between classes.”
#WinAtSocial is not only allowing educators at Chandler School to teach responsible social media and tech use, but the lessons are prompting students to have meaningful huddles with each other outside of their devices. Evans shared that the #WinAtSocial Social Standards Strike A Balance, which encourages students to balance their time on tech with in-person interactions, and Play To Your Core, which empowers students to act in a way that aligns with their values, have helped their students be more mindful of the way they spend their time online.
“We want to challenge [students] to engage face-to-face and to really think through what’s happening around them. So those standards are right in line with that. As much as we want to push the technology to the side, this is something they are still living with and have to navigate.”
Uniting Students, Families, and Educators around #WinAtSocial
After getting educators and students on board with #WinAtSocial, Chandler School worked to involve families in the program by adding custom Family Coaching Sessions to their partnership. Their goal? To empower students to use tech responsibly at home, as well as in the classroom. “We have a Parent Education series, and we know that if we’re going to have any success supporting the kids, the partnership with the parents is paramount in making sure that we’re all on the same page,” Evans said. “Continuing the work of informing parents, sharing information with them, and letting them know about the partnerships that we’ve developed that we’re really proud of and excited about, is what I think is part of the driving conversation.”
In addition to Family Coaching Sessions, The Social Institute offers the Social Toolkit as an additional resource for families to continue the conversations that educators are starting in class with #WinAtSocial. By uniting educators, families, and students around modern life skills education, Chandler School is delivering on their mission of supporting student well-being both in the classroom and at home.
Supporting Your School
In today’s tech-driven world, educators are increasingly tasked with helping students navigate social media and technology responsibly while balancing academic success and well-being. Chandler School’s partnership with The Social Institute and their implementation of #WinAtSocial reveals how easy it is to equip students with modern life skills without adding to teachers’ workloads.
Interested in running #WinAtSocial in your school? Request a demo for some of our most popular lessons:
- Trending Lesson for grades 9-12:
- Trending Lesson for grades 5-8:
- Trending Lesson for grades 3-4:
The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in empowering students by understanding students. Through #WinAtSocial, our gamified, peer-to-peer learning platform, we equip students, educators, and families to navigate their social world – in the classroom and beyond, online and offline – in healthy, high-character ways. Our unique, student-respected approach empowers and equips, rather than scares and restricts. We incorporate timely topics about social media, tech use, and current events that are impacting student well-being and learning. #WinAtSocial Lessons teach life skills for the modern day, capture student voice, and provide school leaders with actionable insights. Through these insights, students play an essential role in school efforts to support their own health, happiness, and future success as we enable high-impact teaching, meaningful family conversations, and a healthy school culture.