An Introduction to SEL

Before implementing SEL strategies, lead a discussion on the importance of being self-aware, mindful, and able to regulate one’s emotions. There are videos available online that introduce the concept of emotions to children of all ages through the words of their peers. This helps students understand that it is normal to have feelings, even unpleasant or negative ones. By demonstrating that students are not alone in their emotions, a feeling of safety and a sense of curiosity can be established.

After thinking about feelings and how they manifest, review with students the science behind their feelings. Display a diagram on the board with these systems labeled, and show students how to use their hand to model the regions of their brain. The science behind feeling sets the stage for students to understand the “why” behind their feelings, and to begin to understand that there are strategies to help influence our brain and the way it interacts with our world.

Establishing Predictability & Creating Safety

In order to answer the question “Am I safe?”, teachers should lead students through the process of creating class norms or social contracts in which student establish how we all agree to treat one another in the classroom. Once class norms are established, they should be posted visibly for all to see (along with visual reminders of all instructional and non-instructional routines), initialed by students in order to help them take ownership, and revisited often in order to ensure their continued relevance to the members of the class.

By establishing routines and rituals, use predictability to create a feeling of safety. Rituals should be established and adhered to on a daily basis including greeting students with a handshake, their name, and a smile. Additional rituals include asking students to send well-wishes to absent classmates, creating jobs in the classroom with specific assignments related to ensuring that everyone feels safe enough to be successful at school, or taking one to two minutes each class period to allow students to share “Good Things” with the class. Using an optimistic closure is another ritual that can help launch a child into the rest of their day with inspiration and optimism.

Class meetings are another way to establish classroom safety and predictability. Consider creating a schedule of events for class meetings and rotating through different SEL activities with different purposes each day of the week: Check-in, unity, mindfulness, connection, and commitment.

Check-In Activities

Check-in activities promote self- awareness and self-management and help students regulate emotions and increase focus. Examples of check-in activities include displaying a visual such as a Mood Meter, feeling wheel, emoji chart, or even pictures of the weather, and asking students to pick which image or word best describes how they are feeling today. This can be done anonymously through a polling app like mentimeter or students can use sticky notes on a blackboard with their names written on the back.

In an emotionally safe classroom, clips with student names on them can be placed in an appropriate place on a continuum, each day to show how everyone is feeling. Other check-in activities ask students to identify things that are in and outside of their control or complete a feeling cycle that identifies things they are concerned about, thankful for, and needing help with. Students can also draw pictures of themselves that show how they look on the outside versus how they are feeling on the inside.

Activities to Connect

When students connect with each other and the teacher, their bodies release oxytocin, and this promotes connection and reduces aggression. Students can connect with others by finding someone they have something in common with and looking them in the eye, greeting them by name, and performing an appropriate body language greeting (high five, handshake, fist bump, or butterfly greeting, elephant greeting, etc.). Teachers can also use the four corners activity model to have students group themselves by common interest (art/music, sports, video games, reading) or by attributes they have in common (birth order, favorite subject, special talent, etc.). By reshuffling the groups a few times, teachers can help students see commonalities and form connections with new peers.

Activities to Unite

Activities that unite ask the whole class to do something altogether, by asking everyone to participate and giving everyone access, these activities foster safety and release endorphins. Uniting activities include:

• Dance Party – Play one minute of music and ask everyone to dance
• Pat/Clap/Outward High 10 – The leader establishes a pattern of hand movements that everyone follows
• Recite a chant or rap together
• Mimic a movement – This can be especially fun if students are willing to demonstrate the movement that everyone models
• One-word whip around – Say one word that is a positive attribute about you or something you are grateful for (establish the order ahead of time).

Activities to Disengage Stress

In order to help students turn off the stress response in the brain and prepare for learning, lead students through mindfulness and breathing techniques. Teaching a variety of techniques can be both helpful and fun for students. Stretching can also relax students mentally and physically, and there are a variety of yoga videos and guides for different age groups available online, including some that prompt students to perform yoga poses reminiscent of animals in nature.

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What is Social-Emotional Learning?

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a way of helping students learn to recognize and manage their emotions as well as how they interact with others. SEL helps students develop learned behaviors that can encourage empathy toward others, as well as nurturing their own emotional health.

Why is Social-Emotional Learning Important for Kids?

SEL is critically important for children because it enables them to develop the five core competencies associated with SEL. The five competencies are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and making responsible decisions.

SEL is also important for kids because it helps increase their academic achievement and positive behaviors. In fact, in a recent study, students who participated in SEL programs showed an 11% increase in grades and attendance. Also, students who participate in SEL are better equipped to handle the pressure and responsibilities that come with adulthood.

So, when we ask ourselves if we can really afford to take time away from our academics for social-emotional learning, the question should be: can we afford not to?

Social-Emotional Learning Activities to Try this Summer

SEL doesn’t have to take time away from your academics. It can and should be woven into the fabric of your classroom culture. Here are some ideas for continuing SEL in the summer.

Journaling

Anytime I think about journaling, I am reminded of the movie “Freedom Writers”. It is a phenomenal movie that I believe every educator should watch. It is a true story that demonstrates the profoundly positive effect that journaling can have for kids.

While the students in the movie are in extreme situations in south-central Los Angeles, all students, regardless of age, socio-economics, location, or background, experience their own trials and challenges that they need to express in some way.

This movie also demonstrates how critically important it is for teachers to develop meaningful relationships with their students. This helps students feel safe and secure. When students feel safe, they are more likely to open up about troubling issues they are dealing with.

Through journaling, students can express emotions, write down things they are worried about, make lists of things they are thankful for, or even write stories or poems. Journaling lets kids express themselves in a way that can be kept private if they choose to do so. They are able to talk about how they feel. In doing this, they are increasing their self-awareness and learning to manage their emotions.

Reading

Sometimes, one of the most beneficial things I can do for my own sanity is to find a good book that can take me away from my problems for a bit and to another place. Children can experience the same feeling. Students should be exposed to literature with positive messages or self-help books that will encourage them to make better choices and understand themselves and their emotions to a greater extent.

Of course, some of our younger students may not be to the point of reading independently yet. For those students, they can benefit just as much by being read to. This can be done with longer “chapter books”, reading a few chapters a day or with picture books. Students can relate to the characters and their problems which can help to develop their self-awareness and self-management skills. Discussing the characters, their problems, and their emotions can help students learn to deal with their own issues.

Volunteering

There is nothing quite like contributing to the needs of others or the local community to give a boost to a child’s self-worth. Getting children involved with community projects at an early age can help them develop empathy that will stay with them for years to come. Kids can do things like visit nursing homes (when it is safe to do so), cleaning up community parks, or working at a local soup kitchen or food bank. This is a great way to help kids develop social awareness and relationship skills as they will be working with others.

Children can learn, at any age, how good it feels to be engaged with their local community and to give to others. Focusing on helping others that are not as fortunate can always give needed perspective for kids as well as adults.

Outdoor Activities

Far too often these days, children are accustomed to being inside most of the time. Many of their activities involve electronics or screens, which can help contribute to many problems that children experience. For example, being inside for long periods of time can cause one to feel more anxiety and restlessness. This can make a child or adult more irritable and upset about minor things. Also, research shows that long segments of screen time can worsen a person’s mood and can even cause depression.

So children of all ages need to be spending more time outside. There are so many outdoor activities that can help improve one’s social and emotional health. Taking a walk in nature can help us appreciate the outdoors as well as give us some always-needed exercise. Practicing yoga outside can help improve one’s outlook. Something as simple as planting and tending to flowers, plants, or vegetables can do the mind a body a lot of good. And there is nothing quite like that feeling of accomplishment when you can literally see the fruits of your labor.

Art

For some, there is no better medium for self-expression than art. For those that are artistically inclined, drawing and painting can be a great source of catharsis. For others, making a scrapbook or collage of emotions by drawing or finding pictures can be another great source of expression. Art can make us feel more engaged and more self-aware. Involvement in art can also decrease feelings of depression, anxiety, or stress. These types of expressive art activities can be incorporated into journaling as well.

Are there Negative Effects of Suspending SEL for Summer?

It is so important that children continue SEL activities throughout the summer. Otherwise, students can withdraw from the mode of self-expression, self-awareness, and self-management to an unhealthy place for them emotionally and socially.

If we as educators seek to make SEL a part of our classrooms every day and work to develop the relationships with students that let them know they have a safe space to express themselves, then these kinds of activities will become second nature to our students and enable them to learn self-management skills that will keep them socially and emotionally healthy.

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Differences Between High School and Elementary or Middle School Classrooms

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is widely considered the leader in SEL initiatives for the past two decades (2021). The cornerstone of SEL efforts is the delivery of five essential skills and competencies for students: Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Traditionally, well-researched strategies and implementation have existed in elementary classrooms for quite some time, and recently, these same strategies have been recognized as needed in the high school setting. Core competencies of SEL can serve as protective factors that contribute to healthy youth development for all age levels. For elementary age students, the need for SEL initiatives can stem from the early detection of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), which can include any childhood experience that impacts life outcomes. For middle and high school students, SEL competencies are linked directly to increased academic success and college and/or career readiness, which blends well with the developmental and cultural needs of high school students and also academic expectations held by high school teachers.

Adding Social-Emotional Learning Components to High School Classrooms

Before adding any SEL components to a lesson or high school classroom curriculum, intentional time must be spent on the “why” behind implementing such critical pieces of learning. Much like presenting academic content, SEL strategies must be explained to promote buy-in among students, staff, and community. Focusing on the core competencies of SEL, the following are ways SEL components can be added to high school classrooms.

Social Awareness

More than ever, awareness of the different types of cultures, beliefs, social norms, etc between our students is paramount. Helping students understand that other people have different perspectives and are worthy of respect are critical classroom lessons that will never go out of style. Social awareness includes empathy, appreciating diversity, and can be done by analyzing literary texts, print media, and can include writing prompts in the high school curriculum.

Responsible Decision-Making

This competency involves making personal and social choices related to ethics, safety, and social norms, as well as considering the consequences of those choices. Students can analyze situations, recognize and solve problems, and evaluate ethical responsibility. In my school, a newly created team, The Ethics Squad, participates in regional and national competitions between other schools and students debating, analyzing, and explaining ethical case studies. This team has opened the door for many students to participate in scholastic competitions while gaining knowledge in responsible decision making.

Relationship Skills

Is there anything more “high school” than relationships? Navigating the difficulties and trials and tribulations of relationships in high school can consume all four years, if students aren’t careful. Strengthening relationships is key to a more fulfilling life, and this competency can include students working on relationships with family members and peers, and build resolve within students themselves to better themselves.

Self-Management

Emotional intelligence is critical to student success, and developing self-confident and successful students should be our ultimate goal as educators. In this competency, it is important that students focus on their strengths and not their weaknesses. This practice can build capacity in the self-motivation and self-discipline needed to achieve individual goals. This can be done by interest inventories, self-assessments, and other internal questionnaires.

Self-Awareness

Finding a sense of self-worth and purpose as teens is incredibly difficult. However, students need time and strategies to develop their own interests and begin thinking about themselves with their goals in mind. Strategies and implementation of this competency include college and or career readiness goals, interest inventories, and specific and targeted activities to help high school students map out their postsecondary goals.

The concept of the traditional high school model has changed from what it was as early as ten years ago. Students today are faced with navigating all high school has in store for them, with many of them already dealing with negative perceptions of themselves, poor social skills, and an inability to regulate their emotions. Implementing a Social-Emotional Curriculum is a crucial step in the development of our young people. SEL initiatives in all educational settings can serve as integral parts of both education and human development. SEL components in high school classrooms can meet the social and emotional needs of historically underserved populations, while preparing them for life after high school.

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Differences Between Middle School Classrooms and Elementary School Classrooms

Social and emotional learning is important at all levels of a child’s education; however, the elements surrounding growth and development around the age of puberty (i.e. middle school) require a greater need for social and emotional learning. Social and emotional learning has five elements: self-awareness, self-management, decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. Although each of these skills are important for all grade levels, the emergence of a student’s keen awareness of one’s appearance and social standing make middle school’s need for SEL much more crucial.

In elementary school, social and emotional learning is highly important to the success and future potential of success for students. Students at this age need to be taught about their emotions, how to manage them, and how to be empathetic with others as situations deem it necessary. Properly implementing SEL components can help elementary students behave appropriately in school and get along well with others. Elementary school provides somewhat of a basic foundation for social and emotional competencies.

In middle school, there is a shift that takes place. By the time students reach middle school, a plethora of influences begin to “step on the scene.” Puberty, social media, parental pressure, and peer pressure are just some of the issues that middle school students face on a daily basis. Middle school students begin to develop their own beliefs and ideas, place themselves into social cliques, and long for connection or meaning with others. Because of this, the need for continued SEL is extremely important.

Although there are a multitude of benefits to SEL in middle school, one of the most important benefits that affects all of the others is self-awareness. Students learn to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses in order to develop a healthy self-image and grow self-confidence. When students understand their self-awareness, they can more easily understand and cooperate with others, make rational decisions, and cope with stressful situations more efficiently.

Adding Social-Emotional Learning Components to Middle School Classrooms

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness teaches students to recognize their emotions and feelings. This includes understanding how their emotions impact their responses in social situations. Additionally, self-awareness is the ability to identify one’s strengths and weaknesses to develop a positive and healthy self-image. As mentioned before, self-awareness directly impacts the other components of social and emotional learning. When a student has proper self-awareness, they can effectively evaluate their emotions and feelings in social situations and respond accordingly. They have a better understanding of their place in the “social arena.” Self-awareness implies a healthy level of self-confidence which positively affects a student’s response to peer pressure and other outside influences.

Self-Management

Self-management is similar to self-awareness in that both require the identification of one’s emotions and feelings; however, self-management requires the regulation of emotions in order to react appropriately and control stress levels. Middle school students are notorious for reacting on impulse. They have sudden outbursts of emotion, act without thought of consequence, speak before they think, and allow the ideas of others to influence their behavior. Their emotional instabilities supersede rationality. Adequate implementation of self-management skills helps students understand how to avoid these negative behaviors and why it is important to do so. As students grow in their abilities to manage their emotions and behaviors, it is important to note that self-management helps students develop goals for achievement in both school and into adulthood.

Decision-Making

Decision-making is the ability to determine the best course of action in a situation. Decision making also requires the evaluation of potential outcomes and/or consequences for particular situations. The decisions that students make in middle school can affect how they are perceived by others (either positively or negatively) and can determine the reputation that proceeds them. In addition, proper decision-making helps improve behavior, academic performance, and social cooperation among middle school students.

Relationship Skills

Relationship skills are the ability to get along with others, establish appropriate relationships with others that are healthy and beneficial, and communicate effectively with teachers, parents, and peers. Students of all ages desire relationships with others, but this desire may be even greater for students in middle school; thus, the need for maneuvering relationships in a healthy manner is more crucial. Relationship skills are important to middle school students in a variety of ways. First, students can more effectively make and keep friends. Second, students can learn to listen to the ideas of others and communicate their own ideas. Third, students learn to work well with others by displaying openness and can more easily avoid unnecessary conflict.

Social Awareness

Social awareness skills teach students empathy and understanding of others. Empathy is the ability to understand how others feel and the emotions they may be dealing with. Middle school students (and students of all ages for that matter) come from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and have experienced unique social situations. In order to promote healthy relationships and cooperation with others, students must show understanding of others. Middle school is difficult enough due to the constant changes (both physically and emotionally) thus the need for social awareness is heightened. Social awareness teaches students to show acceptance and kindness in the face of diversity.

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All students regardless of their age want safe, caring, and nurturing environments to be supported in so that they are able to grow. Teaching character and building life skills are a very important aspect of educating our students. Providing learning environments free from worry and creating a positive climate in our schools strongly influences academic and personal success. As schools incorporate social-emotional learning into their day, this enhances listening skills, empathy, compassion, relationship building, impulse control, bullying prevention, and problem solving skills. This also ties in with respect and citizenship. Social emotional learning (SEL) can easily be incorporated throughout our school day, but does look differently depending on the age of our students.

In an elementary school, students are exposed to social-emotional learning and are taught how to be socially, emotionally, and academically competent. Students’ SEL competencies are built through policies, programs, lessons, hands-on experiences and practices that enhance their young way of thinking. This helps students to better understand and manage their emotions, feel and show empathy towards others, and build and establish positive and healthy relationships inside and outside the classroom.

As students in elementary school are exposed to social learning, they are developing certain basic SEL competencies before they can begin to master other skills. Our young learners’ foundation and skills are built upon in elementary school as our students’ developmental abilities grow throughout each developmental stage. As our students are growing in their learning environment, things around them change. The demands placed on students vary with age, and in order to be successful, SEL skills are important at these different times of development.

At the secondary level, some students experience times during adolescence when they are at risk and may not be leading lives that support healthy development and may include limited opportunities for their success. There are several things that can play a role in this. Often maturity, gender, unstable relationships, and other developmental differences can profoundly impact students’ experience of school. Just as SEL lessons are critical at the elementary level, they also should occur for our adolescent students as well.

One of the most valuable resources we can bring to our classroom is ourselves. When teachers’ interactions and relationships with students are respectful, nurturing, and caring, and when teachers consider how cultural background and a student’s overall ability impacts learning, students feel that their voices are being heard and their opinions and views matter, and their basic needs are met. Students easily can see that their teacher believes in them, and the sense of belonging that a student feels can drastically impact their educational experience as well as their overall wellbeing.

Adding Social-Emotional Learning Components to Elementary Classrooms

Besides creating a nurturing and stable environment for our students and also providing an enjoyable learning experience, adding in SEL activities and lessons in the classroom leads to several benefits for our learners. These benefits also carry over to their families and their communities. By adding SEL into our everyday routines, we are allowing students to recognize the importance of their feelings and instill character traits that they will depend on throughout their life experiences. Understanding the importance of SEL at the very beginning of our students’ educational careers allows teachers to incorporate social-emotional learning in the classroom right from the beginning.

Teachers can integrate social-emotional learning into their classroom environments and teach across the curriculum or implement it as an overall classroom philosophy. Building SEL activities into your classrooms routines will help build the classroom community, as well as teach students to strive for self-improvement in all areas.

By teaching age-appropriate units at all grade levels, students benefit from continuity in SEL lesson plans. Curriculum maps can be created to ensure that all areas of social-emotional learning are covered from grade level to grade level. Early childhood teaching creates a solid foundation for more advanced SEL concepts that can build off of one another through the different stages of learning. As teachers continue to implement SEL and have a strong curriculum planned out to enhance these skills, it builds a positive climate that will improve the overall cultural of our schools.

Having a growth mindset or a basic understanding that all of our students can learn new skills plays a vital role in knowing how to successfully implement SEL within our elementary classrooms. Teachers can then have students create their own goals as well as track their progress that they are making towards their goals. Having the students be a part of this will create an ownership in the goal. These goals could be related to academics, behavioral struggles or physical and mental health. For our students to succeed during their elementary school experience and in further schooling and in their careers, students need to be socially, emotionally, and academically competent in all of these areas. Students’ SEL competencies are built through policies, programs that could include behavior, and practices that enhance students’ capacities to understand and manage their emotions. They also are able to set and achieve positive goals, recognize and show empathy towards others, and establish and maintain positive relationships.

As our schools continue to make strides to create a learning environment where all students can reach their full potential, learning to control their emotions and behavior allows students to succeed in social and academic situations. As educators we have a responsibility to best equip our students with these life skills that will stay with them inside and outside of our classrooms.

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So whether you and your students are still in school around Father’s Day or not, make some time to recognize fathers in some special way with students, perhaps before summer break. Or share some of these ideas with your students through email or virtual platforms if school is already out for the break.

Father’s Day activities are also a great way to reflect on some pillars of social and emotional learning (SEL) such as, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsibility, decision-making, and relationship skills.

It is important to note: All of the ideas listed below are great for children who have a normal, healthy relationship with their father. Even relationships that are far less than perfect can benefit from these kind words or activities. However, not all children are fortunate enough to have this kind of relationship with their father. Some may not even have a father in their lives.

Regardless of the age group, you will have students that either do not have a father involved in their lives or a father that is not an ideal example of fatherhood. We cannot simply brush over this and pretend that this problem does not exist. It does! And when addressing Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, that tough topic must be approached in a very careful and sensitive way.

As we know, developing genuine, meaningful relationships with your students is the key to success of any kind in the classroom. If you already have meaningful relationships developed with your students, which of course you will because this would be at the end of a school year, then you will know which students fit into this category. Pull those students aside before this project is introduced. Discuss their thoughts and feelings. There may even be some cases in which the school guidance counselor may need to be involved. If the situation is too extreme or painful, perhaps allow the student to skip this project or discuss other relationships with the child in order to establish whether there is another man in their lives that is a father figure. It could be an uncle, grandfather, older brother, teacher, coach, or principal. If they can recognize that there is someone in their lives that has influenced them the way a father might, have them do their project for that person rather than for a “father”.

Here are a variety of activities for all grade levels:

Elementary School

Project with Dad/Self-Management and Decision Making – Begin this activity with some brainstorming in class. Talk about things that students can do with their fathers that would be enjoyable while at the same time, would improve their lives or the lives of those around them in some way. Discuss ideas about what “quality time” means. Make charts of what is quality time and what is not quality time. Discuss screen time and how it inhibits communication. Then, students will use their decision making skills to create a list of activities that they and their dads can do instead of screen time in order to spend time together and do something productive. Students should take the list home and complete it by checking off each activity when completed. This also helps students exercise self-management skills.

Bring Your Dad to School Day/Responsibility – Plan a special day for dads at school. Students should be responsible for creating the plans, creating and sending invitations, preparing refreshments, etc. On this day, students could prepare performances for dad performing stories or poems about fathers. Students would also be responsible for greeting dads at the door, showing them, helping them find a seat etc. Jobs should be divided between students with either one student or a committee of students delegating and overseeing. This is a great way to honor Dad and learn what it is like to take responsibility for an event!

Middle School

Jar of Encouragement/Relationship Skills

Again, for this activity, begin with brainstorming things Dad does for you, things you love about Dad, and things you like to do with Dad. Students should then make their own list of these things for their own dads. Ideally, students will have at least 30 items on their lists. This may take some encouragement, but the brainstorming activity should help. Each student should be provided with a jar. Then, provide students with materials to write each item on the list on a small piece of paper. Papers should be folded up and placed inside the jar. Then, students will give this to their dad and tell them to read one of the notes everyday for the entire month of June. This will melt Dad’s heart!

Plan an Activity/Decision-Making and Responsibility

Have students plan an activity to do with their dad on Father’s Day. Students should plan every aspect including budget. They should decide on an activity and make all arrangements. Remind them that a fun activity with dad doesn’t have to cost anything.

High School

Letter to Dad/Relationship Skills

Begin this activity by brainstorming ideas about what dads do for children. Discuss examples of each idea. Allow students to tell stories about their own fathers and how they make their lives better. Talk about what their relationship with their father is like. Discuss ways that it could be better. Then, have students write a meaningful letter to their father communicating some of these ideas. The letter should include a salutation, an introduction about Father’s Day, a paragraph thanking him for all that he does, a paragraph telling him things the student wants to do to make improvements to their relationship, and a closing.

Dad Art/Self-Awareness

Provide students with a variety of materials for students to complete an abstract or collage art piece reflecting what their dad means to them. Students could include pictures, drawings, writings, poems, memories, to create a one-of-a-kind piece of art for Dad.

Implementing any of these activities can help students reflect on their relationships with their fathers and, hopefully, help them convey that love and appreciation on Father’s Day!

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How Technology Can Benefit Social-Emotional Learning

Since technology is now so integrated into our world, it also serves as a tool to help students develop the social and emotional learning aspect of their development. There are many students in classrooms everyday that would feel safer expressing themselves through technology. For some, the ability to not be face to face but still make a connection is part of the process for them building better relationships and overcoming anxiety in expressing themselves to others.

From my own experience teaching technology applications, I had software where I could see each computer in my room to monitor students’ work, take over a computer to model what to do instructionally, and to chat with the students. There were times when students felt better asking questions through the chat rather than in front of their peers.

Just this week, I was doing a walkthrough in a class and part of the review for the students was on Quizlet. The teacher had the classroom divided into teams, and since I participated, I was on a team also. Let me add at this point I did poorly on this review of spanish numbers above thirty, but I digress. Students immediately started working together on their team to get more points than the other team. There was nothing on the line, except doing better than their friends. Through technology, students were working together toward a common goal. Sounds like a soft skill that employers desire—which is another benefit of using technology to develop social-emotional learning.

Best Technology Tools to Support SEL

Classcraft

Classcraft is based on the Self-Determination Theory which is based on what drives individuals to engage in specific activities. Those factors include extrinsic or intrinsic motivators, cultural factors, and competency.

Each student has the ability to earn points and improve regardless of their starting point so each student has equal opportunity regardless of where they start. The games involve collaboration and competition and allows educators to connect with students.

The games meet the student where they are in their development and builds from there, so the game is helpful in meeting students’ needs and their various backgrounds.

Weird Enough Productions

At Weird Enough Productions, they have developed some superheroes called “The Uncommons” where “five unlikely outsiders must save each other to save the world.” The comics focus on social-emotional learning, literacy, and digital citizenship in such a way that students identify with the superheroes. The stories help students to embrace their quirks and be comfortable being themselves.

After looking at samples, I get the picture that their goal is to help students who feel out of place or not necessarily included to have a place where they can identify themselves in their stories.

Class Catalyst

This program focuses on three goals: connection, self-awareness, and self-regulation. The website provides detailed information on how Class Catalyst benefits teachers, administrators, students, and parents.

For teachers, Class Catalyst is discreet so that a student has a private way to connect with an adult and it provides a look at each student’s emotional and social needs. For administrators, Class Catalyst can de-escalate situations and help address Tier II students and their needs.

For parents the program helps to pinpoint issues before they happen and fosters self-awareness and personal responsibility. The benefits for the students seem fairly obvious in their SEL development.

One main difference between Class Catalyst and other websites is that it boasts there are no cartoons, tests, or cheesy content to follow.

FUNecole

This cloud-based program incorporates an interdisciplinary program with components of STREAMS (Science, Technology, Reading and Writing, Engineering, Arts, Math, and Social Sciences), digital literacy, computer science coding, 21^st-century skills, and social-emotional learning.

One of the teacher benefits of FUNecole is that if you are not strong in computer science or coding, there are materials to help you through so that you can help your students.

The FUNecole diverse cartoons feature Mr. Attitude, Starjack the Innovator, Ram the Doer, and Systematic the Analyst. These characters all have features to reach out to the diverse economic and cultural backgrounds of our students.

In the end, as great as technology is and will be in all of our lives and the lives of our students, by its nature it makes it easier for the introvert or person who would rather ‘hide behind a screen’ to do so and not have as much face-to-face interaction. With that at times comes a natural regression in basic people skills.

The programs listed above and many more online will help many of these students have a safe and comfortable way to come out of their shell in a way that is more familiar to them and at the same time, learn valuable skills that will help make them successful in their future endeavors.

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Why Writing is the Best Vehicle for Social-Emotional Learning

Social-emotional learning helps students to build emotional intelligence, or the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions while also understanding the emotions of others. It is the type of learning that fosters a safe and productive learning environment and aids teachers in building positive rapport with students. Social-emotional learning teaches students that their feelings are valid and their voice matters while also teaching them to respect the feelings and voices of others. Although academic skills like reading and math are immensely important, students cannot go on to be effective employees, entrepreneurs, or higher education students without the social and emotional skills necessary to regulate themselves and interact with others.

There are many ways to introduce social-emotional learning in your classroom, but I have a valid case for why writing is a superior choice. The first and most obvious reason is the fact that writing is the foundation of academic communication and an integral part of professionalism. Any writing practice builds your students’ writing ability. Aside from the academic importance of writing, it is also a very therapeutic activity. Writing allows students to express themselves, and as I tell my students – “paper always listens.” Yes, you will encounter many students who claim to abhor writing, especially in the classroom. Students often internalize ideals of writing as forced, laborious, and regimented. Social-emotional learning is the perfect opportunity to detoxify your students’ relationship with writing, presenting it as an activity that serves them.

Tips for Incorporating Social Emotional Learning through Writing

Although writing presents the perfect opportunity to implement social-emotional learning in your classroom, there are some practices that can influence its effectiveness. Social-emotional writing is impactful, freeing, and can create defining moments for your students, thus it’s important to handle it with care. Below are some tips for seamlessly incorporating social-emotional writing in your classroom.

Start on the Shallow End

As its name suggests, social-emotional writing has the capacity to be an emotional experience. Asking students to acknowledge and confront how they feel can bring out some intense emotions that students must feel safe addressing. Build up to heavier topics. A good way to set a foundation for social-emotional writing is to have students analyze the emotions of characters before analyzing their own.

Build Relationships First 

In order for students to feel safe expressing their emotions, they have to know that you and your classroom are a safe space. Students cannot identify your classroom as a safe space without understanding who you are and ascertaining whether or not you care. Thus, before wading into the waters of social-emotional learning, it is wise to build positive relationships with your students first.

Have a Bank of Writing Prompts, but Use them Wisely 

It will behoove you to have social-emotional writing prompts on hand. There are many prompts available online for free, and you can also write some of your own. Be careful not to inundate students with prompts, and try to organize them in such a way that allows you to focus on specific topics and skills.

Practice Low-Stakes Writing 

Put away the red pen when it comes to social-emotional writing. This type of writing should always be low stakes, even going ungraded whenever possible. Remember that students are discovering and coming to terms with their emotions and developing social skills. This will look different for each student, and they deserve the space to develop in these areas without feeling judged or stifled. Your unit-culminating essay is not the best time for social-emotional writing. Focus on smaller tasks like free writings and warm-ups.

Respect Student Privacy

Self-reflection can be very personal, and students will have to trust that you will respect their privacy. When it comes to social-emotional learning, I always let my students know up front that I am a mandated reporter, and we talk about what that means. Once students gain understanding, I make them a promise that anything they write is confidential as long as I am sure that their health and safety are intact. Also, students should never be forced to share social-emotional writing with the class.

Let your Students Guide You 

There are many resources that provide a structure for implementing social-emotional learning in your classroom as its popularity is fortunately on the rise. Use premade resources with the understanding that they were not created with your specific students in mind, and be willing to adjust as necessary. As you get to know your students and practice social-emotional writing, allow what you discover to guide you going forward.

Cultivate a Culture of Respect

In order for students to be honest and transparent in social-emotional writing, they have to feel respected and honored in the classroom. This means that you must actively instill respect within your students. Establish zero tolerance for bullying and disrespect. Before allowing students to share their writing, always reiterate that your classroom is a safe space where students are entitled to their feelings without fear of judgement.

Today’s students have seen and experienced things that their predecessors could not have imagined, from senseless violence to a worldwide pandemic. Our students are learning to navigate waters that are uncharted not only for them, but for multiple generations before them. Now more than ever, it is imperative that all schools infuse social-emotional learning into the curriculum. School should be a place where every student feels valued and heard, and social-emotional writing sets the stage for your classroom to be exactly that.

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This type of teaching is necessary but should not exist sans inclusion of students as stakeholders in their own education. Too often, discussions about data and growth happen in secluded teacher huddles while students engage in specials or travel home in the afternoon. Ironically, students are often excluded from this conversation where they should play the most important role. One way to help students assume this role is through teaching students to self-regulate. Teaching students self-regulation gives them a seat at the table of their education.

What is Self-Regulation?

A basic self-regulation definition is the crossroads where self-awareness and motivation meet. When students are trained to self-regulate, they are able to chart their own path toward success while also evaluating and learning from weaknesses and failures. Student self-regulation occurs in the four phases outlined below.

Set Goals and Plan Strategies

At the inception of self-regulation, students set goals and select strategies that will aid them in reaching those goals. Much like the class-wide goals that we often set as teachers, these goals should consider baseline data of the student’s performance. Once students understand and embrace where they are, they are better equipped to form a realistic vision of where they want to go. When teaching self-regulation, strategies should be based upon each student’s learning style and preferences.

Monitor Performance

Once students have a goal and implement strategies, they must continuously monitor their progress. Students must have formative, low-stakes assessments to track how they progress and the effectiveness of strategies. With a growth mindset, students are able to learn from successes and setbacks.

Reflect Upon Performance

After assessing performance, students must take time to reflect. In reflection, the student analyzes the why behind his or her performance. The student seeks to understand what contributed to the presence or lack of success and determines what changes could improve outcomes going forward.

Utilize Reflection for Planning

Self-regulation is a cyclical process. After students reflect, that reflection fuels creation of the next goal and selection of strategies.

Self-Regulation Strategies to Teach Students

While self-regulation might seem like an abstract concept, it boils down to strategies that teachers choose to implement in the classroom. Here are some strategies that will get your students on the path of self-regulation.

Learning Style Knowledge

Students are empowered when they understand how they learn best. As such, teachers should take time to have students assess their learning styles. This can be as simple as a quick learning style survey. It is important that once students identify their learning style, they are equipped with strategies and study techniques to match.

Data Journals

We must abolish the idea that data is a complex concept to be fathomed by educators only. Students can and should collect, analyze, and use their performance data. One way to do this is through data journals. In data journals, students record their performance data and take time to reflect in a specific notebook. This is a great way for students to keep track of growth. Evidence of growth is a great motivational factor.

Visual Reminders

When students are self-regulating for class-wide expectations, visual reminders are helpful. These reminders can range from behavior expectations to academic expectations. Anchor charts are useful for this. For example, having an anchor chart that expresses expectations for collaboration will help students to self-regulate during group assignments.

A Safe Learning Environment

This may seem like a given, but a safe learning environment is crucial for effective self-regulation. In order to self-regulate, students must feel comfortable making and learning from mistakes and being transparent about their areas for growth. In order for students to find this comfort, a teacher must cultivate a learning environment where students feel safe and valued.

Brain Breaks

Thankfully, brain breaks and movement are embraced in the classroom now more than ever. Students are not machines, and perhaps one of the most valuable things we can teach them is when and how to take a break. We should be building brain breaks into our lessons and also training students to know when they need a break and how they can successfully pull away from work momentarily.

Emotional Tracking

Emotional intelligence is the skill that truly sets students up for lifelong success. This is the ability to understand one’s emotions and how they impact the way you function at any given time. Aside from this understanding, an emotionally intelligent person is able to regulate and express her emotions. We can teach students to be emotionally intelligent by self-regulating their emotions. This can be as simple as a feelings chart that asks students to indicate how they feel throughout the day. Journaling and embracing social-emotional learning activities are also helpful. Let’s not forget that encouraging students to seek emotional support, such as school counselors, is a great way to support emotional health.

The Importance of Teaching Self-Regulation

Teaching children self-regulation doesn’t just contribute to a positive learning environment, but it also gives students a valuable skillset for the future. Students who can effectively self-regulate become competitive and valuable in the future workplace. Furthermore, self-regulating employees are marketable because they are self-directed and more efficient. Even when teaching our younger students, our focus should always be cultivating well-rounded, career-ready citizens. As students matriculate through our classrooms, they will develop many skills, but self-regulation is an optimal skill that, when instilled correctly, can carry them through a life of success.

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What is Social-Emotional Learning?

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) focuses on developing interpersonal skills necessary for building relationships in and outside of school. It begins with a focus on self-awareness and knowing one’s own emotional cues. Once students understand their own emotions, they can learn to recognize others’ feelings and develop empathy. In an attempt to enhance these skills, schools are realizing the need to embed social and emotional skills within the curriculum.

The Importance of Teaching Empathy and Kindness

While the vision and mission of schools may differ, the goal of educating students is to prepare them for life, including becoming productive citizens in the global workforce. For this reason, it is vital that students begin at an early age to develop the skills necessary for building relationships and resolving conflicts. This starts by teaching children to understand emotions, how they drive their actions, and ways the students can self-regulate to be more productive. Once students grasp their own feelings, they are able to apply that knowledge to others.

Empathy is the ability to understand the emotions of another person. Because it is human nature to be self-centered, students must be taught to empathize. According to Stephen Young, a research scientist at the Center for Creative Leadership, there are three types of empathy.

• Affective empathy: Allows people to experience similar emotions as others are experiencing. An example would be feeling sad when another person experiences a sad event in their life, such as loss of a loved one.
• Behavioral empathy: Reacting with verbal and nonverbal behaviors that demonstrate an understanding for others’ thoughts and feelings. An example would be spontaneously clapping when a classmate accomplished a difficult task.
• Cognitive empathy: Enables people to understand others’ thoughts and feelings. An example would be knowing that a friend feels pain when she drops a heavy book on her foot.

Once students begin to develop empathy, they can learn ways to express kindness to build relationships with peers and adults. Kindness is doing something to make someone happy or to help them and expecting nothing in return. Students will soon discover that kind acts and empathy will help them to work cooperatively and make responsible decisions which leads to productive problem solving.

How to Teach Kindness and Empathy through Social-Emotional Learning

It is probably easy to understand why schools are adding SEL to their curriculum, but the strategies for teaching students empathy and kindness can be more difficult. Because each stage of development comes with its own sense of personal awareness and connections, teachers will want to address SEL for each age group strategically.

Pre-school and Early Elementary School

At this age, students will need to focus on self-awareness. Before they are able to relate to others, students need to be able to identify their own emotions and understand what generates those feelings. Teachers will want to acknowledge acts of kindness specifically by stating, “That was kind of you to share your crayons.” Likewise, teachers can label what caused the feeling by making statements such as, “I am sure you were frustrated when you lost your shoe, but didn’t you feel happy when you found it in the cubby?”

As students begin to develop a language for their emotions, the teacher can emphasize empathy by acknowledging and modeling empathetic gestures. Thinking aloud, a teacher might model this by saying, “I am sure you will be happy if I share my cookie with you. I know we both like these.” Soon, students will be using these strategies with their peers in an effort to develop friendships and strengthen relationships.

Upper Elementary and Middle School

As students grow in understanding their own emotions and triggers, social emotional learning standards can be taught through a classroom culture that focuses on kindness. When students see respect, empathy, and kindness modeled, they are more likely to respond in similar ways; but it is not enough to just model social and emotional skills, these must be strategically and continually taught. This can be done through collaboration, where students are coached and guided through working with others in small groups.

Activities that allow students to actively listen and respond to a peer can further develop SEL skills. It is also important that the social emotional learning activities allow students to discuss how their emotions affect others, both positively and negatively. Participation in feeling surveys may be an effective tool to prompt discussion on the impact of one’s actions. Knowing how one person influences another’s feelings is a very important leadership trait. Likewise, it will enhance students’ abilities to communicate effectively.

High School

As students begin to mold their true personalities and look toward developing future goals, it is time SEL focuses on building healthy relationships and resolving conflicts successfully. One way this can be done is by studying book characters who make good and bad choices and discussing the results of those decisions.

Another way to teach social and emotional skills at this age is through peer interactions. As students become involved in clubs and extra-curricular activities, these are great opportunities for sponsors to further develop SEL. These more intimate group settings provide occasions for adults to teach strategies for self-regulation and managing behaviors as they affect others’ ability to maintain composure.

Social-Emotional Learning prepares students to navigate through a stressful and fast-paced society.

By continually spiraling SEL for students throughout their educational years, teachers are able to help students see the correlation between better behaviors and success. Through these lessons, students will develop empathy and be able to express kindness through strategies that will allow them to flourish throughout school and in their future high-demand careers.

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