How do you teach character and social skills in the classroom?

I listen to my student's words and try to understand the unspoken feelings that are hidden. When they feel someone is going to listen to them, it fosters trust, allowing them to be seen and heard. Later on, everybody becomes a good listener. When someone has a problem or is upset, there's always a classmate who is willing to listen and help. By listening, they will also learn to talk about their own problems and feelings. Then they discover that talking and listening makes them stronger as a person, a student, a child, and as a team.

In any human interaction, I will always start the same way: Listening. And observing. By doing this, it already shows them a great example of effective communication. In order to have a constructive conversation, we need to start by listening. This is the base to learn any other social skill moving forward.

To build social skills, one of the most essential component is to learn by observation. According The Social Learning Theory by Albert Bandura (1979), students learn from others first by observations and tends to adapt that behavior. Therefore, modelling by teachers is an easy way to boost communication and interactions among students. Peer activities and peer work is a better way to enhance social skills as compared to group work and whole class approach.

We teacher build nation. so we need to understand perspective of student to make nation. We can talk about emotional intelligence and make it work practically so that students can be better humans rather than better corporate presona.

Begin by showing students the importance of character and social skills. Believe in these qualities as essential for future leaders in an age of advancing AI. Recognize the increasing need for communication and leadership over mere knowledge. Teachers should first embody these skills and then engage students in meaningful discussions. It's not just theory; it's about practical application and setting a positive example.

Inculcating social skills, honesty and integrity among students needs a sequential approach. It requires proper planning and patience with the students. For example as an instructor one can create a game of ‘get to know you’, in which each student should be encouraged to share one habit that helped them overcome their social stigma. In next step everyone should be encouraged to reiterate what someone said in the previous session. This will facilitate collaborative learning and mutual respect for each other .

Try using simulations, of your design or off the shelf, with your students. See my CAN YOU BEAT CHURCHILL? for useful tips, suggestions, and how-to's.

Teaching students how to work and solve problems together as a group is key to improving social skills in the classroom. This can take place in structured or less structured moments of the school day. Students first need to be explained the benefits of successful collaboration in achieving a common goal. They then need to be given the right support to effectively articulate their ideas, listen to others' viewpoints, and manage conflicts and disagreements within the group. Over time they will learn from each other and be better able to communicate calmly and respectfully.

This a hood strategy especially to the slow learners. Having them ho through what is to be taught before enhances their understanding of content and also gives them an opportunity to ask questions. Group research and discussions help.

In our nonprofit workspace, we use experiential learning by engaging socially marginalized populations in hands-on art projects. Through active participation and creative expression, these individuals gain practical experience, develop skills, and acquire knowledge about art, fostering personal growth and raising awareness about social issues. This experiential approach empowers them to learn through direct engagement with the artistic process and the community-oriented projects we are involved in.

Public and specific praise not only reinforces the positive behavior of one student--it communicates to the entire class, "This is what I value as a teacher, and I would like to see more of this." When I call attention to a specific student who offers support to a peer or shows compassion and empathy, other students make a conscious effort to do the same.

Specific, public and frequent praise were essential in the students' self esteem in my tutoring classes. They were expected to fail (hence the required tutoring) and the fact that they received praise for every positive encounter and show of integrity and respect was paramount in making them believe they can become pillars of the adult society, when they enter it later in life.

This can be a very good motivation strategy. As teachers we focus more on those who are not meeting the standards and pay little or no attention to performers except once in a while when situations like end yerm or end year are being held. Good work should be rewarded and recognized all the time.

I agree that recognition and rewards are a great way to reinforce social skills and character. In my art classroom, I give away “brag notes” that can be cut in half, filled out, and turned in as raffle tickets for prizes. During each class, a student modeling good character traits is given three tickets. They keep one and give out the other two at the end of class to students they noticed exhibiting good skills. Students are not only rewarded but have many chances to observe and look for these new traits in others.

It is important to keep the feedback specific and explain what was good about the behaviour. Instead of simply saying "well done", it helps to explain what the student did that was so impressive and which positive impact their behaviour had for themselves and the classroom. This helps build a sense of understanding, connectedness and mutual respect within the classroom.

I offer multiple times for my learners to give each other meaningful peer feedback, and encourage them to use audio/visual media if peer feedback is offered online.

Parent or caregiver engagement is key. When they know what is expected and understand their children they will be able to offer more support. Most parents and caregivers unknowingly delegate their parenting responsibilities to teachers. The social skills taught in school should be used at home and therefore it's important for parents and caregivers to know and get involved in inculcating the skills.

Collaboration is essential when sharing experiences. Diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and contexts enrich the collective experience and knowledge. Connect and learn from varied perspectives to enhance character and social skill development.

Having children share their project assignment or homework assignment with their family members can be a very useful step to help children recognise their identity and be self aware of how they view themselves and how to accept differences between them and other peers especially of culture or identity.

Yes, we live in a global world. Cross country interactions, inter school events, coffee mornings with parents, outings organised by parents, games coaching with parents volunteering and such various activities do play a massive role. Children learn to cooperate, collaborate, be patient and tolerable towards one another. In doing so social skills are not only enhanced but they lead to becoming good human beings and good citizens.

If you want to completely understand the progress of your character and social skills, using social media platforms might be helpful. These platforms can allow you to participate in the community and receive feedback and insights from others. To protect privacy, avoid mentioning specific students and seek a general opinion on the overall structure.

I aim to inspire his students to become lifelong learners and responsible citizens who can make a positive difference in the world.

I believe the only metric here would be the child's level of motivation, curiosity and creativity. This can very done through self reflection journals or small challenges or group work activities.

One way to assess and reflect on our teaching and learning of character and social skills would be having an open house technique with children on any topic. They shud be allowed to analyse, introspect without us being judgemental. If we do not take it as an offence, we may agree we may not but this way we would be encouraging them to accept the perspectives of the peer and widen their own thoughts and actions. I have tried out in my class inviting senior students to take up a poem and teach. They were superb, it also helped me to know where I had missed a point. A great learning and satisfactory experience. In some cases rubrics, feedback forms can also be distributed with a mention, derogatory remarks will not be accepted.

I assess and reflect by seeing changes in the students. Whether it's picking up a piece of paper and throw it in the trash can or coming in to mention a student that needs help in math and would someone from our class be willing to help that student out to someone getting that part-time job due to manners and grooming. Like I said before, my classroom is built for discussion. There is one topic a month that my students must follow up with action of some sort. The first is always bullying.

There have been numerous examples in the field of Positive Psychology outlining the benefits of social interaction. It can be as simple as an "hello" or a smile. We tend to think that social skills need to be big gestures or conversations when in fact the science is there to show us how even small interactions with strangers can boost our overall wellbeing. It can be subtle and gradual like exercising a muscle! It is an holistic, cross curricular approach to exploring character and developing socially.

Examples of incorporating social skills in learning and developing spaces: 1. Giving and speaking to grace for yourself and your students. 2. Acknowledging mistakes on your part as a leader, humbling yourself to the human experience, and expressing interest for feedback from students and colleagues. 3. Welcoming practices such as meditation and reflection into your classrooms (as short as 1-5mins). 4. Allowing for expression and flow of emotions, as students are filled with many moments of feelings and need direction in healthy ways to share them. 5. Creating moments for pause before response, as it will help the leading individual in the classroom and students to practice self awareness and discipline.

A school is more than its classrooms. Limiting any discussion of character and social skills to the classroom ignores the wider school experience. From my eighteen years in a public high school, the best impact on character and social skills comes from well-supervised quality community service organizations such as Key Club (the high school program of Kiwanis International) and National Honor Society (when conducted to their national standards). Both programs build character by real service in established local branches of authentic charities. The social skills gained by working alongside vetted adults to help those in need--and the key lessons of dependability, punctuality and taking correction/mentoring--are priceless.

It helps to use a supportive, student-centered approach that focusses on effort rather than solely providing feedback on the desirable outcome. Every student has got their own learning needs and their own background, and anyone making a genuine effort to improve their behaviour should be praised for their effort immediately, as soon as an improvement is noticed, even if the outcome is not perfect.