What do you do if you want to enhance social-emotional learning in your classroom?

To enhance social-emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom, integrate SEL basics like self-awareness and relationship skills into daily routines. Use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to provide diverse ways for students to express emotions and collaborate. Foster a safe and supportive environment where students feel valued and empowered to regulate emotions and build positive relationships. Incorporating SEL into lessons cultivates a holistic approach to education, promoting student well-being and academic success.

Social and Emotional learning canbe addressed through a two-pronged approach. Through subject learning as part of health and wellbeing or a PSE type curriculum but also through the school culture. Establishing a positive environment for building and maintaining healthy relationships and learning spaces is the foundation for SEL development.

Social and emotional learning is essential for a child's growth. While providing whole group, small group, or even one on one lessons over SEL is supportive to that growth, it is also important to recognize and provide opportunities to practice those skills in real-time. A good educator can make connections from academics and real-life to those five core competencies. They can provide a supportive environment and notice moments where a time to pause, discuss, practice, connect, and reflect in that moment enhances those specific skills.

When teaching SEL basics in the classroom, I like to invite students to both self regulation tools and/or activities as well as co-regulation tools and/or activities. This can be something as simple as a get to know you prompt done in a fun "speed dating" style that asks for their feedback to the whole group about what they learned about others and their selves during the process. This example provides the opportunity for one to share about self while being mindful of their present feelings, practices active listening skills with others and applying social awareness as a competency. The sharing piece is a great component to build community and classroom culture.

To enhance Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), consider incorporating activities and strategies that promote self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. This can include mindfulness exercises, cooperative learning activities, role-playing scenarios, journaling prompts, and discussions about emotions and empathy. Providing a supportive and inclusive learning environment is also key to fostering SEL skills.

Any time you can embed SEL into the fabric of your classroom day vs only during a set time for a lesson, you establish naturalistic teaching and opportunities to apply important skills day to day.

Many schools adopt a set of personal learning goals or dispositions that support the development of social-emotional learning. To ensure these are modelled they should be applied to all members of the community. In ICA schools leaders, teachers, parents and carers are all expected to demonstrate the 8 Personal Goals. As well as seeing what it looks like and sounds like to have well-honed social-emotional skills children will also see the relevance of them beyond the classroom.

I start each class by greeting students with a unique handshake they created during the first week, serving as both their entrance and exit ticket. This routine provides a stable structure for my classes, offering consistency to students who may not experience it elsewhere. In the first week, we also create an Expectations, Rules, and Goals poster. Students actively participate, and everyone, including myself, signs the poster to commit to our shared expectations. This process fosters accountability and mutual respect, emphasizing that respect and trust are reciprocal in our classroom.

SEL, social emotional learning nurtures the culture of kindness in the students. Examples of SEL goals includes the identification, setting, tracking and achieving the desired goals. Each domain of SEL helps to lower the stress levels in the learners. It requires regulation, reconstruction & resilience skills. It develops empathy in them. Include social emotional learning activities like reading, writing, listening and speaking games. Practice mindfulness, positive affirmations, meditation & breathing exercises to build a calm and focussed classroom. Students can prepare gratitude journals, collage making of different emotions or different artwork. Develop the habit of circle sharing among students to encourage teamwork & integrity.

As a school leader, it's crucial to include Social Emotional Learning (SEL) time in the master schedule. With so many daily tasks to accomplish, it's easy to overlook important activities if they're not part of the schedule. Classroom activities that promote SEL should include a morning meeting, mindfulness exercises, and a closing circle. These activities, combined with the positive classroom culture you establish, can help enhance students' social and emotional skills.

This year I started the year by teaching about the RULER approach. After introducing the system and explains how to use it, I modeled by thinking aloud about my emotions and physical cues, and then moving my marker on the board. I then asked the students to submit a discrete Google form to share their current emotional state with me. I found this exercise really helpful in understanding how to support their learning and build a safe space for all of us.

In my classroom, I integrate Social Emotional Learning (SEL) into our daily routine to develop key skills. We start each day with a mindfulness journal prompt to help students manage their emotions. We also use role-playing to practice empathy and conflict resolution. Through dance and storytelling, we explore characters' emotions and social situations. These activities provide regular opportunities for my students to practice and reflect on essential life skills, fostering both personal and social success.

1) Teachers can "notice" specific positive group work and self regulation skills to support and encourage those skills: "I noticed that you _." 2) Teacher modeling and explicit naming of that modeling is a powerful tool. "I am a little frazzled from recess, so I am going to take a four deep breaths and let the out breath be longer. If you want, you can do that with me to see if it works for you." Modeling also means mindfully planning units that center students as human beings, not just learners. 3) When teachers tie learning to students' values or make room for students to do so, it supports decision-making skills and identity development while also fostering a sense of belonging. Lauren Porosoff has great activities to support doing this.

I love having students complete reflections on a regular basis. Part of my Do Now routine had students rate their feelings as well as set a goal for the class period. The form also gives them a chance to note if they need to meet with me about anything if they are not doing well that day. At the end of each week, students reflect on their learning from the week. What did they accomplish, what is something they learned, are they on pace and if not, how will they catch up. I do the same kind of thing at the end of every unit (sometimes mid unit if it's longer) and have them reflect on learning from the unit and how they can be stronger in the next unit.

Children do not necessarily know how to interact and collaborate. They need to be taught strategies that can help them manage interactions and solve issues when things do not go smoothly. Teachers can assign roles for different group tasks and rotate these so that all learners gain experience of being both a leader and a contributor or supporter. Strategies that promote inclusivity and allow everyone to have a voice can be taught so that learners can select from these for different situations

Creating a classroom environment that fosters positive peer interactions is crucial for student growth and development. From my perspective, incorporating group work and collaborative projects can be effective in promoting positive peer interactions. These activities provide opportunities for students to practice relationship skills, such as communication and teamwork, while also learning to appreciate diverse perspectives. To ensure the success of these interactions, it is important to establish clear group norms and roles. This helps guide interactions and ensures that every student feels engaged and valued within the group.

El docente debe preocuparse mas allá del contenido de la currícula. El promover personas de bien, empáticas y conscientes socialmente deber ser un objetivo prioritario en cualquier aula. La conciencia social y el ayudar al otro siempre que pueda debe aprenderse del leader y tutor, o sea el maestro, quien debe ser ejemplo y actuar frente a situaciones de conflicto en el aula ejerciendo la escucha activa y la empatía por sobre el castigo, lamentablemente esas actitudes que el maestro debiera priorizar, por el hecho de estar cansado y a veces sobrecargado de trabajo, no prioriza .

In order to enhance Social Emotional Learning in a classroom, the human with a teacher title must enter the classroom with a growth mindset, rather than a fixed mindset, in order for the teacher to be okay with the level of neurodiversity of each little human with a student title, who fill our classrooms in the year 2024, especially when full inclusion models are being implemented on a school-wide level. There is no One-Size-Fits-All model so be kind and be explicit, while teaching learning opportunities instead of reprimands, don’t take behaviors personal, and lastly teach “Size of the Problem” perspective taking all throughout the day. This lens will allow true SEL to be incorporated. ;-)