Summertime is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the past year and make decisions for the new year. I just finished my 27th year of teaching, and now more than ever, social-emotional learning is one of my top priorities. Since I began teaching, so much has changed, requiring social and emotional knowledge to be at the forefront of my mind. There are rigorous standards, school shootings are on an uptick, and parents are busier than ever. Relationship building is the most critical part of teaching, which is why taking the time to teach social and emotional learning is more important than ever.
Students learn best and feel more comfortable taking risks when they feel safe, loved, and cared for. And as teachers, we can spend time teaching students social and emotional skills (SEL) such as being a good friend, effective communication, managing impulses, calming down strategies, and so many more. By teaching SEL skills, students can begin to feel safe, resulting in a sense of belonging within the classroom community.
I truly believe if a student’s social and emotional skills are not being met, they cannot move forward in their learning journey. This results in falling behind, struggling readers, or disconnecting from their education. Spending time each and every day teaching these SEL skills is imperative. I have spent a ton of time digging into CASEL.org, which stands for The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. This research has allowed me to stay current on the benefits of SEL education and the fundamental skills to teach within your SEL curriculum. SEL education enhances not only academic success but also personal and professional success and students end up being more prepared for life as adults. (R. Taylor, E Oberle, J Durlak, R Weissberg, 2017).
Without these critical social and emotional skills, children lose the ability to build interpersonal relationships. The study within CASEL showed that a lack of SEL education also correlated with an increased chance of unemployment, increased risk of criminal behavior, and overall poor health. Social and emotional learning isn’t only about building relationships, but it helps students gain the capacity to effectively deal with the daily tasks and challenges life brings.
When it comes to teaching SEL five core competencies can be taught across many different settings.
Self-Awareness
The ability for students to recognize their own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior. When becoming more self-aware, self-esteem is higher, and we become better at seeing things from others’ perspectives and decision-making skills, leading to stronger communication skills.
Self-Management
Self-management is the ability to successfully regulate emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations. It helps to manage stress, control impulses, and increase self-motivation. Self-management skills help students learn how to function by staying focused, setting goals, and navigating through tough moments successfully.
Social Awareness
The ability to take the perspective of others and begin to empathize with them including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures. When students have higher social awareness skills, they can start to create a classroom that is perfect for learning because they are utilizing communication skills, collaboration, and engaging with one another.
Relationship Skills
This is the ability to establish and maintain healthy relationships, including those of diverse groups. Relationship skills include sharing ideas, resolving conflicts, and supporting one another. Navigating through relationship skills can be trickier for primary students because relationships can be complex, but by providing the framework through SEL education, students can begin to successfully form and keep friendships.
Responsible Decision Making
This is the ability to make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on ethics, safety, and social norms. Decision-making also takes self-management and self-awareness skills, too. To make responsible decisions, students also need to use critical thinking skills while considering themselves and others.
Incorporating SEL in Everyday Routine
SEL curriculum includes a ton of different components and skills, so you’re probably wondering how I will include these skills on top of everything else I am required to teach? In my classroom, social and emotional learning is essential to teaching. But, it can be weaved into everything that I am already teaching. All of our learning hits at least one of the five competencies. It could be persevering through a difficult assignment, collaborating with peers, reaching out for help, avoiding distractions instead of joining in, and effectively communicating with peers. And, you see…the list goes on and on!
Personally, I do better with a curriculum that helps me stay on track to ensure I am hitting all of the skills and targets. So, if you’re like me, you’ll definitely want to check out my Social Emotional Learning Curriculum. It’s simple to integrate within your classroom and covers all five competencies. Your students will benefit immensely when you begin to include social and emotional skills within your daily routine. You will see as they learn how to sit with difficult emotions but begin to express them appropriately. Students start to promote kindness and treat one another with respect. You will also see how managing behaviors becomes easier and your classroom community strengthens. It’s incredible to see their coping skills grow along with their self-esteem. As teachers, we want nothing more than for our students to love themselves. And teaching these essential social and emotional skills only takes about 10-15 minutes of your day but becomes a natural part of your teaching.
Maybe you already have an SEL program at your school, or perhaps you’re just looking for new ways to teach social and emotional skills to your students. Either way, head to my YouTube Channel to find videos I love to use when teaching social-emotional learning. And there are sooooooo many excellent books out there to help teach these essential SEL skills, so be sure to check out my Amazon page for some of my favorites.
** My Amazon page is all affiliate links which means I get a few coins when you purchase from my Amazon page. Thank you so much for supporting my blog!
The Curriculum
Are you ready to dive into the curriculum? Here is a quick overview of how to implement it. Self-Awareness is a great fit for the beginning of the year. Students will focus on being ready to learn, paying attention, being a good listener, avoiding distractions, and how to follow directions. They will navigate into learning about growth mindset, the power of “yet,” and positive self-talk. And, finally, learning about feelings.
The second unit covers Self-Management, which will dive deeper into self-regulation, mindfulness, respect, and the importance of goal-setting.
The third unit will cover Social Awareness which teaches students about empathy, compassion, perspectives, kindness, and courage!
Relationship Skills will be the focus of the fourth unit. Students will learn about communication, relationship building, and teamwork while covering manners and friendship.
Responsible Decision Making will be the final unit, and students will learn about ethical responsibility, leadership, problem-solving, and safety.
You can either grab these individual skills or grab the whole bundle to cover skills as they fit in your classroom. Be sure also to check out my Calm Down Kit post, which has become an essential tool in my classroom.
I hope you feel a little more equipped and excited to teach these lifelong social-emotional skills to your students. Happy Teaching!
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