Hi friends!
I am back again today to share with you why Social and Emotional learning (SEL) is an imperative foundation for safe and positive learning. SEL enhances students' ability to succeed in school, careers, and helps them in becoming a productive member of their community. After all, we are preparing them for life outside the walls of our classroom and of our school.
Students are more successful in school and daily life when they:
- Can manage themselves
- Understand the perspectives of others
- Make positive personal and social decisions
Teaching students about kindness, sharing, and empathy etc. improves student attitudes toward school. What does this mean for you? Less behavior issues! Less behavior management is necessary once students are able to learn (and put into practice) effective social and emotional learning. However, this learning cannot only be taught in isolation. Effective programming involves coordinated classroom, school wide, family, and community buy-in. Everyone needs to be on board about educating the whole child. (In other words, it's more important that a state assessment in isolation.)
In order to be successful (in life), students need to learn how to understand their own emotions, strengths and weaknesses, and have positive mindsets.
SEL curriculum will help your students manage stress, control impulses, and persevere through challenges in order to achieve personal and educational goals. It gives them the ability to understand, empathize, and feel compassion for those with different backgrounds or cultures (tolerance). I did create curriculum for SEL, and have plans for several more units in the near future. In my classroom, I focus on about 3 SEL traits per month. This gives me a chance to focus and review with my students throughout the entire year the core competencies. If you are interested, you can see my growing bundle of SEL HERE.
Your classroom is one of the places where students learn social and emotional skills. An effective SEL program should be explicit, focused, and active. You need to make sure that you are targeting specific social and emotional skills, emphasizing personal and social skills, and actively helping your students master the skills.
Wishing you a week of peace and learning,
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