February Newsletter

Luckily for teachers and leaders, one great resource for tackling this big topic can be found in the book Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom: Practical Guide for Integrating All SEL Skills into Instruction and Classroom Management. Written in 2017 by Ribas, Brady and Hardin, the authors outline five skills that can be deliberately taught throughout the day. These skills include, self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, and relationship management. As you read through those five skills, I’m sure you are already beginning to think, “Oh yeah, following this pandemic my students are definitely going to need support in that area.” One way to read through this is to determine which skills emerge as the most important at this particular moment in time, and how can teachers support throughout their day?

1. Self-Awareness is described as the ability to recognize one’s own emotions and thoughts and how they influence behavior. The authors suggest goal setting, socratic seminar, journaling and partner work as classroom activities that support this skill.
2. Self-Management is described as the ability to successfully regulate one’s emotions, thoughts, and behavior in different situations to manage stress and impulses and motivate oneself, and the authors share that restorative justice discussions, conflict resolution, peer mediation and self-assessments support the building of this muscle.
3.  Social Awareness is described as the ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds. One has to wonder, for kids who have spent tremendous amounts of time on their own, might they need more support and attention in this area? The authors offer that service learning, accountable talk (group/partner work), role playing and Socratic seminars all help build this skill.
4.  Relationship Management is described by the authors as the ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups. Consider how service learning, group work and collaborative, project-based learning assignments can enhance this skill. So many of our kids have worked alone, on screens, in isolation from one another. We will need to spend many months, and likely years, supporting them in this area.
5. Responsible Decision-Making is the ability to make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on ethics, safety, and social norms. As we welcome kids back to school, and as we continue to support them virtually, consider how structured debates, problem solving with case studies and regular classroom meetings might support students here.

Rather than thinking of social-emotional learning in isolation – as something that only happens during morning meeting or advisory, or strictly as the work of guidance counselors – let’s work with teachers to think broadly about how these skills can be integrated into our daily plans and instruction. In this way, sound instructional practices can help close learning gaps while supporting kids in the ways they’ll need as the pandemic winds down and life returns to a new normal.

Mitch Center is a monthly contributor to our Leadership Corner Conversation and provides leadership professional development for The Long Island PDRC.