# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
December Social Emotional Learning Newsletter (1)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a critical part of every child's education and can be nurtured even when students are not in school. SEL is a framework for helping students develop critical skills for how they interact with others, manage their own emotions and behaviors, and develop into confident, productive, and empathetic individuals. The activities here are organized around CASEL's five core SEL standards: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.

These activities are designed to support secondary school students. High school students are at the juncture between being kids and being independent adults. Therefore, SEL is crucial in helping them consider who they are, who they want to be, what relationships they want to be in, and how they make decisions to position themselves for successful lives.

Self-Awareness

Provide opportunities for students to find ways to share more about themselves.

About Me, By Me
Many high school students are still trying to "find themselves" and define who they are in this world. Have students create an autobiography about themselves by answering these questions:

What are five words I would use to describe myself?

Who are the most important people in my life and why?

What are my strengths and challenges?

What has been a defining moment in my life and why was it so transformative?

There are many ways to present an autobiography. Invite students to try:

Writing, by hand or electronically

Making a video

Creating a podcast or audio recording

Giving an oral presentation

Expressing Emotions
The COVID-19 pandemic is a stressful time and we are all feeling many emotions. To assist young adults in coping with this situation, it is important that they have opportunities to identify and share the emotions they are feeling in a given moment. Sometimes sharing feelings verbally can be difficult, so talk with students proactively to discuss a range of strategies they can use to help them process emotions, such as:

Using an app (e.g., Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok) to share their emotions with a trusted adult

Texting emoji with a trusted adult to share their feelings

Writing in a private journal in a stream-of-consciousness format to process feelings

Learning American Sign Language signs for emotions

Creating quick drawings or sketches to convey emotions

Self-Management

Provide opportunities for students to reflect on how they manage their behaviors and emotions in challenging situations

Let's Get Organized
Many students are struggling with the transition from physically being in school to engaging in distance learning. To support student success, help your teen(s) get organized and create a system for goal setting. Collaborate with your student(s) to create their systems; the more ownership they feel, the more likely they will be to use their systems successfully. Here are some strategies to try:

Create Goal Lists: These can be done on paper, a computer, a whiteboard, an app, etc. To-do lists can be divided into two types: daily tasks and longer term goals. For example, at the beginning of each week, when teachers have communicated all assignments, students can create a list for the week. Then, they can start each day by writing a daily task list to help them meet their broader goals. This two-fold approach helps students focus on daily work without losing track of longer term projects.

Pick a spot in your home for students to set up a workspace. Give them time to assess the pros and cons of different areas, such as natural light, noise level, distractions, and comfort. Then, provide them with time to make the space their own by hanging pictures or posters or arranging furniture.

There's More to Life Than Schoolwork
Students may be feeling anxious, stressed, and overwhelmed about the school work they need to accomplish at home. Plus, they may be feeling frustrated, sad, angry, and disappointed that activities they love are on hold indefinitely. To motivate students to use this time productively, encourage them to pick 1-3 non-school-related goals they would like to accomplish during this time, such as:

Exercising every day, practicing a sport, improving specific skills

Building something

Learning a new language

Trying an instrument

Learning to cook some favorite dishes

Exploring new/different art media

What Works for You?
Dealing with many emotions all the time can be exhausting and make impulse control a struggle. For high school students who are generally focused on their social world, which has now changed dramatically, it is understandable that students are feeling more isolated and stressed than ever before.

The best thing caregivers and educators can do is to talk proactively with our young people about strategies they can use to help them avoid becoming overwhelmed or to help them reset if they do:

Exercise: taking a walk or run, shooting hoops, working out (e.g., pushups, sit ups, pull ups, squats), yoga, using a treadmill or elliptical, dancing.

Music: listening to a calming playlist with songs and/or artists that help them relax and deescalate, listening to an upbeat playlist that gets them dancing or singing along to blow off steam.

Pets: brushing your dog, petting your cat, snuggling up with a furry friend; talking to your pet birds, watching your fish, riding your horse, singing to your chameleon.

Mindfulness and breathing: downloading exercises/apps (e.g., meditation, mindfulness, breathing, guided imagery) to use when feeling overwhelmed and/or at night to relax into restful sleep.

Alone time: asking for or taking time alone to process what is going on in their lives and in the world; work with your teenager to come up with a verbal cue or physical sign they can use to indicate that they need some undisturbed time.

Social Awareness

Provide opportunities for students to gain social awareness of others and how they are dealing with the current changes in our lives.

Empathy & Perspective Taking
Empathy and perspective taking are critical skills in building our social awareness, but these two concepts are quite difficult for the average, egocentric teenager to develop. Especially in these times of physical distancing, it is important that we work on our skills for understanding and respecting others' perspectives.

Empathy: Here are a few videos that can help students develop their understanding of empathy:

"Empathy Can Change the World" - YouTube video from middle school educator, Noah Couser (2:23)

"The Power of Empathy: Audrey Moore" - YouTube video from [email protected] (9:19)

"A Wise Lesson on Empathy" - YouTube from positivity YouTuber, Meir Kay (1:51)

Perspective Taking: During this pandemic, we have all been inundated with loads of differing perspectives. It can be hard to really hear through all the noise. To help your teen(s) practice active listening and perspective taking:

Ask students to write a set of 4-5 interview questions and interview a variety of people they know by phone or video chat. It's important for students to interview subjects directly rather than create a survey so they can ask follow up questions and share their own views.

Then, have students put together a report of their findings, highlighting differences and similarities in the responses they got and reflecting on if and how their own ideas changed as a result of their conversations.

Relationship Skills

Provide opportunities for students to gain greater relationship skills.

Healthy Relationship Reflection
During this time of staying at home, teenagers are having to engage more consistently with other members of their households as well as maintain relationships through the use of technology.

Ask students to think about the question: "How do you define a healthy relationship?"

Then, have students answer this question in a creative way, such as by creating artwork, recording a podcast, making a video, writing a song/rap, choreographing a dance, etc.

Responsible Decision Making

Provide opportunities for students to gain greater skills in responsible decision making.

Good Decisions
Teens are put in situations every day where they are given the chance to make decisions. This time at home is a unique opportunity for them to reflect on the ramifications (positive and negative) of past decisions and think about how they can continue developing skills for making positive decisions in the future.

Have students write a short response to the following prompts:

What is the hardest decision you have had to make in your life? What made it challenging? What factors ultimately led to the choice you made?

What is the easiest decision you have had to make in your life? What made it such an obvious choice?

Physical Distancing PSA
Physical distancing is hard, but it can help to hear from peers about why staying apart physically is so important and how we can all stay in touch socially to support one another and keep connected.

Have students create a PSA about physical distancing as an example of responsible decision making.

Encourage students to do some research, write a script, and create a video or audio recording to post to social media or a digital classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
High School Social Emotional Distance Learning Activities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a critical part of every child's education and can be nurtured even when students are not in school. SEL is a framework for helping students develop critical skills for how they interact with others, manage their own emotions and behaviors, and develop into confident, productive, and empathetic individuals.

# data[].attributes.headline
15 SEL Activities for teaching CASEL Core Competencies

# data[].attributes.subject
15 SEL Activities for teaching CASEL Core Competencies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is one of the most promising frontiers in educational research. Because intellectual and social-emotional development are linked, teaching both is the best way to promote lifelong success. But many schools don't know how to ensure that their social emotional learning activities are focusing on the right skills.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), a leading expert in integrating SEL into school curriculum, has compiled a list of core competencies for students to learn. These five key skills are:

Self-awareness: the ability to identify and assess your thoughts, feelings, and values, as well as how they intersect with your behaviors

Self-management: the ability to not only identify but regulate emotions, thoughts, and actions

Responsible decision-making: the ability to make positive, constructive choices about your behavior

Social awareness: the ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, as well as learning social and ethical behavior

Relationship skills: the ability to get along and make meaningful connections with people in their life

Helping your students learn the CASEL competencies can be as easy as reading books about diversity or holding a class service project. Try these fifteen fun class activities to help your students develop strong SEL skills at school.

Self-Awareness

1. Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness, the ability to focus on the present and accept one's circumstances, is a self-awareness skill that can significantly reduce stress and anxiety.[1] To teach mindfulness in class, put on a guided meditation recording or read one aloud to your students. Encourage them to put their thoughts and feelings aside and focus on the meditation as much as they can.

For younger students, try simpler breathing exercises to help students develop mindfulness without overextending their attention span.

2. Reflective Writing

Reflective writing not only helps students develop self-awareness but empathy and compassion, too.[2] Start each day by giving students five to ten minutes to write about a prompt that encourages self-reflection. By practicing reflective writing every day, this can help students learn to consider their thoughts and feelings in a self-aware way.

Not sure what questions you should give your students? Here are a few prompts that encourage self-analysis:

3. Emotional Vocabulary Lists

Self-awareness activities are a great way to help students understand emotional cues. Include several words that describe emotions to your class vocabulary lists, like "joyful" or "scared." Whenever you introduce a new emotional vocabulary word, take time to discuss what it means and how students can recognize this feeling in themselves and others.

For older grades, try complex emotional vocabulary words like "jubilant" or "apprehensive" to broaden their emotional understanding.

Self-Management

4. Grounding Techniques

Grounding techniques are a stress management exercise used to orient someone in the present when they're emotionally overwhelmed. By focusing on their senses instead of their thoughts or feelings, grounding techniques can teach students how to calm down and manage their emotions when they are upset. Teach grounding techniques as a class and help students practice them when they feel stressed.

Here are a few grounding techniques for you to try out with your students:

5. Self-Management Party Games

Plenty of popular children's games can teach children how to regulate their behaviors. Turn on some music, sort children into groups, and play any of these well-known games that model self-management:

After playing these games, bring your students back together for a class discussion on what they learned about listening and being respectful to others.

6. SMART Goal Challenge

Self-motivation is an essential component to social-emotional learning. If you're not sure how to self-motivate your students, try challenging them to reach their potential by setting SMART goals as a class.

At the beginning of the month or quarter, work with each student to set a SMART goal for themselves. SMART goals must be Specific, Measurable, Agreed-Upon, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Check in with your students several times throughout the month to measure their progress and support them if any challenges arise.

If your students meet their goal by the agreed-upon end date, give them a piece of candy or other reward. If they don't, offer encouragement and work with them to accomplish their goal.

Responsible Decision-Making

7. Class Contract

One way to encourage responsible decision making is by collaborating with your students to create a classroom contract. An effective classroom contract should contain two things: your expectations as a teacher and your students' own hopes and needs for the school year.

Putting a contract together with your students can help them feel like their voices are heard and that you're willing to listen. To make this activity interesting for your students, you can even include "exciting" information like class parties or rewards for meeting academic goals. It's fun and, more importantly, establishes your classroom environment as one where everyone's choices matter.

8. Student Council

Depending on your needs, you could involve your entire class in student council or have them elect representatives. By bringing your students in to discuss classroom needs and upcoming events, student councils can involve your class in the school community while teaching them responsibility.

If you've never held a council before, hold a discussion with your class to decide which student council ideas would work best.

9. "What Would You Do?" Activity

Practicing how to make tough decisions can help your students learn how their actions affect others. Give your students a list of situations in which they would have to make an important choice. Have them write down an answer to each situation by themselves, then discuss their answers as a class.

Here are a few problem-solving scenarios to get your students started:

While playing with your little brother, he accidentally breaks your favorite toy. What do you do next?

You see a new girl playing by herself at recess. What do you say to her?

You're eating a sugar cookie and your friend asks if he can have a bite. How do you respond?

Social Awareness

10. Classroom Service Projects

Service activities are a fun and meaningful way to connect your students to the word around them. By helping others, a class service project can also help students develop empathy. Here are a few service project ideas you can do as your class to make your community a better place:

11. Listening Circles

To begin this activity that teaches active listening, separate your class into groups of four or five students. Have students take turns answering a get-to-know you question. If any student interrupts the person talking, remind them that everyone gets to a turn sharing their answer.

Here are a few question ideas:

At the end of the activity, come together for a class discussion about what they learned in their groups. To make sure every student feels included, try pairing students up and having them share one thing about their partner after the activity.

12. Diversity Story Time

Teaching diversity in the classroom is an essential component of social awareness. During read-aloud story times, try to pick books about people of different cultures, race/ethnicities, religions, and other backgrounds. After reading one of these books to your students, discuss how differences make the world a better place and ask what they learned from the story.

Here are a few popular children's books about diversity to get you started:

It's Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler & David Lee Csicsko

Families, Families, Families! by Suzanne Lang

Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match by Monica Brown

Relationship Skills

13. "Make New Friends" Bingo

"Make New Friends" Bingo is a fun and interactive game for developing social skills, particularly verbal and nonverbal communication.[3] You can play it at the beginning of the school year or anytime you want to have a get-to-know-you activity in class.

To play, make a bingo card with generic traits in each box, like "I have a pet" or "I was born in the summertime." Have your students try to find a different person for each square until they get five in a row. Then, ask each student to share something interesting about themselves that correlates to a box with the class.

14. Team Puzzle Game

Put students into teams of three to five and give each one a jigsaw puzzle to put together. Instruct them that to complete the puzzle, they need to work together as a group. For an added challenge that encourages teamwork, try giving your students a time limit for completing the puzzle.

When students work together, even younger grades can put together complex puzzles. Your students will be amazed by how much they can get done with a little collaboration!

15. Conflict Resolution Read-Along

Helping children resolve conflicts teaches them skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. And, thanks to the timeless lessons they teach, fairy tale read-alongs can help your class get a discussion on conflict resolution skills going.[4]

Choose a beloved fairy tale to read as a class, like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. As you read the story to your students, ask them the following questions:

What is this story's main conflict?

What do the main characters want to happen?

How can the characters work together to make everyone happy?

Then, turn the discussion to recent conflicts students have had in their life. Have your children share about times when, like the fairy tale characters, they felt conflict with another person. Ask them how they worked with that person to make the situation better, as well as any advice they have to share with the class.

Why Teach Social Emotional Activities?

Research suggests that the cognitive processes that control social-emotional and intellectual development are interconnected. This means that providing both SEL and academic lessons in class is the best way to help students succeed. Students who attend SEL programs at school are more likely to:

With the five CASEL competencies as a guide, educators can make sure that they're providing effective and well-rounded SEL programs in their classrooms. Use these social and emotional skills activities to give your students the tools they need to thrive in school and everywhere else, too.
Sources:
Grossman, P., Niemann, L., Schmidt, S., & Walach, H. (2004, July). Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits: A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 57(1), pp. 35-43.[1]

DasGupta, S., & Charon, R. (2004, April). Personal Illness Narratives: Using Reflective Writing to Teach Empathy. Academic Medicine, 79(4), pp. 351-56.[2]

Mascott, A. (2015, August 17). Meet New Friends Bingo Game. Retrieved from scholastic.com: https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/raise-a-reader-blog/meet-new-friends-bingo-game.html.[3]

The Nemours Foundation. (2016). Personal Health Series: Conflict Resolution. Retrieved from kidshealth.org: https://classroom.kidshealth.org/3to5/personal/growing/conflict_resolution.pdf/.[4]

Hong, S. (2011, March). The Impact of Enhancing Students' Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions. Child Development, 82 (1), pp. 405-32.[5]

Zins, J. (2016). Social and Emotional Learning. Retrieved from healthyselfesteem.org: http://healthyselfesteem.org/about-self-esteem/social-and-emotional-learning/.[6]

Coholic, D.H. (2011, January 07). Exploring the Feasibility and Benefits of Arts-Based Mindfulness-Based Practices with Young People in Need: Aiming to Improve Aspects of Self-Awareness and Resilience. Child & Youth Care Forum, 40(4), pp. 303-17.[7]

Aber, J. L., Jones, S. M. Brown, J. L. Chaudry, N. & Samples, F. (1998). Resolving Conflict Creatively: Evaluating the Developmental Effects of a School-Based Violence Prevention Program in the Neighborhood and Classroom Context. Development and Psychopathology, 10, pp. 187-213.[8]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
15 Activities for Teaching CASEL Core Competencies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With these strategies for CASEL competencies as a guide, you can make sure that you're providing effective SEL programs in your school.

# data[].attributes.headline
SEL Activities that can be integrated in core subject K-8

# data[].attributes.subject
SEL Activities that can be integrated in core subject K-8

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Social and Emotional Learning - Aperture Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Did you know that social and emotional learning (SEL) skills can easily be taught to students K-8 right alongside core academic instruction in classrooms or afterschool programs? From reading, writing, and arithmetic, SEL can be woven into nearly any subject. In fact, SEL often makes teaching core instruction easier because when students have strong social and emotional competence, they are more engaged, motivated, and ready to learn.

We promise that it is easy to teach SEL in your core instruction! Here are 10 activities and lesson ideas - organized by subject area and grade level - to get you started.
Do you teach secondary grades? Be sure to check out our blog, 10 SEL Activities for High School Students.
STEM

Saving Sam: A Team-Building Activity Oh no! Sam the Worm's boat has capsized, and his life jacket is trapped underneath it. Can your students use teamwork and collaboration to get him back in his boat without touching him? This fun activity promotes creative problem-solving and teamwork to reinforce engineering skills.

Identifying Emotions Activity: Chameleon Moods Helping students learn how to identify physical signs of escalating emotions can be an effective way to teach self-regulation. In this activity, students build this important skill while they learn about chameleons and why they change colors.

Language Arts

Books Give Us Wings Books can help students understand the world from different points of view by exploring unfamiliar cultures and societies. Books can also help students rise above bullying and peer pressure and overcome loss or adversity. Foster a love of reading by teaching students that books are not just entertaining - they can also "give us wings."

Conflict Resolution Vocabulary: "-ate" Words Communicate, negotiate, mediate. Teach students the many words that end in "-ate," and explore how to use these words to resolve conflicts.

Conversation Skills: Staying on Topic Listening skills are important for effective communication and also for demonstrating respect for others. Practice communication with this fun game.

Social Studies and History

Empathy and the Persona Poem A persona poem is written from another person's perspective and can be a powerful way to teach empathy. This activity works well in either Language Arts or History class, and this particular lesson works well for 7 th or 8 th grade students (though you can modify for younger students by selecting an age-appropriate topic).

SEL Lessons and Activities to Enhance Social Studies Social Studies is an excellent platform to teach social and emotional skills such as self-management, relationship building, social awareness, and responsible decision-making. Enhance your Social Studies and History lessons with these activities and teaching practices.

Physical Education and The Arts

Art Activities for SEL Artistic expression goes hand-in-hand with SEL. Check out this site for lots of ideas for reinforcing SEL through drawing, collages, and other craft activities.

Charades for Kids: Feelings and Empathy Acting out emotions and engaging students in role-playing can promote kindness and empathy. Let students' creativity flow while encouraging them to explore feelings and empathy through dramatic expression.

Music and Mood Listening to music increases the amount of dopamine (a mood-enhancing chemical) in the brain, which means it can have a positive effect on our mental health. This is especially important to help students work through high levels of stress, anxiety, and isolation. Use this free lesson to teach students how music can improve their emotions and perceptions.

Incorporating SEL activities in classrooms and afterschool programs can make lessons more engaging and help students find deeper meaning in core subject areas. At the same time, students learn the critical social and emotional skills needed to succeed in school and in life. To get started with SEL assessment and strategies from Aperture Education, contact us through the form below.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 SEL Activities for Grades K-8 - Social and Emotional Learning - Aperture Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Did you know that social and emotional learning (SEL) skills can easily be taught to students K-8 right alongside core academic instruction in classrooms or afterschool programs? From reading, writing, and arithmetic, SEL can be woven into nearly any subject.

# data[].attributes.body
Teacher's can sign up to receive free Boys Town social skill lessons.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Home / Free Educator Resources

With over 100 years of experience, we have created resources to help you through the school year. These resources put Boys Town's research-proven child-care methods to work in a variety of educational formats - making learning opportunities for both students and staff.

Get An Inside Look At Our New On-demand Training Platform

Get An Inside Look At Our New On-demand Training Platform

Beyond Textbooks

10 Tips for Teaching Students Positive Behavior

Misconception: If my lesson is interesting and engaging enough, students will be so enamored and awed, they will not misbehave-at all. Anyone who's spent considerable... Read More

by Courtney Dealy, Manager, Boys Town National Training

Emotions, Not Emojis: Closing the Communication Gap with Social Skills

We are seeing today's kids using wireless devices at early ages to do everything from staying connected with family and friends to using applications for education... Read More

Chaos to Calm: 7 Tips for Addressing Individual Student Needs

23 of your 27 students are at their desk working quietly. Occasionally, one of them raises his or her hand with a question. But then there are the other four...... Read More

10 Tips for Teaching Students Positive Behavior

Misconception: If my lesson is interesting and engaging enough, students will be so enamored and awed, they will not misbehave-at all. Anyone who's spent considerable... Read More

by Courtney Dealy, Manager, Boys Town National Training

Emotions, Not Emojis: Closing the Communication Gap with Social Skills

We are seeing today's kids using wireless devices at early ages to do everything from staying connected with family and friends to using applications for education... Read More

Chaos to Calm: 7 Tips for Addressing Individual Student Needs

23 of your 27 students are at their desk working quietly. Occasionally, one of them raises his or her hand with a question. But then there are the other four...... Read More

Let us help you build a great culture

14100 Crawford Street Boys Town, NE 68010 (800) 545-5771

Boys Town is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit recognized by the IRS, and all donations to Boys Town are tax deductible in accordance with IRS regulations. Boys Town follows a policy of non-discrimination in accordance with the law.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Free Educator and Classroom Resources | Boys Town National Training

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These resources put Boys Town's research-proven methods to work in a variety of educational formats, making learning opportunities for both students and staff.

# data[].attributes.headline
Integrating SEL into Writing Instruction

# data[].attributes.subject
Integrating SEL into Writing Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Social & Emotional Learning (SEL)

A writing unit for first grade can help develop prosocial classroom behaviors, a reliable indicator of future academic success.

Allison Shelley for the Alliance for Excellent Education

Social and emotional learning is gaining traction in schools across the United States as educational organizations and inquisitive teachers rethink, adapt, and reinvent traditional classroom practices to find ways to integrate SEL into academics. There's still large-scale work to be done; traditional curricula that teachers have access to and are routinely expected to follow often don't offer comprehensive support for developing emotional awareness or social skills. Nor do they scaffold strategies for emotional regulation or how to resolve conflicts.

With creativity and research, however, and the gumption to back it up, teachers can integrate SEL into virtually any lesson.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is at the forefront of helping to make research-based social and emotional learning an integral part of education from preschool through high school by working with schools, districts, teachers, families, communities, and legislators. On the federal and state levels, CASEL engages with policy makers and promotes legislation that supports evidence-based SEL policies. CASEL works directly with educators in partner schools, offers workshops, and provides a plethora of free resources for schools.

SEL: A Base for Academic Success

As a first-grade teacher in a Title 1 elementary school in Central Los Angeles, I witnessed this dynamic firsthand. Some of my brightest students and highest readers had the most meltdowns that prevented them from completing work, accessing lessons, or participating. Where might they be academically in three or five years with the same behavior? Fortunately, my school believed in the value of SEL and encouraged teachers to incorporate this learning as we saw fit.

CASEL provides a framework for educators to reference and use as guidance for implementing age-appropriate SEL in their classrooms. The CASEL framework "addresses five broad and interrelated areas of competence and highlights examples for each: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making." Educators take the stage of their students' development and skill level into account in applying the framework to lesson design.

A Writing Unit for SEL Integration

I designed a writing unit incorporating the CASEL framework, focusing on the self-awareness competency: the ability to understand one's own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. As a school, we used Lucy Calkins's Units of Study in our English language arts curriculum. These units include reading and writing workshops that are essentially inquiry-based and interwoven with state literacy standards.

Carefully swapping out books and altering writing prompts while maintaining the structure of literacy skills development (reading comprehension, phonics, writing components), I designed a four-week-long narrative unit to explore emotional awareness.

During our Writer's Workshop block, we read four different picture books from the acclaimed Trace Moroney's Feelings Series (also available in Spanish) that explore emotions一how to identify our or others' emotions and strategies for changing how we feel. We read When I'm Feeling Happy, When I'm Feeling Sad, When I'm Feeling Angry, and When I'm Feeling Nervous. Our week began with a read-aloud and opened into days of discussions, writing, and art. Through those weeks, I watched my students' writing come alive and their relationships blossom.

Earlier in the year, I had already introduced my students to Zones of Regulation, a curriculum that educators use to teach students about emotions and emotional control, which set the foundation for some emotional vocabulary and more academic exploration. We discussed which feelings zones our emotions fall into and the times we felt these emotions. I was amazed by how passionate my students were in their verbal sharing and writings. Everyone was bursting to participate.

Validating Emotions

"When was a time you were angry?" I asked during our Anger week. "Have you ever gotten in trouble for something you didn't do?" My students poured out stories about being framed and blamed by siblings, about being embarrassed by a parent; they listened to each other intently and even laughed at the right moments. It was important to me to give them space to share their own stories, for them to not feel that they had to give me a "right" answer.

Once we exhausted sharing about what made us feel a certain way, we discussed what made us feel better either at home or at school. My students described taking a break at the Calm Table, focusing on their breathing, talking to an adult or friend, coloring, being alone, reading a book, and more. Midweek, I initiated a Shared Writing lesson, and we made a book together about our "emotion of the week" based on student responses. I also added their ideas to a Strategy anchor chart that was filled with ideas for regulating emotions in the classroom.

To conclude the week, students wrote and drew independently about the emotion. I collected their writings each week and bound them into a big book that stayed on our Calm Table for students to read. When I presented the books to them, students glowed with pride.

I began noticing that when my students needed a break to calm down when frustrated or when they needed cheering up, they would often read through these books on their own to get support from their classmates' stories. Interestingly, before our unit there had been a culture among my students, most notably the boys, that talking about feelings was taboo or babyish. As our unit unfolded, all my students began talking to each other about how they felt, and there was a softer tone in the classroom.

In tandem with our other SEL work, my class transformed over months from a space rife with meltdowns and arguments to a more friendly, functional place. I watched my students use the strategies they generated together in the classroom when they needed them. References to this work showed up in our morning circles of emotional check-ins. My students also began helping remind other students to use strategies to cope when they could tell someone was upset or sad.

It can be intimidating for educators to deviate from standard, traditional curricula, and some schools won't allow teachers to do so. However, if teachers understand state learning standards, the skills that students need to master, and effective teaching strategies, there is room for creativity. Often, teachers do versions of this regardless; veteran teachers know that the exact lessons and activities that worked for a class of students one year may not work at all for their next year's students. Why not redesign certain lessons with SEL goals in mind?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Integrating SEL Into Writing Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A writing unit for first grade can help develop prosocial classroom behaviors, a reliable indicator of future academic success.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Common Sense Education provides educators and students with the resources they need to harness the power of technology for learning and life. Find a free K-12 Digital Citizenship curriculum, reviews of popular EdTech apps, and resources for protecting student privacy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Positive Thinking Affirmations Free Activity-

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(Coming soon to Android)

Middle School Confidential™ is Annie's new book series for 11-14 year olds. A one of a kind fiction/non-fiction hybrid, Middle School Confidential™ is part full-color graphic novel and part smart talk life skills. Each book focuses on a common stumbling block on the road to high school and beyond. And in each one, readers follow the adventures of a group of 7th graders who are just trying to navigate through the ever-changing drama taking place in their friendships, their families and, of course, at good old Milldale Middle School.

Both guys and girls are sure to get hooked into the lives of the characters, perhaps not even realizing they're learning solutions to challenges in their own lives. In addition to comic-strip narratives illustrated by Harvey award-winner Matt Kindt, each book contains quizzes, quotes from real teens, insider tips, tools, and plenty of online and real world resources. Educators, download the free Leader's Guide to the Middle School Confidential Series.

Here's the lineup:

Book 1: " Be Confident in Who You Are"
Book 2: " Real Friends vs. The Other Kind"
Book 3: " What's Up With My Family?"

Educators: Free Leader's Guide

Not sure how to use the books in the Middle School Confidential series in your classroom, counseling, or after-school setting? Download A Leader's Guide to the Middle School Confidential Series for discussion questions and activities you can use to promote discussion on important tween and teen topics.

Now Shipping!

by Annie Fox, M.Ed., Illustrated by Matt Kindt

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
the teen survival guide to dating & relating

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Annie Fox/Hey Terra! - Middle School Confidential book series

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teens have been writing to me since 1997 because I give good advice. If you've got a problem with friends, so-called friends, bf/gf, parents, anything that has you feeling confused... email me. I can help you sort things out. No matter what's going on, you always have choices.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Handout 4- Emotional Intelligence Toolkit (1)

# data[].attributes.body
25 strategies on how to integrate SEL into daily class lessons

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Kids and young adults need social-emotional skills to be successful at school, home, and for the rest of their lives. These are the skills that help kids build confidence, understand their own strengths and weaknesses, collaborate with others, navigate social situations, develop strong relationships, and make better decisions. Without a doubt, these are critical skills for all learners.

In my years as a teacher, I know there is just not enough time for everything. So often, social and emotional learning gets put on the back burner to other important skills like reading, writing, math, history, and science. While these skills are certainly important, I would argue that it's even more important that kids develop their emotional intelligence through social emotional learning activities. Simply put, if kids are mentally and emotionally healthy, they are better equipped to face the challenges life brings. We just have to make the time to teach, discuss, and practice these skills! Best of all, there are many ways to integrate social-emotional learning into what you are already teaching.

Below I share 25 strategies for integrating SEL instruction and activities into the day. Of course, if you're looking for a solution that targets these skills more explicitly, I created a yearlong curriculum for elementary social emotional learning and middle school social emotional learning to help all kids learn these skills.

Just a note that these strategies were originally written for use in the classroom. While many of the techniques can be used during distance learning, I also recently wrote an article all about integrating social emotional learning during distance learning.
Here are 25 ways to integrate social emotional learning into your classroom:
1. Use Journal Writing. You can use daily journal prompts to help kids think about social-emotional skills in all areas. For example, you might ask kids, "When was a time you used self-control? What was outcome?" to focus on self-management skills. After writing, it's helpful to have students share their responses with a partner and with the class as a whole. Kids will be practicing writing, partner work, group discussion, and SEL skills all at the same time. I love this yearlong Social Emotional Learning Journal for just a few minutes of writing and discussion every day.

2. Use Read Alouds. This is one of my favorite strategies for integrating SEL into everyday learning because it is something educators do so often already. While reading, spend time talking about how some of the characters might think and feel. Use this time to highlight that this is perspective-taking, a skill we use to understand others' emotions and thoughts. Best of all, it can be done with any text you are already reading. Grab this free read aloud list for social emotional learning to get you started with some ideas.

3. Do Daily Greetings. Kids and young adults need connection! One positive and simple strategy is to start your morning with daily greetings. You can do this as kids walk through the door or during the first few minutes of class. If you are teaching online, greetings can even be virtual. Use this printable greetings poster to get started.

3. Hold Class Meetings. You can choose to hold a class meeting once a day as a "morning meeting" or just once a week. The purpose of a class meeting can be to boost each other up, to help solve problems, and plan class events together. Having this space for community can help promote a positive climate for all kids. Use this morning meeting set to get started.

4. Incorporate Art Activities. Art can be a powerful way to target social and emotional skills. Creating a self-collage can help kids develop better self-awareness about who they are. Painting and drawing can serve as positive coping strategies to manage stress. Having partners work together on a shared drawing can increase collaboration and relationship skills. There are lots of opportunities for learning with art!

6. Talk About Managing Emotions. No matter what age, all kids and young adults need practice managing their emotions. This is another skill that can be weaved into literature as you talk about character's feelings and needs. You might say, "How did Theresa feel when her mom left? How did she manage her emotions? Do you think it was a healthy way to manage them?" Additionally, be open with kids about how to manage their own emotions and give strategies for what kids can do in your classroom. For example, "If you are feeling nervous about the test today, remember to use positive self-talk. Tell yourself that you've got this!"

7. Give Responsibilities. Giving kids responsibilities and jobs helps build their sense of self-worth and gives the message that we are all part of a larger community. It's important that every student has some type of responsibility, whether it is a class librarian, lunch counter, or part of a "clean up crew".

8. Practice Problem-Solving Skills. If students have an issue or challenge to overcome, avoid solving it for them right away. Encourage kids to think about how they could solve their problem and have a 10 minute policy - students can get your help but they need to think about the problem for at least 10 minutes first. Often, kids will figure out a solution on their own or with a friend during that time. You can use these free social problem solving task cards or grab the full set to get started! Again, this is another skill that can be strengthened through literature by discussing characters, problems, and making predictions about solutions.

9. Build Community with Teamwork. For class projects and assignments, have students work in larger teams to complete a task. Teach students to assign different jobs when working in a team, so that all students have important responsibilities.

10. Encourage Positive Self-Talk. Self-talk is voice in our minds that reassures and encourages us. It also helps us control our emotions so we can deal with problems appropriately. Today, kids hear a lot of negative, so teaching positive self-talk explicitly is really important. Model this and encourage this every day. Use this free positive thoughts and affirmations list to get started.

11. Celebrate Diversity. Spend time discussing and learning about people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and ability levels. Kids need to hear, see, discuss, and understand that we are part of a larger community within our countries and world. Early discussions about diversity can help promote tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion for everyone.

12. Incorporate Hands-on Crafts. If your students need a craft break or activity before a holiday, use that time to promote social and emotional skills. The craft below is a Positive Self-Talk Flower Craft. Kids can add their own positive self-talk statements, color the craft, cut it out, and then keep it to help remind them how to use this helpful strategy. This is just one small example that can help to maximize your learning time by incorporating SEL into activities like crafts.

13. Encourage Reflection. After students complete a task, assessment, project, or assignment, encourage them to reflect about their own progress. This is a critical SEL skill that can be used across all curriculum, such as math, reading, writing, science, history, and more.

14. Practice Mindfulness. Using mindfulness in the classroom can help teach kids how to calm down before a big test, manage their emotions when they are upset, and just feel happier in the moment. Sometimes, kids don't really know how to calm down on their own. Teaching mindfulness can help kids learn breathing strategies, how to focus on just one thing at a time, and relaxing our bodies. You can use these Mindfulness Activities to teach kids these strategies right away.

15. Create a Calm Down Area. Not all kids will use this area, but there are some students who truly need it. Set up a small area in your classroom with a bean bag, a few books, a calm down jar, a few fidgets, and anything else you have that is calming. Students who need this space can sit, use coping strategies, and return back to class when they are calm again.

16. Promote a Growth Mindset. Embracing a growth mindset helps kids and young adults learn that we can accomplish our goals with hard work, good strategies, and persistence over time. Sometimes kids feel they are just as smart as they'll ever be (i.e. "I'm just never good at math, so there's no use in trying). This mindset can be detrimental to student growth, so it is worth investing time into teaching kids to embrace a growth mindset and instead say, "Math is tough but I'm going to study, work hard, and ask for help so I can accomplish what I want to." Use these free Growth Mindset Task Cards to get yourself started!

17. Encourage Kindness. One of my favorite ways to promote kindness is encouraging random acts of kindness. Set up a bin where students can write and add a note when they notice someone else doing something kind or helpful. Once a month, draw from the bin to award a small reward. You can also post the random acts up on a bulletin board so that everyone can see.

18. Play Games. It's helpful to have an assortment of games that focus on social-emotional skills, such as communication, empathy, and problem-solving. Read up more on how you can integrate social emotional learning through games. You can also read my blog post about games you can use to strengthen executive functioning skills, such as self-control, planning, attention, and more.

19. Provide a Daily Check-in. You can do this either through a morning meeting, or just a quick check-in for specific students in need. Have students identify how they are feeling and consider what they might need to improve their emotions in the moment.

20. Discuss Empathy. To me, empathy is one of the most critical skills for kids to develop. It is the foundation for considering about how others think and feel so that we can respond in socially appropriate and compassionate ways. You can practice empathy on its own or through literature by discussing characters and how they might feel in a variety of situations. I also love these social skills task cards to practice the skills when time allows.

21. Create SMART Goals. SMART goals are another way to help kids have control over what they want to accomplish in life. You can have students write SMART goals for an academic area that they need to improve or a social area that needs work. Make sure to check-in on these goals periodically so that students can identify if their strategies are working or not, and make decisions about how to change their approaches to make their goals a success.

22. Teach Coping Skills to Manage Stress. All kids and young adults experience stress even when we don't see it. It is so important to teach them actual strategies they can use when they are feeling overwhelmed. It's critical that kids practice these strategies when they are actually calm and don't need them. That's so they can effectively use those skills in the moment when they are struggling with emotions. I love this Coping Strategies Wheel to teach and practice some of these skills in a hands-on way.

23. Highlight Skills Throughout the Day. Just teaching or addressing some of these social-emotional skills isn't enough. When you see them in action in the classroom, highlight and encourage the skill! For example, you might say privately to a student, "I noticed you were frustrated when you couldn't work with the group you wanted and you did a great job using your self-control and flexibility to go with the flow and choose another group. Thank you." You can highlight the skills to the whole class, too. You might say, "Before this test, I want everyone to just stop and use some positive self-talk. Give yourself a compliment."

24. Teach Active Listening Skills. All kids need to learn strong active listening skills for success at school, with friends, and at their future jobs. Kids will use them in your classroom when you are teaching, when they are working with a partner on an assignment, and when they are just chatting with a friend.

25. Teach Group Ground Rules. Group work is an important part of learning in the classroom, but it is not a strength for all learners. Have your kids develop "Group Ground Rules" for what is important when working in a group. Some examples might be: Do your fair share of the work, stay with the group, and give everyone a chance to speak up. Continually remind students of these rules when working in groups or partners.

26. Practice Respectfully Disagreeing. People are going to disagree sometimes, so learning how to disagree respectfully is a critical skill (especially in our digital world). Have students discuss and debate topics, making sure that they actively listen to the other person and respect that opinion even when they don't agree. You can use these Free Communication Skills Lessons to practice!

Remember that a social-emotional learning isn't just one thing. It's an approach that brings all of these aspects into your classroom and supporting your learners every day. I also have developed a yearlong curriculum for elementary social emotional learning and middle school social emotional learning to help all kids learn these skills. Kids deserve to have them!

These are just some ways you can incorporate social-emotional learning into your already-busy classroom. If you have more ideas about SEL, please share!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
25 Ways to Integrate Social Emotional Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids and young adults need social-emotional skills to be successful at school, home, and for the rest of their lives. These are the skills that help kids build confidence, understand their own strengths and weaknesses, collaborate with others, navigate social situations, develop strong relationships

# data[].attributes.headline
SEL Activities that can be integrated in core subjects 

# data[].attributes.subject
SEL Activities that can be integrated in core subjects 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Social and Emotional Learning - Aperture Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Did you know that social and emotional learning (SEL) skills can easily be taught to students K-8 right alongside core academic instruction in classrooms or afterschool programs? From reading, writing, and arithmetic, SEL can be woven into nearly any subject. In fact, SEL often makes teaching core instruction easier because when students have strong social and emotional competence, they are more engaged, motivated, and ready to learn.

We promise that it is easy to teach SEL in your core instruction! Here are 10 activities and lesson ideas - organized by subject area and grade level - to get you started.
Do you teach secondary grades? Be sure to check out our blog, 10 SEL Activities for High School Students.
STEM

Saving Sam: A Team-Building Activity Oh no! Sam the Worm's boat has capsized, and his life jacket is trapped underneath it. Can your students use teamwork and collaboration to get him back in his boat without touching him? This fun activity promotes creative problem-solving and teamwork to reinforce engineering skills.

Identifying Emotions Activity: Chameleon Moods Helping students learn how to identify physical signs of escalating emotions can be an effective way to teach self-regulation. In this activity, students build this important skill while they learn about chameleons and why they change colors.

Language Arts

Books Give Us Wings Books can help students understand the world from different points of view by exploring unfamiliar cultures and societies. Books can also help students rise above bullying and peer pressure and overcome loss or adversity. Foster a love of reading by teaching students that books are not just entertaining - they can also "give us wings."

Conflict Resolution Vocabulary: "-ate" Words Communicate, negotiate, mediate. Teach students the many words that end in "-ate," and explore how to use these words to resolve conflicts.

Conversation Skills: Staying on Topic Listening skills are important for effective communication and also for demonstrating respect for others. Practice communication with this fun game.

Social Studies and History

Empathy and the Persona Poem A persona poem is written from another person's perspective and can be a powerful way to teach empathy. This activity works well in either Language Arts or History class, and this particular lesson works well for 7 th or 8 th grade students (though you can modify for younger students by selecting an age-appropriate topic).

SEL Lessons and Activities to Enhance Social Studies Social Studies is an excellent platform to teach social and emotional skills such as self-management, relationship building, social awareness, and responsible decision-making. Enhance your Social Studies and History lessons with these activities and teaching practices.

Physical Education and The Arts

Art Activities for SEL Artistic expression goes hand-in-hand with SEL. Check out this site for lots of ideas for reinforcing SEL through drawing, collages, and other craft activities.

Charades for Kids: Feelings and Empathy Acting out emotions and engaging students in role-playing can promote kindness and empathy. Let students' creativity flow while encouraging them to explore feelings and empathy through dramatic expression.

Music and Mood Listening to music increases the amount of dopamine (a mood-enhancing chemical) in the brain, which means it can have a positive effect on our mental health. This is especially important to help students work through high levels of stress, anxiety, and isolation. Use this free lesson to teach students how music can improve their emotions and perceptions.

Incorporating SEL activities in classrooms and afterschool programs can make lessons more engaging and help students find deeper meaning in core subject areas. At the same time, students learn the critical social and emotional skills needed to succeed in school and in life. To get started with SEL assessment and strategies from Aperture Education, contact us through the form below.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 SEL Activities for Grades K-8 - Social and Emotional Learning - Aperture Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Did you know that social and emotional learning (SEL) skills can easily be taught to students K-8 right alongside core academic instruction in classrooms or afterschool programs? From reading, writing, and arithmetic, SEL can be woven into nearly any subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
50+ Simple Social-Emotional Learning Activities for All Ages

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teach self-control, emotional awareness, and more by incorporating these easy social-emotional learning activities into your daily routine.

# data[].attributes.body
Along with defining what the competency of Social Awareness is, this PD will uncover the following subskills of Social Awareness: Understanding Empathy and Social Perspective Taking, Respect for Others Appreciating Diversity, and Culturally Responsive Teaching.

# data[].attributes.headline
¿Qué es el aprendizaje emocional social? ¿Y por qué es importante?

# data[].attributes.subject
¿Qué es el aprendizaje emocional social? ¿Y por qué es importante?

# data[].attributes.body
EL CASEL 5 aborda cinco áreas de competencia amplias e interrelacionadas: autoconciencia, autocontrol, conciencia social, habilidades para relacionarse y toma de decisiones responsables. Se pueden enseñar y aplicar en varias etapas de desarrollo, desde la niñez hasta la edad adulta, y en diversos contextos culturales para articular lo que los estudiantes deben saber y ser capaces de hacer para el éxito académico, el compromiso escolar y cívico, la salud y el bienestar, y carreras satisfactorias. casel.org

# data[].attributes.headline
APRENDIZAJE SOCIAL Y EMOCIONAL PARA LOS PADRES y CUIDADORES

# data[].attributes.subject
APRENDIZAJE SOCIAL Y EMOCIONAL PARA LOS PADRES y CUIDADORES

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Social and Emotional Learning / SEL Family Engagement

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy at A. Maceo Smith

# data[].attributes.headline
Recursos Elementales de Aprendizaje Socioemocional (SEL)

# data[].attributes.subject
Recursos Elementales de Aprendizaje Socioemocional (SEL)

# data[].attributes.body
Parents- Spanish

# data[].attributes.body
This PD focuses on the major components of relationship building, including communication, empathy, creating connections, conflict resolution, and forming relationships with difficult students.

# data[].attributes.body
This PD explores the follow aspects of self-management:

What is self-management and why is it important

A brief overview of the key components of self-management

The types of self-managements strategies

Self-management strategies and techniques you can teach your students

# data[].attributes.body
Professional Development: An informative training addressing the effect of learning loss on social emotional learning-topics will include establishing routines and how to foster teacher to student and student to student relationships.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This morning I woke up, turned on the pre-loaded coffee maker, splashed water on my face, brushed my teeth, put on my exercise clothes, arranged the furniture so that I would have space to do all of the terrible (not really) exercising, and logged into the virtual workout. This is my morning routine and now I do it without even thinking about it.

This was not always the case. When COVID-19 struck, I think it's safe to say that many of our previously learned daily routines went out the window. If you're like me (and most humans), this probably made you feel a tad anxious... until you were able to create and settle into new routines. Humans are pattern seekers, and routines can bring order to situations that feel chaotic. They can alleviate anxiety and, once learned, give our brains space and time to think thoughts that are more complex than, say, "How do I leave this Zoom meeting without anyone noticing?"

Routines in the Classroom

I would argue that teachers understand the power of routines better than any other group of professionals. In fact, the first few weeks of school are typically devoted to helping students learn expectations, procedures and routines that will help the classroom run like a well-oiled machine. Whereas class expectations or "rules" are those global, over-arching guidelines for students that speak to classroom culture and safety, routines address the specific activities across the day that reinforce or support the expectations.

For example, one of the classroom expectations in an early childhood classroom might be, "We are safe with our bodies." This is the global classroom guideline that is referred to over and over again. So, the routines that would support that expectation across the day might include lining up at a safe distance without touching each other or transitioning from Circle time to Centers in an orderly way.

Arguably, much of the day for students is spent completing routines. Why is this important? Well, in addition to helping kids stay safe, once students learn the routines, their brains are able to focus on what we REALLY want them to learn, whether it's literacy, math, or how to be a good friend. Students who require a lot of repetition to learn new skills, such as those with intellectual disabilities or developmental delays, benefit greatly from classrooms that have predictable, consistent routines in place.

When students have learned the routines that help them navigate the school day, skill acquisition, engagement and self-regulation flourish. And, routines help teachers! Once routines are learned, teachers get to focus on teaching!

There are some great beginning of the year classroom routines featured on Pinterest, such as this example:

Source:
https://www.upperelementarysnapshots.com/2015/07/back-to-school-routines-procedures.html?m=1#.Vaa833u9LCQ

And this is an example of a routines checklist from www.classroomnook.com which breaks up routines by category and allows teachers to track which ones they've taught:

Source: Classroomnook.com

Consider starting with the routines that your students will do most often and those that support student safety.

Routines During COVID-19

This fall, many of us will be going back to brick and mortar teaching and our students will be joining us. This will be an adjustment to say the least, and putting solid routines in place will help everyone feel less anxious and more secure. Some routines from our pre-COVID world will remain the same, but some new, "COVID" routines will be created to ensure that all students are following current safety guidelines to the best of their abilities. Some examples might include lining up at a safe social distance, cleaning up after centers or work time by putting used materials in a "dirty" bin, or students sanitizing their hands before checking individualized schedules and transitioning to a new area.

Planning for New Routines

When thinking about creating new "COVID" routines, start by asking these questions:

1. What are the pre-COVID routines that will remain the same?

2. Are there existing routines that need to be adjusted for safety?

3. Are there new routines that I need to add?

4. Who will be implementing the routines? (Teacher, paraprofessionals, and related service providers?)

5. How will the routines be taught? (visual supports, prompting, modeling, music?)

6. Are there any students in my class that will need modifications to a routine because of their disabilities? (For example, a student with Autism is working on tolerating the sensation of having wet hands and becomes very anxious when asked to wash his hands.)

7. Are there alternatives for those students that can get them closer to the safety guidelines?

Child hands using wash hand sanitizer gel.

(The student above CAN tolerate hand sanitizer, which supports hygeine safety, and leaves room to continue to work on his sensory/handwashing goal.)
It might be helpful to create a spreadsheet of all of the routines across the day which lists the steps, who will be responsible for implementing, how it will be taught, what kind of supports might be needed, and notes for student specific supports.

Teaching the New Routines

The 4 th column above lists how the routines will be taught and supports that might be needed. In the 2 nd part of this blog series called, Classroom Set Up During Covid-19: Using Picture Visuals, a section was devoted to using visual supports to teach routines. Links to helpful resources, such as mini-schedules from the Autism Circuit, were provided. Remember, students who have been at home for the past 6 months, students who are coming to school for the first time, young children, and students with language processing or cognitive disabilities ALL benefit from the use of visual supports when learning new routines.

Some students might need additional supports like prompting from an adult (for example, a hand over hand prompt to complete hanging up a backpack). And be sure to reinforce students' efforts. We might not be doing traditional high fives right now, but we can do "air fives," or we can give specific verbal praise such as, "You hung up your backpack by yourself today! Way to go!"

You might have a few students who require more intensive instruction around routines beyond the use of universal visual supports and peer models. For example, you've been teaching the arrival routine for 2 weeks and one student still isn't catching on. If this is the case, consider using a task analysis. With a task analysis, a routine is broken down into the smallest teachable steps. After you've defined the steps, you can take data on each one as the student moves through the routine.

Once you know where the break down is, you'll be able to determine which specific steps the student needs to learn. For more information about the evidence-based practice of Task Analysis, visit http://txautism.net/ or follow this link to the Evidence-Based Practice FREE webinars under the Online Courses tab.

Time Well Spent

Many times new teachers reach out and are fretting because they feel like they have done nothing but work on routines and procedures for the first few weeks of school. They worry that their students aren't learning anything and that they're not doing any "real" teaching. Friends, teaching routines for the first month of school is time well spent and your students ARE learning. It is only when students learn how school "works" that they'll be able to engage in all of those wonderfully designed lessons in a meaningful way. Furthermore, when students feel like they have some mastery over their environment, they feel more confident and less anxious. Those feelings are more important than ever for all of us right now.

Stay safe, stay strong, and stay well, friends!

Resources
http://www.upperelementarysnapshots.com/2015/07/back-to-school-routines-procedures.html?m=1#.Vaa833u9LCQ www.classroomnook.com pinterest classroom routines http://www.txautism.net/courses http://autismcircuit.net/tool/mini-schedule

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Classroom Set-up During Covid-19: Creating and Implementing Routines

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Classroom Setup During Covid-19 is going to look a lot different, and it will be a lot more difficult. Use routines to ensure success in your classrooms.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Feelings thermometers or scales are an essential tool in your counseling office. I can't think of something else I reached for or referenced more often with students. They are reusable,

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Daily Feelings Check-ins are a great way to bring social emotional learning into the classroom and improve students understand of their emotions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Daily SEL Check-in Google Form | Digital & Editable

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This editable Google form is the perfect way to check in with your students each day, even when you are doing distance learning. Check out the video preview for more details!Don't just get one! Grab the bundle of Back-to-School Google Forms here!_________Check out the other Google Classroom / Google...

# data[].attributes.headline
Zones of Regulation Emotion Check-In Wheel

# data[].attributes.subject
Zones of Regulation Emotion Check-In Wheel

# data[].attributes.headline
Volume 9 (6-1-21) **Designed Specifically for Teachers** 

# data[].attributes.subject
Volume 9 (6-1-21) **Designed Specifically for Teachers** 

# data[].attributes.body
SEL training featuring various SEL strategies for both students and educators.

# data[].attributes.body
What is it and how to use it in the classroom?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Why do we do the things we do? What drives our behavior? Psychologists have proposed different ways of thinking about motivation, including looking at whether motivation arises from outside (extrinsic) or inside (intrinsic) an individual.

Mental Health in the Workplace Webinar
On May 19, 2022, Verywell Mind hosted a virtual Mental Health in the Workplace webinar, hosted by Amy Morin, LCSW. If you missed it, check out this recap to learn ways to foster supportive work environments and helpful strategies to improve your well-being on the job.
Researchers have found that each type has a different effect on a person's behavior and pursuit of goals. To better understand the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on human behavior, it will help to learn how each type works.

What Is Extrinsic Motivation?

Extrinsic motivation is when we are motivated to perform a behavior or engage in an activity because we want to earn a reward or avoid punishment.﻿﻿ You will engage in behavior not because you enjoy it or because you find it satisfying, but because you expect to get something in return or avoid something unpleasant.

What Is Intrinsic Motivation?

Intrinsic motivation is when you engage in a behavior because you find it rewarding. You are performing an activity for its own sake rather than from the desire for some external reward. The behavior itself is its own reward.﻿﻿

Extrinsic Motivation

Participating in a sport to win awards

Cleaning your room to avoid being reprimanded by your parents

Competing in a contest to win a scholarship

Studying because you want to get a good grade

Intrinsic Motivation

Participating in a sport because you find the activity enjoyable

Cleaning your room because you like tidying up

Solving a word puzzle because you find the challenge fun and exciting

Studying a subject you find fascinating

Press Play for Advice On Staying Motivated

Hosted by therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares how to stay motivated and focused even when you don't want to. Click below to listen now.

Follow Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts

Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation: Which Is Best?

Extrinsic motivation arises from outside of the individual while intrinsic motivation comes from within. Research has shown that each type has a different effect on human behavior.﻿﻿

Studies have demonstrated that offering excessive external rewards for an already internally rewarding behavior can reduce intrinsic motivation-a phenomenon known as the overjustification effect.

For example, in a 2008 study, children who were rewarded for playing with a toy they had already expressed interest in playing with became less interested in the item after being externally rewarded.﻿﻿

This is not to suggest that extrinsic motivation is a bad thing-it can be beneficial in some situations. For example, extrinsic motivation can be particularly helpful when a person needs to complete a task that they find unpleasant.

Additionally, external rewards can:

Be a source of feedback to let people know when their performance has achieved a standard that is deserving of reinforcement

Induce interest and participation in an activity an individual was not initially interested in

Motivate people to acquire new skills or knowledge (once these early skills have been learned, people might become more intrinsically motivated to pursue an activity)

Extrinsic motivators should be avoided in situations where:

An individual already finds the activity intrinsically rewarding

Offering a reward might make a "play" activity seem more like "work"

When to Use External Rewards

Motivate a person to learn something new

Make a person more interested in an activity that they are not interested in

Provide feedback to people to let them know their performance is worthy of recognition

When Not to Use External Rewards

A person is already interested in the topic, task, or activity

Offering a reward would make the activity feel like "work" instead of "play"

When to Use Extrinsic Motivation

Most people assume that intrinsic motivation is best, but it is not always possible in every situation. Sometimes a person simply has no internal desire to engage in an activity. Offering excessive rewards can be problematic as well.

However, when they are used appropriately, extrinsic motivators can be a useful tool. For example, extrinsic motivation can get people to complete a work task or school assignment that they are not interested in.

Researchers have arrived at three primary conclusions regarding extrinsic rewards and their influence on intrinsic motivation:

1. Intrinsic motivation will decrease when external rewards are given for completing a particular task or only doing minimal work.﻿﻿ If parents heap lavish praise on their child every time they complete a simple task, the child will become less intrinsically motivated to perform that task in the future.

2. Praise can increase internal motivation. Researchers have found that offering positive praise and feedback when people do something better than others can improve intrinsic motivation.﻿﻿

3. Unexpected external rewards do not decrease intrinsic motivation.﻿﻿ If you get a good grade on a test because you enjoy learning about a subject and the teacher decides to reward you with a gift card to your favorite pizza place, your underlying motivation for learning about the subject will not be affected. However, rewarding in this situation needs to be done with caution because people will sometimes come to expect rewards.

How Do Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation Influence Learning?

Both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation play a significant role in learning. Experts have argued that education's traditional emphasis on external rewards (such as grades, report cards, and gold stars) undermines any existing intrinsic motivation that students might have.

Others have suggested that extrinsic motivators help students feel more competent in the classroom, which in turn enhances their intrinsic motivation.﻿﻿

"A person's interest often survives when a reward is used neither to bribe nor to control but to signal a job well done, as in a "most improved player" award. If a reward boosts your feeling of competence after doing good work, your enjoyment of the task may increase.

Rewards, rightly administered, can motivate high performance and creativity. And extrinsic rewards (such as scholarships, admissions, and jobs that often follow good grades) are here to stay."

-David G. Meyers, Psychology: Eighth Edition in Modules

A Word From Verywell

Both extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation drive human behavior. There are several key differences between motivation that comes from external rewards and the kind that is driven by an individual's genuine interest, including the influence of each type on a person's behavior and the situations in which each type will be most effective.

Understanding how each type of motivation works and when it is likely to be useful can help people perform tasks (even when they do not want to) and improve their learning.

Additional Reading

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation: What's the Difference?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation can impact behavior in different ways. Learn the differences between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.

# data[].attributes.body
Un libro leído en voz alta de afirmaciones positivas para ayudar a los niños a superar pensamientos negativos.

# data[].attributes.body
La respiración es de las mejores habilidades para lidiar con el estrés.

# data[].attributes.body
Un ejercicio de respiración para practicar la atención plena y construir enfoque.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Breathing Butterfly in Spanish from The Elfenworks Foundation – follow along and feel better! (v2)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Stress down, butterfly! Find out more at https://elffound.org/butterfly. Our Breathing Butterfly app provides this visualization in 28 languages and 330 animation choices. Six tranquil games provide endless options for peaceful fun. Other resources online. All designed to help you relax, stress-d…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ejercicios de respiración para la clase de español como lengua extranjera en la escuela primaria. Visita mi blog para bajar las tarjetas de acompañamiento para esta actividad. https://funforspanishteachers.com/

# data[].attributes.headline
Cómo Crear un Acuerdo de Tratamiento Familiar

# data[].attributes.subject
Cómo Crear un Acuerdo de Tratamiento Familiar

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Dallas Independent School District

SEL Family Engagement

Social and Emotional Learning

Our Work

Campus Support

Student Leadership Summit

Educator Resources

Training Opportunities

SEL Family Engagement

Contact Us

Los Acuerdos de Tratamiento Familiar son una herramienta sencilla pero poderosa para fomentar las conversaciones familiares y establecer las expectativas de comportamiento y los roles de los miembros de la familia. Los Acuerdos de Tratamiento Familiar son especialmente útiles cuando las familias equilibran el trabajo y la escuela en tiempos sin precedentes. En el aula, se utilizan acuerdos similares. Los alumnos y los profesores discuten y acuerdan en grupo cómo debe ser el trato adecuado, de alumno a alumno, de alumno a profesor y de profesor a alumno. En el hogar, los niños y los padres/cuidadores discuten y acuerdan como familia cómo debe ser el trato adecuado entre el niño y los padres, entre los padres y los hijos, y entre los hermanos o entre la familia y el hogar.

CÓMO CREAR UN ACUERDO DE TRATAMIENTO FAMILIAR

Empiece por colaborar y discutir con su familia cuáles son sus valores familiares (amabilidad, compasión, respeto, perdón, generosidad, trabajo en equipo, resiliencia, etc.). Es posible que usted tenga una buena idea de lo que significan estos valores para los miembros de su familia, pero es importante que pida a su hijo sus opiniones y aportaciones. Prepárate para todo tipo de respuestas y anímate a registrar las aportaciones de todos. Unas preguntas bien enfocadas le ayudarán a convertir el Acuerdo Familiar en una poderosa herramienta que permita a los niños y a los padres desarrollar un sentido de propiedad de sus decisiones y de responsabilidad hacia ellos mismos y hacia los demás.

Preguntas:

¿Qué cree que es lo más importante para su familia?

¿Qué aspecto tiene la bondad/compasión/respeto/perdón/etc. para usted?

¿Qué es lo que no percibe ni siente la bondad/compasión/respeto/perdón/etc.?

¿Podría describir un evento que le haya hecho sentir _______?

¿Podría describir un evento que no le haya hecho sentir __________?

De hijo a padre, de padre a hijo, de hermano a hermano:

Mantenga la sencillez y la positividad. En cada sección, crea juntos de 3 a 5 acuerdos claros, fáciles de recordar y orientados a la acción, que cubran una amplia variedad de situaciones. Concéntrese en lo que espera ver y oír.

Utiliza un lenguaje positivo, concreto y específico.

Ejemplos:

"sé amable" → "utiliza palabras amables"

"no pegar" → "mantener los cuerpos y los sentimientos a salvo"

Más ideas para sus acuerdos familiares:

Use palabras de cortesía como "por favor" y "gracias"

Ser servicial con el otro.

Escuchar y responder con respeto.

Mirar a los ojos del otro al hablar/responder.

Cuidar nuestro espacio colocando los objetos en su sitio.

Arreglar los objetos si se dañan o se rompen.

Soluciones:

Al crear el Acuerdo de Tratamiento Familiar, inicie una conversación con su hijo sobre qué hacer cuando se rompe un acuerdo. Sea flexible pero a la vez consistente en la forma de manejar los acuerdos rotos. ¿Qué hará su hijo, o usted, para mejorar la situación?

Ejemplos:

- Pedir disculpas

- Habla con la persona

- Pedir una segunda oportunidad

- Perdonar y seguir adelante

Recuerde que se trata de acuerdos familiares, tanto para el niño como para el adulto. Haz saber a los hijos que pueden recordarles cuando no cumplen un acuerdo: se sentirán más responsables si se trata de una vía de doble sentido.

CONSEJOS:

Coloque el acuerdo en una zona común, como en la nevera de la cocina.

Incluya dibujos o imágenes junto a cada acuerdo para ayudar a los niños pequeños.

Pida a cada miembro de la familia que firme el acuerdo para mostrar su compromise.

Hable con la familia sobre los acuerdos con regularidad y celebre cuando un miembro de la familia cumpla con éxito (y con orgullo) un acuerdo.

Los acuerdos pueden y deben cambiar en función de las experiencias de la familia y de que el niño entre en diferentes fases de desarrollo y cambie de necesidades.

A veces, todo lo que su hijo necesita es un recordatorio y una oportunidad para rehacerlo.

(adaptado de myplinkit.com)

Conexión ASE

El desarrollo de las habilidades de relación tiene muchos beneficios para la vida, como por ejemplo

Resolver conflictos de forma saludable.
Comunicarse con claridad.
Establecer relaciones sanas y gratificantes.

Competencias principales

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Social and Emotional Learning / El acuerdo de tratamiento familiar

# data[].attributes.body
Un libro leído en voz alta para niños y familias que promueve un enfoque consciente para aliviar la ansiedad y aumentar su valentía

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Miss. Jennifer lee un libro en español "Encuentra Tu Calma"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Miss. Jennifer lee un libro en español "Encuentra Tu Calma"

# data[].attributes.body
Actividades para hacer juntos después de leer el libro, Encuentra Tu Calma, por Gabi Garcia.

# data[].attributes.body
“The Four A’s”: Avoid, Alter, Accept, and Adapt to manage stress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Amber Osuba

In shocking news to no educator, a June 2022 article from the The Hill shows that U.S. teachers experience job stress at twice the rate of the general workforce. Additionally, a recent Gallup poll (also June 2022), reflects that K-12 workers have the highest burnout rate of any industry in the U.S.

The role of a teacher is demanding and many-sided, and thus, so are the stressors - whether it be the pressure to perform, finding time to master learning objectives or that (seemingly impossible) dream of work-life-balance. While we likely can't eliminate all our work-related stressors, there are a few strategies to support stress management for teachers in order to better manage day-to -day.

16 Activities to Reduce Teachers' Stress

A simple way of framing stress management for teachers is by leveraging what The Mayo Clinic calls "The Four A's": Avoid, Alter, Accept, and Adapt. Stress management activities for teachers can be as simple as changing your commuting habits or as long term as practicing new classroom management techniques.

While we often coach our students (and selves) to face problems head-on, we can set ourselves up for success by recognizing which stressors are simply avoidable. With a little planning and foresight, you can begin sidestepping unnecessary issues that get in the way or slow you down. Learning how to manage stress as a teacher begins by shifting your perception of "avoidant" behaviors from evasive to tactical.

1. Traffic or Commuting: Gaining an understanding of traffic patterns may help you avoid the stress of your commute. Learn when to leave home or work early in order to avoid the stress entirely. Add in a good audio-book or podcast and your commute could become one of the most anticipated parts of the day.

2. Catching Stress: If you find the worries of coworkers are beginning to cloud your brain space, set boundaries for topics of conversation that aren't 100% work-related or highlight the finer parts of your days. Make a point to not engage in gossip or strained groupthink topics. In this situation, imagine stress as a virus you can catch from those affected - best to quarantine and avoid!

3. Taking on Too Much: It is easy to commit to extra leadership roles within your department team, agree to take on extracurricular coaching opportunities, or joining several staff committees. These positions often bring a lot of joy, especially if you're contributing to a goal or sport you love, but if you feel like you have too much on your plate, learn to say no or relinquish control.

4. Needed Breaks: Too many of us skip lunch in its entirety. Though the first 'A' is avoid, proper meals are one area of your day you shouldn't be shirking. Nourish your body and mind by taking the break you deserve while avoiding distractions or multitasking during your downtime.

Stress management for teachers sometimes requires creativity. Not every stressor is avoidable, so for those you can't cross off the list, it's time to get creative. When evaluating what causes stress in your job, you'll likely find most problems fit neatly into this category, which fortunately means you can better manage your stress with slight alterations.

5. Work-Life Balance: Schedule your time thoughtfully so you can enjoy your non-work life outside of school. Instead of taking your work home, staying up late into the night, and working through the weekend, extend your school day by showing up a little earlier and staying a little later, maybe one or two days a week. Develop a calendar and hold yourself accountable to it.

6. Meeting and Planning Time: Time is valuable, making wasted or misused time a huge strain on your happiness and relationships with colleagues. In alignment with better managing your non-work hours, ensure that your meetings and planning periods are productive by developing an agenda and setting priorities for your time.

7. Financial Stress: The education industry is unfortunately not offering sky-high salaries, but there are a few options to invest in yourself to improve pay over time, including earning a masters degree or obtaining additional certifications. Perhaps most importantly, there are more resources and tools than ever to help manage your finances through budgeting and investing to reduce any financial strain.

8. Secondhand Stress: Our students sometimes face difficult situations or circumstances in their home lives. Though you are their protector and cheerleader for a large part of their day, accept and learn how to not take on others' stressors as your own. Remember your classroom is fully within your control - use your time with students to make their learning as enjoyable and meaningful as possible.

There are some pressures in life we must learn to accept. Focus on managing what you can control by strengthening your coping skills, remaining positive, and recognizing that frustration only further depletes your energy.

9. Adjusting to Newness or Top-Down Initiatives: Change is hard. Uncertainty and anxiety are common emotions when dealing with a switch up. Whether it be an unfamiliar curriculum or brand new leadership team, practice managing your emotions and expectations, and commit to feedback, feedback, feedback along the way.

10. Meeting Students' Needs: As a teacher, you're always seeking out fresh teaching strategies, learning tools, and buzzy gimmicks to cater to your students' learning styles and interests. This is great and I encourage you to continue doing the best you can by students, but we must also accept that there are only 24 hours in a day. Forgive yourself when you're unable to reinvent the wheel and accept that you're a great teacher. You're an even better one when your stress is in check!

11. Mistakes: We all make them. Start by practicing positive self-talk. Then commit to learning from your mistakes, without allowing them to take residence in your mind. They do not pay rent there. Introduce your blunder-related stress to grace and let. it. go.

12. A Shared Experience: You're not alone in dealing with the unique stress that comes with teaching. Find a mentor or friend to confide in, whether that be within your school or district, or build your professional learning network via Facebook Groups like The Connected Educator Group or Twitter education chats.

With some stress, it's a matter of adjusting our standards and expectations. Education is a benchmarked world, but start to make the same accommodations for yourself that you do for your students. We don't expect every student's success to look the same nor do we demand near-constant perfection - what would they learn from that experience and how bland would it be?

13. Student Expectations: The hardest lesson I learned as a new teacher was not to play the comparison game between groups of students year to year and class to class. Instead of being reactive, holding tightly to expectations, and elevating my blood pressure, I learned to adapt to students' unique personalities and incorporate their quirks into lessons rather than fighting them.

14. Classroom Management: There are likely thousands of articles and training modules focused on strategies for better classroom management, and I am no expert in the field. My best advice for adapting to tough situations is directly from the original 4 A's blog post - develop a mantra like "I can handle this," and mentally repeat it whenever you need.

15. Performance Reviews: Some stress certainly pushes us in a positive direction. Offering students a high quality, future-ready education is our main goal, and we should hold ourselves to high standards. But, we shouldn't strive for perfection - people make mistakes. You'll start to find joy in what you're doing well and growing in.

16. Questioning Your Impact: Your formal review is valuable, but what is most important is how you view and talk to yourself. Create a list of what is going well in your classroom, where your students are growing and excelling, and what goals you'd like to accomplish for the month and year that would ensure you'll feel successful. Come back to this list often and you'll find your mind more at ease with a global record of your results.

Stress Management For Teachers Starts Today

Stress is a part of our lives. How to manage stress as a teacher is a personal journey. Whether it's the beginning of a new semester, school year, or even week, commit to taking a look at what's causing tension or pressure in your school day and teaching career. Own what you can control and accept what you can't. You'll become a better you for yourself and your students with strategies for sustainable stress management.

Amber Osuba is the Senior Marketing Manager for K-12. Prior to this role, Amber served as a Senior Implementation Manager supporting educators and districts across Pennsylvania and Maryland for three years. She is a former first grade STEM teacher and curriculum lead. You'll find her at EVERFI's national conference booths asking teachers to grab swag, take a selfie and tag @EVERFI.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Stress Management for Teachers: 16 Activities to Reduce Teachers' Stress | EVERFI

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A simple way of framing stress management for teachers is by leveraging what The Mayo Clinic calls "The Four A's": Avoid, Alter, Accept, and Adapt.

# data[].attributes.body
Mindfulness Strategies- Teachers and Parents

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Discover kernels-simple, quick, and reliable ways to deal with behavior challenges.

©Shutterstock.com/Monkey Business Images

Do unresolved behavior issues keep you awake at night thinking about what strategies might enhance responsible decision making and increase academic learning time? It's natural to feel personally and professionally challenged-as I have, too many times to count.

The good news is that there are some research-based strategies called kernels that you can add to your classroom management toolkit.

What Are Kernels?

In a 2008 paper published in Clinical Child and Family Psychology, Dennis Embry and Anthony Biglan describe kernels as "fundamental units of behavioral influence"-bite-size strategies that are validated by mountains of empirical evidence and teacher experience. (Barry Parsonson's " Evidence-Based Classroom Behavior Management Strategies " offers another deep dive into the research.)

Embry and Biglan describe how a kernel might help the parent whose child is struggling to get out the door on time for school: "Alone, such a complaint does not merit implementing parenting skills training. However, a simple behavior change strategy, such as the 'Beat the Timer' game ( Adams and Drabman 1995), in which the child receives a reward for completing a behavior before the timer goes off, could solve the problem, and prevent parent-child conflict."

Particularly at the beginning of the year, before you've had a chance to develop deeper relationships with your students, kernels can offer useful approaches to classroom management. Administrators and coaches recommend kernels because implementing them with fidelity is intuitive and observable. They require neither special training nor expensive consultants.

11 Classroom Management Kernels

While veteran teachers may read the annotated list of kernels as common knowledge, their ubiquity is an advantage. You'll often find them embedded in more complex constellations of evidence-based behavioral programs because of their effectiveness in cuing self-awareness, self-regulation, and pro-academic dispositions.

3. Timeouts: Hundreds of studies support the timeout strategy, which is now considered an indispensable component of many evidence-based behavior management systems. Unlike the dunce cap punishment, which intentionally shames and stigmatizes students, a timeout is now used in progressive classrooms to provide an emotional breather in a less socially charged area of the room. It's also a way for students to decompress, reflect on and enhance their self-awareness, and then return to their seats with improved self-regulation.

6. Private Reminders: When partnered with discreet praise, private reminders to students about how to act responsibly increase on-task behaviors. Researchers recommend using short and unemotional reminders.

7. Greetings: It might seem like an insignificant gesture, but greeting students by name and making a positive statement enhances their self-regulation and increases class participation. Example: "Hey, Marcus. How is my brilliant student today?"

An overwhelming number of studies recommend that classroom instructors systematically teach self-regulation, relationship management, and responsible decision making at the beginning of the school year, so implement these kernels soon.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover kernels-simple, quick, and reliable ways to deal with behavior challenges.

# data[].attributes.body
Parent Resource

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Once a teacher has developed a philosophy for classroom management, has created a plan for how the classroom should operate, has investigated the make-up of the class, and has secured information about school expectations, then the process of establishing classroom expectations can begin. Expectations communicate specific standards of behavior for the classroom. Expectations generally communicate how students treat each other as opposed to procedures that communicate how students operate in the classroom (Evertson & Emmer, 2009). Expectations describe behaviors that make the classroom a good place to live and learn for all students (Weinstein, 2003). Expectations communicate general standards or expectations with a single rule encompassing a wide range of behaviors. Research has shown that designing and implementing expectations at school, and at home, significantly influence behavior and learning. Expectations clearly communicate that school is a place for learning and will give students a structure to help them feel that school is a safe and a predictable place to learn (Marzano et al., 2005).

Research indicates that expectations should not be forced on students, but developed with students. Student involvement increases the sense of ownership and the likelihood that students make the expectations their own. Teachers might ask themselves the following questions related to developing classroom expectations:

1. What kinds of expectations do you usually set in the classroom? (For pre-service teachers, this is usually based on experiences in student teaching or on personal experiences as a student). Additionally, effective teachers take the time to explain the reasons for expectations.

2. What are some reasons for setting expectations?

3. How might the classroom expectations differ in the elementary classroom and in the secondary classroom?

4. Should students be involved in developing the expectations? If so, how are students involved?

5. Setting student expectations is not usually a topic that students see as "fun." Think about interesting and creative ways to include students in the process.

6. Think of a time when a classroom seemed well-managed. What characteristics were observed?

7. Creating too many expectations or too few expectations can create a situation where the classroom is about expectations, not learning. How can a teacher create balance?

8. Posting the expectations is one way to help students remember them. What are other ways of helping students remember them? (Marzano et al., 2005).

As a teacher reflects on expectations for the classroom, four basic principles are offered for consideration (Weinstein & Mignano, 2003).

Principle of Expectations

Questions to Think About

1. Expectations are reasonable and necessary.

2. Expectations are clear and understandable.

3. Expectations are consistent with instructional goals and what is known about how people learn.

4. Classroom expectations are consistent with school expectations.

What expectations are appropriate for this grade level?
Is there a good reason for this expectation?
Is the expectation too abstract for students to comprehend?
To what extent do I want my students to participate in the decision-making process?
Will this expectation facilitate or hinder my students' learning?
What are the school expectations?
Are particular behaviors required in the halls, during assemblies, in the cafeteria, etc.?

One approach is to have students write a class pledge or a class promise to share expectations for how they treat each other. This strategy helps to create responsibility for the classroom, respect for self and others, and an understanding of the culture of the learner. It is a way to reinforce student responsibility in the classroom and a way to secure student buy-in. A class pledge or promise further increases how students are expected to treat each other and further enhances understanding of the class expectations. An example might include:

Every day, in every way, I will do everything I can to learn the skills I need to be a success in any job that I choose. I will respect others and myself. I will do my best.

Another approach that involves students in developing classroom expectations is to have students write or draw expectations for the classroom. Allow students to brainstorm ideas and accept all ideas that are worded positively or negatively. Transfer the ideas or drawings to chart paper. Older students can complete the process by meeting in groups and combining responses. Work with students to combine their ideas into three to five expectations for how they should be treated and how they should treat each other. Make sure that the expectations are appropriate to the level of the students. Daniel Meier, who describes his experiences as a first grade teacher in Learning in Small Moments: Life in an Urban Classroom, writes about the process of how he and his co-teacher, John Sierra, introduced rules to first graders (Weinstein & Mignano, 2003).

Secure student attention and say "Students, this is your class and I want us to work together to set our own expectations for our classroom so that we can all get along together this year". Ask if students have any ideas for expectations that are necessary for the classroom.

Establishing expectations together is common practice in classrooms where the goal is pro-social behavior and creating a high level of student involvement. Most students will take their cue and eagerly participate in listing a variety of expectations. Record all ideas and suggestions on chart paper, on a transparency, or the smart board. Students suggestions are recorded in their own words:

Don't hit people.

Don't bother people.

Don't tease people.

Be nice.

No stealing.

Don't kick.

No karate.

No kicking.

Stay out of trouble.

Take care of school property.

Help each other.

Don't say bad things about people.

After students' ideas are listed, comment that the rules are very good, but the list is so long that there are too many to remember. Comment that there are some expectations that seem to be the same. Ask students if the ideas could be grouped into fewer headings. Suggest that expectations like hitting, and kicking could hurt people physically. Circle or mark these ideas in blue. Other expectations like teasing and saying things could hurt people's feelings. Mark or circle these ideas in red. Look at the ideas written in positive terms. How should they be circled? Look at the ideas dealing with school property. Could this be a separate category?

Work with the students to crystallize a final list if expectation. The expectations might include:

1. Respect others.

2. Respect personal property of others and of the school.

3. Do your best every day in everything.

Post the expectations and attach the ideas from the students to the appropriate expectations.

Post the expectations and add ideas as necessary to the posted expectations (Weinstein & Mignano, 2003).

Whether the teacher involves students in developing the rules or whether pre-written expectations are presented, a teacher who establishes reasonable expectations, who provides an understandable rationale, and who enforces the expectations consistently will find that students are willing to follow them (Evertson & Emmer, 2009).

After a class has expectations in place, the teachers should treat expectations like any other academic subject by developing a plan for teaching the expectations. This plan could include listing the expectations on the board and transferring students' ideas from the chart to the expectations on the chart. This should include discussions and role playing of how expectations look when students follow them; how expectations sound as students follow them; and how students feel as they demonstrate them. This process requires more than one class period and may take place over the first week of school. When students start to ignore the expectations, teachers should revisit them and re-teach them. As a preventive process, effective classroom managers review the rules weekly, monthly, or by six week periods.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Developing Classroom Expectations - Project IDEAL

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Setting classroom expectations for both the student and the teacher and how they should treat each other.

# data[].attributes.body
Mindfulness for Educators and students

# data[].attributes.body
Positive reinforcement tool to support your child and students. (Teacher and Parent Resource)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With over several years of experience in treating children with special needs, and the only Emirati that is a Board Certified Bahaviour Analyst and Autism expert, I was trying to find a way in which teaching could be a little more enjoyable for Autistic children. Tokenat is an interactive way to motivate your child to reach his learning goals in order to earn incentives. In this way children learn faster and are often more productive.

# data[].attributes.headline
Evidenced Based Tips for Online Teaching

# data[].attributes.subject
Evidenced Based Tips for Online Teaching

# data[].attributes.body
Teacher Resource

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What do highly effective teachers do in online classrooms? We combed through dozens of studies to find the best research-backed ideas.

When online classes exploded in popularity a decade ago, the U.S. Department of Education embarked on an ambitious project: Researchers pored through more than a thousand studies to determine whether students in online classrooms do worse, as well, or better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. They discovered that on average, "students in online learning conditions performed modestly better than those receiving face-to-face instruction."

But there was a significant caveat: It wasn't the technology that mattered. In fact, many studies have found that technology actually hinders learning when deployed in a way that doesn't take advantage of the medium. All too often, for example, teachers would take a face-to-face lesson and replicate it online, a costly though understandable approach that rarely led to improvements. The key question for the researchers from the Dept. of Education was whether an online activity served as "a replacement for face-to-face instruction or as an enhancement of the face-to-face learning experience."

"This finding suggests that the positive effects associated with blended learning should not be attributed to the medium," the researchers wrote. Online teaching required specialized knowledge, an understanding of the strategies that would allow teachers to adapt technology to suit their pedagogical needs-not the other way around.

Yet the large-scale disruption caused by the pandemic forced millions of teachers to quickly adapt to online teaching, often with little training and preparation. "I feel like a first-year teacher again, only worse," Justin Lopez-Cardoze, a seventh-grade science teacher told the Washington Post.

So how can teachers enhance the learning experience in online classrooms? We looked over all the research we've read about online learning to find seven high-impact, evidence-based strategies that every teacher should know.

1. Your Virtual Classroom is a Real Learning Space-Keep it Organized

"Students value strong course organization," explain Swapna Kumar and her colleagues in a 2019 study. They point out that teachers who are new to online instruction are often too focused on content-converting their lectures, presentations, and worksheets into digital format-leaving course design as a secondary consideration.

While "novice instructors have subject-matter expertise, it's the design that falls short," Kumar points out, explaining that novice teachers often "don't know how to organize their materials or set up a design that makes sense" to students.

When students see a well-organized virtual classroom, they're more engaged, more confident, and more autonomous, says Sarah Schroeder, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati. And students who encounter messy online learning environments actually project that judgment onto the teacher; they conclude that the teacher is disorganized more generally.

Have a single, dedicated hub where students can go every day to find their assignments, and other crucial announcements.

Create and articulate the simplest communications plan you can. For example, it may be that students can reach you via text during working hours, and via email after school.

Consider holding "learn your technology" days with your class to walk through common-use cases, like submitting work or signing on to synchronous lessons.

Make an extra effort to be clear and concise in your directions, and consider making a short daily video summarizing the day's objectives. When writing, avoid the dreaded "wall of text" and use numbered lists and short paragraphs with subheadings.

Get rid of visual clutter. This includes hard-to-read fonts and unnecessary decorations or images.

Here are a few simple tips for organizing your virtual classroom:

2. Chunk Your Lessons Into Smaller, Digestible Pieces

In a 2010 study, researchers examined how well high school students learned from an online science curriculum and concluded that on average, online materials "require high mental effort" to process. "Working memory capacity is limited, and a learner can only deal with a few concepts simultaneously," the researchers explain.

What would normally be a 30-minute activity in a face-to-face classroom should be much shorter in the virtual one. Instead of recording an entire lecture, consider creating several smaller ones, each covering a single key idea. The ideal duration for an instructional video, according to a 2014 study, is about 6 minutes, and researchers recorded steep drop-offs in attention after 9 minutes.

In order to give students additional time to process the material, alternate high- and low-intensity activities, and incorporate brain breaks regularly throughout the school day.

3. The Best Online Teachers Solicit Lots of Feedback

When you're standing face-to-face with your students, you can usually tell when a lesson's working. If students are riveted, their eyes light up and their brains are in overdrive. But in a virtual classroom, much of that information is lost.

That's why the authors of a 2019 study which sought to identify the methods of the best online teachers say that you should regularly "gather student feedback on various aspects of...online courses" in order to identify "what was working or not."

Unlike formative assessment, which focuses on how well students understand the material, it's crucial that you also gauge how well students can access your virtual materials, according to the researchers. Most teachers and students are newbies in virtual classrooms, and serious communication and process-oriented issues can go undetected-and fester. Consider using student surveys administered via simple tools like Google Forms to ask questions such as: Are you having any technical problems? Are you able to quickly find and submit your work? Is this virtual classroom easy to navigate?

4. Annotate and Interject to Scaffold Learning

If you're standing in your classroom and you want students to pay attention to something-perhaps a location on a map or information on a slide-you can use gestures to direct students' attention. But that context can be hard to reproduce online.

To compensate, use simple annotations like arrows and text labels to provide "visual scaffolding and help direct the users' attention to those aspects that are important in learning materials and help guide learners' cognitive processes," say the authors of a 2020 study. The researchers demonstrated that students who were shown maps with visual and text cues, like arrows and labels identifying key locations, scored 35 percent higher on a recall test than those exposed to maps with no cues.

Also, strategically interject questions into an instructional video at key points to check for understanding. Questions that prompt critical thinking like "Can you think of any exceptions to this rule?" or that probe for comprehension like "How do you determine momentum from measures of mass and velocity?" not only keep the lesson lively but promote deeper engagement with the material and allow you to assess learning, according to a 2018 study.

5. Frequent, Low-Stakes Quizzes are Easy to Do, and Highly Effective

Low- and no-stakes practice tests enhance retention of the material-and students who struggle the most benefit the most from weekly practice quizzes, according to a recent meta-analysis. While online quizzes don't provide a greater benefit than paper ones, they can be automatically graded, saving hours of work.

You can use popular tools like Kahoot and Quizlet to create online quizzes that are not only fun, but also help students re-process and retain the material better. If you want to boost engagement even further, you can create a Jeopardy! board to gamify your quizzes.

6. Fight The Isolation of Remote Learning by Connecting With Your Students

You're not just physically separated from your students. As classrooms move online, the psychological and emotional distance also increases, eroding the critical social context that is fertile soil for learning, according to a 2016 study. You'll need to make special efforts to create a sense of community in your virtual classroom.

"To offset the isolating effects of an online class, teachers can strive to communicate more regularly and more informally with students," writes Jason Dockter, a professor of English at Lincoln Land Community College in the study. The goal isn't just to address academic issues, but to demonstrate "that the teacher is personally interested and invested in each student."

John Thomas, an elementary school teacher, uses daily morning meetings, which can be done both synchronously and asynchronously, to check in with his students. Using Seesaw, he records a greeting that students can respond to and builds in "interactive, engaging activities designed to help our students learn more about themselves and their classmates"-such as sharing a favorite book or the family pet.

Use unstructured time to chat at the beginning of class.

Try Zoom's "waiting room" feature to welcome kids to class one by one.

Use breakout rooms to split students into small groups for show-and-tell, two truths and a lie, or other relationship-building exercises.

At the end of the day, ask students to reflect on their learning with discussion prompts or a closing activity like appreciation, apology, or aha!

Pose fun questions like "What's your favorite movie?" in your all-class video tool, or on digital whiteboards like Jamboard or Padlet, and have students share out.

Beyond morning meetings, you can adapt many face-to-face activities to work in virtual classrooms:

7. Take Care of Yourself

You're not alone: teacher well-being has experienced a "steep decline" in recent months, with 71% of teachers reporting lower morale levels compared to pre-pandemic levels. As the adage goes, "You can't serve from an empty cup." If we want our students to succeed, we need to ensure that our teachers are taken care of. Not only is teacher stress contagious, resulting in higher stress levels for students, but it also passes through as poorer academic performance for students as well.

"In order for any of us to provide that safe, stable, and nurturing environment for the children that we serve, we have to practice self-care so that we can be available," said Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, a pediatrician and California's first surgeon general, in a recent interview with Edutopia. "Please make sure to put your own oxygen mask on and practice real care for yourself so that you can be there for the next generation."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
7 High-Impact, Evidence-Based Tips for Online Teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What do highly effective teachers do in online classrooms? We combed through dozens of studies to find the best research-backed ideas.

# data[].attributes.body
Resource for Teachers and Parents

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Welcome to our amazing Classroom Timer Section! We've decided to put our new fun timers, and timers for classrooms into a nice sub-section. These are great timers for children, or maybe meetings, or anything really.

They just add some extra fun to the usual countdown timers :-)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A range of fun timers! Great for the classroom, or meetings. Bookmark some new educational materials today! All Free, all for download.

# data[].attributes.body
Click on images in the presentation for resource links.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
SEL Professional Development- Teacher Self-Care

# data[].attributes.headline
Article on Asynchronous vs. Synchronous Learning and Teaching

# data[].attributes.subject
Article on Asynchronous vs. Synchronous Learning and Teaching

# data[].attributes.body
Resource for Teachers

# data[].attributes.body
Click on images in the presentation for resource links.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Emotional Regulation for Kids | 4 Strategies for Calming Down

# data[].attributes.body
Check in activity for home

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Zones of Regulation: Activity Check-in at Home via Social Thinking

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
FUN Zoom Game Ideas for All Ages | Fun Virtual Happy Hour Games for Everyone

# data[].attributes.headline
Lessons for Distance Learning to support SEL- Various Grade Levels

# data[].attributes.subject
Lessons for Distance Learning to support SEL- Various Grade Levels

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers

# data[].attributes.body
Setting Norms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Helping over 1 million educators, clinicians and families around the world. Strategies to teach essential life skills including social emotional learning and self-regulation across all environments.

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Technology has made it easier to continue education even when it's not possible to physically be in the classroom. Distance learning, or eLearning, has been a mainstay of post-secondary education for many years now. It allows working adults to pursue a degree and remain employed. But for many teachers and students in elementary, middle, and high school, distance learning is not typically part of the school environment.

Distance Learning and PBIS

When circumstances force teachers and students out of the classroom and into an eLearning situation, it can be challenging to stay on track. Maintaining your PBIS initiative might feel impossible in times like these, but you CAN offer PBIS incentives during distance learning! PBIS Rewards makes it easy for you to reward your students anywhere - even when they're not in your physical classroom. Keep connected with your students, award points, and let your students redeem their earnings, all virtually!

Need some ideas for PBIS incentives to use with distance learning?

We've got you covered! You can use these incentive ideas to keep your students engaged and make the most of your time in the virtual classroom.

Some of these distance learning incentives are designed to work in a digital classroom environment, and their effectiveness may depend on your school's approach to eLearning. For example, "Lunch with the Assistant Principal" would be a virtual lunch meeting via Google Hangout, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting... however you may be connecting with your students. As schools everywhere adjust and adapt to new methods of learning, distance learning incentives can help maintain a sense of togetherness within the school community.

Have an idea for PBIS incentives for distance learning? Share it and we'll add it to the list!

Students get to change their virtual backgrounds on Zoom.

Simply click on the arrow next to Start Video and change your virtual background or add your own image. Students will be motivated to log in to see their classmates' new backgrounds (Minecraft, lollipops, etc!)

Price: Free
Value:
Category: Privilege

Submitted by: Kelly Gordon (Flourtown)

Choose Video Conferencing Virtual Background

Student chooses the virtual background the teacher will use during video conferencing with the class

Price: Free

Category: Privilege

This was our end-of-summer party. I ordered Mickey Mouse ears (Girls & Boys), gift bags, and treats (cotton candy, cracker jacks, ring pops, Mickey Mouse Goldfish crackers, etc.). I delivered them to my students. If you have too many to deliver, you could mail the ears only.

I Zoom shared the 12 most exciting Disney Virtual rides... along with the parade and fireworks at the end. We had a wonderful day at the park. I gave trivia information in between rides and shows. There is also a video taking you into the park and on the monorail.

Everything was purchased on Amazon. About $5 a child for ears/treats. $1.50 per child for ears only.

Price: Bulk

Category: Privilege

Submitted by: Robin Gray (Friendship Ideal Academy)

Students can enter into a monthly drawing/raffle to win a Door Dash lunch delivery.

In distance learning, this can be delivered to their home, instead of to them at the school.

Price: $5 or More

Category: Tangible

Submitted by: Esperanza Soria (Wrenn Middle School, TX)

Send a laptop sticker to students with a personalized message. You can buy laptop stickers in bulk for as low as $5. Consider school branded laptop stickers.

If in distance learning, the sticker and message can be mailed to the student.

Price: Inexpensive
Value:
Category: Tangible

Submitted by: Jacquelin Camacho (Wheeling, IL)

Online Book Reading

Read a book online to your students. Have them choose from an approved selection.

Read, Wonder, and Learn! Favorite Authors & Illustrators Share Resources for Learning Anywhere - Spring 2020

Price: Free
Value:
Category: Privilege

Teachers can create personalized backgrounds for students based on the qualities they wish to recognize.

This is easy to do using Canva, a digital product/print creating platform that has a free upgrade for educators. Educators can use already created Zoom templates and individualize them to match the student.

Price: Free
Value:
Category: Recognition

Submitted by: Tiffany Garbiso (Santa Ana High School)

Student(s) can redeem this rewards and get a fun, silly, or energetic photo ( or video) with their friends that is shared by the teacher or school. This could even be shared via social media by the school, PBIS team, or teachers.

See example on Instagram

Price: Free
Value:
Category: Privilege

Submitted by: Mrs. Ashton, Rio Vista Elementary in Anaheim, CA

Students can have their picture/photo/video (if allowed by a parent/guardian) shared as a social media shout out on the school's social media account(s).

This would have to be verified by the teacher in order to have the student's name/picture/video release.

Price: Free
Value:
Category: Recognition

Submitted by: Samantha McBride (Houston, TX)

Spirit Week

Participate in a Spirit Day activity, i.e.:

Elementary:  Monday - Wear Pajamas, Tuesday - Crazy Hair, Wednesday - Crazy Socks, Thursday - Dress Like Your Teacher, Friday - Hat Day

Secondary: Monday - Wear Pajamas, Tuesday - Wear School Colors, Wednesday - Crazy Socks, Thursday - College Gear, Friday - Hat Day  Being on time for video lessons

Price: Free

Category: Privilege

Spoon Balancing Challenge

Students can challenge the teacher or other students with the spoon balancing challenge. Place the spoon on the bridge of your nose so that the handle is pointing down towards the floor and whoever can get the spoon to stay on their nose for the longest period of time wins!

In distance learning, this can be adjusted to be during a Zoom/Classroom video session.

Price: Free
Value:
Category: Privilege

Allow students add X test points for use on a future test of their choice.

Price: Free

Category: Privilege
Value:
Submitted by: Maria Price, Nimitz Sr High School, Houston, TX

Share Your Incentive for Distance Learning

Do you have an incentive idea for distance learning that would be a great addition to our list?
Share Your Idea
Here are some related articles you may find interesting:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This list of incentives for distance learning is a great asset for your PBIS program and virtual PBIS implementation. Have one to add? Share it.

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Before we jump into our list, let's talk about relationships. Remote learning is having a detrimental impact on the mental health of our students and impacting their social and emotional learning learning. Gone are the daily interactions of peers and social activities like lunch or football games. Instead students are stuck at home, often spending hours on their devices, and they are craving meaningful relationships.

As educators, we must make time to check-in with our students. During a live class session, such as through Zoom or Google Meet s, teachers can use the activities provided below to increase engagement and re-connect with students. While some are perfect for enhancing academic learning, many are intended to focus on relationship building and mental health. Only students engaged in learning will find academic success!

But how do we build deeper relationships? The best approach we have found is through using sparks. A spark is what a student is passionate about, what lights them up and gives them well......that "spark". Sparks were developed by the Search Institute, who explains them as follows: "Sparks are the activities and interests that truly engage kids to be their best. Research shows that kids who know and develop their sparks-and who have adults in their lives to help-have higher grades, better school attendance, and a sense of purpose."

In our STEM programs, we use different games and activities to help students find their spark, and then we utilize those sparks throughout the year to personalize activities. Click here to read more about using sparks in the classroom, and click here for a guide on sparks via distance learning. Many of the games below are a perfect way to share and connect with student sparks.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
50 Distance Learning Icebreakers & Games - Vivify STEM

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Are you struggling to engage students during distance learning? Here is a list of 50 icebreakers and games to keep students engaged and motivated during remote learning! Perfect for back to school, these activities also develop important 21st-century skills like communication, creativity, and collab

# data[].attributes.body
A read aloud social story book about distance learning grades Tk-3- Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Little Spot Learns Online by Diane Alber | Read Aloud Fun

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers and Parents

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY AMY JANE LARKIN

A nOTE FROM ANNAKA

Welcome to my guided meditations for children. All my recordings are designed for children ages six to ten, but the instructions are the same I would give to older children, teens, and beginner-level adults, so these recordings can be used by them as well.

Before you share these guided meditations with children, please review the "Instructions & Recommendations" tab above.

I hope you and your children enjoy them!

-AH

ENDORSEMENTS

"As one of the very first to bring secular mindfulness into public schools, Annaka Harris is uniquely qualified to teach meditation to children in a simple, direct, and authentic way. I highly recommend Annaka's guided meditations and lessons for children."
-Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of Mindful Games and The Mindful Child

"These are my favorite guided meditations for kids!"
-Rivers Cuomo, musician and lead singer / songwriter of the band Weezer

"Annaka Harris brings decades of expertise to guide children in beautiful, playful, and engaging meditations to access kindness and awareness. She is one of the pioneers in the field of children's mindfulness, and her accessible meditations are sure to delight children and parents alike."
-Diana Winston, Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center and author of The Little Book of Being

Also available on the Waking Up App

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Annaka Harris | MINDFULNESS FOR CHILDREN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
guided meditation FOR CHILDREN Instructions & Recommendations Mindful Hearing Mindful Breathing Mindful Seeing See, Feel, Move, Breathe Nighttime Meditation Friendly Wishes Mindfulness Lessons Soothing Uncomfortable Feelings Connection Meditation Walking Meditation ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS BY AMY JANE LARKIN A nOTE FROM ANNAKA Welcome to my guided meditations for children.

# data[].attributes.body
A quick video on how to implement the Zones of Regulation at home- Parents

# data[].attributes.body
Choice board with activities!- Teachers and Parents

# data[].attributes.body
Parents-English

# data[].attributes.body
Deep Breathing Exercise- Teachers and Parents

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers and Parents

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers and Parents

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers and Parents

# data[].attributes.body
Resources for teachers and parents for digital citizenship and distance learning

# data[].attributes.body
Four sample SEL lessons for grades 5-8 for social inferences- Teachers

# data[].attributes.body
Google Slides Lesson for Parents and Teachers

# data[].attributes.body
Mindfulness strategies- Teacher and Parents

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Curated for Educators and Families

Support Social-Emotional Well-Being

When children practice social-emotional skills throughout their day, they learn to understand emotions and cope with everyday challenges. Use and share these research-based social-emotional learning (SEL) resources to empower children to thrive at school, at home, and everywhere in between.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
SEL Activities and Resources | Second Step

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Use and share these research-based SEL activities and resources to empower children to thrive at school, at home, and everywhere in between.

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
SEL Activities and Resources | Second Step

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Use and share these research-based SEL activities and resources to empower children to thrive at school, at home, and everywhere in between.

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers and Parents

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Curated for Educators and Families

Support Social-Emotional Well-Being

When children practice social-emotional skills throughout their day, they learn to understand emotions and cope with everyday challenges. Use and share these research-based social-emotional learning (SEL) resources to empower children to thrive at school, at home, and everywhere in between.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
SEL Activities and Resources | Second Step

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Use and share these research-based SEL activities and resources to empower children to thrive at school, at home, and everywhere in between.

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Curated for Educators and Families

Support Social-Emotional Well-Being

When children practice social-emotional skills throughout their day, they learn to understand emotions and cope with everyday challenges. Use and share these research-based social-emotional learning (SEL) resources to empower children to thrive at school, at home, and everywhere in between.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
SEL Activities and Resources | Second Step

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Use and share these research-based SEL activities and resources to empower children to thrive at school, at home, and everywhere in between.