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1. One SEL approach that I loved incorporated how to help students become accustomed to failure using different student examples to show how to "fail well." If teachers are able to highlight certain successes within failures (maybe somebody didn't get an answer correct on a math test but they showed all their work; maybe someone didn't connect their topic sentence to their thesis in an essay but they used evidence well), that can encourage students to take more risks and improve overall.
2. I appreciated that the idea of "academic press", or having high expectations for academics for all students, can be an essential aspect of SEL implementation. When we have high expectations of students, and use SEL self-management strategies to help students meet/exceed those expectations, we are preparing students to be competent adults.

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One implementation of SEL in the classroom that stuck out to me was the discussion of grades. "When discussing grades with students, help them distinguish between facts (I got a C on that paper) versus self-evaluations (I’m an awful writer) and inferences (my instructor hates me)." This is a component that my department is trying to strengthen. Most students just care about the grade, but don't necessarily learn or grow from their mistakes/successes. This implementation is a great step towards academic reflection for both the student and teacher

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From Embedding SEL into high school classrooms 

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From Embedding SEL into high school classrooms 

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PBL allows students the opportunity to practice and improve on social emotional and academic skills, which apply to the real world

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These are some other lingering thoughts I have after reading that I have some questions about regarding mindsets, morning meetings, circles, etc.
These are all things are school tends to really emphasize which are all really great practices.
But my questions are... when they are emphasized too much they become corny? The students start to not engage in these practices as much because they loose their appeal or effectiveness when we use them so often? What is the happy medium? Is there one? or do we just keep it at that level and they are just being teens not wanting to be vulnerable or lean into something they are uncomfortable with.

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Strategies such as meet & greet by teachers at the beginning of the class and brief
personal check-ins with individual students, for example, enable students to practice
target behaviors linked to identifying, expressing, and managing emotions, interpersonal
communication, and healthy relationships.

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- Use growth mindset language always!!
- Pay attention to your students and the way their demeanor does (or doesn't) change! Seems simple, but being observant is a big deal!
- WRITE. THE. AGENDA. ON. THE. BOARD.
- Morning Meetings! Not completely sure how this looks in HS, but in K it was our favorite time of day. Hands down.

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One section that stuck out to me was the Self-Reflection/ Assessment section. Setting goals is a great way to measure whether we are improving over time, and I use this a lot in my class. Regarding SEL, it gave me the idea of asking my 8th grade advisees to lay out what a high schooler looks and acts like. Hopefully this causes them to follow through and improve by meeting their goals.

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The SEL Guidebook pdf is very helpful, I believe, because it gives precise instructions on how to conduct SEL exercises and what lessons you can do in class. It is an extensive list, focusing on each of the CASEL 5, clearly it would be impossible to do each of the listed activities without having your whole class be dedicated to checking each of these things off. I think it would be great to pick three or so activities from each competency and do those over the course of the opening weeks of the class.

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When instructional practices actively involve students in making meaning of content, they are more deeply engaged in their learning and have meaningful opportunities to practice SEL skills.

Your SEL team can support teachers in collaboratively developing instructional practices that put students' thinking at the center of the learning.
This section provides guidance for two research-based techniques that all teachers can use to promote SEL:

Class discussions: Students use communication skills to puzzle over ideas, respectfully compare thinking, and deepen understanding of content.

Cooperative learning: Small groups of students use knowledge of their own strengths and the ability to take the perspectives of others to complete learning tasks collectively.

Class Discussion

Conversation with peers is critical to student learning and improves comprehension and engagement in various settings (Cazden, 2001). Effective classroom discussion also provides important opportunities for students to practice social and emotional skills, including grappling with multiple perspectives, communicating effectively, and disagreeing respectfully.

While classroom discussion is an appropriate strategy for all grades, the approach may differ depending on developmental levels. In the younger grades, discussions might be shorter, or teachers may choose to have students spend more time talking in pairs or triads.

At all levels, the teacher plays a key role in these discussions, acting as guide and facilitator, using well-designed questions to draw out students' thinking and modeling effective communication. The goal is for students to ultimately take ownership of the process by asking one another questions, building on the ideas of their peers, and disagreeing thoughtfully.

Laying the foundation for productive, student-driven discussions begins long before the discussion itself and requires a supportive classroom environment.

Teachers can also prepare for class discussions by:

Creating agreements specifically for discussion. Similar to classroom shared agreements, these agreements focus on communication skills and ensure all students feel safe to engage in dialogue. These may include:

One person speaks at a time.

Track the speaker.

Challenge the idea and not the person.

Setting the tone. The teacher's verbal and non-verbal responses set the tone for engagement. Through modeling, teachers can promote intellectual risk-taking and participation. For example:

Practice patience when students take time to formulate ideas.

Respond to errors by validating confusion and asking scaffolded questions.

Encourage students to challenge your ideas or ask for clarification.

Explaining that making mistakes is a part of learning. For many students, engagement feels threatening. They want to protect themselves from being exposed as "not knowing the answer." Disarm this anxiety by noting that mistakes are how we learn and honoring productive struggle. Teachers can do this by asking students to share their thinking, especially when they are not sure (e.g.,"Is there anyone who isn't completely sure about their answer? I'd love to see your process and I bet it will help others out, too.") and by framing mistakes as learning opportunities (e.g.,"I'm really glad that you shared that mistake, Alex. It is common to multiply here, and I bet others did it, too. Who can tell me why it seems like you should multiply, even though the problem actually calls for division?").

Like any skill, building communication skills requires a scaffolded approach.

The following techniques offer ways to get conversations started and build communication skills:

Provide opportunities for rehearsal-Have students do a quick jot or partner share before sharing out with the class. This gives them a chance to process and revise ideas before sharing widely.

Use sentence starters-At the beginning of the year, provide sentence starters, such as "I agree with Anthony about X, but want to add Y" or "I disagree that X, because in the text it says Y." These frames help build students' communication skills. The complexity and number of frames may differ depending on the age group.

Think aloud-Verbalize your inner thoughts to model problem-solving. For example: "Hmmmm. I'm not sure what the author means by 'The girl's actions, while unintentional, were still beneficial.' Unintentional means 'not on purpose,' but what does 'beneficial' mean? I remember that the root is 'bene.' What other words have that root? Oh yeah-benefit! That's positive and helpful. So maybe even though the girl didn't set out to be helpful, the things that she did still ended up helping the boy."

Allow for wait time-After asking a question, pause for 10 seconds before calling on anyone. This allows everyone to think before the discussion begins. Also pause before responding to a question to allow learners time to think.

Managing the Discussion

Here are some discussion techniques to help keep the conversation going:

Ask open-ended questions-You can foster more inclusive, engaging, and effective classroom discussions by asking open-ended questions.

Ask facilitative questions-To keep students' attention focused on one another and build social awareness, ask questions that guide students to respond directly to one another. For example:

Who has some thoughts connected to what [Sarah] just said?

Do you agree or disagree with what [she] said?

What can you add to what [Abdul] just said?

Meeting the Needs of English Learners

For English Learners (ELs), rich classroom discussions provide essential opportunities to practice language in context. The expansion of content knowledge and conversational strategies go hand in hand (Bunch, Kibler, Pimentel, 2012).

Keep in mind, however, that social interactions- including classroom discussions- are culturally grounded. Learning about the speaking and listening conventions of your students' home cultures will help teachers be a resource for students negotiating classroom conversations. Even so, some students may feel self-conscious about their emerging language skills as they are developing.

Have students turn and talk or take a few minutes to write out their ideas before sharing with the class. This allows them to practice communication skills in a supported way.

Pre-teach content or vocabulary in advance of class discussions. This helps students to enter discussions feeling more confident and makes it more likely they will take the risks required to practice communication skills.

As with the broader class, be sure to explicitly call out the value of academic risk-taking (e.g., "Let's hear from a couple of people who can challenge my idea?" or "Thank you for your willingness to ask that question, Paul. It will help our whole class to better understand mitosis.") This strategy helps to build a culture where mistakes are viewed as an important part of the learning process and alleviates pressure around speaking for both ELs and other students.

Classroom discussions also provide opportunities for all students, including ELs, to hear concepts explained in a variety of ways. This can increase understanding and engagement and help students "own" the learning.

Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning provides students important opportunities to practice and reflect on their social and emotional competencies as they work in small groups. Examples include groups of students working on a math problem, and students who meet weekly in a book club.

During cooperative learning, students support and challenge one another, developing their relationship and responsible decision-making competencies. They also learn to articulate their ideas, explain material to their peers, and use metacognition for a more active approach to learning. This requires a great deal of social and self-awareness as students work to explain their thinking while remaining open to their peers' perspectives. Cooperative learning reinforces positive academic mindsets by asking students to take on challenging material in a way that feels supported and social (Marzano, Pickering, Pollock 2001).

Mr. Greene is excited to engage his students in cooperative learning, but the last time he tried it, some students seemed to do most of the work, while others were disengaged. It felt like whenever he went to support a group of students, another group across the room would begin to goof off. He started to wonder if the students had the self-awareness or self-management to engage with the tasks productively. "But if I don't give them the chance to practice," he mused, "how can I expect them to get better?!"

This time, Mr. Greene decides he will set his students up for success. He facilitates a discussion about how relationships skills-including the ability to work together- helps in school and career. He then works with students to establish norms for group work by asking what it will look like, sound like, and feel like to collaborate effectively. Next, he asks students to come up and model ways to handle potential encounters in their group; for example, one student moving forward too quickly, or a classmate who is disengaged.

As students rehearse responses to potential challenges, Mr. Greene asks them to think about the relationship skills they have learned in explicit instruction, including how to give feedback and listen actively. He frequently reinforces that the goal of group work is that all members learn the material, not merely that the work gets completed.

After giving clear instructions and checking for understanding, Mr. Greene moves throughout the classroom as the students work. He stops by each group to pose a question that will push their thinking forward, or to make an observation about what he notices in their group collaboration, but he doesn't stay with any one group for too long. At the halfway point, he pulls the class together to share out their thinking and reflect on how their collaboration is going.

Afterwards, each group has an opportunity to share out their big ideas. Students also have a chance to reflect on how they did both as a group and as individual team members. He points out strengths he observed and asks students to reflect on what they could do differently.
The central elements to cooperative learning are:

Positive interdependence: When students understand that their success depends on the success of the group, they will take the time to help one another master the material. This builds social awareness and also helps motivate students who may be used to achieving below their potential.

Individual and group accountability: Students must also be held accountable both for their own learning and the group work, which promotes self-management and social awareness.

Promoting one another's successes: The teacher helps students develop relationship skills by brainstorming positive ways to support peers who are struggling and to celebrate growth. It is also beneficial to model and have students practice negotiating the specific encounters within their group. For example, the teacher may ask students to brainstorm ideas for how they might appropriately respond to a teammate who is getting off-task.

Group processing: As students take on more responsibility for their own learning, have them discuss and reflect on how they are doing as a group to guide their participation and promote responsible decision-making

Adapted from Cooperation and competition: Theory and research (Johnson & Johnson, 1989)

Setting Students Up for Success

A supportive classroom environment is critical to setting a foundation for cooperative learning. In addition, the SEL team can support teachers in the following strategies to set up classrooms for cooperative learning.

Plan carefully before introducing the task to students. Just as with direct instruction, plan what you want students to know, understand, or explore. Then, determine how to structure the activity meaningfully and assess whether students have reached the objectives. Plan to include tools such as graphic organizers to support all learners.

Introduce students to strong systems to build independence and support effective group work (e.g., students collaborate, contribute equitably and resolve conflicts effectively). It can be helpful to include:

Student roles (summarizer, spokesperson, timekeeper, questioner).

The order of tasks.

Communication signals for when the group needs assistance.

Norms around using materials and equipment.

Ask students to help you model what cooperation in this task will look like.

Keep group sizes small (six or fewer) to keep the group cohesive.

Pre-teach some of the vocabulary and concepts to help students who may struggle with the material to participate fully.

Once cooperative learning is launched, teachers report that they spend less time managing their classrooms (Gibbs, 2006). This allows them to act more as coaches or facilitators, challenging and encouraging students learning. However, teachers do intervene when needed to improve both group functioning and students' understanding of content.

Numbered Heads Together. Ask students to number off in their teams from one to four. Announce a question and a time limit for developing an answer. When time's up, call a number and ask all students with that number to stand and answer the question. Recognize correct responses and elaborate through rich discussions (Kagan, 2009). As students discuss their perspectives on questions, they have the opportunity to practice communication skills and social-awareness.

Team Jigsaw. Assign each student in a team one-fourth of a topic to investigate. Each student completes the assignment and then teaches the others in their group or helps to put together a team product. This builds self-efficacy and awareness of personal strengths as each student plays a valuable role in the group's learning.

Categorizing. Ask students to analyze and classify objects based on specific criteria (e.g., categorizing new vocabulary as "adjective, verb, noun"). Categorizing can be used as a discussion starter and doesn't need to have one correct answer. For example, students can take a list of historical events and categorize their impact as being predominantly "political, economic, religious, military, or social" and then justify their answers.

Rally Coach. In math, students form pairs to solve problems. Student A solves the first problem, explaining their process aloud as they go. Student B uses self-management and relationship skills to listen and observe, coaching only if needed. Next, the student's roles are reversed.

Reflection

When students are afforded time to reflect, they develop self- and social awareness, foundational SEL competencies. During cooperative learning groups, ask students to pause and reflect on how the collaboration is going and what they might do to make it even better. When group work is complete, ask students to reflect on how they did with modeling and practicing the competencies.

Opportunities for reflection are critical during collaborative learning so that students not only work together, but think metacognitively about which competencies and strategies helped them to be effective. This will help them to transfer those strategies to other environments.

What is one way that you positively contributed to your team?

What is one thing your team can do better next time?

What did you learn about yourself as a team member?

Which competencies did you practice? Which do you want to work on?

What is one thing from our learning today that surprised you or that you are still wondering about?

Download Tool

SEL integrated planning checklist

This tool helps teachers identify where within lesson plans SEL practices are already present, or where they might be included.

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When instructional practices actively involve students in making meaning of content, they are more deeply engaged in their learning and have meaningful opportunities to practice SEL skills. Your SEL team can support teachers in collaboratively developing instructional practices that put students' thinking at the center of the learning.

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1. Modeling your skills in class for students during class to make them more human and relatable
2. Safe supportive classrooms- creating the right environment for learn both SEL and academic topics

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I found this part of the Teaching for the Whole child article interesting and something I haven't thought much about before. I tend to view classroom management as something only the teacher really only has influence over. I love this idea especially for high school students when trying to push for independence.