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An empirical basis for linking social and emotional learning to academicperformance

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An empirical basis for linking social and emotional learning to academicperformance

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The Educator's Guide to Emotional Intelligence 

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The Educator's Guide to Emotional Intelligence 

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Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D. is Professor, Psychology Department, Rutgers University, Director of the Rutgers Social-Emotional Learning Lab, and Academic Director of The Collaborative Center for Community-Based Research and Service at Rutgers. He is Past President of the Society for Community Research and Action/Division of Community Psychology (27) of APA and has received the SCRA Distinguished Contribution to Practice and Ethnic Minority Mentoring Awards, as well the Joseph E. Zins Memorial Senior Scholar Award for Social-Emotional Learning from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the John P. McGovern Medal from the American School Health Association, and the Sanford McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education.

Prof. Elias lectures nationally and internationally to educators and parents about students' emotional intelligence, school success, and social-emotional and character development. Among Dr. Elias' numerous books are ASCD's Promoting Social and Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators, the Social Decision Making/Social Problem Solving curricula for grades k-8, the new e-book, Emotionally Intelligent Parenting, and a book for young children: Talking Treasure: Stories to Help Build Emotional Intelligence and Resilience in Young Children (www.researchpress.com, 2012). He also writes a blog for on SEL-related topics for the George Lucas Educational Foundation at www.edutopia.org.

With colleagues at the College of St. Elizabeth, he has developed an online credentialing program for Direct Instruction of Social-Emotional and Character Development (SECD) programs in classroom, small group, and after school settings (sel.rutgers.edu), and for School-Focused Leadership and Coordination of SECD and School Culture and Climate (SELinSchools.org).

Professor Elias interviewed with Rae Pica on Bam! Radio's Studentcentricity. You can find the interview, Classroom Management: Redirecting Misbehavior, here.

Take a look at a review on The Other Side of the Report Card, published by the New Jersey Association of School Psychologists here.

Dr. Harriet Brown Arnold is a veteran educator who has served as elementary school teacher, middle school administrator, elementary school principal, director of personnel and staff development, and international consultant to schools. A graduate of San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Social Welfare, she received her Masters in Education at California State University, San Jose and her Doctorate with an emphasis in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of San Francisco. Her professional development projects have included training for the Ministry of Education in the Bahamas and coordinating the Sequoia Beginning Teacher Program.

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The Educator's Guide to Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement

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This comprehensive guide to emotional intelligence (EI) is a state-of-the-art collection of proven best practices from the field's best and brightest minds. Edited by educational leaders Maurice Elias and Harriett Arnold, this guide creates a new gold standard for bringing social-emotional learning into every classroom.

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Flexible Seating. It's all the rage in classrooms these days. But what's all the buzz REALLY about...and is it a good fit for your classroom?

If you haven't yet jumped on this trend, consider this your starter guide. Sit back, relax, and get ready to find out what flexible seating is, isn't, and how to implement it in your classroom.

What is flexible seating?

Flexible seating is when a student-centered classroom has a variety of choices (both locations and seating options) for students to use.

Its origins are research-based, and studies have shown that students are better able to process certain types of learning, on certain days, with the use of flexible seating. Moving around is much healthier for our students, (and us, i.e., the growing popularity of treadmill desks).

For our kinesthetic learners, flexible seating is a lifesaver!

Teachers acquire a variety of chair types, such as flex balls, standard chairs, beanbag chairs, cushions, scoop rockers, stools and the like. In addition to seating options, there are options in work areas as well. Workstations of various types are set up throughout the room, they can be a table, a wall, a counter, a sofa, or the floor, just to name a few.

Another important element of flexible seating is that sometimes, it's not 'seating' at all! Sometimes students will work while leaning, standing, squatting, or even kneeling.

What flexible seating isn't...

Flexible seating can't be one-size-fits-all, and it can't be too rigid. If you are a teacher who struggles to keep everyone focused when your students come sit on the carpet, flexible seating might not be the right fit for you.

Early on in my career, I had a classroom full of yoga balls for the student seats. I would argue that, while really cool, this wasn't a flexible seating environment because it didn't offer my students much choice in their seating. (Although, I did keep my chairs and stools so kids could swap out if they were needing an alternative seat...or couldn't follow the rules.) It was, however, a great start into the world of flexible seating, and I saw some great results like these.

Flexible seating also can't be a free-for-all. If seating choices are impairing your ability to keep students on task, you're losing precious instructional time.

The goal of flexible seating is to help students get into a spot that is most conducive to learning. Therefore, if you're seeing more off-task behavior as a result, it is time to consider re-teaching rules or modifying the environment.

Prepping your classroom for success with flexible seating

If you decide to implement flexible seating in your class, there are a few key elements to consider as you move forward.

1. Think about a whole-classroom makeover before you get ANY new seating!

Yes, this sounds simple. However, many people skip this step. Flexible seating will take up space in your classroom. It will change the traffic patterns and requires an initial investment.

Before you drop your hard-earned dollars, take the time to make a plan. Think about where things will go. Consider how it will impact student movement, volume, and instruction.

Making a plan first can really help reduce disasters and disorganization. Consider things like:

*Storage space

*Cost & upkeep

*Where the types of seating will work

*How much open space you need

*Traffic flow in your classroom

2. Set up expectations (yes, RULES) with your class about the seats and the workstations.

Decide what's important to you...for example, in my classroom I allowed my students to do "little bounces" on their yoga balls. However, other teachers allow no bouncing.

You must decide your expectations ahead of time and make them clear to your students.

3. Consider consequences and exceptions.

This was something I didn't do prior to bringing yoga balls into my room. BIG MISTAKE!

Make sure you have a plan for how you'll address when students break the rules. Also, consider how you'll approach special situations - medical issues, etc. - prior to the occurrence. This helps things go more smoothly if you have a student show up with a broken leg...or a student who just can't handle having so many options.

4. Inform families.

Many parents are unsure about flexible seating classrooms. They can look more chaotic and less structured to a parent popping by or volunteering.

Educating parents on the benefits of using flexible seating is an important step in helping them understand why you've decided to make this change and addressing issues if they arise.

A simple letter home or a conversation during your Parent Night events is a great way to get started.

Where to shop for flexible seating options

It can be easy to spend a lot of money on flexible seating, but no one REALLY wants to do that. There are great ways to stock your classroom with seating options on a budget. You can also set up a Donors Choose project to help finance some of your plans.

If you're wondering where to look to get started, here are a few great shopping options if you are looking for seating on a budget.

Amazon.com: Amazon has some great options for flexible seating that go on sale throughout the year. January is a great time to look because many of the best flexible seating items are also fitness equipment...and with New Year's resolutions, the sales abound. They've now got a whole search area related to flexible seating options.

Target: Okay, this one is a no-brainer. Teachers love Target. However, if you check their exercise equipment and clearance, you can often find some great deals on items for your flexible seating classroom.

IKEA: This is my least favorite place to shop because it is literally a human maze, but I love the inexpensive options for my classroom. They have so many good things for so little. In fact, Tales of a Tenacious Teacher did a whole post on all the great things she was able to find at IKEA. You can read more about it here.

Garage Sales: This is a cheap option, but it does require some digging and persistence. Of course, hitting up five garage sales only to end up with 10 stools for under $5 seems worth it to me.

Of course, there are lots more options, but these are just a few of my quick and easy favorites.

Next steps

So now that you know more about the ins and outs of flexible seating you can make the decision about whether it's right for you and your students.

You might also want more information! If so, check out my post about the critical things to consider BEFORE you get started.

Whether you go full-bore or just grab 1-2 items to dip your toes in the water of flexible seating, I hope you've found these tips useful in getting started.

Be sure to check back for my upcoming post that will help you troubleshoot common issues that arise with flexible seating!

I hope this article helped clarify some things about flexible seating. If you'd like more ideas, be sure to follow me on:
Teachers Pay Teachers

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Flexible seating for beginners - a guide to getting started

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Flexible Seating. It's all the rage in classrooms these days. But what's all the buzz REALLY about...and is it a good fit for your classroom? If you haven't yet jumped on this trend, consider this your starter guide. Sit back, relax, and get ready to find out what flexible seating is, isn't, and how to implement it in your classroom.

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A veteran elementary teacher shares what he's learned from eight years of building a student-centered environment.

A look inside Tom Deris's classroom

Nine years ago, I starting thinking about changing the layout of my classroom-the traditional classroom structure that had gone largely unchanged since I was a child. I'm now in my eighth year exploring flexible seating with my second and third grade students.

I started by asking students to help me come up with design ideas and to brainstorm ways to transform our classroom with the furniture we had at the time. I knew that if that step went well, I could add more furniture in time.

Each year I add one new type of seating. I started with ball chairs, and then added tables with wheels and wobble stools. In recent years, I've added office chairs and scoop rockers. I've won several grants over the last eight years to collect my nontraditional seating options, which now include: 14 tables with wheels, eight wobble stools, six lap desks, six scoop rockers, four ball chairs, four office chairs, and four standing station spots. I still have 10 regular chairs.

How It Works

In the fall, I typically arrange the room the way I want it. My students and I spend time in the first several weeks of school going over rules and expectations. Once our classroom community has the necessary foundation and expectations, I do a lesson on each of the separate seating options and ask all students to explore all of them.

After students have explored the room and tried all the seating options, I ask them to help me figure out the room's layout for the year. Having student input is extremely important to me, and I often tell my students it's our classroom, not just mine. I want them to want to come to school and learn in a space that reflects them.

I then have the students help me create rules for flexible seating, and we hang up posters for each option that my students can refer to throughout the year when needed. For example, with the ball chairs, students are asked to have their feet on the floor at all times and to avoid excessive bouncing. If students aren't following the rules, we review them so everyone is clear about what's expected.

I'd encourage any teacher interested in experimenting with flexible seating to go slow, pick one thing to add to your classroom, and continue to add items slowly. I strongly suggest buying quality over quantity. I typically only purchase items that are plastic and can be wiped down, and I avoid fabric-with the exception of my office chairs-because it's hard to keep clean.

One thing teachers need to keep in mind in shifting to flexible seating is how they're going to use storage. Each of my students has a work bin-a plastic tray that fits into our standard mailbox slots-where they store their notebooks and folders. Each student also has a Tupperware supply bin with markers, crayons, and colored pencils. The work and supply bins have set locations so students know where their things are, no matter where they choose to sit.

Every type of seating option has pros and cons. Teachers have to think through how they're going to manage, store, and use each and every piece of flexible seating, which is why I encourage teachers to not buy a full set of anything at first-I still don't have a full set of any type of seating. Kids are different, and they like different things. Having different types of seating gives students options.

Each month, students help me select their new work spots. In addition to the work spots, students have a row spot (for whole group instruction), circle spot (for morning meeting), math spot, reading spot, pod spot (for collaborative times like science experiments), and a test spot (where all students have a flat surface for testing). We tend to use the work spots the most.

Classroom Management

Students are unique-and so are groups of students. Some years, my students have needed a lot of structure and little to no freedom. Other years, my students have been able to have total freedom. For flexible seating to work, teachers have to know their students and what they can and can't handle. So at the beginning of the year, I take time to get to know my students, and I have more of a say in where they sit. As they come to understand the different seating options, I give them more freedom. On occasion, students don't work well with one type of seating, and I give them limited access to that type. Strong classroom management is key to this model.

Each year, I also focus on something new to make my classroom more student-centered. Some years I've focused on technology integration or collaborative spaces. This year, I've worked to create more spaces for those students who prefer to work alone when given the opportunity.

I often ask myself if I would want to be a student in my own classroom. After eight years of trial and error, I feel like I can say yes. I truly enjoy my classroom-it's a unique, comfortable, student-friendly place to learn. But I'm still excited about brainstorming with my students on how to make it even better next year.

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Designing Flexible Seating With Students

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A veteran elementary teacher shares what he's learned from eight years of building a student-centered environment.

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Inside: A child therapist's favorite ways to help kids learn to take a deep breath, including quick explanations and videos of deep breathing techniques.
Have you ever told a kid to take a deep breath, and then they start hyperventilating? Or they breathe in, but don't breathe out?
Sometimes, kids may need a little more help to figure out how to properly take a deep breath.
First, let's review why deep breathing matters.

When you are calm, your body is in what is known as "rest and digest" mode. Your breathing is normal, your muscles are relaxed, and your heart rate is normal. It's how you would be when you're watching a show and relaxing.

But then suddenly, a dinosaur is chasing you!!

When you experience a stressful event (like an unexpected dinosaur in your living room), your body automatically goes into what is known as "flight, fight or freeze" mode. Your heart rate increases, your stomach stops digestion, and your breathing becomes more shallow.

The goal of calming exercises is to get yourself from "flight, fight or freeze" mode back to "rest and digest" mode. Deep breathing helps get more oxygen into your bloodstream, opening up your capillaries. It has a physical effect on your body to help you calm down and lower stress.

So deep breathing does make a big difference for kids. But how can we teach them to take a deep breath properly?
Here are some of my favorite ways to introduce deep breathing! Quick note: The breathing we want kids to do is deep belly breaths, not shallow chest breaths. When they breathe in, their belly should expand, and when they breathe out, their belly should contract.
Use bubbles

Blowing gently to create bubbles is a good way to be playful and breathe deeply. Kids have to blow carefully and slowly to make the bubbles, which is a major reason why I like using it to help kids take deep breaths.

Use a stuffed animal to practice deep breathing

Have your child lay down on their back and put a stuffed animal on their belly. Have them breathe in and move the stuffed animal up, then breathe out and bring the stuffed animal back down. This helps teach kids to use their belly to take big deep breaths. Another alternative is to use a weighted stuffed animal.

Use a pinwheel

Kids can practice breathing out slowly or more quickly, using the speed of the pinwheel as a measure. Then they can figure out which way works and feels best for them.

Use a Feather

Get some colored feathers and pick out one feather to use. It could be a color that they love or one that makes them feel calm. Breathe in and hold it for a count of 3, then breathe out going up on one side of the feather and down the other side.

Hoberman Sphere

Breathe in and expand the sphere, breathe out and push the sphere back in (this mirrors what should be happening to their belly) - Watch the video on YouTube!

DIY Crafts

Make a craft using half a paper plate, crepe paper or ribbons. Have kids blow the crepe paper or ribbons as they take deep breaths.

Materials Needed:

1. Paper plate - cut in half
2. crepe paper - cut into 6" - 8" strips, cut in half
3. yarn or string
4. any other embellishments to make the creature (use what you have on hand)

Attach the crepe paper to the flat bottom of the paper plate. Attach yarn/string to the top center of the curved part of the paper plate as a hanger.Have kids decorate the paper plate any way they want, as a monster, or a creature, or with stickers.

To Use: hang up the creature and have kids blow on the crepe paper to get it to move.

OTHER DIY ACTIVITIES
Floating Ball Activity from All For The Boys Fire Breathing Dragon Craft by BABYCCINO
TRIANGLE Breathing

Start at the bottom left of the triangle.

Breathe in for three counts as you trace the first side of the triangle.

Hold your breath for three counts as you trace the second side of the triangle.

Breathe out for three counts as you trace the final side of the triangle. You have just completed one deep breath.

SQUARE BReathing

Start at the bottom right of the square

Breathe in for four counts as you trace the first side of the square

Hold your breath for four counts as you trace the second side of the square

Breathe out for four counts as you trace the third side of the square

Hold your breath for four counts as you trace the final side of the square

You just completed one deep breath!

STAR BREATHING

Start at any "Breathe In" side on the star.

Trace your finger over the "breathe in" side of the point

Hold your breath when your finger gets to the tip of the point

Breathe out as you trace your finger over the other side of the point.

Keep going until you reach where you started.

When you trace the whole star, you will have completed 5 deep breaths

Start with the eight on its side and start in the middle

Go up to the left and trace the left part of the 8 with your finger while you breathe in.

When you get to the middle of the eight again, breathe out while you trace the right part of the 8 with your finger.

6 Sided Breathing

Start at the left hand side of the hexagon.

Trace your finger over the "breathe in" side as you take a deep breath in.

Hold your breath as you trace the second side of the hexagon.

Breathe out as you trace the third side of the hexagon.

Then repeat for the bottom part of the hexagon.

Breathe in like a flower, breathe out like you are blowing out birthday candles.

Breathe in blue sky, Breathe out gray skies.

Pretend your belly is like a balloon. Breathe in and make the balloon bigger, then breathe out and make the balloon shrink.

Smell the soup, cool the soup or smell the hot cocoa, cool the hot cocoa

Darth Vader Breathing - Pretend you have a straw in your mouth, suck in through the straw and breathe in. Breathe out like Darth Vader.

Ocean Breathing - breathe in and imagine the wave rolling in, breathe out and imagine the wave rolling out.

Color breathing - Breathe in and imagine a calm, happy, positive color. Breathe out and imagine a color that represents stress, anxiety, etc. leaving your body.

Soft Belly - Say to yourself "soft" as you breathe in and "belly" as you breathe out.

Whale breath

Sitting criss-cross applesauce, sit up tall and take a deep breathe in, Hold it while you count to 5 with your fingers then tilt head up to blow it out of blowhole. You can also put your hands up on top of head to create the blow hole to "blow" out.

Snake Breath

Breathe in, pause briefly, then breathe out slowly while you make a hissing sound for as long as you can.

Bunny Breath

You can do this breathing either while sitting, or add movement to it.

Sitting version - make "bunny" hands in front of chest and take quick sniffs like a bunny.

Movement version - start in a squat and hop forward while taking quick bunny sniffs.

Bumblebee Breath

Breathe in and pretend you are smelling a flower. As you breathe out, make humming bee sound. Try different ways of making the sound - longer or shorter, high or low sounds.

5 - 5 - 10 breathing

Breathe in for 5, hold for 5 and breathe out for 10.

7-11 breathing

Breathe in for 7, exhale for 11.

Count to 10

Using Your Hand to Take a Deep Breath aka Mountain Breathing

Put up one hand, palm facing out and fingers spread apart. Place the index finger of your other hand at the base of your thumb and breathe in while you move your finger up one side of your thumb. Move your finger down the other side of your thumb and breathe out. Do the same thing with the remaining four fingers, and take deep breaths in and out as you move your finger. After you've reached the second side of your pinky finger, you'll have done 5 complete deep breaths.

You can also do this with a close friend or trusted adult. Have them spread their hand out and use your finger to trace their hand and do deep breaths. Or do the opposite: spread your hand out and have them use their finger and trace yours. You can do deep breaths together!

Hands to Shoulders

Sometimes you breathe from your chest instead of your belly, but it's hard to notice. This is an easy way to figure out if you are moving your chest or your belly when you're breathing. While sitting or standing, put your hands down by your sides. Then bend your arms at your elbows and place them on the front of your shoulders. Try taking a deep breath. If your shoulders are moving a lot, focus more on taking breaths using your belly.

Rainbow breathing

Arms start at the side of your body; arms go up as you breathe in and go down as you breathe out (arms make a rainbow) - Watch the video on Youtube!

Volcano Breaths

Pretend your hands and arms are like lava flowing from a volcano. Start with your hands in front of your heart, with palms touching. Keeping your hands together, reach straight up and breathe in. Separate your hands and move your arms down to your side and breathe out.

Explosion Breaths

Start in a standing position. Breathe in as you crouch down. Then, jump up, spreading your arms and legs as you breathe out.

Nostril Breathing/Cowabunga Breathing

Block one nostril, breathe in for 5, block the other nostril, breathe out for 5.

Wood Chopper Breathing

Standing tall with legs hip distance apart. Clasp hands together and raise your arms above your head. Breathe in through nose. Exhale and pull your hands down toward your legs as you say "HA" to "chop" wood
Mindful Arts in the Classroom Breathing Cards Sesame Street Belly Breathe Video

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Deep Breathing Exercises for Kids - Coping Skills for Kids

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Inside: A child therapist's favorite ways to help kids learn to take a deep breath, including quick explanations and videos of deep breathing techniques. Have you ever told a kid to take a deep breath, and then they start hyperventilating? Or they breathe in, but don't breathe out?

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Behavior Momentum: To Build Confidence - Watson Institute

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Behavior Momentum is a strategy designed to to build a student's "momentum" for following directions and building confidence.

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The Classroom Calming Corner - Watson Institute

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Does a student become overwhelmed in a busy classroom? Help them relax & increase class participation by having a classroom calming corner.

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Children often experience feelings of anxiety during times of change. The transition from many months at home during lockdown to a changed school environment with class bubbles, extra handwashing and new desk arrangements is no exception. To help reduce anxiety in the classroom and get everyone feeling good about school again, we've put together 10 calming activities for children that teachers can do with their class during the first few weeks back.

Breathing Techniques

Breathing exercises can be done anytime, anywhere: at the beginning of the day, after playtime or as a way to help children focus before beginning a lesson. When we feel anxious, our bodies go into 'fight or flight' mode, making us think we're in danger and running away from an angry bear even though we're just sitting quietly at a desk. Calming breathing exercises only take a couple of minutes to do and are a good way to slow breathing, lower heart rate and give children a sense of calm and control.
Activity 1: Flowers and Candles
Encourage children to close their eyes and breathe in deeply through their nose, like they're smelling a beautiful bunch of flowers. Then instruct them to breathe out slowly through their mouth like they're blowing out birthday candles. Repeat this five times.
Activity 2: Bubbles
Ask your class to imagine a bubble and fill it with a worry before watching it drift away. You could even ask your children to fill their imaginary bubbles with happy memories to think about all the positive things instead.

If you don't fancy having real bubbles bobbing around the classroom, take a look at this Breathing and Bubbles Activity instead to help your children manage troublesome thoughts.

Concentrating on Our Senses

Sensory distraction helps children re-focus their energy away from feelings of anxiety and concentrate entirely on the present moment. In school, this type of activity makes an ideal lesson starter, so you can be sure that your class is concentrating and taking everything in.

Take a look at the following activities for some ideas of how to do this. Our Ideas to Manage Anxiety in Children article is also well worth a read.
Activity 3: Grounding Technique - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
In this activity, children look for five things they can see, four things they can touch, three things they can hear, two things they can smell and one thing they can taste. This is a perfect grounding activity for any time of the day, to banish worries and anxieties and bring children into the present moment. Use this Grounding Technique Poster to help you out.
Activity 4: Listen Out
Another good activity is for children to spend five minutes sitting in silence and listening to the sounds around them. The aim is to simply listen, note and relax, not to think about or get involved in any of the sounds. Encourage children to notice a ticking clock, traffic in the street, the whirr of the projector or their schoolmates doing PE outside. With no resources required, this is ideal for doing anytime, anywhere.
Activity 5: Listen to Soft Music or Sounds
Having soft music or sounds on in the background while children are working can help them relax and reset. Instrumental music is a good choice to avoid any distracting lyrics. Why not try this Relaxing Backgrounds and Calming Music PowerPoint or these Relaxing Scenes Animations and see how they change the atmosphere in your classroom?

Practising Mindfulness

Like paying attention to our senses, practising mindfulness with children increases focus and decreases anxiety. Mindfulness activities help busy minds to calm down, which in turn improves concentration and performance in the classroom. It also helps children to deal with pressure and respond to situations in a balanced and rational way, so it is a good life skill to learn. You can read more about Children's Mindfulness here.
Activity 6: Doodling and Colouring
Doodling and colouring are both great mindfulness activities that give the brain a rest. They give children something to focus on which helps to reduce feelings of worry or anxiety. With this in mind, why not try some of our mindfulness colouring sheets? This Bumper Pack offers a fantastic selection to keep everyone busy, while younger children might like these themed Under the Sea pictures.
Activity 7: Playdough
One for little ones, the kneading, rolling, flattening and punching motion of playing with playdough is ideal for getting rid of feelings of anxiety and worry. Adding a drop of lavender oil to your recipe can make this an even more relaxing activity too. Take a look at our Lavender Playdough Recipe or easy Quick Playdough Recipe for inspiration.
Activity 8: Counting
Counting is another simple mindfulness activity that helps children to focus their attention and stop worrying about the 'what ifs'. Ask children to pick a random number such 76 and count up to it. If they're done before the rest of the class, they could count backwards from their chosen number too. Counting backwards from 100 is another activity you could do if your class needs a quick break to reset.

Being Active to Beat Anxiety

Every child is unique, meaning that you'll probably see some variation across your class when it comes to dealing with stressful situations and anxiety. While quiet, mindful activities might work for some, research has shown that active children have greater self-esteem and are less likely to suffer from anxiety. Here are some ideas for things that you can do at school.
Activity 9: Yoga
Yoga has been proven to have many benefits for children and is one of the most effective ways to increase mindfulness. These Children's Yoga Poses are a great place to start and include a selection of positive affirmations such as 'I am strong' and 'I am kind' which children can say while they do each pose. These make an ideal morning activity to wake everybody up or you could do them in PE. This article also has some ideas for how you can use yoga in the classroom.
Activity 10: Stretching and Inversion
This activity only takes a minute and can be used at any time of the day.

Start by encouraging children to make themselves as tall as possible by stretching their arms above their heads and standing on tiptoes, before flopping back down to a normal standing position. This is a great way to reduce tension and feel refreshed.

Inversion means bringing the head below the heart and is believed to have a restorative effect on the nervous system. After you and your class have stretched all the way up, try bending over to touch your toes (you can bend your knees if you can't reach). Stay here for a few moments and notice how restful it feels.

Creating a Calm Corner

Having a list of go-to activities that you can do regularly or throughout the day is great for managing general levels of anxiety in the classroom. Calm corners, on the other hand, are ideal for 'emergency use' if a child needs five minutes to get their emotions under control before re-joining the group. Take a look at the steps below to create your very own calm space in the classroom.

Choose a semi-private area that is easy to find and has enough space to sit.

Add a table and chair or something comfy like a bean bag and cushions. Fairy lights can be a nice addition if your school is happy for you to use them.

Decorate the walls with helpful resources, such as these Mindful Breathing Display Posters.

You could also hang a list of activities that children can do in the calm corner. This resource pack has some great ideas, ranging from colouring activities to breathing techniques. Including a selection of books to dip into can provide another way for children to escape.

Putting together an anxiety toolkit for children to delve into when they need a moment of calm is another good idea. Read on for some suggestions.

Putting Together an Anxiety Toolkit

Equipping your calm corner with an anxiety toolkit is a great way to help children manage their emotions independently. You'll find a couple of ideas to get you started below.
Calm-Down Jar
A bit like a snow globe, these glitter jars are designed to soothe and relax as children watch the glitter settle. A quick and easy way for children to regulate emotions, make one to keep on your desk or in your calm corner using our handy instructions here.
Stress Balls
Quick and easy to make, all you'll need is some strong balloons (ones that can be used with helium are great), a funnel and some flour. Simply fill the balloons with flour and tie securely. You could even use a permanent marker to write children's names or draw a smiley face on the balloon. For more detailed instructions, take a look at our fantastic DIY Stress Ball.
Other Ideas
It's a good idea to have a few different things in your anxiety tool kit. If your calm corner is big enough, including a pot of bubbles can provide an easy breathing activity. Expanding balls are also great for visualising breathing techniques. These ' I Can Calm Myself down' Prompt Cards would also make a good addition to your toolkit, featuring simple activities that children can safely do by themselves.

Using the Calm Corner

Make sure you teach your class all about when to use the calm corner and what's in it. For example, it should be a place for students to go if they arrive in class feeling stressed or anxious or if something happens during a lesson. It's not an escape plan to avoid a spelling test!

Talking to children about the resources available also helps to make sure that they use the space for its intended purpose. Practice any breathing techniques that may be on the wall and show them how to swirl up the glitter jar and wait patiently for the glitter to settle. Show them where to find the colouring pencils, colouring sheets and the books so it becomes a comfortable, safe space for them to go to.

The above video may be from a third-party source. We accept no responsibility for any videos from third-party sources. Please let us know if the video is no longer working.

The Importance of Calming Activities

Lockdown has impacted on children's mental health in many different ways, with disrupted routines and worries over what is happening. The calming activities for children above will hopefully help primary teachers soothe feelings of anxiety as children return to school, with targeted ideas to help their class focus, stay in the moment and ultimately feel safe and secure. Dotting these activities throughout the first few weeks back will help children unwind and relax back into school life, helping teachers to get the 'new normal' and life in a bubble off to a good start.
You might also be interested in...
With all this talk of bubbles, you might also be interested in our Activities to Support Children's Wellbeing in Class Bubbles article, featuring ideas about how teachers and teaching assistants can help children adapt to the 'new normal'.

For more information on the impact that school closures have had on learning and what you can do to fill any learning gaps, take a look at this article here. Find out about the National Tutoring Programme, the 2021 SATs and Phonics checks and more.

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10 Calming Classroom Activities for Children - Twinkl Blog

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Children often experience feelings of anxiety during times of change. The transition from many months at home during lockdown to a changed school environment with class bubbles, extra handwashing and new desk arrangements is no exception.

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Stress: How Teachers Can Help Their Students Cope 

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Stress: How Teachers Can Help Their Students Cope 

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This post is part of a 4 part series on stress and learning. To see the rest of the series click here.
In Part I we examined what was neurologically happening to the brain while under stress. We now understand that stress impedes learning and interferes with memory retrieval. So what can we do about it? The following is a list of suggestions on how teachers can help their students cope with stress.
Reducing Stress in the Classroom

Students need to understand what stress is and how to cope with it

Making them aware of how to recognize stress in themselves and in others will help them handle the situations much better.

Every student needs an adult that they can trust and rely on

Developing a positive student/teacher relationship is critical for reducing stress. For children at-risk they need someone that has a calming and empathetic presence that they can go to when in need, such as a homeroom teacher, the school psychologist, the school nurse or resource teacher.

Teachers need to allow for social connectivity within the classroom

Matthew Lieberman, social psychologist and neuroscientist, in his book, Social: Why Our Brains are Wired to Connect, states that just like our need for food and shelter, we have the need to form relationships and to connect to other human beings. That's why we want to develop loving relationships, fit into a school, cheer on a sports team and even check our Facebook pages. Developing a classroom culture of "All for one, and one for all," benefits the entire group as well as each of the individuals within that group.

Teachers need to keep this in mind when developing their lesson plans. Feeling socially connected, in a safe environment, helps build relationships. "Tend-and-befriend" (Bergland, 2013) is the exact opposite of "fight-or-flight." Having good social relationships increases oxytocin and actually reduces cortisol. Face to face relationships are the best, however, "phone calls and even Facebook can reduce cortisol if they foster a feeling of genuine connectivity" (Bergland, 2013).

Teach time management

When people are organized, they have less stress. Allow students to have flexible due dates on assignments. This will lower their anxiety about due dates as well as keep them motivated and on top of their work (Smith, 2013).

The importance of acknowledging student effort

Recognize the student's effort by either by giving them a grade for their effort or providing extra points. This encourages students to take risks and persevere.

Teach mindfulness

Developing moment-to-moment awareness of one's surrounding environment will help the student focus on the current activity as well as reduce anxiety and help improve their coping experiences in the future.

Allow for individual needs

For especially high-anxiety situations for some students, reduce the tension. If a child doesn't like reading orally, only call on them when they know the passage and are well prepared. To help with test anxiety, have an adult (teacher or aide) help those students that prefer to have the questions read to them.

Include physical activity within the school day

I am alarmed to see how many schools are cutting back (or completely eliminating) their recess time. Nothing could be worse for child development. When I was a child we had physical education class every day and now children are lucky to have it once or twice a week. Not only is the human body developing during childhood and therefore needs this type of activity, stress can be greatly decreased with physical movement. Even taking the class outside for a short walk will reduce anxiety.

Keep humor and laughter in the classroom

A good laugh has many effects. Not only does it "lighten your load mentally," (Mayo Clinic, 2016) but it also affects your body. It activates and then cools down your stress response, thus giving you a relaxed feeling. Laughter releases dopamine which reduces stress and increases memory (Mayo Clinic, 2016). Students love to hear personal stories pertaining to things that happened to their teachers when they were students. This also strengthens the bond between them.

Lessons should strive to reach that deeper learning level

Authentic performance tasks and project-based learning actually deepen the student's understanding on both the factual and conceptual levels. If the teacher's goal is simply test preparation, students may have a difficult time applying what they've learned to novel questions or problems. This is why deeper learning is one of the best test preparations a teacher can actually provide to help reduce anxiety.

"When students experience their learning as personally meaningful, their intrinsic motivation strengthens long term, durable memory networks. These are far more accessible for test retrieval (and long-term access) than rote memory" (Willis, 2017). Making the lessons and information meaningful to the students enables the brain to effectively store these memories thus making them easier to retrieve.

Create a "mental suitcase"

Judy Willis, neurologist and classroom teacher, recommended that students could reduce stress and increase their memory by taking a sheet of paper and writing the most important items, formulas, procedures, vocabulary, etc. as a review. Doing this right before taking the test will "... increase their retrieval efficiency when they're not trying to hold that important information in working memory throughout the test" (Willis, 2017).

Visualize a successful performance

Just like Olympic performers, athletes mentally visualize the physical movements they're about to perform. This activates critical motor brain networks. Not only does this activity reduce stress, it increases confidence and "preheats" the memory circuits they'll want to access (Willis, 2017). Have the students visualize how great they're going to do on the test... have them picture how they're going to remember important facts and answers making the experience a very successful activity.

Conclusion:
Stress hijacks the brain when it comes to learning. Therefore, teachers need to be aware of the stress their students are experiencing in the classroom as well as in their personal lives. Although we have little control of what happens outside the classroom, we can provide the support and help they may need to handle these stressful times. By understanding how stress affects learning, teachers can help build their student's emotional resilience as well as activate their highest levels of cognition.

For comments and/or questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at
DrLou@meteoreducation.com

Lou Whitaker, Ed. D.
Brain Junkie

About the Author:
Dr. Lou E. Whitaker has a Bachelor of Science in Education from Northern Illinois University, a Masters in Administration from National-Louis University and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. Having over 35 years of experience in education, she has been a teacher, an assistant principal, a principal, and served as the Associate Superintendent for Schools for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. She is currently an Educational Consultant for Open Minds Enterprises, EdCenter, Global Center for College & Career Readiness, as well as a consultant for MeTEOR Education.

Chosen as one of Dr. Pat Wolfe's Brainy Bunch Members, she has been involved with Dr. Wolfe's continuous study of the human brain. The Brainy Bunch is a group of educators and health professionals who are passionate about brain development and its impact on learning. On a yearly basis, the group invites two outstanding neuroscientists to meet with them and discuss their latest research developments. Then this renowned group of educators, led by Dr. Wolfe, translate neurological research into classroom practice. Dr. Whitaker understands the importance of keeping abreast of what is going on in neuroscience as well as understanding the importance of data-driven best practice research. These are essential for making a positive impact on our students' lives.

Bibliography
Alban, D. (n.d.). Bebrainfit. Retrieved from 12 Effects of chronic stress on your brain: https://bebrainfit.com/effects-chronic-stress-brain/

Bergland, C. (2013, January 22). Cortisol: Why the "stress hormore" is public enemy no. 1. Retrieved November 24, 2017, from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-way/201301/cortisol-why-the-stress-hormone-is-public-enemy-no-1

LeDoux, J. (1996). The emotional brain. New York, NY, USA: Simon & Schuster.

Levy, L. (2014, Octover 13). Edudemic Connecting Education & Technology. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from How stress affects the brain during learning: http://www.edudemic.com/stress-affects-brain-learning/

Mayo Clinic. (2016, Aprl 16). Stress relief from laughter? It's no joke. Retrieved November 24, 2017, from Healthy Lifestyle: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-relief/art-20044456

National Geographic and Sanford University. (2008). Stress; Portrait of a killer. Stanford, CA, USA.

Sanders, R. (2013, April 16). Researchers find out why some stress is good for you. Retrieved November 24, 2017, from Berkeley News: http://news.berkeley.edu/2013/04/16/researchers-find-out-why-some-stress-is-good-for-you/

Sapolsky, R. (1999). Why zebras don't get ulcers. New York, New York, USA: W. H. Freeman and Company.

Smith, E. E. (2013, October 29). Social connection makes a better brain. Retrieved November 24, 2017, from The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/10/social-connection-makes-a-better-brain/280934/

University of California-Irvine. (2008, March 13). ScienceDaily. Retrieved Novemver 22, 2017, from Short-term stress can affect learning and memory: https://sciencedaily.com/reseases/2008/03/080311182434.htm

Willis, J. (2017, April 7). Brain-based strategies to reduce test stress. (edutopia) Retrieved November 21, 2017, from edutopia: https://www.edutopia.org/article/brain-based-strategies-reduce-test-stress-judy-willis

Willis, J. (n.d.). edutopia. Retrieved from Brain-Based Learning: The neuroscience behind stress and science: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/neuroscience-behind-stress-and-learning-judy-willis

Wolfe, P. (2010). Brain matters 2nd edition. Alexandria, Virginia, USA: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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Stress: How teachers can help their students cope

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In Part I we examined what was neurologically happening to the brain while under stress. We now understand that stress impedes learning and interferes with memory retrieval. So what can we do about it? The following is a list of suggestions on how teachers can help their students cope with stress.

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50+ Simple Social-Emotional Learning Activities for All Ages

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Teach self-control, emotional awareness, and more by incorporating these easy social-emotional learning activities into your daily routine.

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Shifting your focus away from anxious thoughts to non-threatening things in your immediate surroundings can help your body stop producing stress hormones. This exercise was inspired by the 5-4-3-2-1 technique, developed by a therapist and former pilot to help people conquer a fear of flying.

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Counting Down to Restore Calm in the Classroom

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This simple mindfulness activity can help reset your brain when things get chaotic during the school day.

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Finding Your Place-SEL Takes Center Stage

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Finding Your Place-SEL Takes Center Stage

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Exploring Perceptions About Identity Through Art 

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Exploring Perceptions About Identity Through Art 

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Exploring Perceptions About Identity Through Self-Portraits

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When students learn about each other's identities, it helps them understand their own biases and prejudices, as well as build a space of respect and tolerance for all.

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How can you help your students develop a growth mindset? How can they build resilience and keep trying even when something is hard? Many families are working through these same challenges with their kids at home. And tackling them in partnership with families leads to better outcomes for your students.

Share these social-emotional learning activities with your students' families. You can send them home to families or do an online workshop on how to help kids develop a growth mindset and resilience.

Keep in mind that many families may not have access to a printer. In that case, you can suggest copying these worksheets onto blank pieces of paper.

15 growth mindset questions

These growth mindset questions can help students focus on learning from mistakes, developing new strategies, and persevering even when something's hard. Share them as examples of conversation starters families can use.

Growth mindset action plan

Students who learn and think differently sometimes hyperfocus on mistakes or avoid talking about them. This growth mindset action plan can help them find new ways of approaching challenges. It also reminds kids that mistakes are a normal part of the learning process.

This worksheet helps students get from "I can't" to "I can because _______." Families can use it to help kids think through the reasons they feel like they can't do something - and why it's still important to try.

Try saying something else

As an educator, you know the importance of positive self-talk. Sharing this activity with families can help grade-schoolers find something else to say instead of "This is too hard" or "I give up."

This printable gives examples of phrases that show either a negative, fixed mindset or a positive, growth mindset. Families can help grade-schoolers sort the phrases and choose which ones they want to start using in the future.

A variation of this worksheet for older students encourages them to come up with their own phrases that they could say instead of "I can't." Download it here:

Whether you're using the printable for younger kids or the printable for older kids, it may be emotional for families. So you may want to be more explicit in how to model the positive statements. Consider organizing an online forum where families can discuss what statements resonate with them and how to turn negative statements into positive ones.

Recognizing strengths is just as important as working on challenges, especially for kids who learn and think differently.

This fun activity includes examples kids can use in academic and non-academic areas. Share it with families as a way to help kids identify and focus on their strengths. To save paper, you can suggest making the strips out of cereal boxes or toilet paper tubes.

This printable guides families to create and decorate an accomplishment box to celebrate wins big and small. It includes examples of wins in four key areas: school, home, social skills, and extracurricular activities. Share it with families as a way to increase kids' motivation at home.

About the author

About the author

Trynia Kaufman, MS was the senior manager of editorial research at Understood. She is a former educator and presents nationwide at education conferences.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Christina Armas, MA teaches English as a New Language (ENL) in Queens, New York.

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SEL printables to share with your students' families

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Help your students work on building a growth mindset and resilience at home. Share these social-emotional learning activities with your students' families.

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How to Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment for ELs 

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How to Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment for ELs 

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An important first step in helping English language learners (ELLs) succeed is making them feel welcome in the classroom.

This will:

increase their confidence

make them feel more comfortable in the class

build a foundation for positive relationships with you and their peers.

Here's how you can get started!

The ELL student population includes students who were born in the U.S. and students who have immigrated from another country. For ELLs who have recently arrived in the U.S., they will face the challenge of learning a new language in addition to adjusting to an unfamiliar cultural setting and school system.

On a daily basis, ELLs are adjusting to new ways of saying and doing things. As their teacher, you are an important bridge to this unknown culture and school system.

In the same way that ELLs go through stages of English language learning, they may also pass through stages of cultural accommodation. These stages, however, may be less defined and more difficult to notice. Being aware of these stages may help you to better understand "unusual" actions and reactions that may just be part of adjusting to a new culture.

Euphoria: ELLs may experience an initial period of excitement about their new surroundings.

Culture shock: ELLs may then experience anger, hostility, frustration, homesickness, or resentment towards the new culture.

Acceptance: ELLs may gradually accept their different surroundings.

Assimilation/adaptation: ELLs may embrace and adapt to their surroundings and their "new" culture.

It is also common for students who are learning a new language to be 'silent' for a period of time, when they are listening to the language around them without speaking yet (much as a young child listens to language first before learning to talk). This is considered the first stage of language acquisition.

Patience and creating opportunities for small successes in speaking with you and peers can help build students' confidence. In addition, keep in mind that students' silence could also be a sign of respect for you as an authority - and not a sign of their inability or refusal to participate.

Students may also have experienced trauma or face different kinds of hardship in the U.S. You can better prepare yourself for this possibility by:

Learn more from the following:

This award-winning documentary highlights how the Dearborn, MI public school district is helping its immigrant students succeed. Learn more about this project and see related videos.

Getting to Know Students

Learn how to pronounce students' names correctly

Don't forget to smile and use positive body language!

A lot of communication happens through expressions, body language, and tone. Smiling and using positive body language can go a long way in making students feel welcome and comfortable, particularly if they are newcomers, as seen in the vignette shared by a teacher below.

Build relationships with students

Veteran teachers of ELLs always point to building relationships as the most important step in their work with ELLs. Not only does it increase engagement and support students' later academic success, it also provides invaluable information that can inform your instruction and family engagement.

In addition, it can help build bridges with students who may have particularly unique experiences, such as children in migrant farmwork families or Indigenous students.

See more ideas on how to build these relationships from the following:

Video: Showing students you care

Corpus Christi teacher Christine Price talks about the importance of showing students you care early on.

Identify students' strengths and interests

It's important to remember that ELLs bring lots of strengths, talents, and rich experiences to the classroom. Getting to know students' interests can help:

build rapport

engage students in learning

find connections with new friends.

Families are also an important source of information and are often happy to talk about the activities that their child enjoys. They may also appreciate the fact that their child's teacher is taking an interest in the child's strengths and talents. (This is especially true in special education settings.)

Teacher Omar Salem describes a student who not only sings and dances but manages her own YouTube channel and edits all of the video she posts of her performances.

Video: Using parent letters to get to know my students

Albuquerque teacher Clara Gonzales-Espinoza asks her parents to write her a letter at the beginning of each school year telling her about the child's personality, interests, strengths, and anything else they think she should know. In this interview, Clara speaks more about this strategy and its impact on her relationships with parents and students.

Ensure that students have information about activities and clubs

Make sure that students have information about extra-curricular activities, sports, and clubs related to their interests. You can also encourage them to start their own club within the school.

ELL educator Christine Rowland notes, "Many students find involvement in school clubs and teams to be extremely helpful, as they are often experts in these areas, and they can provide a space where they more easily feel they belong."

Welcoming Students' Language and Culture

Invite students' cultures into the classroom

Encourage ELLs and their families to share their culture with you and your class. Show-and-tell is a good opportunity for ELLs to bring in something representative of their culture, if they wish.

Invite students and families to:

share photographs, visuals, or meaningful artifacts such as flags or mementos

tell a popular story or folktale using words, pictures, gestures, and movements

share information about important holidays or celebrations.

Looking beyond the classroom

Imagine that you are walking into your school for the first time as a parent.

What do you see on the walls?

If your first language weren't English, would you see signs in your language?

Would you see flags, maps, or books representing your home country?

Would you see your child's work on display in the hallway?

If you think more could be done to make families feel welcome, consider:

sharing some ideas with colleagues or administrators and taking small steps that you can point to as successes

looking for opportunities to celebrate all families and their languages, customs, and cultures, whether in the classroom or at a school-wide event

keeping a lookout for a special part of their lives that other families might appreciate getting to know.

See more ideas in the following:

Video: What happened when the students realized the Yemeni flag wasn't on stage

ELD Specialist Diana Alqadhi tells the story of some students who realized that the Yemeni flag was not featured prominently enough on stage before a school show.

Invite students' languages into the classroom

Label classroom objects to allow ELLs to better understand their immediate surroundings. These labels will also assist you when explaining or giving directions, and it gives peers an additional opportunity to learn some words in their classmates' language.

Start with everyday items, such as "door/puerta," "book/libro," and "chair/silla."

You may wish to ask students who can write in their first language or family members to help you with this project.

You can also invite students to teach the class some words from their home language.

Learn more about the resources available in students' home languages

Students benefit from support in their home language - what Dr. Fred Genesee calls their " most valuable resource." You have may have access to learning material in students' languages, or you may be able to find resources that support those languages.

Language access for multilingual families

In addition, it's critical to understand what language access resources you have available through your school and district, particularly for communication with families. Keep in mind that all families have a legal right to information in their home language. Family liaisons, interpreters, ESL teachers, or administrators may have more information about what language access resources are available in your district.

Video: What Do School Districts Need to Know About Language Access?

This helpful overview about what language access means for school districts is a great introduction to the requirements, best practices, and funding streams related to language access in public education. This interview features Dr. Jennifer Love, the Supervisor of Language Access and Engagement in Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland.

Video: Language Access for Multilingual Families

What does appropriate language access mean for multilingual families? This interview also features Dr. Jennifer Love.

Ensure your students see themselves reflected in the classroom

Ask yourself if students can see representations of their culture, race, gender, and other aspects of identity reflected in your:

classroom materials and library

lesson plans and activities

classroom visuals (both in-person and virtual).

In addition:

Success in the Classroom

Encourage your students

Some ELLs may not answer voluntarily in class or ask for your help even if they need it. ELLs may smile and nod, but this does not necessarily mean that they understand. Offer one-on-one support and encouragement as much as possible. For convenience, it may be helpful to seat ELLs near your desk.

Assign a buddy

Identify a classmate who will make a good buddy for new students - someone who is friendly, patient, and a good communicator to be a buddy. This student can make sure that the new student understands what he or she is supposed to do during class activities. It is helpful if the peer partner knows the ELL's first language, but not necessary. However, remember to never use another student as an interpreter in any situation.

Learn more about ways to increase peer interaction and collaboration in these related strategies.

Ask the class how they can help welcome new students

Ask students to brainstorm ways to help ELLs in particular. You may wish to make a list of ideas on how to welcome new students at the beginning of the year so that students have these strategies in mind if a student comes with little advance notice.

Be vigilant about health issues, dietary concerns, and allergies

Students may have specific health issues or dietary restrictions due to health, cultural, or religious reasons. Be sure that you learn all essential information you need to know about student health and diet from parents or guardians. For ELLs, be sure to confirm and clarify this information with the help of interpreters.

If you learn information about a student that would be helpful for other staff to know, particularly regarding health or food allergies, talk with administrators about how to keep the child safe. In addition, be sensitive to cultural or religious norms, such as fasting for religious reasons.

Keep an eye out for signs of culture shock

Moving to a new country and leaving a familiar life, relatives, friends, and language behind can be traumatic for children in the best of circumstances. Those challenges are compounded if children have experienced trauma, violence, or upheaval. Learn more about how culture shock can impact students in the classroom and affect student behavior so that you recognize signs if newcomers act out.

Encourage students to take ownership of the classroom culture

Ask students to answer the following questions through drawings or written responses.

How can I be a good classmate to others?

What are examples of unkind or disrespectful behavior in the classroom?

To support ELLs in their discussions of these questions:

Encourage students who speak the same language to discuss their ideas in groups.

Provide scaffolded materials such as graphic organizers, sentence stems, and sentence frames.

Use a picture book to talk about different kinds of behavior with students.

Create a shared set of classroom expectations together

Return to your earlier discussion of what a respectful classroom looks like.

Brainstorm ideas on possible class rules based on that discussion.

Streamline the list of class guidelines or rules.

Add any rules or guidelines that are missing.

In order to establish appropriate consequences for disrespectful behavior, you may wish to come up with ideas with the class or determine those consequences yourself.

Post the final list classroom rules in the classroom.

Translate the rules into ELLs' native languages so that they can keep the list handy and share it at home.

To see an example of this proces in action, take a look at ELL expert Carol Salva's process for developing a community contract each year.

Help your ELLs understand expectations for the classroom

ELLs may need some extra support in understanding expectations for classroom behavior. Helping them understand these expectations can avoid misunderstandings, discipline problems, and feelings of low self-esteem.

At the same time, it's important to remember that students bridging two cultures may need guidance which behaviors are appropriate in which setting (such as eye contact, physical proximity, etc.). If you have questions, talk with a cultural liaison in the school to learn more about appropriate responses and ideas for helping students navigate a new culture. You can also learn more about cultural norms of your students, particularly related to schooling, to help inform your approach.

Here are a few strategies that you can use in class:

Use visuals like pictures, symbols, and reward systems to communicate your expectations in a positive and direct manner.

Physically model language to ELLs in classroom routines and instructional activities. ELLs will need to see you or their peers model behavior when you want them to sit down, walk to the bulletin board, work with a partner, copy a word, etc.

Be consistent and fair with all students. Once ELLs clearly understand what is expected, hold them equally accountable for their behavior.

Post a daily schedule. Even if ELLs do not yet understand all of the words that you speak, it is possible for them to understand the structure of each day. Whether through chalkboard art or images on Velcro, you can post the daily schedule each morning. By writing down times and having pictures next to words like lunch, wash hands, math, and field trip, ELLs can have a general sense of the upcoming day.

Finally, remember ELLs can make unintentional "mistakes" as they are trying hard to adjust to a new cultural setting. They are constantly transferring what they know as acceptable behaviors from their own culture to the U.S. classroom and school. Be patient as ELLs learn English and adjust - and remember that you will learn a lot from this experience too!

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How to Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment for ELLs

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An important first step in helping English language learners (ELLs) succeed is making them feel welcome in the classroom. This will: increase their confidence make them feel more comfortable in the class build a foundation for positive relationships with you and their peers. Here's how you can get started!

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Culturally Responsive School Checklist & Goals

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Culturally Responsive School Checklist & Goals

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Social-Emotional Learning Framework: Essential Actions to Achieve Equity for Multilingual Learners

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Social-Emotional Learning Framework: Essential Actions to Achieve Equity for Multilingual Learners

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Effects of a Culturally Adapted SEL Program 

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Effects of a Culturally Adapted SEL Program 

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Vol. 78

No. 6

Abstract

Opposing SEL Mindsets

In Need of Collective Healing

An Antiracist Approach to SEL

Freedom-Dreaming for an Antiracist Future

Done poorly, SEL faces the risk of becoming "white supremacy with a hug."

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Credit: Neil Webb / IKON IMAGES

Abstract

Opposing SEL Mindsets

In Need of Collective Healing

An Antiracist Approach to SEL

Freedom-Dreaming for an Antiracist Future

As a college student in Vermont more than 15 years ago, I took a child development course as one of the requirements of the teacher education program. In that class, my peers and I learned about the stages of childhood development as well as the social, emotional, and academic supports necessary for students to thrive.

I remember what happened one day, in particular. My best friend, Alicia Hernández, a Honduran woman, and I rushed into class just in time after running from another campus building a mile away. We took front-row seats next to each other so that we would not disrupt our classmates with our almost-late arrival. As was customary, our instructor, a white woman, took attendance before her lecture.

Since Alicia's last name begins with an H, the instructor called her name before mine.

"Alicia Hernández," the instructor read, anglicizing the pronunciation of my friend's name.

Busy rustling through her bookbag for a notebook and pen, Alicia did not hear her name, leaving our instructor to scan the room looking for an Alicia Hernández. When the instructor's gaze landed in our direction, she looked at both of us, and without skipping a beat, said, "One of you two."

With a roomful of white classmates, she assumed that one of us had to be the obvious owner of the Central American surname.

Our instructor called the next name after Alicia's and proceeded as if she had not just insulted us, as if she had not just reduced us to a blob of one-of-you-two.

I could not concentrate for the rest of the period. My heart raced. My body grew tense. My mind filled with questions: How come she didn't make an effort to learn our names after four weeks of taking attendance? Why did she think it was acceptable to diminish our individuality? When will these public assaults, these public erasures, stop?

With her actions, our instructor communicated to us and our classmates that, like her, they did not need to learn our names. They did not need to get to know us. They did not need to regard us as more than one of the two girls of color in a sea of whiteness.

Opposing SEL Mindsets

While my instructor taught us the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) in child development, she was not culturally competent. She illustrated how an educator could be well-versed in textbook SEL practices and still inflict harm on students. Simply put, to be effective equity-centered educators, we cannot be emotionally intelligent without being culturally responsive (Simmons, 2019a).

That college experience, along with many others from my schooling and work life, exemplifies why SEL faces the risk of becoming white supremacy with a hug if we do not apply an anti-oppressive, antiracist lens (Madda, 2019; Simmons, 2019b).

Through my work with school districts nationally, I have learned that some educators share distinct reasons for implementing SEL depending on who their students are. In mostly Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) school districts, SEL is often about compliance and control. SEL then becomes another way to penalize and police BIPOC youth for their non-whiteness and to justify their supposed inferiority for lacking "these necessary skills" (Kaler-Jones, 2020; Simmons, 2019c). What is even more perverse is the implicit belief that SEL skills are exactly what BIPOC students need to function in underresourced classrooms and to smile through the pain of racism. On the other hand, for white, privileged students, SEL is about supporting college and career readiness. These opposing mindsets lead to different practices and outcomes, which ultimately perpetuate a racial hierarchy that positions white students on top.

As we confront our country's sin of racism, we must acknowledge that our nation's schooling has always been an education in whiteness (Brooks & Theoharis, 2018), which manifests as textbooks lauding white heroes, excuses about too few "qualified" BIPOC teacher candidates, dress codes that criminalize Black hair, productivity over people, and well-meaning educators who correct Black diction but claim color-blindness. In this context, any curriculum, policy, or practice in our nation's schools that is not deliberately and actively combating racism, bias, and oppression can easily be used as a weapon to put BIPOC students in their place.

Relatedly, the overwhelming number of articles that cite SEL as critical to employability (Committee for Children, 2016) also puts white hegemony on display. It seems we cannot talk about SEL without talking about what we deem, in a narrow sense, as employable and professional. For me, that has always meant talking white, dressing white, and acting white-unspoken rules I have learned on my educational and professional journeys. If we laud SEL for how it supports youth with career, business, and economic success, we must also reckon with our blind obsession with capitalism and its relationship with the white supremacy upon which it was built. We can still prepare students for future success without diminishing their identities, without sending them the message that there is only one way to be successful. We have to begin to open our minds to the possibility of genius outside of whiteness.

SEL that fails to address our sociopolitical reality and combat racial and social injustice will not prepare our young people for the world they will inherit-one fraught with hate, misunderstanding, and bigotry. SEL alone will not keep politicians from making laws that disenfranchise BIPOC communities. SEL alone will not keep educators from suspending BIPOC children at disproportionate rates. SEL alone will not keep teachers from having low expectations for BIPOC students. SEL alone will not prevent cops from killing BIPOC people. If SEL alone were the magic bullet, perhaps George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Walter Wallace Jr. would still be alive today. We need more for our collective healing.

Is SEL, alone, enough to provide this? Absolutely not.

In Need of Collective Healing

Over the past year, there has been much talk about the importance of SEL in schools as a necessary response to our pandemic reality. There has been an influx of stand-alone courses about managing stress and anxiety, pushes for educators to focus on self-care, and free student resources offering mindfulness strategies for the uncertainty. As a long-time proponent of SEL, I could not be happier.

However, as we embrace this new urgency, we must address not only the trauma of COVID-19 but also that of racism. Pushing for "neutral" SEL only aims to protect white comfort. That is, courses that teach educators how to manage stress and anxiety without speaking to the stress and anxiety stemming from racism disregard the experiences of BIPOC people and contribute to the trauma of erasure. Likewise, pushing for teacher self-care without also advocating for school systems to value teacher health and well-being puts the onus on educators, making collective care nearly impossible. And asking students to practice deep-breathing in response to systemic oppression is simply offensive.

Collective healing starts with committing to eradicating our country's wound of racism and not looking away, sanitizing history, or advocating for neutrality. It means taking a stand against the injustices we witness in our districts, schools, and classrooms, whether that happens through community organizing, peaceful protest, or speaking up in-the-moment. It means creating space for processing the collective traumas of the pandemic, racism, and other forms of oppression in our school communities. It means abolishing white supremacy culture from our schools to prevent the constant spirit-murdering of BIPOC students, educators, and families. It means implementing culturally and contextually responsive practices. It means prioritizing care through partnering with community therapeutic providers and building healing-centered practices into the fabric of schooling. It means ensuring equity, justice, and humanity in our teaching and learning. And it means loving and honoring BIPOC members in our school communities, not just saying we do.

An Antiracist Approach to SEL

Last June, while in quarantine, I became the victim of a hate crime. Shattered, I had no choice but to focus on my healing. I reflected on what was important to me, what inspired me, and what made my spirit feel most whole. In the process, I rediscovered my voice, the one that had been tone-policed, silenced, and punished for the past six years because it was, as I was told, "too strong" and "too powerful."

As part of my healing journey, I left my job, in the middle of a pandemic. I needed my voice to ring louder than other people's doubts, slights, and limitations. I left so that I could save myself, so that I could dream. And I left so that I could invest my time into changing the very system that failed me and is failing so many others.

For me, that has led to the development of LiberatED , a new program that takes an anti-racist approach to SEL and healing. Instead of assuming what people need, the LiberatED team and I are connecting with school communities through a listening tour to collect stories, needs, and ideas about healing, SEL, racial justice, and abolitionism. From what we learn from educators, families, and students during the listening tour, we will create resources, curricula, and training. In this way, LiberatED will become a community-generated, student-centered approach to SEL, racial justice, and healing. In our preliminary conversations with school leaders, we have learned that educators have great interest in implementing SEL and diversity, equity, and belonging (DEB) practices in their districts. However, many do not know where to begin or how, especially as it relates to racial justice. Above all, schools want to do well by their students, but I remain steadfast in my belief that good intentions are not enough. While the interest in SEL and DEB work is heartening, interest does not always result in action. We need to start our racial justice journeys now.

To this end, I invite educators to start a practice of reflecting on their identity, positionality, power, and privilege. Had my college instructor understood the damaging effects of her white-centered perspective, perhaps she would have called Alicia's name again and waited for a response. Perhaps she would have admitted to the class that she was still learning names. Perhaps she would not have left Alicia and me scarred with her nonchalant erasure. Bound to white supremacy's need for urgency and productivity (Western States Center, 2003), my instructor breezed through attendance in her desire to be efficient. However, there is a tension between equity and efficiency. Equity takes more time. Efficiency saves time, but at what cost?

Additionally, schools could collect data and devise action plans from their own listening tours about what belonging means for their school communities, especially since many of us are physically apart this school year. In the process of transforming how we teach for our new virtual and hybrid settings to build connectedness and engage students, we could check in with our students through surveys and one-on-one conversations to ensure we are meeting their needs.

Though we are already exhausted and overwhelmed with so many pressures related to the pandemic, we still must find the time to take inventory of our curricula, pedagogy, and policies to ensure they prioritize student safety and belonging. That is, affirming our BIPOC educators, students, and families must be a part of every pandemic-safety plan. This moment calls for developing partnerships with community organizations to support children and adults with healing, SEL, mental health resources, food security, and basic needs.

Freedom-Dreaming for an Antiracist Future

So much time has passed since that college experience. Yet I still shudder at the memory of my instructor's reduction of my individuality. Too many others have a collection of similar reductions, similar scars, from well-meaning educators, whose unchecked privilege and a lack of cultural competence harmed them. The field of SEL cannot similarly fall victim to this pattern. We cannot rely solely on good intentions, on how we teach empathy, without being self and socially aware enough to interrogate how such a kind field could perpetuate white supremacy culture.

Ultimately, my hope is that, through projects like LiberatED and through schools committing to racial justice and collective healing, we can begin to dismantle structural, institutional, and individual practices that harm young people, that inhibit their optimal social, emotional, and academic development. Educators and students deserve to express themselves freely without fear, to be treated with respect and valued, to feel safe, and to go to schools that challenge bias, discrimination, and oppression.

As I've written before, the pandemic is our equity check, our opportunity to do and be better. LiberatED is one part of my effort to be and do better, part of my freedom-dream for a future where we are liberated from the burden of hate and oppression, where we are all free to live and learn in the comfort of our own skin.

References

Brooks, J. S., & Theoharis, G. (Eds.). (2018). Whiteucation: Privilege, power, and prejudice in school and society. New York: Routledge.

Committee for Children. (2016). Why social and emotional learning and employability skills should be prioritized in education. Seattle, WA.

Kaler-Jones, C. (2020, May 7). When SEL is used as another form of policing. Communities for Just Schools Fund.

Madda, M. J. (2019, May 15). Dena Simmons: Without context, social-emotional learning can backfire. EdSurge.

Simmons, D. (2019a). You can't be emotionally intelligent without being culturally responsive: Why family and consumer sciences must employ both to meet the needs of our nation. Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences, 11(2).

Simmons, D. (2019c, October 4). A call to action for SEL's next 25 years [Conference presentation]. 2019 SEL Exchange, Chicago, IL.

Western States Center. (2003). Dismantling racism: A resource book for social change groups. Portland, OR.

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Done poorly, SEL faces the risk of becoming "white supremacy with a hug."

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An update on social and emotional learning outcome research

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An update on social and emotional learning outcome research

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An examination of four meta-analyses of SEL programs found multiple positive outcomes in the short and long term for participating students.
In recent years, it has become commonplace among American educators to argue that if schools aim to prepare young people for life in today's complex and diverse world, then they must provide instruction in more than just academic content and skills (in English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and other subject areas). Social and emotional learning (SEL), too, is critical to students' long-term success in and out of school, and it merits careful, sustained attention throughout K-12 education (Bridgeland et al., 2013; DePaoli et al., 2017; Weissberg et al., 2015).

Already, thousands of schools within and outside the United States have implemented SEL programs (Humphrey, 2013; Weissberg & Cascarino, 2013), and many U.S. state departments of education have issued, or are in the process of issuing, standards for the development of specific SEL skills at each grade level (Dusenbury et al., 2015). So, too, have many federal, state, and local policy makers become willing to provide funding support for SEL programs.

Although SEL has been conceptualized in various ways, it can broadly be understood as the processes through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to manage their emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions (Weissberg & Cascarino, 2013). More specifically, Roger Weissberg and colleagues (2015) have identified a set of five core clusters of social and emotional competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.

These competencies are thought to facilitate students' academic performance, positive social behaviors, and social relationships during the school years; reduce behavior problems and psychological distress, and help to prepare young people to succeed in college, work, family, and society (Elias, 2014; Jones & Kahn, 2017). As illustrated in Figure 1, scholars and advocates believe that SEL programming is likely to have both immediate and longer-term benefits for young people, both in school and later life.

However, educators and policy makers may wonder whether researchers have documented the effectiveness of SEL programs in bringing about these positive outcomes. To answer this question, we've examined four large-scale meta-analyses on student outcomes related to participating in school-based SEL programs. (A meta-analysis is a statistical method of synthesizing many previous efforts to measure the effectiveness of a given program; it's a way of pooling together all of the available research findings and boiling them down to a single, overall assessment.) The sum total of the existing evidence, we found, strongly suggests that SEL programs do, in fact, have significant benefits for participating students.
Results from four meta-analyses
The first meta-analysis (which has received considerable attention from educators, policy makers, and the popular media) synthesized the findings from studies of 213 school-based, universal SEL programs, including outcomes data for more than 270,000 students from kindergarten through high school (Durlak et al., 2011). Two major findings stood out:

Compared to control students, students participating in SEL programs showed significantly more positive outcomes with respect to enhanced SEL skills, attitudes, positive social behavior, and academic performance, and significantly lower levels of conduct problems and emotional distress.

The higher academic performance of SEL program participants translated into an 11 percentile-point gain in achievement, suggesting that SEL programs tend to bolster, rather than detract from, students' academic success.

This review also indicated that SEL programs managed by teachers and other school staff consistently yielded positive results, and it highlighted the role of careful program implementation in ensuring positive student outcomes. It also identified several priorities for further research, including studies of longer-term effects of participating in SEL programs and research into the effectiveness of programs outside the United States. Finally, because the review was limited to research findings available through the end of 2007, the authors also called for follow-up analyses of newer data.

Since the publication of that first study, three additional meta-analyses have been conducted (Sklad et al., 2012; Taylor et al., 2017; Wiglesworth et al., 2016). All three echoed the earlier one's major findings: When researchers synthesized results from hundreds of existing studies in this area, they found that students who participated in SEL programs saw greater gains in SEL competencies and academic performance relative to students who did not participate. Further, not only did these three meta-analyses touch on newer research findings, but they also included more international comparisons and more information on both the immediate and longer-term benefits of SEL programs. In short, they provide a useful complement to and extension of the earlier work. The fact that independent research teams from the United States and Europe have replicated positive outcome findings from many experimental-control group evaluations involving several hundred thousand K-12 students offers strong support that well-implemented SEL programs are beneficial for children and adolescents.
Detailed findings
All four of the meta-analyses addressed the following domains:

SEL skills, such as identifying emotions, goal setting, self-management, problem solving, conflict resolution, refusal skills, and decision making.

about self, school, and social topics including self-perceptions (e.g., self-esteem, self-concept, self-
efficacy), school bonding, drug use and violence, and helping others.

Positive social behaviors, such as getting along with others, helping others, showing concern for others, empathy, prosocial problem solving, peace building, and cooperation.

Conduct problems, including disruptive classroom behavior, fighting, hurting others, verbal aggression, bullying, discipline referrals, and delinquent acts.

Emotional distress, such as depression, anxiety, stress, and social withdrawal.

Academic performance, including reading and math achievement, standardized test scores, school grades, and academic competence from teacher ratings.

At the same time, while all four meta-analyses touched on these six domains, and while they reached similar conclusions overall, they also differed in one respect: Two of them focused on the short-term effects of SEL programs, synthesizing data (from 255 different research reports) collected shortly after students concluded a program (Durlak et al., 2011; Wiglesworth et al., 2016), and the other two focused on longer-term effects, using data (from 129 different reports) collected at various follow-up periods - Marcin Sklad and colleagues (2012) reviewed 75 studies, covering 2008 and earlier, that assessed outcomes at least seven months after the initial SEL program had ended, and Rebecca Taylor and colleagues (2017) reviewed studies conducted through 2014, with follow-up periods that varied from 56 to 195 weeks. (Table 1 presents some of the main features of these two pairs of reviews.)

Tables 2 and 3 summarize the findings focusing on short-term outcomes (referred to as "post," for data collected immediately post-intervention) and longer-term outcomes (referred to as "follow-up," for data collected later on). Where mean effect sizes are positive, this reflects the superior performance of students participating in SEL programs relative to similar students who did not (referred to as "controls").

As shown in Table 2, the two analyses focusing on the immediate effects of SEL programs (Durlak et al., 2011; Wiglesworth et al., 2016) found statistically significant benefits for participating students. When student outcomes were measured later on (Sklad et al., 2012; Taylor et al., 2017), the effects were not as strong overall, meaning that they tended to fade to some extent over time - this isn't surprising, though; studies of all types of educational interventions tend to find that short-term effects are stronger than longer-term effects. Leading researchers and educators recommend that SEL programming will be most beneficial when it is implemented in planned, ongoing, systemic ways from preschool through high school (Berman et al., 2018; Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2017; Jones & Kahn, 2017; Weissberg et al., 2015).

Two of the follow-up findings are particularly notable, though. First, the follow-up effects are quite strong in one domain: academic achievement. The results in this area (mean effects of 0.26 and 0.33), represent an 11 percentile-
point gain in achievement, over the long term, for students who participated in SEL programs relative to those who did not. To put it another way, SEL programs appear to have as great a long-term impact on academic growth as has been found for programs designed specifically to support academic learning (Hill et al., 2008). Second, the study by Taylor and colleagues (2017) found that the best predictor of the strength of students' long-term gains was the strength of their short-term SEL gains. That is, where students saw large immediate gains in their social and emotional skills, the learning tended to be relatively sticky, fading to a lesser degree over time.

Altogether, the meta-analyses we studied contain outcome data from 356 research reports summarizing short- and long-term effects for hundreds of thousands of K-12 students in a range of SEL programs within and outside the United States. With these findings, three different research groups - based not just in the United States (Durlak et al., 2011; Taylor et al., 2017) but also the United Kingdom (Wiglesworth et al., 2016) and The Netherlands (Sklad et al., 2012) - have independently reached the same general conclusion about universal school-based SEL programs: They produce positive benefits for participating students on a range of behavioral, attitudinal, emotional, and academic outcomes that are evident both immediately after the intervention and during various follow-up periods, depending on the specific outcome in question.

In a recent national survey, school administrators called for additional data on the link between SEL and student academic performance (DePaoli et al., 2017). We can report that all four of these meta-analyses showed significant, positive connections between participation in universal, school-based SEL programs and student academic performance over the short and longer term. Given the consistent and enduring nature of this association, we believe that the expansion of SEL programming in low-performing schools is warranted (AEI/Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity, 2015) and that teacher preparation programs should include serious attention to SEL (Schonert-Reichl et al., 2017).

Critics might point out that the findings included in the 2017 meta-analyses are dated already, since they include only studies that were concluded by 2014. However, a lag time of a few years is typical of meta-analysis, given the amount of time it takes to survey and collect the existing research studies, do the analyses, conduct the peer review process, and go through the usual publication timeline. It is worth noting, though, that individual studies appearing up through at least the fall of 2017 have continued to report positive effects for SEL (e.g., Duncan et al., 2017; Miller et al., 2017; Muratori et al., 2017).

Overall, then, current data indicate that SEL programs are both feasible and effective in a variety of educational contexts in many countries around the world. SEL is neither a fad nor a flash in the pan but represents a useful way to improve students' social and emotional skills, which are associated with several positive behavioral and academic outcomes.
Directions for future research, practice, and policy
The meta-analyses discussed here use statistical methods to study the effectiveness of diverse SEL programs, grouping together approaches that differ from one another in the specific skills they target, the nature of the instruction, the duration, and the kinds of students participating. Thus, it will be important for future research to pursue a couple of narrower questions: What type of program is most effective for promoting which particular SEL skills and attitudes in the short and long term for which students, and what are the specific components of each program that account for its impacts?

Further, we also need research into the implementation, wide-scale dissemination, continual monitoring, improvement, and sustainability of SEL programs that have demonstrated their initial value. For example, how can we increase the capacity of schools to conduct SEL programs and assess what they have done? And how can we best align educational policies and funding so that more schools are able to offer SEL programs? In effect, we need to create better synergy among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. Doing so will require that multiple stakeholders (policy makers, funders, educators, researchers, families, and community members) work together to ensure that as many students as possible benefit from well-conceptualized and well-implemented SEL programs.
References
AEI/Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity. (2015). Opportunity, responsibility, and security: A consensus plan for reducing poverty and restoring the American dream. Washington DC: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy and the Brookings Institution.

Berman, S., with Chaffee, S., & Sarmiento, J. (2018). The practice base for how we learn: Supporting students' social, emotional, and academic development - Consensus statements of practice from the Council of Distinguished Educators. Washington, DC: National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, The Aspen Institute.

Bridgeland, J., Bruce, M., & Hariharan, A. (2013). The missing piece: A national teacher survey on how social and emotional learning can empower children and transform schools. Washington, DC: Civic Enterprises and Hart Research Associates for CASEL.

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (2017). Key implementation insights from the Collaborating District Initiative. Chicago, IL: Author.

DePaoli, J.L., Atwell, M., & Bridgeland, J. (2017). Ready to lead: A national principal survey on how social and emotional learning can prepare children and transform schools. Washington, DC: Civic Enterprises and Hart Research Associates for CASEL.

Duncan, R., Washburn, I.J., Lewis, K.M., Bavarian, N., DuBois, D.L., Acock, A.C., . . . & Flay, B.R. (2017). Can universal SEL programs benefit universally? Effects of the Positive Action Program on multiple trajectories of social-emotional and misconduct behaviors. Prevention Science, 18, 214-224.

Durlak, J.A., Weissberg, R.P., Dymnicki, A., Taylor, R.D., & Schellinger, K.B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82, 405-432.

Dusenbury, L.A., Zadrazil Newman, J., Weissberg, R.P., Goren, P., Domitrovich, C.E., & Mart, A.K. (2015). The case for preschool through high school state learning standards for SEL. In J.A. Durlak, C.E. Domitrovich, R.P. Weissberg, & T.P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook for social and emotional learning: Research and practice (pp. 532-548). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Elias, M.J. (2014). Social-emotional skills can boost Common Core implementation. Phi Delta Kappan, 96 (3), 58-62.

Hill, C.J., Bloom, H.S., Black, A.R., & Lipsey, M.W. (2008). Empirical benchmarks for interpreting effect sizes in research. Child Development Perspectives, 2, 172-177.

Humphrey, N. (2013). Social and emotional learning: A critical appraisal. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Jones, S.M. & Kahn, J. (2017). The evidence base for how we learn: Supporting students' social, emotional, and academic development - Consensus statements of evidence from the Council of Distinguished Scientists. Washington, DC: National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, The Aspen Institute.

Miller, C.F., Kochel, K.P., Wheeler, L.A., Updegraff, K A., Fabes, R.A., Martin, C.L., & Hanish, L.D. (2017). The efficacy of a relationship building intervention in 5th grade. Journal of School Psychology, 61, 75-88.

Muratori, P., Bertacchi, I., Giuli, C., Nocentini, A., & Lochman, J.E. (2017). Implementing Coping Power adapted as a universal prevention program in Italian primary schools: A randomized control trial. Prevention Science, 18, 754-761.

Schonert-Reichl, K.A., Kitil, M.J., & Hanson-Peterson, J. (2017). To reach the students, teach the teachers: A national scan of teacher preparation and social and emotional learning. Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia.

Sklad, M., Diekstra, R., De Ritter, M., Ben, J., & Gravesteijn, C. (2012). Effectiveness of school-based universal social, emotional, and behavioral programs. Do they enhance students' development in the area of skill, behavior, and adjustment? Psychology and Schools, 49, 892-909.

Taylor, R., Oberle, E., Durlak, J.A., & Weissberg, R.P. (2017). Promoting positive youth development through school-based social and emotional learning interventions: A meta-analysis of follow-up effects. Child Development, 88, 1156-1171.

Weissberg, R.P. & Cascarino, J. (2013). Academic learning + social-emotional learning = national priority. Phi Delta Kappan, 95 (2), 8-13.

Weissberg, R.P., Durlak, J.A., Domitrovich, C.E., & Gullotta, T.P. (2015). Social and emotional learning: Past, present, and future. In J.A. Durlak, C.E. Domitrovich, R.P. Weissberg, & T.P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice (pp. 3-19). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Wiglesworth, M., Lendrum, A., Oldfield, J., Scott, A., ten Bokkel, I., Tate, K., & Emery, C. (2016). The impact of trial stage, developer involvement and international transferability on universal social and emotional learning programme outcomes: A meta-analysis. Cambridge Journal of Education, 46, 347-376.

Citation: Mahoney, J.L., Durlak, J.A., & Weissberg, R.P. (2018). An update on social and emotional learning outcome research. Phi Delta Kappan, 100 (4), 18-23.

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An update on social and emotional learning outcome research - kappanonline.org

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An examination of four meta-analyses of SEL programs found multiple positive outcomes in the short and long term for participating students.

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Social Emotional Learning (SEL), what is it, and why does it matter to educators? As an educator, some of the worst things you can hear a student say is, "This is stupid," or "Why are we learning this?" Think back to when you were in school and the subjects that caused you the most frustration.

You'd likely find some common ground with your students in wishing you were given clear reasons why something was important and how learning a subject or skill would benefit you now, as well as years later. That frustration and finding constructive ways to deal with emotions and interact with one another in respectful ways are just a few of the guiding principles behind social emotional learning, or SEL.

Today, in an ever-diversifying world, the classroom is the place where students are often first exposed to people who hail from a range of different backgrounds, hold differing beliefs, and have unique capabilities. To account for these differences and help put all students on an equal footing to succeed, social and emotional learning (SEL) aims to help students better understand their thoughts and emotions, to become more self-aware, and to develop more empathy for others within their community and the world around them.

Developing these qualities in the classroom can help students become better, more productive, self-aware, and socially-aware citizens outside of the classroom in the years ahead. Learn more about the importance of social emotional learning, as well as its benefits both in and out of the classroom.

Table of contents

1. What is Social Emotional Learning (SEL)?

2. T he Five Social Emotional Learning Competencies

3. How Educators Approach SEL

4. The Benefits of SEL

5. What is Social Emotional Learning Theory?

6. Incorporate Social Emotional Learning in the Classroom

7. Measuring Social-Emotional Learning Impact

8. Why is SEL Important?

What is Social Emotional Learning (SEL)?

Social emotional learning (SEL) is a methodology that helps students of all ages to better comprehend their emotions, to feel those emotions fully, and demonstrate empathy for others. These learned behaviors are then used to help students make positive, responsible decisions; create frameworks to achieve their goals, and build positive relationships with others

The Five Social Emotional Learning Competencies

According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), an organization devoted to students and educators to help achieve positive outcomes for PreK-12 students, SEL involves five core competencies that can be applied in both the classroom, at home, and in students' communities. These five core competencies are:

Self-awareness

To recognize your emotions and how they impact your behavior; acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses to better gain confidence in your abilities.

Self-management

To take control and ownership of your thoughts, emotions, and actions in various situations, as well as setting and working toward goals.

Social awareness

The ability to put yourself in the shoes of another person who may be from a different background or culture from the one you grew up with. To act with empathy and in an ethical manner within your home, school, and community.

Relationship skills

The ability to build and maintain healthy relationships with people from a diverse range of backgrounds. This competency focuses on listening to and being able to communicate with others, peacefully resolving conflict, and knowing when to ask for or offer help.

Making responsible decisions

Choosing how to act or respond to a situation is based on learned behaviors such as ethics, safety, weighing consequences, and the well-being of others, as well as yourself.

How Educators Approach SEL

While SEL isn't a designated subject like history or math, it can be woven into the fabric of a school's curriculum. When educators make academic lessons more personal and relatable to students, students may be more inclined to participate and may be less likely to mentally check out during their subjects. By fostering a sense of empathy, self-awareness, and feelings of safety and inclusiveness in the classroom, SEL can have a positive impact that lasts a lifetime.

There are several different approaches to SEL. Some teachers have a more formally designated portion of the school day devoted to SEL - sometimes taught in homeroom. These lessons become a recurring theme throughout the rest of the school day to help make the core competencies of SEL more real to students.

Teachers may want to have students journal or write about their thoughts and feelings on a particular SEL lesson, or even have younger students partner with an older " buddy classroom " (or vice versa) to help students across different age levels bond or find common ground.

Other teachers work SEL-related lessons into more formal subjects, like math, history, or reading. For instance, examples of SEL-in-action can include assigning a group project where students self-delegate roles to work together for the good of the group, role playing as historical figures to understand the rationale behind a person's actions, or for students to conduct formal interviews with one another to take a pulse-check on current events.

Teachers can also work with students to set goals in areas where they may need improvement and help chart their progress, giving them a measurable way to show their achievement and feel a sense of accomplishment.

The Benefits of SEL

SEL is beneficial to both children and adults, increasing self-awareness, academic achievement, and positive behaviors both in and out of the classroom. From an academic standpoint, students who participated in SEL programs saw an 11 percentile increase in their overall grades and better attendance. On a more individual level, the skills learned within an SEL program have been shown to help students better cope with emotional stress, solve problems, and avoid peer pressure to engage in harmful activities.

Students who are equipped to deal with problems that affect them on a personal level are then better able to navigate the pressures of adult life. A report by the AEI/Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity noted that, "despite their importance to education, employment, and family life, the major educational and social reforms of the K-12 system over the last few decades have not focused sufficiently on the socio-emotional factors that are crucial to learning."

A study published by the American Journal of Public Health used data from the longitudinal, nonintervention subsample of the Fast Track Project, an intervention program designed to reduce aggression in children identified as at high risk for long-term behavioral problems and conduct disorders.

When educators are able to see which students do not grasp the core pillars of SEL, they can better work with them at an early age and help these students develop better self-control, empathy, and other positive qualities. Learning positive behaviors that extend beyond a purely academic level of achievement can help these students develop the "soft skills" required of many jobs, such as teamwork, and ability to understand others, and problem-solving. This can help set these students up for success throughout their school years and beyond.

What is Social Emotional Learning Theory?

Broadly speaking, social and emotional learning (SEL) refers to the process through which individuals learn and apply a set of social, emotional, and related skills, attitudes, behaviors, and values that help direct students. This includes thoughts, feelings, and actions in ways that enable them to succeed in school. However, SEL has been defined in a variety of ways ( Humphrey et al., 2011).

How Do You Incorporate Social Emotional Learning in the Classroom?

There are many ways to incorporate SEL in the classroom. The main idea is to provide an ongoing SEL influence throughout the day. In the beginning, you could start by checking in with students to see how they feel. Another great way is to provide students the opportunity to see how a tricky or troubling situation is being handled. This will give them some ideas on how to handle a tricky situation they may encounter. Utilizing students to role-play in front of the class would be a viable example. Make sure there is a place for students to calm down. This safe space will allow for the student to reflect.

Measuring Social-Emotional Learning Impact

Measuring the impact of implementing SEL inside the classroom goes way beyond just grades. As Dr. Christina Cipriano explains, "When students are struggling and school performance is poor, they are more likely to find school and learning as a source of anxiety, manifesting in diminished self-efficacy, motivation, engagement, and connectedness with school."

As a student is provided the tools associated with SEL, they will have more ownership of their actions, a sense of belonging, and will intrinsically care about their education. A student that has had consistent exposure to SEL is able to manage stress better and reduces the chance for that child to become depressed.

Why is SEL Important?

While SEL has been more formally stood up as a program in preschools throughout all 50 states, very few states have made SEL a designated part of school curriculum at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. To date, only three states have a fully-designed set of standards for SEL programs with benchmarks for students at every grade level from K-12, according to the AEI/Brookings report. These states are Illinois, Kansas, and Pennsylvania.

Because so few states have made SEL a part of their curriculum for K-12 students, statistical evidence showing the benefits of SEL has been anecdotal. However, preschool-age children who were able to participate in an SEL program and learned these principles early on in their school career were able to reap the intended benefits. As more states and schools consider weaving SEL into their curriculum, it can provide educators with more statistically significant evidence of the program's positive impact.

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What is Social Emotional Learning (SEL): Why It Matters | NU

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Social Emotional Learning (SEL), what is it, and why does it matter to educators? As an educator, some of the worst things you can hear a student say is, "This is stupid," or "Why are we learning this?" Think back to when you were in school and the subjects that caused you the most frustration.