In the "Developing Social & Emotional Aspects Of Learning" what spoke to me was the importance of SEL and how it focuses on managing emotions, caring for others, building positive relationships, etc. The biggest takeaway for this article was the benefits of SEL and how research shows programs improve academics, and social behaviors, and reduce emotional distress. Students in SEL programs sometimes perform better academically and socially which is interesting.

The “Developing Social & Emotional Aspects” touches upon this as one of the CASEL Five social and emotional learning skills. Self-awareness is a skill that both teachers and students should work on in order to cultivate the best learning environment possible. If a teacher is stuck in their ways and refusing to change based on the needs of a class or society in general, then it will have a negative impact on their students. The other CASEL Five include self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making and problem solving, which are all vital lifelong skills that will only be stronger the earlier that students learn them. The teacher’s role in creating an environment that promotes these social and emotional skills is crucial; and can relate back to “The Puzzling Child” in that a student is less likely to be misunderstood if the teacher’s approach emphasizes empathy and understanding, especially with learning differences.

What spoke to me in Developing Social And Emotional Aspects was the CASEL Five.  A fundamental set of social and emotional abilities that support performance on a variety of daily tasks has been identified by CASEL. SEL was defined as “the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs to identify and manage emotions; to care about others; to make good decisions; to behave ethically and responsibly; to develop positive relationships and to avoid negative behaviors.” The five are Self-awareness, Self-management, Social awareness, Relationship skills, and Responsible decision. It suggests an approach to developing those abilities as well as a framework for interventions to help them be internalized and applied in different situations over time.

Within the article "Developing Social & Emotional Aspects" what spoke to me most was the statement "...this sets up a reinforcing cycle in which students who try harder, motivate themselves, set goals, effectively manage their stress, make responsible decisions about approaching and engaging in their school work and homework and use sound decision-making to build and keep positive adult and peer relationships and overcome setbacks will indeed accomplish more academically, socially and emotionally". This quote showed me the true importance SEL can have on students and why it is needed in education. Additionally, my biggest takeaway from the article was that promoting SEL in the classroom could be a gateway to success and cause a better work environment in my classroom!

In reading “The Puzzling Child”, I felt my perspective changed on how we can understand children who seem to struggle academically. I thought the example of the “science talk” was very interesting as they found it was a great way for the puzzling students to share their thoughts and express the knowledge in a different way through classroom discourse. My main takeaway from this article is that it is important as educators to understand that every child learns differently and to understand the background of our students rather than just assuming they don’t have the knowledge to do something. For example, as the article stated, we may have students whose primary language at home is not English but in that case we should differentiate and strive to find what helps them to learn. It's important to accommodate to ensure that all students succeed.

In “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning,” the reading discusses the importance of SEL in schools and how it has impacts on student engagement and success. I found it interesting that when disadvantaged students have a school climate that promotes their positive values it can help close the achievement gap. For African American students, these interventions continued to have long-lasting effects, one of which I found extremely interesting was that it affected their GPAs in other courses where the intervention did not occur. (p. 431) Overall, we can see how impactful social and emotional skills can be for students academically and have profound effects on their success. 

In the “Puzzling Child” what spoke to me was the challenging traditional assumptions aspect. In the reading it was discussed that participation within the classroom should not only be counted on the amount of times a student contributes verbally but by engagement on activities in class. My most important takeaway is always making sure each student it on task and understanding the lesson to their full extent by giving them ways to participate in their own manor. Along with giving students differentiated participating ways there were case studies that showed how students learned in their own way.

In the “Developing Social & Emotional Aspects Of Learning” what spoke to me was the importance of social emotional learning within schools and the impact on student engagement. Adding SEL learning in the classroom overall benefits students as they grow and could positively affect them in and out of the classroom. The main focus is building positive relationships, managing emotions and an open classroom community. Adding SEL in the classroom with overall benefit students emotionally and socially.

In the “Puzzling Child” what spoke to me was the assumptions teachers have on students below level or who don’t have that many strengths when it comes to learning.  As I was reading, I did not think Elena was that “weak” in the ability to learn science. She seemed like a student who is not good with numbers or written responses, and I think this because based of her answers it was all visual responses. She was able to see the differences based on visuals and she was able to express her thoughts through visuals as well. When it comes to learning science there are so many things’ kids ask. The approach the teacher took by having the students ask the questions and then they all answer it together was a good idea. It had students who don’t typically talk or engage in conversations engaging and all problem-solving.

In “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning” it talks about the importance of SEL in schools and how it helps students achieve academically and socially. This article talked about the CASEL five. The CASEL five are skill areas that help students achieve and succeed in their academic performance. One of the five CASEL’s that I think is very important for a teacher to have is social awareness, because they need to be able to show empathy and understand the students whether it is their background or their weaknesses in learning. They should be able to connect with their students and if they don’t have this skill then their students won’t be as comfortable to open up. One CASEL skill students should have are relationship skills. They should be able to have the skill of creating great relationships because it’s a skill that they will need for the rest of their lives, when working in groups in and outside of school, being with their friends or later in life when they have a partner.

What are your one big takeaway?

Sometimes you want to have the students come up with the questions that you will be using when teaching. The more students are involved the more they will be able to learn and understand the information while also having fun and engaging with one another. Lesson. Have the students be engaged in it more than you should. Maybe have the students lead the lesson as you listen and follow along?

The most valuable and easy life skills need to be focused more on in schools than the priority that is now. These CASEL five skills need to be used and taught more. Some students are able to learn and achieve more/ better when they have these skills and I think if they learn these skills at a younger age they will be more successful in and outside of school.  

In the "Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning" article, my big takeaway was the 11 percentile point gains in academic achievement for those that participated in a social emotional program in school. This programming led to positive attitudes about the students themselves, their classmates and school in general. It also showed a decrease in problem behavior at school. This is due to the teaching of the CASEL five of SEL learning. The five tenets include self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making and problem solving. When these skills are acquired, the student becomes more likely to achieve at school.

In the article “ developing social and emotional aspects of learning”, the author discusses the importance of social, emotional learning, and how it affects students positively. I appreciate how the author started with the CASEL five, Showing how SEL is also connected to academic achievement because of embodies skills necessary for succeeding in the classroom, in life of school, and family, in the community, and in the workplace (page 424). These five skills: self-awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making in problem-solving, allow for a set of skills, the provide for structure to support SEL. Something that I found very interesting was that that SEL programs reduced various to learning by building students essential learning skills and created positive environment for learning and growth. They describe how the intervention significantly benefited 70% of students who were performing poorly. I also thought it was so interesting how well these positive values and SLE programs can close the achievement gap. 

They’re both of these articles we can see how important it is for teachers to create a positive and understanding classroom environment for students to learn and grow. 

The article, "Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning," emphasizes the value of SEL in schools for both academic achievement and social development. It introduces the CASEL framework, which outlines five key skill areas that contribute to student success. One of these CASEL skills, social awareness, seems particularly important for teachers. This involves understanding students' backgrounds, learning strengths and weaknesses, and showing empathy. By building connections with their students, teachers create a safe space for students to open up and participate. The article also highlights the importance of relationship skills for students. These are lifelong skills that will be used throughout their lives, from collaborating in groups to navigating friendships and future partnerships.

One part of "Developing Social and Emotional Aspects" that I found intriguing was the immense focus on character throughout the article and its relevance to SEL. When I think of SEL, I think of it as an individual reflection period but when I think of character, I feel that it can affect others in the way you approach life. The emphasis on character helps me understand why SEL in education has greater effects on the school community. Additionally, I found the ecological characteristic of successful SEL-related efforts in schools to be interesting. The article mentions that SEL should be in the foundation of education and not seen as an 'add on'. I believe I have grown victim to seeing it as another special or break from work when in reality, it should be at the core of teaching woven into lessons.

In "Developing Social and Emotional Aspects" I was interested in the CASEL Five. This is the process of acquiring skills and knowledge to identify and manage emotions. This process also plays a role in decision making and empathy. The CASEL Five include: self-awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision. I was really interested in self awareness because it is important for students to understand the impact their decisions and actions have on themsevles and others. It is also important to have an understanding of how you function, make decisions, and handle situations. The article talks about how teachers and students need a strong understanding of ones self in order to help create the best learning environment.

In the article, “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning”, it outlines the five key skill areas that lead to student success and the importance of incorporating SEL into the class. Something I found very interesting was “participation in systematic SEL programmes led to an average of 11-percentile-point gains in academic achievement” (431). You would think this would be an obvious outcome, but sometimes this is overlooked. Implementing SEL into your classroom creates a more welcoming environment for students to feel comfortable sharing their ideas, because they know that what they are saying matters, and nobody will judge them.

Something else that I found really interesting came from the “Puzzling Child” article. I noticed how the author was very careful in their words. Rather than referring to a student who doesn’t know something as “struggling” or “dumb,” the responsibility was placed on the teacher. The author says “the talk of those children whose abilities we are not seeing…” (304). This shows that the child is still capable or smart, we as the teacher just can’t see it yet. It made me stop and think because by shifting my mindset, I might be able to help more students reach their potential or find their voice to show what they do know. 

After reading the 2 passages, I found it interesting to learn that from “Developing social and emotional aspects of learning: the American experience” is that Educators are hesitant to prioritize SECD as a key factor for academic success due to a lack of familiarity with its implementation in schools and a lack of SECD and school climate training for future teachers, support personnel, administrators, and school board members. I feel like all teachers should be familiar with any work they need to help the students. If they aren’t familiar with the it, it will fail the students. 

What are your one big takeaway?

the big takeaways from these articles are that more kids participate, the better they will be able to learn and grasp the material while also having fun and engaging in the session. Increasing the kids' engagement in the class will help them comprehend more. The most useful and simple life skills should receive greater attention in schools than they do presently. These CASEL five skills should be utilized and taught more frequently. Some children can learn and achieve more/better when they have these talents, and I believe that learning these skills at a younger age can lead to greater success in and out of school

In the “Developing Social and Emotional Learning” article, what spoke to me the most was the benefits of incorporating SEL into the classroom. Incorporating SEL into the classrooms allows for a more positive and welcoming classroom atmosphere where students feel more encouraged and has been shown to benefit them both academically and socially. 

Overall these two articles have shown me the importance of acknowledging your students needs. In the first article, we discovered that teachers need to be more aware of how complex children's minds are and in the second article we read about understanding the importance of SEL in the classroom. These are two major components that will be beneficial to the growth of your students within the classroom.

One thing that spoke to me is first in the “Developing Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning” article, when the SEL approach to teaching showed positive affects on the students. The quote that specifically stuck out to me was, “SEL implies more than a set of skills; it implies a pedagogy for building those skills and an intervention structure to support the internalisation and generalisation of the skills over time and across contexts.” (424). This quote stuck out to me because this outlook on SEL informed teaching is very important for the design and implementation of certain pedagogical practices. I also agree strongly with this sentence which is another reason why it stuck out to me. I prioritize SEL informed lessons and ideas when it comes to scaffolding and teaching students, so this was an important aspect to this article in my opinion.

In the article, “The Puzzling Child” what stood out to me was the questions that Elena was asking. They were more intuitive, ethical, and personal than expected from a student her age. For example, when she was wondering about the plant, she asked, “‘How would the plant feel’” and “‘How would I feel?’” (308) then she decided to test her hypothesis by moving her body. This level of questioning and testing is more advanced for her age group, and knowing her abilities were even doubted, this becomes very much interesting to me. These questions exemplify the importance of inquiry-based lesson plans to encourage all students to question and test their thinking like Elena.

My biggest takeaway from these articles is to remember to stay present and conscious in each of my students’ lives. By being attentive to student patterns, tendencies, skills, hardships, etc. it can inform my effectiveness in the classroom by designing my lesson around this context and influencing the student in a direction and work load that will be doable for them.

What really spoke to me in Elias' article, “ Developing Social & Emotional Aspects"  was how important social and emotional skills are in a child’s life and in their overall success. These skills are built and it is crucial for a child to be taught them so they can practice and use these skills. With these skills children can do better not only academically but also socially by building relationships with their peers and the community around them. The biggest take away I took from this article is how essential it is to teach these core practices and values to a child at a young age in order to truly set them up for success in life.