The Value of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in Difficult Times

Senior Program Manager, Ron Franco, leads SEL and STEM activities during Wilderness Leadership School.

As a former high school science teacher, I can tell you that there is always a lot to think about when it comes to planning lessons and managing a classroom. At the forefront of most “teacher-brains” is content: How should I teach this concept? When will I get to that before our standardized tests? Unfortunately, one of the things furthest from my mind was incorporating a comprehensive social emotional learning curriculum when I was trying to find the time, energy, and funds to include more projects; make sure my students did better on standardized tests; and scaffold lessons to suit individual talents and needs.  

COVID-19 has shown us that learning isn’t just about content. It is about feeling connected, being able to communicate, and having a safe space to feel a sense of purpose and belonging.

This post written by Emma García and Elaine Weiss of the Economic Policy Institute showcases why school policies and curricula need to change from focusing solely on content to putting social-emotional learning front and center. Staggering statistics including the fact that mental-health emergency room visits by middle- and high-school aged students have increased by 31% highlight how children need support to deal with their trauma, emotions, and grief.

When schools abruptly closed their doors for two weeks of “remote learning,” students and teachers thought they were in for a mini-vacation. But two weeks turned to four weeks and four weeks turned to four months and here we are, almost two years later still dealing with the turbulence of the pandemic. I tried to help my students cope by giving them hands-on assignments and sending personal emails and messages when they seemed to be falling behind or despondent. One student was a freshman in an honors biology class who was smart, cared about his academics, and provided insight into our daily conversations, until he lost his mom to COVID-19. When I sent an email after I learned of his mom’s passing, he replied that I was the only teacher to do so and that it really meant a lot to him. From then on, I made sure to email him occasionally to check in and give him the opportunity to talk even though I was not a counselor or social worker. I allowed him time and space to grieve and encouraged him to participate in class at a level that was comfortable for him.

The benefits of social emotional learning are undeniable. This brief written by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) in collaboration with The National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention found that SEL programs can have big benefits. After analyzing over 200 studies of different school based SEL programs, they found that participants showed a 9% decrease in conduct problems, such as classroom misbehavior and aggression; a 10% decrease in emotional distress, such as anxiety and depression; a 9% improvement in attitudes about self, others, and school; a 23% improvement in social-emotional skills; a 9% improvement in school and classroom behavior; and an 11% improvement in achievement test scores.  

The Princeton-Blairstown Center (PBC) believes so strongly that social emotional learning should be a priority that it is the basis for our mission. As we all continue to deal with the fallout of the pandemic, SEL programs are not only beneficial, but essential to students’ emotional and academic success. PBC is providing weekly SEL resources for teachers and educators to use in their classrooms or during virtual meetings to help students manage the additional ups and downs they have had to navigate since March 2020. These weekly emails are one way that PBC can provide teachers and others who work with young people with the tools to keep students connected to their peers and caring adults.

Part of a SEL activity provided by PBC to teachers via email during the pandemic

Building Community in an Online Classroom

(Editor’s Note: This post was written by PBC Board Chair, Sarah Tantillo, EdD, who serves as Managing Director of Humanities at the Great Oaks Legacy Charter School in Newark, NJ. She is also the author of Hit the Drum and literacycookbook.com)

Among the many challenges of teaching online is the need to build community in our virtual classrooms.  In the spring when we went remote, we already knew our students and had built strong relationships with them in person.  This fall, we don’t have that advantage.

The teachers I work with at Great Oaks Legacy Charter Schools Network have spent the past month trying out various ways to build community in their middle school Zoom classrooms, and in a recent meeting, they shared what has worked.

Before class starts and in the first few minutes of class:

·       Greet students warmly by name.

·       Engage in mini chit-chat.

·       Invite students to type in the Chat responses to personal questions such as “What are you doing this weekend?  What did you like about ___?  What’s something positive happening in your life?” or other “getting-to-know-you” questions.

·       Run a quick Show and Tell.

·       Do a daily “temperature check” via a Zoom or Nearpod poll (e.g., “How are you feeling? A) Excited, B) Sleepy, C) OK, D) Ehhh, E) Don’t ask.”) and use that data immediately.  For example, if students mostly respond “Sleepy,” get them up to do an energizer—maybe a Dance Minute or a quick “Shake It Out” activity.

During class:

·       Show students’ faces as much as possible.  When you share your screen, students can only see 4-5 faces at a time.

·       Encourage supportive hand signals like “brain-matching.”

·       Give students voice in the classroom through Chat or by unmuting themselves.  Remind students that this is “our” classroom, not a podcast.

·       Put students in breakout rooms for discussions; make sure your directions are clear so that students can jump right in.

·       Make learning “a collaborative thing” as much as possible.

·       Constantly praise students by name for positive behaviors/academic success and encourage them to do the same with one another. Model praise in the Chat.

·       Encourage students to “@Chat”: to respond to one another’s academic remarks (“@Javon, I agree with you!” or “@Amaya, nice explanation!”)

·       Invite students to co-host and share their screens.

·       Establish various roles for students.  Here’s what one teacher introduced in the first week:

o   Time Keeper - Give me a 10-minute warning when class is going to end. I want to respect your time and your breaks!

o   Class DJ - You have to be able to get to class early and play the pump-up tunes before class begins. 

o   Mini Me - You will be in charge of leading the class discussion from whatever the topic of the Do Now is; you get to be the teacher. 

o   I Got This - During class discussions if we reach a point where the conversation gets stale, you will keep the conversation going. 

o   Joy Factor - You will encourage us in the chat and motivate your classmates to speak up and shout them out.

Other things to keep in mind as you move through your lesson:

Students participating in the Center’s Virtual Summer Bridge program complete a mindfulness exercise.

·       Be transparent and show respect for their feelings and ideas that they share.

·       Be honest and straightforward: We are human and we aren’t perfect. 

·       Telling a random joke or making a connection to real life can break the monotony of a lesson and also help students to engage.

·       Play games that tie into the lesson.

At the end of class, stay on for students who have questions or just want to be social for a few minutes.

Since the quarantine began, PBC has been offering resources for educators and families to help them build community and develop students’ social-emotional learning skills. Archives of the resources are hosted on PBC’s COVID-19 and SEL Resources page.

I hope these ideas will help others.  We are all in this together!

Reimagining Summer Bridge Puts 21st Century Skills to the Test

Virtual Summer Bridge…it’s in the bag!

Some examples of items to be included in the “PBC in A Bag” totes - Snacks, Stem and art supplies, books, a Summer Bridge tee shirt, and more!

No, seriously – in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Summer Bridge students will not be on Campus at PBC this year. But for those community partners willing to take a virtual learning journey with us, PBC will offer a Virtual Summer Bridge program throughout the summer via a mix of real-time and self-guided offerings, with all of the materials needed to complete planned activities (along with age-appropriate books, snacks, tee shirts, and other swag) delivered to participants in a PBC tote bag.

In conversation with our partner organizations, it was clear that hosting Sumer Bridge in this virtual format would require extra effort to ensure that students had a chance to truly remain engaged. It had to be expertly tailored to the needs of students who might already be struggling with, confused by, or just plain burnt out on distance learning. We continue to hear that it was a long, confusing, and often-bumpy experience for students, parents, and faculty as they navigated the challenges of teaching and learning in the unfamiliar world of virtual instruction required in the midst of a global pandemic.

With this in mind, the PBC Program Team did significant research and planning to develop the Virtual Summer Bridge curriculum that incorporates a variety of check-ins, challenges, creative outlets, brain breaks, and games. At the same time, the Program Team is preparing to spend time far outside of their own comfort zones by facilitating positive group dynamics and hands-on learning from many physical miles away.

21st Century Skills Illustration.

Courtesy of Battelle for Kids - p21.org

While it certainly isn’t the spring or summer that any of us had hoped for at the beginning of the year, it has repeatedly underscored that young people and adults all need to spend time developing and honing their 21st Century skills. Critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, technology literacy, and flexibility are some of the first things that come to mind when thinking about what we have all needed to manage the stressors and dynamic environment of the present – and future.