1. Addressing Social Emotional Needs
To Maximize Student Success
SEL will be one of four strands of professional development offered along with personalized learning, literacy, and restorative practices, all building on growth mindset. Research shows its impact on achievement. Many school districts have found success imbedding SEL throughout the curriculum.
Presentation developed by Nancy Driscoll & Amanda H. Allen

2. To access this FULL presentation WITH ATTACHED RESOURCES, please visit: bit.ly/intro2SEL2017

3. Let’s start tweeting! #JoCoSoEmo

4. Outcomes for Today’s Session
How does SEL tie into JoCo2020
What is SEL?
Why is it important in a secondary setting?
Preventative Tools / Resources for Implementation
Responsive Tips
Next Steps

5. Think back to your students from last year...
What social emotional factors had an impact on their learning?
E.g. students who didn’t recognize their potential, those with poor self control, impulsive students, etc. How did it impact them? Your classroom?

6. Why Social Emotional Learning (SEL)?
What are the components? How does it work? Etc.

7. What impact would SEL have made on your students from last year?
How would improved SEL skills have made a difference for students? Your classroom? The school climate?

8. What might SEL look like in a Middle or High School?
Reactions?

9. Takeaway Points from Pride Advisory Classes (video)
About the Teacher/Leader:
About the Students/Student Experience
Points to emphasize: Leader knew students, students felt safe, students relied on this space to vent or express themselves each day, leader was comfortable with material, teachers can lead these types of groups without being social workers!

10. More supporting research: Farrington Study 2012
“All students are more likely to demonstrate perseverance if the school or classroom context helps them develop positive mindsets and effective learning strategies.”
Academic perseverance (Grit, Tenacity, Delayed Gratification, Self-Discipline, Self-Control), like that measured in the Farrington study, is very dependent on a student’s mindset in the educational environment (classroom), and teachers have an enormous impact on students’ mindsets.
So is SEL a critical component of educational success? SEL opponent vs. proponent
It’s all about mindset….There was a study conducted in North Carolina in which ninth graders were followed through high school and assessed on their “academic perseverance” measured by credits earned, GPA, attendance, etc. Those whose teachers emphasized growth mindset and social emotional skills showed higher academic perseverance.

11. A good illustration of what students see and don’t see
A good illustration of what students see and don’t see. Consider providing a personal example, e.g. didn’t pass statistics the first time in college? Didn’t make the team at first?

12. What does a growth mindset look like?
I belong in this academic community
My ability and competence grow with my effort
I can succeed
This work has value for me
Too many students come to school believing the opposite. What do your students believe about themselves?
When students say school is boring, they get no respect, they pull up their hoody and sleep, etc., what are they really saying? We used to do sociometric studies: who does the teacher call on? Who does she never call on? Who gets in trouble? Etc. Consider a school opening bell ringer activity such a short quiz or discussion to have students answer these questions. What could some of the questions be? This gives you data about areas to work on to improve student mindset.

13. ...one caring adult away from success
SEL skills reduce high-risk behaviors such as violence and drug use (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2013). CASEL Resource Library
Increases the likelihood of high school graduation, readiness for postsecondary education, career success, positive family and work relationships, better mental health, reduced criminal behavior, and engaged citizenship (Hawkins et al., 2015)
SEL skills build resilience, the ability to persevere. One of the characteristics of resilience is having a relationship with a caring adult. Ask participants for examples from personal or school experience of a caring adult making a difference. Perhaps relate to coaching (sports coach, personal coach, health coach); how does a teacher as “coach” improve learning? “A good coach improves your game, a great coach improves your life” ; Anchor activity: who was your anchor growing up? (on anchor image on paper) How will you be an anchor for someone?

14. So how do we “do” SEL?

15. Preventative Approach...

16. Teach the skills and model their use!
When you know better you do better. Many students have not learned these skills.
How do we know it’s true when we say, “You know better!”
Districts implementing SEL have reported that focusing on the SEL skills of the adults first is critical. We live in a stress-filled world and our profession can be stressful. By improving our own skill-set we are better able to model the skills we want to teach and less likely to demonstrate a “do as I say not as I do” message. What comes to mind when you think of having to teach SEL skills to students? You must walk the walk and talk the talk

17. They don’t care how much you know...
Until they know how much you care
How many times have you heard that? When you remember your favorite teacher, what do you remember about him or her?

18. The Student Perspective
Encourage participants to write down key points. Reactions? Key take aways for middle and high school? Next we’ll be sharing ideas for activities to begin to infuse SEL… This video can be stopped early if needed. ****** you can do when in hallway- lunch - passing in hallway-all kinds of smarts

19. Reflect on your experiences as a student or as an employee.
Under what leadership style are you most productive?
How does this leadership style support your needs being met?
Feeling Safe = Higher Levels of Functioning & Productivity

20. Build Rapport… Take time to learn your students’ stories

21. Family Friends Interests School
Asking open-ended questions related to these 4 concepts can give surprising insight about your students.

22. Questions and length of meetings should be altered to meet your needs.
Minute Meetings offer opportunity to get to know EVERY student in a short amount of time

23. Create a Safe Learning Community
Rules for class including caring for one another
Teach/model inclusion of all needs
Embrace student diversities as assets to your class
Talk about non-verbal responses/reactions from students
Demonstrate active listening skills

24. “Get to Know You” Activities
For more than just the first day of school!

25. Human Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger Hunt Ideas

26. Pointing out nonverbal communications...
Brings self-awareness to students
Can prevent emotions from escalating
Helps students’ understanding of their own emotions
Shows students you are “present” in their learning process
Supports understanding that, “this is a safe space, where I am understood”

27. Bringing Awareness to your own Body Language

28. Now you try!
Turn to your neighbor… What messages are they/you sending? Were you right?
Ask audience to turn to your neighbor and observe their body language. Tell them what their body language is telling you about their emotions/mood. Were you right? Allow them to tell you what your body is telling them. Were they right? What was this activity like for you?

29. Active Listening Skills
Awesome 3 minute read on Active Listening Skills
Video option based on time and needs of specific groups

30. Let’s Practice!
Turn to your neighbor and take turns asking a question or giving a discussion prompt of your choice. Example prompt: “Tell me about your day so far”
Remind everyone to take turns practicing their “active listening” skills around the mid point of your timer.

31. Open Communication = Student Safety Net
“If I’m in distress, I can talk to my teacher”
Teacher Mailbox
“Office Hours” (even time during class transitions helps!)
Open expression journals
Bell Ringer activity / Whole class check-ins / Review agenda for the day

32. Learning to Listen Communication involves both speaking and listening
Conflict arises when no one is listening
Classroom meetings with “talking objects”
Restorative Circles
Using a “talking object” such as a small football, demonstrate its use. Rules are that only the person with the talking object can talk, others must listen. To add a comment to the discussion, you must request the talking object from the person who has it. After several “tosses” of the talking object among the group, process the activity. How did you feel when you had it? How did you feel when you wanted to comment but couldn’t? Did you feel “heard”? Play video from (0:20 to 1:50)

33. Teach Conflict Resolution / Problem Solving
(Try a Conflict Resolution Corner!)

34. Cultivating a Growth Mindset
“Personal Mantras”
Think Positive, I Can Do This, Just Breathe
Quick art activity
Collage on inside of binder
Write on paint sample, add to bookbag or key ring
Create a bracelet with letter beads
Decorate a worry stone

35. Cultivating a Growth Mindset
Create a paper chain of positive affirmations, student goals, classroom milestones, etc. Hang it in the classroom and have students add to it throughout the semester.
Provide colored paper strips and markers or pens. Encourage each participant to write an SEL goal or SEL-related comment on their strip. E.g. I will listen to my students’ stories, relationships matter, we will respect our differences, etc. Pass a stapler among the group so that each participant’s strip can be added, making a chain of all participants. At the end of Equip, all chains will be attached and displayed at the GB as a reminder of the power of SEL.

36. Cultivating a Growth Mindset
Challenge your students to change negative thinking such as “I can’t do math” or “This is too much work!”. Let students create art for your classroom or posters for common areas to reflect better ways of thinking about school and learning.
Share fixed and growth mindset examples. Provide paper on which participants write down common “negative thinking” statements they hear from students, noting the different results by grade and subject. Then encourage participants to re-write the statement from a growth mindset perspective on another sheet of paper. Display the results in a common area of Equip, adding more from each session. Keep the results for a display at the GB.

37. Responsive Tips...

38. How to help when student is in crisis:
Offer method of expression
Remind of problem solving / conflict resolution techniques
Use what you’ve learned! (read nonverbals, utilize active listening)
Use Empathy… you are NOT coming up with solutions to the world’s problems
Pull in your resources

39. School Mental Health Professionals
You are NOT ALONE!
School Mental Health Professionals
A resource for SEL
School Counselors, School Psychologists, School Social Workers, School Nurses

40. Be part of the solution Virtual SEL PLC #JoCoSoEmo
Resource repository (YouTube channel, Pinterest, Google docs, ready-to-use presentations)
“Adjust your own mask before helping children” Visualize "Calm"
Take care of yourself too!