Social Emotional Learning

On Our Sleeves at Dayton Children's is on a mission to break mental health stigma and create communities where children are healthy and feel protected. They're providing free resources to empower parents, caregivers, and other adults who connect with children to have conversations and address any mental health challenges that may arise in their daily life.

This school year, On Our Sleeves is launching a community to provide mental health resources specifically for teachers and educators called the classroom champions community. As a classroom champion, you'll receive free worksheets, activities, and tips monthly that you can use yourself or with your classroom. You'll also receive support from the On Our Sleeves experts and the classroom champion community.

I have been getting a lot of questions from Administrators and staff on how to embed SEL into academic instruction. Which is referred to as Implicit SEL Teaching. CASEL has given 3 Signature Practices that can be used in every classroom throughout the day.

The SEL 3 Signature Practices:

• Welcoming Inclusive Activities- involves having a welcoming activity, routine or ritual( warm smiles, greeting each other by name, whole group greetings, morning circles, peer-to-peer help, mindfulness activities)

• Engaging Activities/Strategies(Interactive Pedagogy): includes brain breaks to anchor thinking and learning, throughout learning experiences( turn-to-your-partner, think-pair-share, collaborative activities) should be interactive and reflective-Teacher as Facilitator,Literature Circles, Shared Agreements and Culturally responsive teaching

• Optimistic Closure- highlights an individual and shared understanding of the work(exit ticket, accolades, takeaway to practice and google survey questions)

-SEL 3 Signature Practices Playbook 2019

So to answer the question asked, build in these practices throughout every day as a regular part of daily lesson planning, meeting agendas and professional learning; to create a climate and culture of safety, belonging and effective learning environments.

Brandy Pledgure, MSSA

MCESC-Trotwood Social Emotional Learning Consultant

brandypledgure@trotwood.k12.oh.us.com

Kara Pranikoff is an elementary school teacher at a public school in New York City. Her book, Teaching Talk: A Practical Guide to Fostering Student Thinking and Conversation (Heinemann, 2017), shares many ways to keep the balance of classroom discussion in the hands of the students:

Have discussion in circle every day

It’s said that one way to achieve closeness with others is to eat with them. It’s not just the literal nourishment but the connection which is fostered by close physical proximity. The classroom equivalent is to set aside a space where the whole community can gather and face each other in a circle. This creates an area of inclusion where students can share their thoughts and ideas.

Make space for students to speak and respond to each other independently

Students’ ownership of their shared space requires the ability for them to express their thoughts freely. Speaking in partnership or small groups can be woven into every day so that sharing and building ideas, independent of the teacher, is a regular practice.

Invite the lives of your students into the classroom

Restorative practice honors the full being of each student. For this to happen, students must have the freedom to share what is on their mind. We must embrace the child as a whole, enabling them to express the joys that happen both inside and outside of school, as well as the struggles.

Begin your day together

Each day we transition from our home space with family to our classroom community. By gathering as a whole class first thing every morning, we make a commitment to welcome our day together. We can set our intentions and get our minds ready for what is coming ahead in our shared learning.

Student Services is excited to offer a professional development opportunity for all staff. We hope you will consider taking advantage of this opportunity.

Conscious Discipline is an award-winning 10-session online SEL course. The sessions will guide you through the core methodology of Conscious Discipline, a leader in brain-based social-emotional learning that’s proven to build resilience in children, families, educators and schools. Conscious Discipline will change the way you work with children. It is a transformational experience, and the e-course provides the foundational knowledge for Conscious Discipline.

If you are ready to get started with Conscious Discipline, take a look at the PDF attachment which explains your next steps. If you signed up for Conscious Discipline last year, and did not finish, please complete the Google Form for accurate recording keeping. Your CD account will remain the same.

The e-course must be completed by December 9th. This is a voluntary program, but your participation is highly encouraged and highly appreciated. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out! We had over 100 parents/guardians and 75 staff members sign up for the course last year. We are hoping to keep increasing those numbers!