Take a S.E.L.F.ie

Are you meeting the social and emotional needs of your school community? Discover ways to hone your practices following the 4 steps of SELF:

Start With You
Empower Others
Listen Empathetically

Form Connections

Our society is experiencing a dramatic increase in bullying, teenage suicides, and school shootings. Lawmakers and school officials have been urged to rethink the importance of addressing what some call the “soft skills”.  Title IV of the Every Student Succeeds Act focuses on cultivating safe and healthy school conditions for student learning.  The Marjory Douglas Stoneman Act, SB 7026, emphasizes mental health access for all students.  Furthermore, recent revisions of Florida’s Multi-Tiered Systems of Support stresses mental health and social-emotional learning (SEL) as a Universal or Tier One prevention and intervention.  

 According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL.org), social-emotional learning “is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions”. CASEL, a leading authority in SEL delineates five core competencies and discusses their significant positive impact on healthy and successful life outcomes.  The competencies are categorized as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision making, and relationship skills.

Start with You

Reflect honestly on these questions.  Are the five core SEL competencies explicitly taught in your classrooms?  Do you intentionally create an emotionally safe learning environment campus-wide?  Are you a role model for faculty, staff, parents, and students?

Consider the implementation strategies below:

1.       Establish a tri-focus SEL program: Provide time for direct Instruction of social and emotional skills using an evidence-based curriculum.  Consult CASEL.org for a wide selection of vetted programs. Encourage the integration of SEL strategies into daily instruction.  Focus on school-wide Initiatives to create learning communities that embrace SEL concepts.

2.       Adopt three SEL Signature Practices for Adults and Students:  Welcoming rituals are planned inclusion activities.  Engaging activities for sense making, transitions, and brain breaks.  Optimistic closures for reflection and looking forward.  For further details and facilitation ideas visit www.ousdsel.org.

Empower Others

The feeling of empowerment is essential to personal development.   On a campus where empowerment is valued, school leaders provide opportunities for stakeholders to have input or authority for decision making regarding policies, procedures, and activities.  An increased degree of autonomy promotes school community members’ feelings of empowerment and encourages them to have a voice and feel in control of themselves and their environment.  Furthermore, this empowerment develops a greater sense of belonging to a community by enhancing connections and emotional bonds to the school and allowing members to utilize their strengths and work collaboratively. Having an active role in the functions of the school is an opportunity for community members to practice and strengthen these five core life skills.  Opportunities for empowerment can be created at all levels of the school community. 

Examples of empowering others across the school

1.       Form a SEL Committee of teachers, staff, parents, and students.  Task the committee with exploring ways to address and integrate SEL school-wide.  For instance, they could create a calendar of monthly themes with such topics as empathy, tolerance, and kindness.  Each month may include special activities focused on connecting students and staff to each other and to the school. A recognition program may be established to affirm those practicing the monthly trait.  The committee could generate a list of grade-appropriate readings, books, and articles to integrate with their ELA standards with corresponding writing prompts to further explore and deepen student knowledge of the monthly theme.

2.       Teachers may utilize community circles to have classroom discussions centered on classroom agreements. During circles, class rules, expectations, routines, and procedures are generated by students and then agreed upon.  Restorative practices are employed to problem solve and repair agreements as a class community.

3.       A school job corps can be created to employ students during the school day.  Students create resumes, complete job applications, and interview for positions.  Jobs may include safety patrol, class ambassadors, office helpers, recycling managers, library book clerks, morning announcements, flag flyers, and lunch monitors. Positions rotate quarterly to allow for more student involvement.  Classroom specific jobs are also suggested which may include class greeter, line leader, and calendar keeper.

Listen Empathetically

To listen empathetically is the ability to compassionately understand others’ perspectives. It is the act of understanding others needs, feelings, problems, and viewpoints.  Being an empathetic listener is fundamental to communication and relationship building. As a role model, it is imperative to practice empathic listening through respectful and thoughtful responses.  It fosters trust and creates an emotionally safe environment. 

Examples to promote empathetic listening:

1.       Administrators with open door policies demonstrate their willingness to be there for their staff at any time.  Often teachers, staff, and parents need your emotional support.  They need to know you understand their concerns and are willing to explore solutions. Undivided attention is a key component of quality listening. Be sure to stop reading your emails or checking your phone messages when they enter. If you find this difficult, remove yourself from behind your desk and sit at the conference table or the other side of the desk.   Acknowledge them with a warm smile and eye contact. 

2.       Suggestion boxes are a method of listening but are only effective if there is an active response or feedback regarding the suggestion.

3.       Surveys are powerful tools used to “listen” to stakeholders’ views.  Again, the strength lies in acting upon the feedback received. 

Form Connections

Relationships are key to a healthy climate by establishing a culture that embraces every opportunity to form connections.  The focus on strengthening relationships and bonds promotes cohesiveness, trust, and respect for others. 

Examples of forming connections:

1.       Collaborative Planning with teams not only fosters adult bonds but increases the likelihood of equity and access of instruction in core academics and social-emotional skills.

2.       Create a consistent time for Buddy Classes to work together by pairing a primary with an intermediate grade level in elementary or K-8 schools.  Buddy Classes may also eat lunch together in the lunchroom.  Older students may be trained on how to be role models, mentors, and helpers.  This activity builds empathy, tolerance, and bonds across a campus for students as well as adults.

3.       Social Media is an excellent tool to form connections with all stakeholders.  Many schools use social media to inform parents and community members about their school activities.  Consider creating a Facebook page for teachers and staff to share educational ideas, resources, and celebrations as another method to build a school family community.

Take a “SELFie” of your school’s SEL practices.  It all starts with you! 

Traci Wilke is the Director of Social and Emotional Learning for St. Lucie Public Schools.