Welcome back to the latest Social Emotional Learning Study Groups (SELSG+) monthly newsletter! As educators, we know August means the beginning of back to school – whether you’ve already started the new school year or you’re preparing to welcome students back, we want to take the time to wish you a happy, safe, and healthy school year with your students!
 
In the spirit of welcoming our students back for another year of learning and growth, we wanted to dedicate this newsletter to building relationships. Building strong, positive relationships with our students can not only support student learning in the classroom, but also facilitate SEL growth for your whole class. 
 
Two ways to not only build rapport with students, but also establish positive relationships among students is through Warm Welcomes and Optimistic Closures. Warm Welcomes and Optimistic Closures are both considered Signature Practices for supporting SEL by CASEL and they are easily implemented into existing classroom schedules and routines. More information can be found in the 3 Signature Practices Playbook. 
 
Warm Welcomes: The purpose of a Warm Welcome is to set a positive tone by acknowledging students and preparing them for upcoming instruction and activities. Warm Welcomes do not have to take a long time, but can help students more smoothly transition into the next activity or task. Some examples of Warm Welcomes are: 

• Greeting Students: One way to incorporate Warm Welcomes into your classroom is to greet each student by name as they enter the classroom. This is a simple addition to your classroom routine, but by taking time to interact with each student, you are able to build rapport and show your interest and respect for each individual student. 
• Morning Circles/Meetings: Taking a few minutes at the beginning of the school day or class for a morning meeting can help start the entire class off on the right foot. At morning circles/meetings, teachers can praise students for behavior from the previous day (e.g., “I want you to know I’m so proud of the way everyone was able to use kind words with each other yesterday), provide practice on specific skills that will be needed (e.g., “We are going to need to some listening in class today; someone remind me what a good listener looks like.”), and provide precorrection on potential problem behavior (e.g., “We are going to do some independent work today. Who can tell me what are the three options you have after you have finished your work?”). Students can also be invited to share their feelings or concerns to be addressed before class starts.
• Welcoming Routines: Establishing routines can decrease behavior challenges and increase engagement and on-task behaviors, easing the transition into the classroom. These routines should be explicitly taught and practiced before students are expected to complete them independently. Welcoming Routines are also easily adapted to any grade level. For example in a first grade classroom, pictures may be used to prompt students to hang up their coats/backpacks, choose their lunch, and sit down in their seats. In a high school classroom, the teacher may choose to write a list on the board, prompting students to get out needed materials for the day and begin an independent activity. 

 
To learn more about Warm Welcomes and for more specific examples of how to incorporate them in the classroom, check out pages 10 – 18 in CASEL’s 3 Signature Practices Playbook. 
 
Optimistic Closures: We all know that ending classroom instruction or activities can be abrupt or hurried. Incorporating purposeful, specific closures to the end of an activity or instruction can allow for review of important topics, allow students to share individual thoughts and opinions about the topics discussed, and allow for a transition to the next class or activity. While one type of optimistic closure could be sharing a positive affirmation (e.g., “I did a great job reading to myself today.”) or a highlight of the day (e.g., “I finished writing two paragraphs today.”), not all optimistic closure activities need to focus on positives. Other options include: 

• Have students share one thing they learned and one question they still have. 
• Ask students to share one thing they are curious about or want to learn more about.
• Post a discussion question on the board (or read aloud). Have students find a partner and share their thoughts. 

 
To learn more about Optimistic Closures and for more specific examples of how to incorporate them in the classroom, check out pages 36 – 46 in CASEL’s 3 Signature Practices Playbook. 
 
If you haven’t already signed up to have the monthly SELSG+ newsletter delivered to your inbox, sign up for our mailing list here: https://selsg.ua.edu! 
 
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Hello! Welcome to our first Social Emotional Learning Study Groups (SELSG+) monthly newsletter. We’re so excited to have a place to share ideas and resources related to social-emotional learning. This month, we wanted to take some time to talk about what is social-emotional learning (SEL). SEL is a complex, multi-faceted concept that can seem overwhelming to define. In short, SEL encompasses the “thinking, behavioral, and self-regulation skills children need to interact effectively, make and maintain relationships, achieve social goals, and be successful in school and life”- Clark McKown. Looking at this definition, you can see why SEL is so important for student success. Students with strong SEL skills regularly report stronger academic skills, fewer behaviors in the classrooms, stronger problem-solving skills, and better long-term outcomes.
 
A strong understanding of what SEL is an important part of incorporating SEL into schools and the classroom. Check out these websites and resources for more information about SEL. CASEL (the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) is a great resource for information on SEL skills. This specific link provides more information on what SEL is and its benefits in and outside of the classroom.
 
Looking to incorporate more SEL into your school this year? Check out CASEL’s Guide to Schoolwide SEL Essentials. This 70 page PDF provides explanations on SEL ideas and concepts, as well as tools to use in your school.

This blog post talks about defining social and emotional learning skills, as well as provides teams a worksheet to help identify and define SEL skills that are most important to you! By defining skills, you can focus in on the skills you want to improve among your students.
 
Before you go, we want to take a minute to introduce the SELSG+ project. Our team, led by Dr. Greg Benner from the University of Alabama, is working to create a digitally delivered professional SEL development for K-3 elementary teachers. To provide teachers the knowledge and support needed to deliver effective SEL instruction, SELSG+ will include:
 

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Teacher trainings and materials on evidence-based Tier 1 SEL instruction for K-3 students

• Data-based SEL assessments to support the identification of students needing Tier 2 intervention
• Teacher trainings and materials on Evidence-based Tier 2 SEL instruction delivered in small groups and individualized to student needs and progress monitoring tools to measure progress on outcome measures
• Digitally-delivered teacher training on SEL instruction supported by in person teacher study groups and personalized coaching for the SELSG+ research team.

 
We are currently in the development process of SELSG+, and while we are building, we wanted to provide educators, administrators, and others who are invested in SEL with a monthly update on our project and SEL resources and tools that can be immediately used in the classroom. If you are interested in learning more about SELSG+, receiving our monthly newsletter straight to your email, and getting updates on the project, please sign up for our mailing list here and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and SEL resources.

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