Welcome back! It’s time for another Social Emotional Learning Study Groups (SELSG+) monthly newsletter! In the October newsletter, we want to talk about using Emotion Checks in the classroom. What are Emotion Checks? Emotions Checks are a structured opportunity within the classroom routine for students to self-reflect on how they are feeling at that moment. In elementary classrooms, they are often done at the beginning of the day and at other set points (e.g., after returning from lunch or recess). In secondary classrooms, they are usually done at the beginning of the class period. Emotion Checks support the CASEL social and emotional learning competency of self-awareness, or the ability recognize your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and values and how that impacts your behavior. (For more information about the CASEL SEL competencies, check out this handout.) Emotion checks are a crucial part developing the self-awareness competency; before students can focus on how their emotions and feelings impact their behaviors, students first have to become proficient at identifying their own emotions and feelings. Emotion checks can help. Besides helping students master identifying their own emotions and feelings, there are a couple of other benefits to using emotion checks. First, for students already able to identify basic emotions, emotion checks can help students understand and identify more complex emotions (e.g., what as student might initially identify as mad, might really be them feeling frustrated or jealous). Emotion checks also help us normalize all feelings. It’s important that we teach students that all feelings, including feeling emotions such as mad, sad, and jealous, are ok. By having students reflect on their emotions and have their emotions validated, you are modeling that all feelings are normal. Finally, emotion checks provide teachers an avenue to build rapport and relationships with students. There are lots of different ways to use emotion checks in your classroom. Some teachers use paper and pencil emotion checks, while others utilize the classroom technology. The great thing about emotion checks is the implementation has flexibility. Here are a couple different ways emotion checks can be implemented in the classroom:
No matter how you choose to integrate Emotion Checks into your classroom, it’s important to remember a couple of things. First, make sure you teach and establish the routine of how Emotion Checks work in your classroom. Modeling conducting emotion checks is a great way to not only teach students how to do an Emotion Check, but it also helps normalize self-awareness of our feelings. Also, think about how you will respond when students indicate they are in need of additional supports. What does that look like in your classroom? How can you support your students? Finally, we are excited to share an opportunity for K-3 teachers. We are looking for K-3 teachers to review our SELSG+ program and provide your feedback and suggestions in an interview called a Think Aloud, which will take 90 minutes. You will receive $60 for participating. If you’re interested, you can sign up here.
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Welcome back! It’s time for another Social Emotional Learning Study Groups (SELSG+) monthly newsletter! In the September newsletter, we are going to focus on creating classroom routines with engaging practices. We all know the importance of establishing and teaching classroom routines. Classroom routines create a predictable learning environment for our students, which is especially important for students with trauma in their background. The safety and security students feel when they know what to expect and what’s expected from them is an important precursor for teaching and developing SEL skills in the classroom. Engaging strategies, which can be used to increase student engagement, can also be embedded as a classroom routine for your students. Additionally, many engaging strategies allow students to practice different SEL skills and competencies. More information about engaging strategies can be found in the 3 Signature Practices Playbook on pages 19-35. Brain breaks are one type of engaging strategies that can be built into a classroom routine. Not only can brain breaks give students the opportunity to move around, but they can also help us prepare our brains to process new information. One of the other positive aspects about brain breaks is that can be implemented without any additional materials, with minimal pre-preparation, and take only a few minutes. However, those few minutes can give students the opportunity to take a break from the cognitive load that school places on them and a chance to relax. To infuse brain breaks into your class routine consider:
To learn more about brain breaks, check out this article. Also, take a look at the transition techniques you are using in your classroom. Establishing routines and rituals that occur at transitions (e.g., the beginning of the day, the end of a class period) can support students, especially those who struggle to process information. For example, providing a five-minute heads up before a change in activity can be helpful in preparing students for the switch. Another example would be a short bellringer activity or a quick write for students to start as they come into the classroom. For more examples of bell ringers, check out this article here. 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! And be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and SEL resources. |
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