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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