Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

Social and Emotional Learning, SEL, is one important key when trying to create an enviornment where students can learn social skills, understand their behavior, and learn to manage their feelings. Using CASEL's framework, SEL is broken into 5 key strategies: self-management, self-awareness, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. These 5 strategies help students learn how to manage their emotions, set goals, create relationships, and can help benefit students in school as well as out of school. One of the benefits of SEL activities is the amount of time and prepping it takes to implement them into the classroom. These activities do not have to be complicated, in fact there are so many activities that take five minutes or less. 

"Effective SEL implementation also includes explicit instruction—dedicated time for students to learn about, reflect on, and discuss SEL competencies. Again, this doesn’t require a major time investment" (Pelliccio, 2023).

In the article Social Emotional Learning in Schools: The Importance of Educator Competence (Gimbert et al., 2021), they noticed themes among the 5 key strategies.  

Self-Awareness

• Self-reflect and collective reflection
• Modeling self-awareness
• Lean on peers and leaders to build a human scaffold
• Embrace culturally humble supervision practices 

Self-Management

• Model individual and shared competence
• Ease work-induced burnout
• Cultivating positive adult relationships

Social Awareness

• Instill thinking and action with cultural humility
• Be an authentic advocate

Relationship Skills

• Demostrate care and empathy
• Create a safe learning space
• Connect with individuals
• Collaborate with peers

Decision-Making Skills

• Commit to personalize ethical outcomes
• Intentional daily decisions that support one's self-efficacy
• Engage colleagues as peer reflectors

 Being able to use quick activities to help build relationships, gain student's prior knowledge, and give students the opportunity to think about themselves and others emotions and feelings is something that should not be taken for granted. These 5 key strategies are important because they help everyone regulate and learn to build relationships. Being able to set goals, set biases aside, and collaborate with others help create a positive and safe enviornment. Something simple can create long lasting effects. Helping students understand where their emotions are coming from and how they can regulate those emotions to discover self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, develop relationship and decision-making skills is an important part of teaching and classroom management.