It was 1995, and I had just landed my first teaching job. Tribes was all the rage, and I proudly hung a row of character traits above my chalkboard that I had printed in color. Not only had I jumped on this SEL bandwagon, I never wanted to get off. I saw first-hand the benefits of implementing it in the classroom. But, in a few short years I was encouraged to remove or at least reduce community circle, and we no longer had time to spend on our character traits each week. I was not alone as we saw the pendulum swing as we always do in education. And, lost were many of our efforts toward social emotional learning.

A year ago, a principal of a school I am coaching informed me that his focus for the upcoming year would be on SEL. And, from that point on I have been amazed at the shift back toward this very worthy topic.

For those of you who are still on the fence, check out some of these statistics.

Students exposed to SEL in school continue to do better than their peers up to 18 years later (CASEL, 2017)
Students who participated in evidence-based SEL programs showed an 11-percentile point gain in academic achievement compared to those who had not participated (Durlak, et. al, 2011)
On average, for every $1 invested in SEL programming, there is return of $11 in measurable benefits (2015)

So, as you are fine-tuning your plans for the year, I encourage to consider how social emotional learning could play a role in your classroom. Below are just a few resources you might want to consider exploring as you get started.

Take a look at this article and linked video on Teaching Channel, 3 Ways Wordless Videos Ignite Social Emotional Learning.

Or, watch this video, Building Emotional Literacy for some simple and practical strategies.

And, for those of you who have no idea what Tribes is all about, here is the book. (Don’t let the cover scare you!)

All these years later, when I connect with former students, they almost unanimously remark on how powerful community circle was for them. Time wasted? I think not. So, kudos to the die-hards who never gave it up.

I wish all of you a magnificent start to the school year!

:) Brandy

A FEW THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SEL