Missed our Webinar on Social-Emotional Lessons for Today’s Teachers? Gets Highlights Here.

It’s been a challenging year, hasn’t it? In this webinar, “Social-Emotional Lessons to Support Students amidst the COVID-19 Crisis & in Today’s Political Climate” Ms. Amick brings you practical tools and activities to bring into your classroom tomorrow. These lessons help students process information in their mentally, emotionally, and physically. Ms. Amick uses three pillars in her SEL lessons planning: center (create a space for presence connection), engage, and lift off. Learn more about each pillar below and don’t forget to download the resource sheet here.

Center

1. Start your day with a warm greeting and breathwork exercises.
In the resource sheet, you’ll find links and diagrams of breathwork exercises and mindfulness scripts you can try with your students.

2. Do a feelings check.
Naming our feelings can acknowledge what’s really going on and see what’s affecting our learning and our day. Through this, students also learn all feelings are good feelings and important to process and feel. Example: I feel _____. I feel this because ______.

3. Shake off anxiety through movement to help students release stress so it doesn’t stay in the body.
Did you know it’s critical to complete the stress cycle by moving the body to shake out energy and anxiety that may be lingering? Create space for students to do this in your SEL lesson. When using intuitive movement, be sure to acknowledge why this is important and that’s it’s not a dance break but a whole body/human exercise to release emotions.

Engage

5. Create a class charter that’s visible to your students. Creating a class charter collaboratively helps create accountability through student by in and helps set the tone each day. Check out this one for an example.

6. Offer a core value lesson to create a space to build character.
This allows students to try on different traits that make healthy and productive citizens while building their social-emotional toolbox. We use Teaching Tolerance as a guide for these lessons.

7. Create space for current event discussions to help students process the world around them outside the classroom.
In Ms. Amick’s class, she hosts a Tuesday 10 news session where the class watches an unbiased news source about a current event. When hosting these conversations be sure to keep in mind these do’s and don’ts.

Do’s:

-Check-in with students about their feelings throughout the live teaching.
-Keep the conversation focused on a core value and related themes.
-Validate all feelings and model listening.
-Stay politically neutral, while stamping our belief in justice, civil rights, respect, and equity.

Don’t let the conversation turn into a debate or share your political view. If you want a more in-depth perspective on discussing politics in the classroom

Lift off

This is where we as teachers create space for learning and achieving goals. In the webinar, Ms. Amick discussed the importance of practices that affirm and acknowledge students, as well as help them create a sense of routine throughout their day.

Download the resource PowerPoint deck for your classroom here.

This slide deck includes the below resources:
-Wish Well board
-Commitments
-Affirmations
-Celebrations
-Preview Schedule

Ready to dive into more? Watch the full webinar below and don’t forget to register for our next webinar, Social-Emotional Lessons through the Lens of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on Feb. 17!

Published on January 29, 2021