School Counseling & SEL Monthly Themes: How To Do Them & Why They Are Great
By now, educators are catching on to the fact that social emotional learning is important. Thankfully, many schools have been putting in time and effort to support the social and emotional needs of their students. While this current trend is definitely a step in the right direction, I know it can be a challenge for educators to fit SEL in with all of the other, often more immediate, demands.
Plus, there aren’t many curriculum maps out there for social emotional learning. This means that many counselors, teachers and other school staff have to start from scratch - which they may not have the time or the energy to do. If this struggle sounds familiar, then using monthly themes for your counseling or SEL lessons might be for you!
Having a topic of the month is a great way to give some structure to lesson planning that doesn’t feel too limiting. Keep reading to learn more about how a monthly SEL theme can be helpful to your school community and what it can look like!
The Benefits Of Counseling And SEL Monthly Themes
In-Depth Learning Opportunities
It’s easier for the students to really understand and grasp a topic when they hear about it consistently. If we are always switching up what we are focusing on, it may be harder for the students to remember and apply what they are learning about. Doing a monthly theme for your counseling and SEL lessons allows students to take a deeper dive into a topic, while still getting exposure to important concepts every year. It feels like the perfect balance between teaching about random things and sticking to one theme or topic for the whole year.
It Promotes Collaboration
Doing a counseling or SEL theme of the month also makes it easier to involve classroom teachers, administrators and other staff in social emotional learning. They are more likely to know (and remember) what we’re focusing on, which increases the chances that they will add some of these themes and topics into their own lessons. Plus, you can all work together to do school-wide initiatives like assemblies, spirit days, and contests that align with the topic of the month. This may not only help to take a few things off your plate, but also increases the amount of time that the students are learning about the topic.
It Provides Organization & Structure
One of the biggest reasons why I love having a monthly SEL theme is that it keeps me organized. When I am focused on one main theme, I don’t feel like I’m jumping around as much. Doing it this way helps me to not feel as scattered, which in turn, allows me to do a better job of supporting my students. Plus, I have found that it even makes it easier to organize my physical space by primarily keeping out the materials (books, lessons, etc.) that go along with the topic of the month. A monthly theme gives me the organization I need without feeling too confining.
Ways To Incorporate Monthly SEL or Counseling Themes
If you’ve decided that doing a monthly theme is a good fit for you and your school/program, you might be wondering what it actually looks like to do that. Here are a few ideas for ways that you can promote your SEL or counseling monthly theme with your students and in your school community.
Classroom Lessons
If you are a school counselor, focusing your classroom lessons around the monthly topic is a great place to start! During this time, you can explain what the topic is and how the kids can apply/practice it in their daily lives. If you do more than one classroom lesson a month, this gives you an opportunity to dig even deeper into the theme!
If you are a classroom teacher, try integrating SEL into the literature that you are using in your classroom. Thankfully, there are SO many books out there that have strong social and emotional themes. Using these books can be a great way to help students continue to learn about the monthly theme while they are also focusing on other academic skills. Not sure where to start? Grab this free book list!
Morning Announcements/Questions Of The Day
Small bits of teaching can really go a long way! That’s why I love having a question of the day that students can talk or think about. This can be brought up during morning meetings, school announcements, or you can display the question of the day in your classroom or office. Having a question, or prompt, each day can really inspire your students to think deeply about the concept that you are focusing on.
These certificates are part of my SEL Topic Of The Month resource.
Contests
I’m a little bit competitive… so I’m always down for a good contest! These are a great way to encourage students to actively participate in the monthly theme. You can get creative with the type you choose, but kids love a contest to see who can create the best poster, comic strip, or song that’s related to the social emotional learning theme.
Awards For Growth And/Or Excellence
Another way to get students actively participating is by providing positive feedback to students who demonstrate growth in the topic that you’re focusing on. You can provide “tickets” to students who exemplify the theme, and then they can exchange them for prizes or a raffle. You can also give one student from each grade or class an award at the end of the month. There are so many options for this one, but when kids are recognized for their efforts, they will be more likely to think about how they can demonstrate the specific theme in their own lives.
There are so many different ways to do a counseling or SEL monthly theme. It’s important to remember that this will be most effective when you are doing what works best for your specific students and school community.
If this sounds great, but you’re not sure which topics to choose, check out this blog post where I outline a monthly SEL calendar, and explain why I chose the themes/months that I did.
If you love the idea, but don’t have any time to put this together… don’t worry. I did all of the work for you when I created my SEL Topic Of The Month resource. It includes a no-prep lesson, daily question calendar/list, letter to families, list of additional resources, and certificates for 12 different social emotional learning topics.
