3 Practical Ways To Promote SEL In Your School
Mom jeans, platform shoes and crop tops. These 90s fashion trends are back in full force. As the common saying goes, “everything comes back around.” Thankfully, fashion trends come and go.
In our culture, things are always changing. It’s no different in the education world. It seems like there is always a new idea, activity, or teaching style that’s “in.”
Something that seems to be growing in popularity right now is Social Emotional Learning. BUT, SEL is more than just a buzzword. It’s shown to have a positive impact on students’ behavior, their ability to handle stress, academic performance and more.
Social emotional learning matters - the lessons you do with your students matter. But, like anything else, it will be more impactful if students are thinking and learning about SEL consistently, and not just during a 30 minute time slot each week.
That’s why I want to share 3 tips for promoting SEL school-wide. These practical ideas will help you partner with teachers, other staff and parents to incorporate social emotional learning school-wide.
1- Show Why SEL Is Important
Social emotional learning isn’t just a fad. It’s helping students gain foundational skills that will help them through the course of their lives. The first step to encouraging SEL school-wide is showing the people in your school community that it’s effective!
Educators’ time is valuable. There are so many things that we are trying to cram in to each day. Unless the teachers and other staff at your school understand why social emotional learning is important, they may not be willing to sacrifice any of their limited time for it.
By sharing about what SEL is, and why it’s important, you’ll increase the likelihood of getting buy-in from the members of your school community. This doesn’t have to take a ton of time and effort.
Some easy ways to promote the importance of SEL are:
Link to the CASEL research at the bottom of your e-mail signature.
Share research findings when you are presenting to teachers at meetings, PDs, etc.
Add links, book recommendations, etc. to any newsletters you send to staff or families
2- Make It Painless
These daily prompts are perfect for school announcements, morning meetings, journaling, etc.
If you are amped about social emotional learning (and I mean... who wouldn’t be??), it can be easy to want to share all of that excitement with others. But, sometimes it might be overwhelming if we tell our co-workers about all the amazing SEL related things they can do.
Instead, try helping teachers find small ways to incorporate SEL in their classrooms.
Try this:
Have book recommendations on hand. Teachers are already reading books to their students, so why not make the most of it by reading books with social and emotional themes? Here’s a free book list for some ideas!
Have daily SEL prompts that they can incorporate into their morning meetings, use at the end of the day, or read school-wide.
Involve teachers in what you are already doing, by working with students in the classroom, following up with teachers about what you taught in your lessons, and letting them know about visuals/posters that you refer to in your work with students.
3- Host SEL events For Parents and Families
Make your SEL family night easier with these free planning sheets!
Putting together SEL family nights has been one of my favorite things that I’ve done as a counselor. Presenting families with information, activities and tips related to SEL helps them to see that SEL matters. It’s also a great way to engage parents, give them practical tools they can use, and involve them in their students’ social emotional learning.
If you are interested in doing something like this, I’d recommend reaching out to the PTO, other staff, and admin to see how they can help you. I’ve had great success partnering with the PTO on my SEL family nights!
Ideas To Get You Started:
Host an event where students and their families can come together to learn about, and practice, social emotional learning. Click here for free planning sheets!
Do a parent workshop on topics like anxiety, ADHD, behavior strategies, or friendship.
Set up a table with SEL information at your next conference night, open house, etc.
Social emotional learning is more than just a buzzword. My hope is that these 3 ideas will help you encourage SEL school-wide so that your students can be set up for success!
