Social and Emotional Learning

Social and Emotional Learning is the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success. There are several competencies that Social and Emotional Learning consists of, such as, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Social and Emotional learning teaches students to be aware of their feelings and the way that they treat others. It also improves mental health. Social and Emotional Learning has proven to improve students’ learning and attitudes throughout their lives. It is considered to be just as important as reading or math in a classroom. A few Kindergarten Social and Emotional Learning strategies include all about me activities, a home living center, and emotion matching games. There are also some First Grade strategies for Social and Emotional Learning, such as, using all about me activities and reading books that deal with emotions.  Students that are a part of Social and Emotional Learning are more likely to succeed in academics. Students that participate in Social and Emotional Learning tend to have more friends that connects them to others and they are less likely to be bullied.  According to research, twenty-nine percent of students feel that their school provides a supportive, encouraging environment. After students were involved in a Social and Emotional Learning program, eighty-three percent of the students made academic gains. There are five Social and Emotional Guiding Principles:

1.     Create

2.      Integrate

3.      Communicate

4.      Instruct

5.      Empower

It is important for students to be able to recognize the way that they are feeling so that they know how to deal with the emotions that they are having. I will be using Social and Emotional Learning in my future classroom so that students will be able to recognize their emotions, so that they can deal with them properly. I will encourage students to use their words and read books about how to deal with our feelings. I believe that as educators we teach so much more than academics, and Social and Emotional Learning is something that we should be teaching the students that are in our classrooms.