5 Easy Ways To Integrate Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Into Academic Content Lessons
Summary
This video explains five practical strategies for teachers to integrate social and emotional learning (SEL) into their content area lessons without adding extra planning time. It emphasizes creating psychological safety, applying SEL signature practices, using micro-lessons, employing thought coaching, and modeling skills through think-alouds.
Key points- Teachers can integrate SEL into content classes by first establishing psychological safety, which involves creating an environment where students feel safe to take risks without fear of punishment or embarrassment.
- Creating rituals for students to engage in SEL behaviors, such as encouraging respectful disagreement or celebrating mistakes as learning opportunities, helps foster a safe learning environment.
- The video introduces three SEL signature practices from CASTLE: opening classes with welcoming activities, engaging in activities that build community and connect to the lesson, and using brain breaks and collaborative problem-solving routines.
- SEL micro-lessons are short, context-dependent lessons that teach specific skills students need, identified by observing where students get stuck academically or behaviorally.
- SEL thought coaching helps students become aware of how their thoughts impact their emotions and behaviors by guiding them to reframe negative interpretations into more empowering perspectives.
- Modeling SEL skills through 'think-alouds' allows students to understand the thought process behind each skill, making it easier for them to master it.
Chapters
Notable quotes (4)
“if integrating SEL into our content area requires additional lesson planning it's just not going to happen”
“this is simply feeling safe enough to take the risks involved in the learning process without the fear of punishment rejection or embarrassment”
“mistakes are expected respected inspected and corrected”
“the research says it takes five positive interactions to override what a student perceives as a negative interaction”
0:00we all know the power of Social and emotional learning but how can we integrate it into our content classes seamlessly so it doesn't disrupt our lesson agenda we already planned easily and quickly such that it can be done on the spot without feeling like it's some extra work we have to do we're so busy as teachers with all the pressures and responsibilities we face that if we're completely honest with ourselves if integrating SEL into our content area requires additional lesson planning it's just not going to happen hi I'm Gerard Vargas and I help teachers improve their SEO skills as well as their students in this video we'll
0:39explore five easy ways to effectively and sustainably integrate SEL into any academic content lesson whether you're teaching math English language arts Science History social sciences foreign language art elective courses physical education at any grade level K-12 or Beyond it doesn't really matter these techniques still apply number one create psychological safety first the first and most important ingredient is to lay the foundation by building psychological safety this is simply feeling safe enough to take the risks involved in the learning process without the fear of punishment rejection or embarrassment it means being able to share your ideas make mistakes or fail disagreeing with others or questioning decisions or
1:30methods needing extra think time asking for help or sharing weaknesses feeling listened to and valued taking on new challenges apologizing or admitting when you're wrong giving and receiving feedback where you're perceiving feedback as support and not a judgment of self-worth by building psychological safety you're also addressing many SEO skills at the same time I mean look how many SEO skills psychological safety addresses psychological safety is established by you the teacher leading by example and going first in order to set the tone it sounds like this class I want to apologize for my mood this morning I've been a bit stressed lately and I didn't mean to seem grouchy I'm working on it
2:17Jason that's a great question honestly I don't know the answer to it but I'll tell you what why don't we both find out and compare answers tomorrow class I'd love to know how I could improve my teaching I love feedback so that our lessons can always get better then create rituals for students to engage in these behaviors so that they feel safe among their peers to take these risks necessary for learning for example to encourage disagreement after a student shares an idea they say please push my thinking for example a student adds to the class discussion I might be wrong but I think sample a is a better
2:56paragraph because it states the claim in the first sentence it supports it with three evidence statements and then explains the reasoning by tying the evidence to the claim sample B is missing reasoning and has less evidence those are my thoughts but class please push my thinking to encourage mistakes have students nominate a mistake of the day a mistake that they or a peer made in an assignment problem or a writing task the mistake is celebrated and used as a learning opportunity as students analyze it correct it and identify key takeaways the owner of the mistake shares the final thoughts or summarizes what the class discussed and ends up saying the
3:37statement mistakes are expected respected inspected and corrected have students do test corrections after they receive their exam they have to find the correct answers to the wrong questions explain their mistakes how they found the answer how they remember it and summarize their key takeaways you can incentivize it by giving them some points back to their test also think about how you respond to correct and incorrect answers are you quick to pray students who blurt out the answers quickly or do you have them explain their thinking and celebrate the thought process instead when a student shares an incorrect response do you seem disappointed or just skip
4:19that student and find someone who knows the answer or do you offer clues that can help them arrive at the right answer or maybe even return to that student to summarize the correct response and identify their own mistakes to improve active listening you can use dyads simply pose a question that allows students to share how they feel such as explain how you feel today why and how you might improve how you feel The Listener cannot respond verbally only with empathic non-verbal language then partner switch roles this forces students to listen to understand rather than to reply do you want students to express more compassion or to be more
5:01respectful simply have them generate a class list of ways they can show their classmates kindness and respect such as stating a compliment Wishing Well giving a fist pump or showing gratitude students then have one minute to pick one kindness method and express it to appear without psychological safety many students won't be able to access the higher levels of their thinking brain and human needs as Abraham Maslow famously noted students will be in fight or flight mode their thinking brain will be compromised and their attention will be on the stressor or any form of perceived threat their minds will not be receptive to learning anything whether academic
5:44content or SEL skills they'll be in a reactive mindset clothes instead of open-minded defensive instead of curious committed to proving themselves instead of committed to learning and focused on getting their way rather than contributing to the class build positive relationships with your students with simple acts such as greeting them at the door wishing them well on the way out of class asking about their interests while paying specific attention to the details they give you so you can bring them up next time and prove that you were really listening seeking first to understand than to be understood this means asking if they need anything or if they're okay if
6:26they're off task instead of jumping to assuming negative intent non-verbal gestures of care and even verbal statements such as compliments or just flat out saying it I care about your success you matter to me in our class I want you to do well you're safe here give them specific process praise like Julio your notes are so detailed remind me of how that will help you learn and succeed and working directly with a struggling student until they succeed the research says it takes five positive interactions to override what a student perceives as a negative interaction so if you redirect a student to get back on task for example just remember to have
7:10five positive interactions with them or simply be on a mission to catch your students doing good as much as possible and positively narrating their actions out loud number two apply the three SEL signature practices the collaborative for academic social and emotional learning also known as Castle came up with three ways we can integrate SEL into academic courses and staff meetings the first way is to open each class period meeting or professional learning experience with a welcoming inclusion activity routine or ritual that builds community and connects to the work ahead this includes rituals like smiling and personally greeting your students and remember that the trick is that the
7:57greetings are personalized some teachers have a secret handshake with their students others give them a compliment or simply have non-academic micro conversations that build rapport it sounds like this great to see you Mike how was your soccer game Susan is your mom feeling better oh that's great to hear Johnny that's an awesome haircut Nancy we missed you yesterday I hope you feel better Amy how's your singing going Janet is your piano recital anytime soon students love it because they know you care enough to remember the details these can also be whole group grading activities where they greet their peers in a fun compassionate and fast-paced
8:43way they can do an emotion check-in where they share with a partner how they're feeling what thoughts or behaviors caused it and what they can do to feel better some might ask for a personal check-in with the teacher or have a dyad where students choose a prompt from a list such as something I'm proud of recently is and their partner can only respond with non-verbal empathy gestures or they could just do a think pair share interactive do Nows involve students completing your typical do now questions but after individual quiet work time you give them one minute where they can ask their peers questions or students identify questions that they
9:24have about the homework and ask their peers for help and then their group then each group identifies their top one to three specific questions or takeaways that the teacher can then review you might have morning circles where you ask General check-in questions such as how are you feeling today to more specific SEO like questions such as describe a moment when you wanted to quit but you didn't what did you do to persevere or you might address a specific incident that occurred in your class and look for ways to resolve it collectively many teachers are always looking for ways to make their circles more engaging and SEO
10:03focused that's why we specifically created SEO dialogues 150 Castle aligned cards that stimulate discussion build Community Psychological safety and develop all the SEO skills they include 25 cards for each SEO competency plus a bonus competency called community building with 25 more cards these cards are perfect for restorative justice circles morning circles and even staff meetings as the cards are tiered from basic questions anyone can answer to more complex courage requiring questions that push thinking and learning a fun game format takes Community circles to a whole new level where students are encouraged to build vulnerability-based trusts with one another for grades 6 through 12 college and Beyond right out of the box
10:51and these are perfect for staff meetings and PD sessions and if you scaffold some of the cards they can even work for second graders and up check the link in the description for more information about SEO dialogue cards engage in activities including Brain Breaks to Anchor thinking and learning throughout the learning experience think right pair share and then report engages students in so many SEO skills design them such that they build SEO skills by including open-ended questions that stimulate discussion and then encourage the use of sentence frames for seeking clarification expressing disagreement extending ideas and even managing conflict Brain Breaks aren't about taking a class break to relax I mean
11:36they can include non-academic short one to two minute moments where they practice mindfulness and short exercises or postures to shift their mood and energy but brain breaks are much more than this they involve including hooks in your lessons to generate interest relevant examples or analogies breaking your lecture down into five to seven minute segments followed by processing activities and checks for understanding including kinesthetic activities to support learning and memory and infusing the element of joy into your lessons the concept here is that the brain needs little breaks from input in order to support attention memory and learning these breaks are still content related but activate different learning
12:21modalities collaborative problem-solving routines include activities like jigsaw Gallery walks stations reciprocal reading Socratic seminar four corners and group problem-solving protocols just to name a few now you have to pay close attention here it's in collaborative problem-solving routines where the majority of your students will develop their SEO skills why because in order for students to solve problems effectively in groups they must employ all the SEO skills Cooperative learning structures are the most important classroom context that perfectly lends itself to SEO Mastery in other words the ultimate demonstration of SEO Mastery is the ability to work well with others if you look at the SEO skills list in order to work well with
13:11others you must be self-aware manage your emotions well understand different perspectives And the emotions of others build relationships communicate well resolve conflict ask for help and make responsible decisions not sure how to even start with collaborative problem solving routines don't worry we have you covered we created classroom SEO plugins these are 60 short 5 to 10 minute collaborative problem solving SEO routines that were designed for you to literally Plug and Play to teach SEO in any academic content area at any grade level you get 10 SEO plugins for each SEO competency including 10 bonus Community Building plugins the plugins also include welcoming rituals and optimistic
14:00closures as well each plugin includes a launch activity which is an optional engaging way to introduce the routine to your students the SEO routine itself and extension activities to push thinking further check out our classroom SEO plugins in the video description below and download four plugins completely free an optimistic closure highlights an individual and shared understanding of the importance of the work they did can provide a sense of accomplishment and supports Forward Thinking the closing activity may be reflective of the learning help identify next steps or make connections to one's work for example in one minute accolades students have one minute to think about something
14:43they appreciated today something they learned how they'll apply what you learned something they're grateful for or someone they want to think you set the timer for one minute and students rapid share their responses or students reflect in groups using the traffic light activity to give themselves or even you feedback red means things will stop doing include yellow means things will continue doing include and green means things will start doing include in feedback trios each student gets 30 seconds to share a best practice and then one question they're stuck on the other members problem solve that question for one minute while the presenter takes notes then it's the next presenter's turn at
15:2990 seconds per person this activity can take just under five minutes for a trio to share ideas and receive help number three SEO micro lessons these are three to five context dependent micro lessons that teach a specific skill that students need in order to succeed at Learning this is how it works step one observe your students during the lesson see where students are getting stuck academically or even behaviorally are they getting along well discussing the information or getting off task are there persevering how do they handle mistakes wherever they're stuck will be glaringly obvious to you and it will signify the need to teach a specific SEO skill
16:15so let's say we're having an intense discussion about a contentious topic and I noticed several students are raising their voices some are getting angry some are withdrawing and now we're having an argument not a discussion anymore what I've seen is many teachers either change the subject say vague things like be respectful or reprimand students who seem to cause a conflict the truth is that none of these are teaching SEO skills and it's a shame to avoid an amazing opportunity to teach SEO these are the moments when SEO skills are best learned in context a relevant time where they are really needed and will be immediately applied then identify the
16:57SEO skill or skills that need to be developed in our example this is a perfect opportunity to teach active listening and self-management then State the purpose positively and with high expectations and belief this is not a time to lecture the class admonish a student to tell them how disappointed you are or to tell them that they can do better treat this as a golden opportunity for them to learn a powerful skill that will help them in their life and let your words tone and Body Language convey confidence in them that they'll learn and succeed with this skill because emotions are contagious use this phrase class I noticed blank
17:38and I want us to blank it sounds like this class I notice that we're now having an argument because voices are getting louder we're no longer using evidence but judgment phrases and I'm seeing some of us withdraw from the discussion and even roll our eyes I know it's not easy to have these discussions and it's natural to feel this way at the same time I want us to be able to manage our emotions even when we disagree so we can try to understand different viewpoints and maintain a respectful dialogue using evidence I want everyone to feel safe to express reviews I'm confident that together we'll figure
18:17this out and get better at this over time have students contribute Solutions including examples and non-examples then you provide your own or model with your students for example how can we solve this class what are behaviors we want to avoid what do we want to do instead I have some ideas I'd like to share students practice a skill as you continue your lesson and you provide feedback to let them know what went well what could be improved and you also ask your students to offer suggestions practice again and repeat steps three to six as needed once you feel they have the skill down make an anchor chart to
18:59solidify what they've learned in our example we would make a how to listen effectively during conflict or disagreement chart with several strategies and phrases number four SEO thought coaching one of the most powerful things we can do to support our students self-awareness and emotional management skills is SEO thought coaching this simply means helping students develop awareness of how their thoughts are impacting their emotions and behaviors this usually happens during one-on-one situations but can also occur with a group or the entire class it works well because of this known formula that's supported by Psychology and Neuroscience that explains how our emotions and actions are generated first a situation happens
19:46such as a negative event thought or even memory and our mind quickly generates a quick positive or negative meaning that it predicts from our past experiences since our brain is trying to protect us from real or perceived threats to our physical safety or even ego it naturally assigns many things a negative meaning this quick interpretation generates automatic negative thoughts that result in a response of negative emotions and usually unhelpful behaviors if we don't intervene so basically every emotion you experience is the result of a thought that precedes it and these emotions drive us to behave in certain ways the amazing thing is that we can help
20:27students apply more empowering meanings to the events they are experiencing so we serve as sort of thought coaches that can help rewire their minds to see more empowering perspectives this is what it sounds like Johnny you seem upset because of your exam grade remember that our thoughts about what things mean determine our emotions what are you choosing to believe this means that I'm stupid and lazy really I definitely don't see that I see many opportunities here what might be some more empowering perspectives um that I can study and do better definitely you also did better than last time so you're improving what are four more opportunities
21:11and if you get stuck you can say I have some more examples would you like me to share or Henry I noticed you call Ben a name and he seems hurt about it what interpretation made you do that you didn't want me to be in his group so I felt rejected and angry did he explain why he said because I don't do my work what's a better interpretation um that I need to start doing my work I mean he's right I don't ask for help when I'm stuck I also have some more ideas may I share so the general format for Thought coaching is I noticed blank
21:53then show Care by stating I care about your success or I know you can do better or I believe in you second is what meaning did you choose that caused you to feel or respond that way then what might be a more empowering meaning I have some other interpretations may I share them what might be a better way to respond next time sometimes you might not have one to two minutes to have these interactions so a faster but still effective method is wise feedback wise feedback is specific feedback that helps develop SEO skills but does not trigger any defensiveness in the student because the teacher delivers it
22:33strategically why is feedback communicates high standards for all students confidence in your students ability to achieve those standards and it shows that you'll provide all the necessary supports to help them succeed let's look at some examples of this quick 10 to 15 second feedback strategy now remember to do this in private I care about your success and when you talk when I teach you're missing valuable information and distracting your peers and I here's a tip I can move your seat closer away from your friends or you can try this index card trick I can show you or you can come up with another strategy what do you think another example I
23:14noticed you're not participating in your group and you have so much value to give sometimes we feel scared to ask our group members for help but here's a really cool way to say it if you're stuck use this phrase team I understand the part where blank but can you help me understand this part wise feedback has this structure I noticed blank and I believe you're capable of performing at the highest level so that's why I want to give you this feedback you can try blank next time do this or I suggest blank if the student is skilled enough you can even ask them or come up with a strategy
23:52of your own number five SEO think aloud modeling SEO skills is very important for our students but in order to master SEO skills our students need to know the thought process behind each skill for example we might tell our students to stop talking or to pay attention but then we wonder why they struggle with that skill we might even model what it looks like and what it doesn't look like but what students really need is to know the entire thought process behind an SEO skill SEO think aloud reveal all the behind the scenes thinking of each skill that allows it to be mastered it sounds
24:31like this students I know talking in class can be tempting and staying focused for long periods of time can be difficult I want to help by thinking aloud my thought process first I'll remove any distractions near me then I lean in and try to visualize what the teacher is saying as if it were a movie playing in my mind and I write down key points and any questions in my notebook I then find a way to apply it to my life it looks like this and then you explain even further this makes it fun and interesting would anyone else like to think aloud their thought process for
25:07staying focused SEO think alouds also help you teach emotion regulation by modeling it in real time here's an example students I'm a bit frustrated that some of us are talking right now I feel like you're not valuing our lesson I'll take several deep breaths I'll think about the teacher I want to be right now and focus on the opportunities here I know I can make the lesson more relevant make the information clearer I can add more breaks in the lecture and I can also add opportunities for you to discuss I know we both can improve I feel much better now and I want to improve our learning together
25:49can anyone identify several things I did right here to manage my emotions SEO Bank allowance allow you to communicate empowering beliefs attitudes and perspectives transmit optimism and a zest for learning teach the thought process behind each SEO skill think aloud your SEO skills live think aloud SEL skills during writing reading listening speaking or even problem solving offer an SEO tip using an SEO think aloud
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