One of the most important aspects of social and emotional learning (SEL) that educators must keep in mind is that these skills can be taught. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), SEL programming is most effective when it begins in preschool and continues through high school.
It has been widely accepted that incorporating social and emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom can positively impact student behavior and outcomes. In fact, a growing body of research has shown that incorporating SEL competencies into teaching can result in improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior, and academic performance.
Both educators and policymakers have come to agree that social and emotional learning (SEL) is a vital component of student development and can have a profound effect on academic performance. As students grow into adults, they must face a growing number of interactions with their peers and other adults, and their ability to navigate through these interactions can, in many ways, affect how successful they will be when they move on to college or career life.
Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education is receiving a lot of attention lately, and for good reason. STEM education helps students understand the world around them, from the natural world of plants and animals, to computers and tablets, to balancing checkbooks and beyond.
More and more, educators are finding that successful academic performance is often a reflection of positive social behaviors and peer interactions in the classroom. By incorporating the tenets of social and emotional learning (SEL) into lesson planning and classroom management, educators can reduce behavioral problems and emotional distress and, in effect, raise grades and test scores.
Educators almost universally agree that time in the classroom should encompass more than simply teaching students how to perform academic tasks and recall information. Students should also be learning how to apply those tasks in their everyday lives and understand how the information they’re learning relates to the real world and the people around them.
If you want your students to succeed, first you have to teach them how to fail. The idea may seem counterintuitive, but stick with me and you’ll see why it makes perfect sense.
When educators examine the rigor of an activity or when they look for ways to introduce rigor into their lesson plans, they often consult one of two models: Bloom’s Taxonomy—originally developed by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom in 1956—or Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK)—developed in 1991 by Norman L. Webb, a senior research scientist at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. But because Bloom’s Taxonomy is so prevalent and well-known, most educators will begin and end their lesson planning with Bloom’s model alone.
Sharing what you know, or asking someone else to share what they know, may not seem like such a big deal, but peer knowledge sharing can be a powerful tool to help educators teach more effectively in the blended classroom. This often overlooked strategy is one of the best ways to uncover problems, discover best practices, and find new or better resources for teaching.
What many school districts have already discovered and what many more have yet to learn is that by partnering with neighboring districts that have already implemented blended learning programs, schools can reap huge rewards. When it comes to funding, implementation, and professional development, cross-district collaboration with other districts, big or small, may hold more answers than you realize.
