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SEL Check-In Templates Feature Image
Social-Emotional Learning

14 Editable SEL Check-In Templates

by Peggy Reimers
written by Peggy Reimers

I first experienced an SEL (social-emotional learning) check-in during the pandemic at one of our virtual staff meetings. We were all working from home at the time, and our executive director, Lori Gracey, kicked off the meeting with one. Though the theme didn’t stick in my memory, the check-in concept became a fixture for me. I also started noticing an uptick of presenters using them in their virtual workshops.

What is an SEL Check-in?

Visual cues, whether faces, characters, memes, or symbols, are a common thread for most SEL check-ins. These visuals should be instantly recognizable shorthand for feelings. Since imagery resonates with people more than abstract numbers or words, it’s easier to quickly convey complex emotions by relating them to an image. A touch of humor or pop culture helps connect people to the scale, too!

You can also use an check-ins in the classroom with students. Students can be given the opportunity to share and reflect on their emotional state at any point throughout the school day. Some teachers keep SEL check-ins in their calming corners as tools for helping students identify their emotions.

Why are SEL check-ins important?

SEL check-ins are important for several reasons. Let’s take a look at a few ways these check-ins support students’ social-emotional development.

A colorful infographic outlining the 8 benefits of SEL check-ins listed in the article.
View in Canva

Incorporating SEL check-ins can:

  • Promote self-awareness: Checking in helps students become more aware of their emotions by giving them a way to identify them.
  • Develop emotional vocabulary: Checking in builds students’ ability to articulate a range of feelings using proper vocabulary.
  • Foster classroom community: Sharing emotions regularly builds connections, empathy, and trust among classmates.
  • Inform instruction: Teachers can gauge student readiness to learn and adjust instruction accordingly based on check-in data.
  • Support at-risk students: Check-ins help identify students who may be struggling socially or emotionally and need extra support.
  • Teach emotion regulation: Checking in helps students reflect on feelings before reacting and manage their emotions in a healthy way.
  • Encourage sharing safely: Students learn it’s safe and healthy to share feelings when given the space to do so.
  • Provide consistency: Daily check-ins become a predictable routine that adds stability.

Tools for Creating Your Own

I guess you could say that SEL check-ins are one of the silver linings of COVID-19. As a presenter, they are a great way to start off a workshop and check in with attendees as the workshop progresses. And with all the fun and creative tools available to us now, making one is easy. I used free images from Pixabay to create my first check-ins. If you are looking for copyright-free images, check out this blog. More recently Emoji Kitchen and Canva provide the fodder for my creative appetite. Remember, Canva is free for educators!

Smiley faces emojis representing various emotions.
Author-created Smiley Face SEL Check-in
Multiple types of shoes- from sequined boots to fuzzy slippers.
Author-created Shoe SEL Check-in
A Jack-o-lantern SEL Check-in with pumpkin faces representing different emotions.
Author-created Jack O’Lantern Check-in
Fun LEGO faces can be used for an SEL check-in.
Author-created LEGO Head SEL Check-in
Funny photos of sheep on an SEL check-in.
Author-created Sheep Check-in
Llamas representing different emotions for an SEL check-in activity.
Llama with gifs SEL Check-in created Mrs. Howell 24.
ACCESS 14 EDITABLE SEL CHECK-INS!

SEL check-ins, with visual cues and creative images, foster self-awareness, emotional vocabulary, and classroom support. Easily integrated into daily routines, they create a stable, engaging environment that bolsters instruction and student emotional growth. If you are considering incorporating emotional well-being into your classroom, I certainly hope this slide deck can help you out. And if you have an SEL check-in to share with the world, please drop the link into the comments.

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Title "Responsible Decision-Making Activities for the Classroom" with a group of students and a teacher playing a game.
Social-Emotional LearningUncategorized

Responsible Decision-Making Activities for the Classroom

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

Responsible decision-making is a crucial skill that students need to develop in order to navigate their lives successfully. In fact, responsible decision-making is a competency listed on CASEL’s social-emotional learning framework. Responsible decision-making is the ability to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacity to consider ethical standards and safety concerns and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.

By engaging students in interactive and thought-provoking activities, we can help them understand the decision-making process and make responsible choices. Let’s explore some effective activities that promote responsible decision-making in the classroom.

Would You Rather?

Students are engaged in a Would You Rather activity about decision-making.

Introduce social and ethical dilemmas to students through a game of Would You Rather? Present students with different scenarios and ask them to choose between two options. After making their choice, encourage students to explain their decision and the reasoning behind it. Allow students to change their decisions and provide their rationale. This will help foster critical thinking and communication. Check out how to get started with a fun and thought-provoking game of Would You Rather.

Scenario-Based Role-Playing

Engage students in role-play activities that are like real-life situations and require responsible decision-making. Create scenarios related to peer pressure, healthy lifestyle choices, or ethical dilemmas. Let students take turns playing different roles. Then encourage class discussions so students can reflect on the decisions they made, the consequences, and alternative choices. An example from Centervention includes scenario cards as well as a Weighing the Consequences challenge for students. These scenarios challenge students to consider what to do in situations where there is no easy solution.

Decision-Making Journals

Introduce decision-making journals where students document daily choices and the reasoning behind them. This reflective practice encourages self-awareness and helps students recognize patterns in their decision-making processes. Periodic discussions or sharing sessions can further enhance the learning experience.

Debates

Students are debating and explaining decision-making processes to each other.

Engage students in thought-provoking debates centered around ethical dilemmas. This activity not only sharpens critical thinking but also hones communication skills as students articulate and defend their viewpoints. Choose topics relevant to different age groups, making the debates both challenging and age-appropriate. You can also help make debates successful in your classroom by structuring them and providing guidelines.

Decision-Making Models

There are many different decision-making models that you can teach your students. These models can help students to break down the decision-making process into smaller steps. Some popular decision-making models include the pros and cons list, the decision tree, and the five-step decision-making model.

Mindfulness

Incorporate mindfulness activities into the classroom. Practices such as deep breathing and meditation can help students develop a calm and focused mindset, which is essential for making responsible decisions. Allow for moments of reflection before students make decisions.

Students are seated with legs crossed and practicing mindful breathing in the classroom.

Promoting responsible decision-making in the classroom is essential for students’ personal and academic growth. By incorporating these activities into your teaching, you can help students develop critical decision-making skills that will serve them well in their future endeavors.

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Image of children laughing, smiling, and clapping with the title "6 Simple SEL Strategies for a Joyful Classroom"
Social-Emotional LearningUncategorized

Six Simple SEL Strategies for a Joyful Classroom

by Brandy Hawthorne
written by Brandy Hawthorne

Now more than ever students need teachers to guide them not just academically, but socially and emotionally as well. This can take a toll on teacher well-being, too. However, using the following six simple social-emotional learning (SEL) strategies. teachers restore joy to their classrooms, reduce the stress felt by students and teachers, and positively impact student engagement and academic success. 

What Is SEL?

Simply put, SEL refers to social-emotional learning, or students’ ability to manage their emotions to successfully navigate the classroom and the world around them. There are Five Core Competencies that all humans need in order to fully engage and understand their emotions and community. These include:

  1. Self-awareness
  2. Self-management
  3. Social awareness
  4. Relationship skills
  5. Responsible decision making

The benefits of SEL strategies include increased student engagement, grades, and attendance, as well as the ability to acknowledge, regulate, and communicate emotions; consequently, decreasing negative behaviors and stress levels. 

1. Start at the Door

Starting at the door is the biggest opportunity to engage personally with each student. A positive greeting can change your attitude toward your students and reinforce that you are happy to be a part of their lives. It gives you an opportunity to gauge a student’s mood and offer words of encouragement. Teachers of younger students may even offer a check-in in which students use emojis (digital or print) to share their emotions when entering the room.

Image of a magnetic board with emoji choices for students to identify feelings
Magnetic emoji check-in board.

Also, consider offering specialized greetings to each student upon entering the room or offering them the chance to choose their greeting from five options (high five, elbow/fist bump, specialized handshake, or even a hug). In my own classroom, students reported that this quick interaction increased their joy and positively impacted their attitude about coming to class, and they stated that they looked forward to these salutations each day because it made them feel special.

Image of a poster where students have written why they choose a hug for the morning greeting.
Reasons students listed for why they chose a hug for the morning greeting.

2. Setting the Stage

Autonomy in the classroom can start with seating choices and classroom atmosphere. Here are some benefits of offering flexibility in seating:

  • Increased participation, communication, and collaboration 
  • Physical stimulation (exercise ball, wobble stool or cushion) 
  • Happier students 
  • Improved focused over longer periods of time  

In addition to seating, you may also want to consider the lighting in your classroom, adding music to your day, and including some plants in your classroom decor. Natural lighting positively affects academic achievement and music stimulates endorphins, reduces stress and anxiety, lowers heart rates, and increases creativity and focus. Plants provide fresher air and mental clarity as well. 

3. Shout Outs

Student Shout Outs are an SEL strategy that can aid in building peer-to-peer relationships. They give students the opportunity to shine the spotlight on the positive characteristics and actions of their classmates. Whether you choose one student per day to focus on or allow students to create shout outs whenever the chance arises, they will definitely want to read them to their peers and display them for all to see. When the display area is full, students can glue shout outs into their journals. It’s a great way for them to be reminded of the good others saw in them. 

Image of a door where students display Shout Out cards they've written to each other.
The Shout Out display wall, where students post Shout Outs for each other.

4. Celebrate

Don’t forget to celebrate the good stuff! Celebrate small and large accomplishments. Did you notice their good attitude, quickness to follow directions, collaboration with peers, participation, or improved work quality? A personalized note, a high five in the air, or a quick round of Beach Ball Volley (with an imaginary ball) can be used to celebrate students. Classroom sticker stores and music or dance breaks can be simple ways to focus on the positive. 

5. Inclusive Engagement

Engaged students think critically. They are more willing to try difficult things, participate collaborate, explore, ask questions, and be creative problem-solvers. Facilitating inclusive lessons using various modes of learning will captivate, inspire, and motivate students. Bring excitement and relevancy, integrated skills, and increased cognition to academic tasks with activities ranging from simple vocabulary Scoot to more complex problem-solving activities or celebratory events such as Poetry Cafe. 

6. Self-Awareness and Self-Management

Both self-awareness and self-management are necessary tools in life and in the classroom. Teachers serve as facilitators of goal-setting, positive mindset, calming strategies, improved communication techniques, and the metacognitive process. Aid students in setting attainable goals by starting with actionable steps that will lead to a bigger overarching goal. Books are the perfect place to start as you explore common feelings, emotions, and character traits such as loyalty and determination. Use positive mindset and calming strategies to help students learn to self-manage their emotions, words, and reactions when frustrated with themselves or others. Model conflict resolution strategies and allow time to practice the proper verbiage by role-playing various scenarios. 

We as teachers have the greatest impact on student success, and it is up to us to ensure that our students are not only succeeding academically but that they are also healthy socially and emotionally as well. Teaching is a stressful job, but by utilizing these six simple SEL strategies, your classroom will not only be successful, but joyful too!

TCEA’s Elementary Technology Conference (ETC) is just a few weeks away! Don’t miss Brandy Hawthorne’s session with co-presenter Brook Allen on Tuesday, June 13:

Raise the Roof, Rally the Troops, Reach 4 the Stars

Come get easy-to-implement activities to increase classroom SEL, connection, and participation! Learn how to Raise the Roof by setting the tone, Rally the Troops by getting students excited to learn, and Reach 4 the Stars to focus on mindset and communication.

Join us in Galveston, Texas for the brightest beachside conference for elementary educators around. You better bring your shades!

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Educational ResearchSocial-Emotional Learning

The Latest Research on Teaching and Learning: Happiness

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

This month’s roundup of new research of interest to educators is a little bit different in that we won’t be examining new teaching strategies or the latest findings about learning. Instead, we’ll look at happiness and how we can be happy – a topic of relevance for both students and adults.

What Does Being Happy Really Mean?

Happiness does not mean that you are in a positive emotional state all the time. It doesn’t mean you feel joyful and cheerful every hour of the day or run around with a smile on your face all the time. We simply aren’t designed that way. Instead, being happy means accepting negative experiences, having the skills to manage and cope with them, and using them to make better decisions later. So, it’s not just about the highs but also about how we cope with the lows.

Can You Change How Happy You Are?

According to the research, it is possible, and even fairly easy, to increase how happy you are on a regular basis. Here are four exercises that clinical studies have shown improve your feelings of happiness and well-being.

1. Grow your social connections. Social connection is the biggest factor affecting happiness, multiple studies have found. Forming close relationships with spouses, family members, friends, and community members results in being happier and both physically and mentally healthier. It’s not about how many connections you have. Instead, focus on deepening the relationship you have with even just a few individuals by giving them more of your time and attention.

grow your social connections

2. Engage in random acts of kindness. Deliberately performing random acts of kindness can make you feel happier and less depressed and anxious, according to a series of studies from Sonja Lyubomirsky at UC Riverside. Varying those acts you do for others has a longer-term effect on your own happiness. So don’t just do the same thing each day. Give someone a compliment, make your spouse coffee, talk with a colleague that you don’t normally spend much time with. All of these actions will activate your brain’s reward system, making you feel good because you made another person feel good.

3. Express gratitude. Writing down three things you’re grateful for at the end of each day leads to long-term increases in happiness and decreases in depressive symptoms. Research shows you don’t have to spend a lot of time writing them down. Something like “I finished the report that I had been putting off” or “I went for a walk today and saw some beautiful flowers” are all that is needed. The goal is to train your brain to focus on the parts of your life that are good instead of always thinking about what’s wrong.

write three things each day you're grateful for

4. Practice self-compassion. This may be the hardest activity for many of us. We have to work to develop a warm, supportive inner voice rather than a hostile, critical one and understand that setbacks are a part of life. Being too hard on ourselves keeps us unhappy. We are worthwhile!

There are two free courses available that explore how to be happy in greater depth. The Science of Happiness online course is hosted on the edX platform. To sign up, you need to create an edX account and then register for the course there. Once you do, you’ll receive weekly emails every Tuesday as new content is posted. Yale also offers a free course on the Coursera platform called The Science of Well-Being.

What will you do to increase your happiness in 2023? How can you help your students or those you work with to be more satisfied with their lives?

Previous Articles in Research on Teaching and Learning Series

The Latest Research on Teaching and Learning: Happiness | December 2022

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Classroom ManagementSocial-Emotional Learning

Digital Calming Rooms with Wakelet

by Dyann Wilson
written by Dyann Wilson

Do you find yourself at times navigating the emotional journey with students or staff? How can we ground students in the present moment and teach them how to use healthy coping skills when needed? Through digital calming rooms, or reflection rooms, in Wakelet, we can better support not only our students but our staff. If you’re not familiar with Wakelet, take a look at this article to learn about its user-friendly and robust content curation capabilities.

What Is a Digital Calming Room?

Calming rooms are one of my favorite things to create in Wakelet. Curating videos, messages, graphics, and more into one space for students to center and ground themselves can be life-changing for some and even realign the path they are on. When students feel out of control, they can act on emotions in an unhealthy way; but what if we gave them tools to regulate their emotions in a healthy way? This is where calming or reflection rooms become so important to the social-emotional well-being of our students and staff. Think of them as a vision board for emotions! With these digital spaces, students are offered something they have control over and a way to manage their emotions.

Screenshot of Willis ISD Elementary Counselor's Digital Calming Room
View of the Willis ISD Digital Calming Room

In our digital calming room, we have curated resources for the following. But you can choose whichever categories you’d like when creating your room.

  • Sound and Music
  • Guided Meditation
  • Visual Relaxation
  • Mindfulness
  • Visual Relaxation
  • Mindfulness
  • Live Animal Cams
  • Virtual Tours
  • Exercise
  • Coloring
  • Puzzles and Activities

The Three Rs

Connecting with the students on an emotional level can have way more impact than focusing solely on discipline. We never want a child or an adult to push away the emotion they are feeling. They need to receive it, reflect on what they are feeling, name that emotion, and release it back into the universe. This will allow them to build the coping skills they need when high stress or emotions arise. I love the three Rs, and I believe the calming rooms created in Wakelet help students do just that: Recieve, Reflect, Release!

Personalizing Digital Calming Rooms

In my experience with digital calming rooms, I have discovered that the only way for students or staff to own their journey is if they have complete ownership of their digital calming or reflection room. I can create a calming room all day, but in the end, is it really showing what the individual student needs?

For our students, the “Calming Room” became a “Reflection Room.” Students and staff can create their Wakelet collection and add to it as much as they want. The great thing about Wakelet? It’s a living document and can always be edited and adapted. Using the reflection room, they can take a brain break, go to their collection, and reset.

Here is an example of a digital Calming Room created through Wakelet.

Willis ISD Elementary Counselor's Digital Calming Room Featured Image
Explore the Calming Room

Allowing staff to create a calming room for themselves or for their students to use when a reset needs to take place is a great activity for a staff meeting!

Three Additional Resources

  • One of the things my students have fallen in love with is the Canva integration piece in Wakelet.  They not only get to design their reflection room, but they also get to put their creativity to work and make the collection their own. 
  • An app that my students love is called Window Swap. This allows students and staff to open a window into different places around the world. I have watched the stress melt away on students when they use this site. 
  • Weave Silk is another one my students love to access! It is simple moves with the finger on the mousepad that helps the students be in the present moment. 
  • Gather more resources from this already curated calming room!
Screenshot of Wakelet Templates

Please see my Wakelet profile for more ideas and inspiration on how to meaningfully reach your students and your community. Not only do we have these rooms to use, but we also have the Wakelet Template Library for school counselors, administrators, educators, and more! 

Want to learn more about the three Rs and Wakelet? Don’t miss Dyann at TCEA 2023! She’ll be presenting about how Wakelet transformed her school counseling program. Register now through January 10 for discounted pricing!

Register for TCEA 2023
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Social-Emotional Learning

Three Activities for Back-to-School Anxiety

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

Going back to school can be exciting for some students, but it can also be stressful for others. Feelings of anticipation and uncertainty can cause students to feel anxious. Students may begin to feel anxiety during the summer before the new school year begins. They might be wondering who their teacher will be, where their classes are, and if they will make new friends. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) activities can help students cope with this anxiety. Let’s look at three SEL activities that can help students destress and start the year off strong.

Getting to Know You Bingo

Helping students get to know one another can make all the difference. With this bingo game, students will have fun learning about each other by finding things they have in common. To play the game, ask students to find classmates who fit the descriptors on the game card. Students can play a regular bingo game, or they can complete the entire card.

Example “Getting to Know You” Bingo Card

Give the winner a small reward and acknowledge everyone’s efforts by asking students to raise their hand if they completed five, 10, 15, or 20 squares. After the game is over, you can review each statement on the card and ask who it applied to. This is a good way for students to see what they have in common with others in the class.

To create a bingo card, I recommend using Flippity. Flippity has a bingo template along with instructions so that you can easily create your own cards. Below is an example of a bingo card I created.

Mindful Check In

A challenge for teachers is not knowing how students are feeling at the beginning of the school year. Therefore, it’s important to check in with them. Doing a check-in with your students before class begins can give you a good indication of how your students are feeling. Be sure to check out some of these daily check-in Jamboard templates. By acknowledging how your students feel, you are creating a safe place for them.

If students indicate they are feeling good, then have them share their good feelings with the class. If students are feeling down or anxious, allow them some time to do mindfulness activities, like deep breathing exercises.

Worry Jar or Box

The Worry Box is an activity in which students can identify their worries and allow themselves to forget them for a little while. All you need for this activity is a glass or plastic jar. If you want a box, then you can use a shoe box. You can even decorate it if you want.

Example Worry Jar

Have students write down their anxieties or worries and place them in the worry box or jar. After students place their slips of paper in the box or jar, be sure to store it out of the student’s view. If your students want to share their anxieties, allow them to. They may find out that there are other students in the classroom that feel the same way. This can help build empathy among the class. If students are too young to write, they can draw their worries, and if you want a digital version, check out this Worry Monster Jamboard created by Karen Stepic.

For some students, going back to school can cause different levels of anxiety. There are many ways SEL can help students calm themselves and work through their insecurities. Encourage students to try out a few SEL activities and discover what works best for them.

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Social-Emotional LearningSTEM/STEAM

Gratitude Towers for Social Awareness and STEM

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

Gratitude towers are an excellent social-emotional learning STEM activity to incorporate into your classroom. Gratitude is such an important skill to teach students. Studies show that when students practice expressing their feelings, they have higher levels of optimism, increased life satisfaction, and decreased negative feelings. Additionally, students who regularly express gratitude appreciate close relationships and feel better about their life and school. I can’t think of a better way to teach students about the value of gratitude than with this fun project! 

Social Awareness

Gratitude is part of CASEL’s Social-Emotional Learning Framework. It falls under the Social Awareness competency. Social awareness is the ability to recognize the feelings of others. When taught social awareness skills, students learn to demonstrate compassion and empathy as well as understand end express gratitude.

Materials Needed

  • Index Cards
  • Tape
  • Pens/pencils

The Steps

Using the Engineer Design Process, students can follow the steps below to build their towers.

  1. Give your students a stack of index cards.
  2. Have your students write one thing they are thankful for on each index card. If they need more index cards, give them more.
  3. Have your students get into groups of two or three.
  4. Have them brainstorm and sketch how they are going to build a tower with their index cards.
  5. Using tape and index cards, allow students to build their tower. The more things they are thankful for, the taller their tower will be.
  6. Allow students to reflect on what they would do differently next time, and then discuss some of the things they are thankful for.

The Gratitude Towers

At a recent conference, participants had the opportunity to build gratitude towers. As a result, they created some very cool structures. Take a look at how they began to design their towers.

gratitude tower building activity
gratitude tower building activity
gratitude tower building activity
gratitude tower building activity

For more ideas on how to incorporate gratitude activities in your classroom check out this blog.

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Social-Emotional Learning

Six Simple Mindfulness Activities for Your Classroom

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

Incorporating mindfulness activities in the classroom is powerful, and it can also be easy to do. If you are wondering where to start with mindfulness in the classroom, be sure to check out some of the activities below. No matter how you choose to implement mindfulness, the goal is to help your students learn they can use mindfulness anytime they need to refocus their attention or reset their thoughts.

What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is often defined as living in the moment without judgment. But many of us don’t always function that way. I know I don’t.

When a thought pops into our heads, it’s usually colored by what has happened in the past or what we think might happen in the future. Even if the thought isn’t accurate, we may react to it as if it were.

The practice of mindfulness can help us stay focused on the present. In addition to calming us down, mindfulness can teach us to view our thoughts in a more neutral manner.

How Can Students Practice Mindfulness?

There are many activities and resources that can help your students practice mindfulness. Check some of them out below.

1. Belly Breathing

Belly Breathing is a great activity for students to practice remaining calm during stressful situations. Centervention has a complete lesson plan you can use on belly breathing. You will find everything from pre and post discussion questions to step-by-step directions. It is a wonderful calming activity to use when students need to cool down or need an emotion regulation strategy.

2. Brain Breaks

Brain breaks are activities, or short breaks, that promote learning and focus for students. These types of breaks involve students participating in activities like mindful breathing, mindful movements, and mindful yoga. Check out these resources you can use to get your students (and yourself!) up and moving.

3. Breathe, Think, Do

This free Sesame Street app isn’t specifically for meditation, but it’s great for introducing very young children to the concept of calming down through breathing. The app teaches kids the “Breathe, Think, Do” method. Kids help an animated monster facing a frustrating situation calm down by taking long, deep breaths. The app is free and available for Android and iOS.

4. Calming Corner

As mentioned in this blog, calming corners can help reduce students’ stress and provide calming visual, auditory, and tactile experiences for students to de-stress. A calming corner is a place that can help your students prepare to learn and focus throughout the day. The calming corner can be a physical corner in your classroom or a virtual space.

5. Mindful Journaling

When a student feels overwhelmed or anxious, encourage them to practice mindful journaling. Mindful journaling gives students an opportunity to cope with and manage their emotions in a healthy way. The Three Good Things: A Happiness Journal app can help students with mindful journaling by having students write down three good things that happen to them each day. As a result, their happiness and positivity increase. There is a gamification element to the app to encourage engagement, and it is free and available for iOS.

6. Smiling Mind App

Smiling Mind offers hundreds of mindfulness activities for all ages. In addition to breathing meditations, the app has sensory exercises, like listening to music. There are programs for kids in different age groups, as well as for schools, workplaces, and sports. The app also keeps track of when kids meditate. Also, it’s free and available for Android and iOS.

Additional Resources

The more strategies students have for handling emotions, the more equipped they will be to tackle challenges. For other ways to incorporate the critical components of social-emotional learning in your classroom, check out these resources:

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Social-Emotional Learning

Celebrate Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Day

by Diana Benner
written by Diana Benner

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Day is on Friday, March 11, 2022. It’s a day when schools will celebrate the importance of promoting children’s social-emotional development. The research is clear that students participating in SEL programs showed improved classroom behavior. In addition, they had better attitudes about themselves, others, and school. The theme for SEL Day this year is Finding Common Ground, Pursuing Common Good.

SEL Day 2022 Video

SEL Day Events

From webinars to Twitter chats, there are many events taking place on SEL Day. You will find a list of events you can participate in for free on the #SELDay website. There are all-day events that you can register for. Some of the topics include mindfulness, advocating for SEL, and more.

SEL Day School Activities

Below are a few activity suggestions that can be done within your school community in order to celebrate the day.

For Administrators

SEL Day
  • During morning announcements on SEL Day, read a poem or quote that connects to SEL.
  • Send a message of gratitude to your staff.

For Staff

For Librarians

  • Create an SEL library area or bookshelf in honor of SEL Day.
  • Distribute lists of SEL-themed books on SEL Day.

For Students

More Social-Emotional Learning Resources

For other ways to incorporate the critical components of social-emotional learning in your classroom, check out these resources:

Want to become a TCEA Certified Social-Emotional Educator? TCEA offers a self-paced Social-Emotional Learning course that offers up tons of information on the research behind SEL plus strategies and resources for implementation in the classroom. And it’s only $29 through March 31! You can enroll now and access the course for one full year.

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Classroom ManagementSocial-Emotional Learning

Transforming Interruptions in the Elementary Classroom

by Emily Horn
written by Emily Horn

We’ve all been in this situation. You know– the situation when we are running a small group or teaching a lesson or working individually with a student– only to be met with (wait for it…) interruptions. Note: To be clear, I’m definitely not talking about emergency situations when interruptions are 100% necessary. There are many reasons that students might interrupt, and some interruptions are important and necessary. But there are some that could be solved by the student with guidance from visual tools, class procedures, and their peers. Let’s take a look at strategies that can empower students to own their learning and problem solve before seeking help from the teacher. And they can also help build a great classroom community.

#1 “Ask Three and Then, Me!”

This is one of my favorites. It’s simple! Before asking the teacher, the student asks three different peers for help. If their question isn’t answered or the problem isn’t solved, the student seeks out the teacher. When a student comes to the teacher for help, the teacher asks, “Have you asked three?” If the student hasn’t yet, they know to seek out a peer. Most of the time, the problem is quickly solved after the first or second peer is asked for help. It’s a great strategy that also fosters a positive community within the classroom. And students know that the teacher will assist after they tried first with their peers.

Ask three and then me - prevent interruption

#2 Start a Support Specialist Program

Creating a Support Specialist Program in a classroom can be amazing for students. It empowers them to help each other and can be a great reminder that everyone has strengths, weaknesses, and is a leader in their own way. And we all need help sometimes. Every student in the class can have the opportunity to “apply” to be a support specialist if they’d like to be one. After applying, they “interview” with the teacher. During the interview, you can ask students the following questions:

  1. Why do you want to be a support specialist?
  2. What gifts do feel you’d bring to your class as a support specialist?
  3. In what areas do you think you can best support your peers?

After applying and interviewing, students receive their Support Specialist certificates, which are displayed in the classroom. I find that this system and the fifth system on this list work very well together. Students really felt proud to be official support specialists and took the job seriously.

#3 Create a “Parking Lot”

You can use a digital tool like Padlet for this, but you can also use post-it notes. Designate a space in the classroom (it would be a whiteboard or poster board, for example) as the “parking lot”. Students can write down their activity-, content-, or assignment-related questions on post-its and then “park” them in the parking lot space. Then, once they’re available, the teacher or class support specialists, can address questions and provide assistance.

#4 Brainstorm Things to Try Before Asking the Teacher

This one is pretty self-explanatory, but here is a visual tool for students to help remind them of five things they can try (in any order) before asking the teacher:

  1. Revisit and reread the instructions.
  2. Ask peers for help.
  3. Use available resources (notes, dictionaries, clasroom posters, etc.).
  4. Try it a different way.
  5. Take a one-minute break and come back to the work.

You can brainstorm ideas for this list with your students and make your own classroom poster together!

#5 Student-to-Student Signaling

This procedure works well with any of the above. These cards can be laminated and given to students, or you can create your own with your class. There are many ways to display the cards, but I found that velcro on the desk and back of the cards works well. Students display the appropriate card on their desk to signal their peers, changing them as needed.

  • A red card means that the student is unavailable. So they should not be visited for assistance.
  • A green card means the student is available to assist others. So other students can come to ask them questions if needed.
  • A yellow card signals that a student is in need of assistance. They’d like a classmate, when they’re available, to visit them.

I hope that you find some of these ideas helpful, or that something sparks an idea in you. If you have ways you empower students and transform interruptions in your classroom, please share them in the comments below.

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