Social And Emotional Learning

Week - 30

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Healthy Boundaries. Healthy boundaries are important to protect our safety and take care of ourselves. Boundaries are guidelines and limits we set for ourselves and our relationships. However, everyone’s boundaries are different. It is critical to understand that what is okay for one person may not be okay for another. Students will learn the importance of healthy boundaries, how to identify one’s own boundaries, and how to know when a boundary has been crossed.

Week - 29

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Self-Advocacy. Self-advocacy is a skill that helps students understand themselves, their needs, and how to speak up to get their needs met. Students will learn strategies for identifying their needs, who can help them meet those needs, and how to communicate assertively to get their needs met. Self-advocacy builds confidence in students as they accept ownership of their needs and develop independence and self-empowerment.

Week - 28

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Self-Compassion. Self-Compassion is an important part of self-care. It is about treating ourselves with the same kindness that we would treat a good friend. Students will recognize the importance of being kind to themselves and practice positive self talk.

Week - 27

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Optimism. Studies show that people who think optimistically are more resilient and better able to navigate the ups and downs of life. Although optimism is considered to be a personality trait that some people are born with, it is also a teachable skill. Students will practice formulating and recording positive thinking.

Week - 26

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Self-Efficacy. Self-Efficacy is when a person believes that they can accomplish their goals. People who display self-efficacy can motivate themselves to do what needs to be done. Students will learn useful strategies that will help them in building a belief in their ability to reach long term goals.

Week - 25

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Mindfulness. Mindfulness is an important part of self-care. Studies indicate that students who practice mindfulness focus better leading to increased learning, improved mental health and well-being, and better decision-making and social skills.

Week - 24

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Actions and Consequences. An important part of social awareness is the understanding that actions have consequences. Students will be able to understand how their actions affect themselves and others, and are encouraged to think about the possible consequences before acting.

Week - 23

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Social Contributions. Contributing to one’s social environment is an essential component of social awareness. There are many social environments to which students belong and can thus contribute to. Students will compose a list of ways they, as well as others, can benefit from social contributions.

Week - 22

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Support Systems. A support system is a network of people who provide practical and emotional support. Having a strong support system can minimize our anxieties and maximize positive outcomes in any given situation. Students will be able to identify and access their support systems.

Week - 21

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Safe and Ethical Behavior. The characteristics of social awareness are the ability to choose safe and ethical behavior and to notice and speak out against unsafe or unethical behavior towards oneself and others. Students will demonstrate the ability to speak out for the rights of others.

Week - 20

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Empathy. The primary basis of empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. Being empathetic promotes trust, which leads to positive relationships built on open and honest communication. You don’t have to have experienced what another is going through to be empathetic. Empathy is being willing to look at a situation from another person’s perspective.

Week - 19

This week’s Social Emotional Learning focus is Cultural Competence. Cultural competence refers to our ability to act respectfully in order to communicate, understand, respect, and promote equality for all people. Students will get an opportunity to compare and contrast stereotypical thinking and ways to spot it.

Week - 18

Conflict can cause feelings of isolation, so it is important to teach students how to resolve conflicts in a way that reconnects them to others. Most conflict can be resolved with communication.

Week - 17

Cooperation is essential for getting along. Cooperation is about contributing ideas, accepting the ideas of others, and combining those ideas to make work and play easier, faster, better, and more fun.

Week - 16

Students have many different relationships in their lives including family members, friends, classmates, and teammates. Developing social skills includes building and maintaining relationships between different groups of people.

Week - 15

According to psychologist, Abraham Maslow, belonging is a basic human need that contribute to a student’s moral, mental, and social development. All teens have a strong desire to fit in. Sometimes the desire to fit in causes pressure to make choices or be in situations that make them feel uncomfortable. We discussed some strategies to deal with peer pressure.

Week - 14

Respect is the belief that you and others are important. Respect shows that you care about your feelings and the feelings of others. Effective social skills include an understanding of appropriate respect of the group dynamics- the roles each person has within the group.

Week - 13

Fairness is an important social skill. Young students begin to understand fairness by learning to share and take turns. As students mature, they develop an understanding that equality is treating everyone the same; whereas fairness is providing everyone what he or she needs to succeed.

Week - 12

Resilience is the ability to manage and recover from daily setbacks and adversity. It is the inner resolve that although a situation may be out of a person’s control, he or she can control his or her perception and response.

Week - 11

Setting goals helps us focus on what is important to and provides a pathway to realizing our dreams. Achieving a goal takes planning and practice.

Week - 10

Being able to solve problems is important for learning, independence, and confidence. Problems are a part of life and learning to make decisions and cope and overcome challenges are valuable life skills. Problem solving requires being able to identify when there is a problem and what it is, how to generate possible solutions, how to choose the best solution, and how to implement the solution.

Week - 9

Focus is the ability to direct one’s attention and ignore distractions. Having the ability to focus helps students learn and achieve their goals. With many things competing for our teen’s attention, it is important for them to learn how to focus. With practice, the brain can be trained to focus better and for longer periods of time.

Week - 8

We all have stress – even teens. Simply put, stress is a reaction to challenges. A certain amount of stress is helpful. It provides an opportunity to develop skills to deal with new situations. Stress in school helps students focus and learn new information. But too much stress can disrupt brain development and cause many physical and mental health problems.

Week - 7

Students with greater self-control focus better and learn more. It is a key to living a healthy, productive, and successful life. In fact, one study found that a higher GPA was more closely related to one’s self control, rather than one’s intelligence.

Week - 6

Mindfulness is the awareness and acceptance of the present moment. Developing a practice of mindfulness nurtures a sense of quiet inner peace, improves one’s ability to learn, and promotes deeper and more meaningful relationships. Studies show that a practice of mindfulness helps students focus better, leading to increased learning, improved mental health and wellbeing, and better decision-making and social skills.

Week - 5

Understanding how the brain processes information, helps students take control of their learning. Having strategies to use to take in information also helps students become better learners.

Week - 4

Psychologist, Abraham Maslow studied what motivated people to achieve and determined that certain needs must be met in order to reach one’s potential. Without our basic physical needs met, it is impossible to reach our full cognitive potential.

Week - 3

Values are a person’s principles and standards of behavior. They are what a person believes to be important. Studies indicate that people are happier when they act according to their values. As students become more independent, they begin to shape their values based on new information gathered from peers, the media, and their own experiences.

Week - 2

This week's Social Emotional Learning focus is emotions. Students will watch a video that will describe the many ways that emotions can affect our behavior, body, and relationships. Think about how your own emotions support this idea.

Week - 1

This week's Social Emotional Learning focus is Awareness of Self and Others. Students will watch a video that will help them determine their preferred learning style, and conclude which type of learner they are; visual (seeing with your eyes), auditory (hearing with your ears), or kinesthetic (with your hands or body).