Ways to Add Social-Emotional Learning to the Classroom

Teachers and counselors will both agree that social-emotional learning can be beneficial to students.  They both know that children need to learn these skills in order to be successful both in and out of the classroom.  

Unfortunately, time constraints continue to be a barrier when implementing these lessons into a typical school day.  Teachers often find themselves struggling to find ways to teach everything they need to in one school day.  

  The following tips can be added into daily routines with very little effort! 

1. Morning Check-In

This is a quick and easy way to help students unwind from the morning rush and learn how to manage the stress of a busy morning.  Morning check-ins should be a fun and easy way to personally connect with the students.  Students can share what they did the night before, what they are looking forward to that day, a fun question of the day,
or a simple greeting to let you know how they are feeling. 

Here are a few examples:                         

                    

2.  Journaling

Journals can be used at the start of the day and allow for a moment of reflection.  It can allow students to start their day off on a positive note and then share their happy vibes with their peers. 

3.  Group Work for Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom

Many teachers are already using teamwork and group work throughout their weekly lessons.  This is a great opportunity to incorporate SEL activities into what you are already doing! 

Teamwork is an important skill for students to have in order to be successful in their careers and personal lives. Teaching kids how to problem-solve, compromise and be leaders is a simple way to add SEL into your daily routine. 

4. Reward Social-Emotional Learning and Social Skills

Telling the students they are managing their emotions well can help reinforce the desired behavior.  You can usually tell if your students are upset about something. Reaching out to them or encouraging them when they do so on their own, will help them recognize their own social skills and encourage them to do it more often. 

5. End of the Day Check-Out

It is often helpful to reflect at the end of a long day to help reinforce social-emotional learning. One easy way to do this is to ask each student to proclaim a win for the day or give one of their peers a compliment. This is also a great time of day to review goals for the rest of the week or the following day.  Proclaiming goals out loud encourages mindfulness and accountability. 

Another suggestion is to select a student that demonstrated the use of the SEL skills that day, let them know what they did well. Then let them have the honor of bidding each of their classmates a farewell as they leave the classroom.  Here is an example of fun farewells! 

6. Games!

Who doesn't love games? Not only are they a great way to help strengthen skills such as memory, decision-making and logic, but they are also fun ways to incorporate SEL into your classroom.  Playing games encourages students to interact with their peers to achieve a goal, either together or competitively. 

7. Classroom Jobs 

Classroom jobs give students a sense of belonging and responsibility. Assigning classroom jobs also helps create routine and structure in the classroom. Students thrive when they know what to expect. Work with the class to create a list of jobs.  Then assign a student to each job daily, weekly or monthly.  But the key is to be CONSISTENT!