Professional Documents
Culture Documents
- Next Slide: Think on It: To what extent should teachers be responsible for teaching students socialemotional skills in the classroom?
A couple weeks ago in class, Irene talked about social-emotional competencies and explained that
children with higher levels of social-emotional competencies are able to recognize and manage
their emotions, set and achieve goals, demonstrate care for others, establish and maintain positive
relationships, make responsible decisions and handle interpersonal situations effectively. (taken
from class slide)
Ill give you a few minutes to think over this question, then I want to begin by going around the circle
and having you state your name and your thoughts on this question.
- Classmates to reflect on question, then share with group - Teachers should step in if they have to, example child in the classroom wants to touch
everyone so the teacher has to control the learning aspect of the physical touch.
- Parent responsibility, but the teacher should also have a positive influence role model for those
who dont necessarily have that at home.
- Kids will come in and not have the foundations of life so the teacher should try their best to
inform the students the best they can
- Parents and teachers should work together for the well-being of the child
- The teacher should foster the right environment for positive social environment
After researching what social-emotional competencies are and how they affect students in both
positive and negative ways, I think that it is important that we try to teach these skills to our students
within the classroom. As you will see later in the seminar, there are many ways to encourage socialemotional competencies which are easy to implement. Before we get to the actual strategies, it is
important to understand what social-emotional skills are and how the lack of these skills affect our
students in a negative light.
Ill give you a couple minutes to think about this question, then Ill let you share your ideas with the
group.
- If they feel cared for at school they carry that with them in the rest of the world
According to Katz the author of our textbook, there is a link between the social-emotional
development of children and their academic success. By increasing a child's self-confidence, we
increase their motivation and aspirations for greater learning and their drive to be academically
successful (Katz, 2012, p. 27). When we teach our pupils to be socially and emotionally competent,
we give students a sense of belonging, which improves their attitude, behaviour and school
performance (Katz, 2012, p. 27). By having a sense of belonging, children are more likely to want to
attend school which will clearly have a positive impact on their learning (Katz, 2012, p. 27). High
levels of social-emotional competence has also been linked to lower childhood depression and
increased optimism (John & Schutte, 2007, p 14). While many students with lower levels of socialemotional competence may show signs of disconnectedness and depression, as teachers, we must
be careful to not neglect those who seem happy and healthy, because these students may also feel
along and isolated within the school (Katz, 2012, p. 31).
I was scared
Terrified of what my dad would say
Panic
Bad vocabulary
Shaky feeling
It will be one year ago tomorrow that my husband and I got in a car accident on our way home from
work. I was in the passenger seat when someone hit the front-passenger side of the car. I
remember being really shaky afterwards and feeling kind of like I was in a trance. The driver of the
other vehicle was in complete shock and just stared out the window of her car not moving for
probably a good 5 minutes after the collision.
That shaky feeling that we get (I got) after an (our) accident is a result of the hormone cortisol
being released into our bloodstream. Cortisol is used by our bodies to deal with stress, and if the
stress that we face becomes chronic, the cortisol remains in our bloodstream which affects our
ability to concentrate, to remember or to feel joy or connection, and causes us to become irritable
and unfocused (Katz, 2012, p 27). In normal stressful situations, such as a car accident, the
cortisol leaves the body quickly after the stressor is removed and we begin to feel normal again
(Katz, 2012, 28). For children who live in continuously stressful situations, we need to be there as
teachers to assist them in relaxing so that they are able to concentrate and focus in school. This
can be done by creating safe learning environments for them (Katz, 2012, p 28).
- Next Slide: Think on It: What are some ways that we would be able to create a safe environment for
students to be; away from stress so that our students are better able to concentrate, remember and
feel safe?
- Classmates to reflect on question, then share with group - Schedule on my sons desk so he knows what is happening, he needs to be talked to in a calm
voice, schedule pre communicated. Keeping instructions simple is important
- Using a calm voice is very important, if a child is used to be yelled at, at home then when an
adult speaks to them in a calm manner it allows the child to take in the information better
- In coaching when we start talking harshly to the players the players start doing it to each other
so instead of being negative staying positive allows the players to stay at a higher level or
energy and play their best
- Presenting yourself in a way that a child will always feel safe talking to you is important.
We will discuss some ways that we can make our classroom safe places for our students in the
strategy portion of the seminar, as socially and emotionally strong students contribute to safe and
caring classroom environments.
cooperatively because they are aware that all the members of the groups have different abilities that
they can contribute (Katz, 2012, p 32). Teaching about multiple intelligences also helps children
understand about inclusion because they become aware that all students, no matter what their
physical ability, are intelligent in some way (Katz, 2012, p 49). I want to share a quote from our
textbook from a student who took part in a multiple intelligence program, You feel like youre not
the only one, and its OK even when everyone says you're dumb, yourelikejust because I
can't do this, doesn't mean I'm dumb. I'm just as smart as them, even smarter (Katz, 2012, p 47).
This child was able to gain confidence in their own abilities through learning that everyone has
abilities and its ok if you cant do everything.
Our textbook also has a series of pre-planned lessons that you can use within your classroom
which teaches Gardeners multiple intelligences.
- Allow time for classmates to share experiences with group - The team I coach has decided as a team they want set power play lines so that means when
that happens someone misses their turn on the field
- My running team is individual and a team at the same time, so doing your individual best helps
the team over all
- When I danced I had a horrible experience. I filled in for a friend and the teacher was
extremely mean and I cried every day, and I would get singled out in class, I would try my best
and my classmates were the ones who supported me. They were the ones who helped me get
through and if it wasnt for them I would have dropped out.
On a team, everyone should contribute in a different way but all have the same goal in mind. Your
class can be run in a similar fashion, instead of everyone competing with one another for the top
mark, they can be working together for a common goal; be the class who read the most books, or
the class who raised the most money for the school (Katz, 2012, p 28). In my experience, I didnt
feel like we were connected or that everyone was valued and as a result, I didnt like being on the
team. If we transfer this idea to the classroom, if students don't feel like they are a part of a team,
they are not going to enjoy being in the class and it will lead to disengagement with their learning.
There are some procedural steps to consider when using emotional games in your classroom, such
as ensuring that you practice the activities before introducing them to your class to avoid some of
the glitches and boredom of your students. You should also participate in the games with your
students as often as it is possible, this will show your students that you are equal with them, not
above them or more superior. You should also be sure to allow some goofing off when first
introducing games, as for some, acting silly helps to alleviate tension and nerves. We will be able
to practice some of the activities at the end of the seminar if time permits us to do so.
Ask which students have experiences those feelings within their own family
Teach them to talk about their feelings before reacting. Think before doing
Describing what he looked like, ask they students what they look like when their upset?
What makes you mad?
What do you do when youre upset?
Some ideas that I came up with are, When Miles got mad his cheeks got burning hot, his chest felt
tight, and his hands curled into fists; what do you do when you get upset?, What kind of things
make you upset?, What did Miles do to calm himself down when he was mad?, What kind of
things could you do when you get mad?
Another way to use books to help with social-emotional competencies is to use a book that shares a
strategy. Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is an excellent example of this. Have any of you seen
bucket filling done in the classroom?
- Classmates share with group * If time permits, read Have You Filled a Bucket Today?
This would be a good way to introduce the concept of bucket filling in your classroom. My
Cooperating teacher has a bucket filling board in her class, however, I dont really see much
interaction with it. The kids will write on sticky notes and post them, but Ive noticed that its usually
only one or two students who do anything with it. When youre putting stuff like this in the class, it is
important to interact with it, otherwise its just clutter on the wall. I found some other documents that
can go with the Bucket Filling concept, such as a weekly questionnaire. I wouldnt necessarily give
my students a page of questions to answer every week, but you could do an exit slip once a week
with a single question from the questionnaire on it and see how students are filling others buckets.
- My teacher has Friday meetings with her class, everyone has to say thank-you to someone for
doing something, and then they also have to air out their problem
- With my high school girls I volunteer with at camp we sit in a circle in cabin time and everyone
says a positive thing about the person sitting to their left