L. Cocke ALM2 Task Two Final

docx

School

Western Governors University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

D021

Subject

Sociology

Date

Apr 3, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by ChancellorHyenaPerson1026

1 Lauren Cocke ALM2 Task Two: Social and Emotional Learning Competencies Delmon Moore December 3, 2023

2 ALM2 Task Two: Social and Emotional Learning Competencies A. SEL Contributes to School Culture A personal belief of mine is that student success in school is directly related to the social and emotional learning competencies utilized in the classroom. According to CASEL (2023), "SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions" (CASEL, 2023). These concepts are intertwined with all areas of students' lives, especially in educational settings. Schools are composed of students and staff from differing backgrounds, ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, and past experiences. Despite these differences, everyone is working towards the same goal, furthering our students' education. Because we are all different, that means we learn differently, and our past experiences can affect the way we learn. Without incorporating social and emotional learning (SEL), we as educators strictly focus on the academic curriculum, and we lose sight of the whole child. A child who has lived through any type of trauma is not going to be hyper-focused on a math lesson. A group of young girls in an ongoing argument probably aren't listening to the English lesson. If educators lose sight of the whole child, true grasping of concepts that are being taught might be missed. We learn when we feel safe, valued, and have a sense of belonging. When educators incorporate SEL, they are prioritizing a child's personal and emotional growth equally as much as their academic growth. When we provide a holistic approach to our student's development, we provide opportunities to teach them resilience, conflict resolution, and strategies to overcome difficulties. This relationship-building is key to creating a trusting foundation with our students.

3 When they trust us and feel safe with us, they can learn more from us. SEL allows students to grow in all areas of their lives, in addition to academics. B. One Promoting Practice of SEL As a professional school counselor, my passion for SEL runs through my entire practice, from individual, small group, and large group sessions, in-service training opportunities for staff, collaboration, and consultation with teachers, and working closely with families to help their children feel successful. One practice that I used every day to promote the social and emotional development of students was my Zone of Regulation check-in. At the beginning of small groups or individual sessions, I gave my students their personal "check-in" sheet where they rated their feelings for that day on a scale of 0-10, with zero representing a perfect day and ten meaning it's a really hard day with large emotions. They knew there were no right or wrong feelings, it was ok to be at a zero or a ten. I did the same during my large group session where students moved their assigned number to the appropriate zone that they were currently in. Red, yellow, blue, or green zones all represented a specific group of emotions ranging from sadness to intense anger. This strategy was a simple way to know exactly where my students were emotionally before diving into our session so that I could provide support or help them find coping strategies to manage their feelings. This self-awareness strategy also provided others with social awareness skills because students could see where their friends were emotionally, in a non-judgmental setting. I once overheard a student ask his friend if he was okay because he placed his number in the blue zone, but he didn't "look" like he was sad. This led to a group discussion of how what we see on the outside isn't always true of what's going on on the inside. The check-in activity is something that I rely heavily on because it is an easy way to get a quick picture of the whole child. If a student who typically is in the green zone or at a level seven checks in at a three or in

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

4 the yellow or blue zone, it provides me an opportunity to ask her if she is okay or if she wants to talk about what is going on. I have an easy opportunity to teach resilience, self-awareness, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and self-management to my students. These check-ins create a space to build trust, help my students feel heard and valued, and allow for a culture to be built in the educational setting where children feel supported in all areas of their lives. B1. One Discouraging Practice of SEL One difficulty in promoting a culture of social and emotional learning is that some educators who have been professionals for many years are hesitant to change their practices. An experience I've had with one strategy that discouraged the social and emotional development of students was with a specific teacher who felt that students should be willing and able to sit in her class without any disruptions, focused and attentive to her lesson, and follow all of the rules and expectations without fault. I had a student on my caseload who was working through the death of her father, but it was also tied to his absenteeism due to drug abuse. I was working with her through all of the emotions she was feeling, with her family, as well as her therapist to help ensure that she was supported in all areas of her life. Though this particular teacher knew of the circumstances this young girl was living through, there was a particular day when everything seemed to escalate in the classroom. The student was having a hard morning regulating her emotions, however, she was able to go to class and try her hardest to be present. I informed the teacher of this hoping she would provide some grace to this student and simply be a support for her. The student was "zoned out" during the lesson, so when it came time to practice what they had just learned, she was unaware of what to do. She asked her friends for help, because it was a group activity, but decided she needed the teacher's help so that the group could continue without her. The teacher

5 pulled this student into the hallway and began raising her voice at her. The teacher explained that she was disappointed because the student wasn't listening during her lesson and now she was behind with no time to catch up because they had to move on as a class. The student began crying and essentially shut down for the remainder of the day, refusing to go back to class. In a perfect SEL world, the teacher would have looked at the whole child, rather than focusing on the academic portion, and worked with her to practice resilience and self-management. Simply offering a hug and acknowledgment that this student was going through a hard time and assuring her that the teacher was there to help her would have gone so much farther than yelling at her and causing her to give up trying to make it through the day. This negatively affected the social and emotional development of multiple students because of how they witnessed this teacher yelling at their peers on one of her hardest days. This negatively affected the trust students had in this teacher and possibly made them afraid to be open to social and emotional learning. B2. Modifying Discouraging Practice of SEL It is imperative for the promotion of social and emotional learning that the previously discussed practice of focusing on only one side of a child's life rather than the whole child, be modified to help cultivate the social and emotional development of students. After the above- mentioned incident occurred, it was apparent that for some, social and emotional learning was easy to apply, while for others it was not. A practice that I put into place was training faculty on the importance of SEL and what it looks like in their respective classrooms. I worked with my principal to receive additional SEL and restorative practices training and took that learning to teach our staff. During in-service in the summers as well as a refresher course in February allowed for me to provide teachers with the tools necessary to incorporate SEL in their classrooms, without giving up academic instruction. Most importantly, I was able to address the

6 purpose and importance of SEL. We discussed scenarios of what children might be going through at home, as well as what our faculty peers might be experiencing at home. If I expect the staff at my school to teach children about resilience, self-awareness, responsible decision- making, social awareness, and self-management, I first have to give the adults the tools to recognize these things in themselves. To me, the most important concept that I was able to provide teachers during these trainings, was perspective. For many, they were not making the connection between home and school, or lack of social skills and academic performance, or even emotional regulation and disciplinary behaviors. We were able to talk through specific examples of small changes, like a morning check-in, that would be a building block for students growing socially, emotionally, and academically. C. CASEL Influence in Practice The core competencies in the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) model include self-awareness, responsible decision-making, social awareness, self- management, and relationship skills (CASEL, 2023). As an educator, these competencies have influenced my practice in many ways including how I interact with students and co-workers, what topics I focus my sessions on, and how to assist students in conflict resolution. As a counselor, teaching students self-management strategies is imperative to my career. I work with individual students to first identify what emotions they are feeling, and how it feels physically in their body, incorporate stress management strategies to try, and set goals for overcoming stressful situations. For both students and faculty, I teach social awareness strategies through group counseling or collaborative meetings with teachers. We discuss differing perspectives, point out the strengths that others have, practice concern for others as well, and help to identify diverse social norms (CASEL, 2023). One of the biggest influences on my practice includes authentic

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

7 partnerships with family and caregivers. "Research suggests that evidence-based SEL programs are more effective when they extend into the home, and families are far more likely to form partnerships with schools when their schools' norms, values, and cultural representations reflect their own experiences" (CASEL, 2023). Examples of how I rely on this component of the CASEL framework in my practice are evident in my relationships with families and caregivers. Multiple times throughout the school year I perform needs assessments with my students, faculty, and families. This provides families the opportunity to tell me what they see in their child at home, and what I can spend the year teaching them. This creates a connection between school and home, the goal being a more holistic approach that strengthens the topics being discussed when they are addressed both at home and school. Parents and caregivers are also provided with the opportunity to refer their child to me for small group or individual counseling if there is a need that is unmet or behavior that indicates a lack of skill in some area. Lastly, I host monthly "Coffee with the Counselor" events where I invite all stakeholders into the school for an hour of their morning to discuss specific topics and how we can better partner to help develop our students. Previous topics of "Coffee with the Counselor" include anxiety, conflict resolution, diversity, internet safety, and anger management. These are all opportunities to strengthen the authentic partnership between school and home and are a huge reason I strongly welcome the SEL competencies to continue to influence my practice. C1. Best Practice to Promote SEL of Students A reasonable strategy to use as an educator to promote the social and emotional development of students includes helping teachers to include SEL within their classrooms. During in-service training and collaboration with teachers regarding student behaviors, I provide ideas like check- ins, restorative circles, ways to incorporate diversity and inclusion in their lessons, and ways for

8 project-based group learning to be utilized to foster relationship building. CASEL (2023) states, "Research has shown that social and emotional competence can be enhanced using a variety of classroom-based approaches such as: (a) explicit instruction through which social and emotional skills and attitudes are taught and practiced in developmentally, contextually, and culturally responsive ways; (b) teaching practices such as cooperative learning and project-based learning; and (c) integration of SEL and academic curriculum such as language arts, math, science, social studies, health, and performing arts" (CASEL, 2023). In working with teachers on how to incorporate these approaches, I am promoting the social and emotional development of students. I remind teachers that children learn best when they feel safe, valued, and have a sense of belonging. I also remind teachers that it is appropriate to provide opportunities for students to fail, for this is where we get to teach resilience, problem-solving, and emotional regulation. Children will not be perfect all of the time, for if they were we wouldn't need to introduce SEL to our community. However, we can celebrate difficulties and shortcomings because those are the learning moments where SEL makes an impact on their development. D. Pattern of Inequity in Procedures In my previous school, I served as a professional school counselor who serviced students from Pre-K through fifth grade. It took a few years, but I was finally able to convince my principal and district that we needed social and emotional learning throughout our building to better service our students. Post-covid most notably hindered student's abilities to interact socially and it created an environment where students became less self-aware. In the school setting, it was obvious that something had to be done in addition to the academic loss, our students were not developing socially and emotionally during quarantine. During this transition into SEL, our elementary school had an uptick in behaviors throughout the school day. Simply

9 put, students were not interacting positively with others when faced with a challenge, nor could they regulate any emotion other than happiness. My principal and I decided to create a safe space for students who needed time away from the classroom to regulate and process their emotions. However, my principal and I had differing views on what this room, specifically, would look like. I advocated for dim lighting, comfortable seating, visuals for students to access to regulate and learn what was happening in their bodies as they were processing feelings, as well as visuals and resources to help the students name their emotions. My principal created a space that had visuals of expectations, such as "I will not bite", "I will keep my hands to myself", or "I will use an inside voice", but the room turned into a space to shut dysregulated students into and leave them alone. Students would be screaming in the quiet room with a teacher assistant, who was placed in that room with strict instructions to ignore the child's cries and behaviors but make sure they weren't hurting themselves. As a counselor, I knew that more harm is being done when that student is screaming and crying, because they do not have the skills to process whatever emotion they are feeling, so they are begging for help and an adult is ignoring that unmet need. The quiet room started as a positive step towards an SEL-based school and ended with doing just the opposite. For two years the quiet room continued, despite my complaints and frustration, and became a pattern of unfairness in my eyes. Students who did not have the skills yet to make responsible decisions or manage their emotions were punished unfairly by being sent into a room that quite possibly became traumatizing. Teachers would use the quiet room as a threat for their students to scare them back into behaving, without trying to uncover the reason for the behavior. As I accepted a job at a different school, the quiet room was still open. I felt the pattern of using the quiet room as a punishment decorated as an SEL component was unjust and the opposite of everything SEL represents.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

10 D1. Educator's Role in Advocating The educator is many things: teacher, parent, cheerleader, reinforcer, disciplinarian, tutor, friend, and many student's biggest advocate. In today's changing world, teachers must continue to reevaluate their strategies to meet students where they are to help carry them forward. The educator has the privilege of being front row to many milestones in a student's year. They will watch the student laugh, cry, feel frustration or jealousy, and some see their students through the hardest times of their adolescence. When done correctly, students lean on their teachers in trust to help them. Students typically spend more time with their teachers than they do with their own families. While some educators may believe that they "didn't sign up" to play such a large role in their student's lives, they simply do. Educators have a huge role in advocating for social justice for all students. We must constantly keep up with the changes that come along with a growing nation, and be on guard for injustices and prejudices that negatively affect our students. "Rapidly changing demographics demand that we engage in a vigorous, ongoing, and systemic process of professional development to prepare all educators in the school to function effectively in a highly diverse environment" (Howard, 2007). To advocate for social justice for our students, we must first make ourselves aware. We must have conversations amongst one another and with our classes to discuss topics such as "race, class, gender, sexual orientation, immigration, and other dimensions of diversity and social dominance" (Howard, 2007). When we engage in meaningful conversations, we provide ourselves opportunities to learn and grow, and we provide others the opportunities to be heard. We can't save the world, but we can lead our schools to be a district that addresses injustices and makes meaningful changes toward creating a culture that welcomes diversity and inclusion. D2. Behaviors of Educators to Cultivate Diversity Awareness and Acceptance

11 There are many things that educators can do to cultivate awareness and acceptance of diverse cultures found in our global society. Celebrating differences is an important step in creating this culture. Leading conversations about restorative practices with my students is a ground-level strategy that I can use to create a culture of awareness and acceptance of diversity. For example, I have two students who are going back and forth in an argument. One girl calls the other fat, and the other retaliates by saying that her family is not welcome in America. This leads us to have a sit-down, private, restorative conversation where both sides share their thoughts and feelings. Both girls have an opportunity to talk about words that hurt and words that attack differences on a level that stays with us for the rest of our lives. I provide them with ways to think about how it might feel to be the other in this scenario. My goal with this restorative practice is to teach these students multiple things including thinking before speaking or responsible decision-making, self- awareness in recognizing their feelings becoming escalated and coping appropriately, social awareness in how pointing out the other's diversity in a negative way affects the entire school culture, and relationship skills in how trust has been broken between the two girls. Additional behaviors I can exhibit are avoiding looking at my classes as a whole, and instead looking at each child as just that: a child with differing needs and experiences. Howard (2007) explains, "Many education leaders in diversity-enhanced schools are moving beyond blame and befuddlement and working to transform themselves and their schools to serve all of their students well. This transformative work proceeds best in five phases: (1) building trust, (2) engaging personal culture, (3) confronting issues of social dominance and social justice, (4) transforming instructional practices, and (5) engaging the entire school community" (Howard, 2007). Within these phases, schools and educators can begin the everchanging process of educating from a

12 cultural awareness perspective, and teach our nation's students the importance of acceptance of diverse cultures.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

13 References CASEL. (2023, October 9). Fundamentals of SEL . CASEL. https://casel.org/fundamentals-of- sel/ Howard, G. R. (2007). As Diversity Grows, So Must We. Educational Leadership, 64 (6), 16-22.

L. Cocke ALM2 Task Two Final

Related Documents