The importance of social emotional education is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. I had a gut wrenching reminder of why the explicit teaching of these skills is so important for our kiddos, especially in these crucial younger years. If you’re finding that your students are struggling with behavior, things keep happening that are affecting your classroom community, or problems just aren’t being solved, you’re in the right place. Social emotional learning has to take place and I’m here to help you fit it in your school day! 

The Importance of Social Emotional Education

I would like to share with you an impactful reminder I had. During the quarantine, my son switched to a new classroom, and we were not allowed to be in the building. A staff member would come to get him and contact was strictly email, conference calls, or texts through an app. Additionally, there were no outings to museums, parks, or libraries because everything was closed. On top of that, there was an adjustment to a new baby sister who joined the family. This all happened within a span of a few weeks. Needless to say, we had a hard time, at home and at school. School behaviors were unacceptable, so naturally explicit social emotional teaching was key in our home. Finally, for the first time in MONTHS, I was able to meet his teachers. And of course, all that social emotional learning paid off.

We attended this meeting and heard how caring and compassionate our son is. We learned that he always checks on friends who are hurt and immediately apologizes if he hurts someone intentionally. This is why we teach social emotional learning. After the meeting, my husband wondered why the focus was on social skills rather than academics. I explained that, from early years through high school and college, educators must prioritize teaching children how to interact, problem-solve, and build empathy. I left the meeting feeling proud of my son for his kindness and understanding the importance of this work. This experience reinforced how much children need our guidance in developing these crucial skills, especially now, making everything feel worthwhile.

Hold High Expectations for Social Emotional Learning

We’ve worked tirelessly at home to teach our child empathy, compassion, and problem-solving. This isn’t to brag, but to highlight the importance of social emotional education and its benefits. Educators must dedicate themselves to social and emotional learning for every child. Despite having a loving home, my son still struggles daily, which shows how crucial this support is. Many students lack this foundation and have faced significant challenges. Without proper support, they can’t navigate their emotions, feelings, and behaviors effectively. I hope this post inspires you to integrate social emotional learning into your classroom, starting by building a loving community with your students. 

We must teach, and EXPLICITLY model, behavior for our students. Would you teach them the procedure for using the bathroom or how to get a pencil? Of course! The same goes for social emotional learning. We must teach them how to express themselves and show kindness to everyone. I am a HUGE proponent of explicit modeling for students. We must model for students what every skill looks and sounds like, no matter what we’re teaching. In order to do that, we must think through exactly what we need to model. This includes how we communicate, how we calm ourselves when upset, how we work together, etc. While teaching, I model, model, model, and model some more. Then provide opportunities for them to practice what we’ve learned. Just like practicing routines, we practice our social emotional routines as well.

We must allow ample practice time for students to work through these skills in order for them to become successful at doing it. You also want to show what it doesn’t look like so that they see when they need to redirect. While students are practicing what it looks like, they get to watch YOU practicing what it doesn’t look like. This is always the fun part because they love watching you make mistakes or be silly and they love to correct you. However, you NEVER want students to practice what it doesn’t look like. We want them only to display the modeled correct behavior.

Now, let’s discuss ways to stimulate discussion, important topics to explicitly teach when considering all that encompasses these social and emotional skills, and some strategies and resources to utilize with students. I hope these ideas can help inspire you to take this challenge head-on for the benefit of all the tiny humans in your class!

Using Literature for Social Emotional Learning

I LOVE using literature to teach different skills and topics to students. When it comes to the importance of social emotional education, there are so many wonderful books to help students relate to. Listening to stories help students understand big and heavy topics in a safe way. Read alouds allow us to facilitate great conversations, discuss misconceptions, and open up for so many other companion activities to help practice skills. There are SO many amazing Social Emotional books out there and the list just keeps growing and growing! Be sure to read my post on 20ish Awesome Read Alouds to Foster Social Emotional Learning. Furthermore, I would definitely check out @diversereads  as an amazing resource for finding more books you’d love to use.   

Expressing Yourself

Reading books can help provide students with language they can use to express themselves effectively. Expressing yourself is a super important skill when it comes to social and emotional well-being and we’re not born knowing how to do it in an effective and respectful way. I want you to think about your students again and their background. Do they know how to effectively communicate? Have they ever been taught how to express themselves? Maybe. However, some adults are still learning how to do this so we of course have to teach the littles our expectations.

As with every other expectation, we must MODEL and PRACTICE over and over again. So how do we begin expressing ourselves in conversation? One of my favorite ways to teach young learners how to let someone know that something has upset them is by reading, A Bug and a Wish by Karen Scheuer. This book is also a great way to introduce the concept. It teaches a very simple and effective way to say, “Hey. I don’t like that. Please fix it.” Check out the poster that I love using below. It provides students with the language they need so that they can begin to express themselves in a respectful way. 

Introducing I Statements is another great tool for students to use while communicating how they feel. Here’s an example, “I feel sad when you say things about my shoes. I want you to stop doing that.” Or “I feel angry when you don’t include me. I want to play together.” These respectful, direct statements help students express how they feel and state what they want. Anchor charts are a great way to give students a constant reference when learning how to express themselves. I keep our behavior charts up the entire year for students to refer back to when expressing themselves and solving problems. Providing students with sentence stems scaffolds learning and helps to build the capacity to learn how to express feelings independently.

Social Emotional Education Helps Solve Problems

We need effective communicators to solve problems. The goal is to teach students to solve problems independently or at least try before seeking an adult or having a meltdown. At the start of each year, I facilitate a lesson on Big and Little Problems. We discuss their differences and ways to solve little problems independently. Primary students often need help with small issues like “She’s looking at me,” “I lost my pencil,” or “My crayon broke.” This can be exhausting. I use THIS lesson to help students work through problems and become independent problem solvers. To support this, we do lots of team-building activities. Let’s explore some of my favorite ones!

Team Building 

In class we have to solve problems together. But of course we have to teach expectations for how we work together. How are we a team? What does that look and sound like? Well we know that we HAVE to learn to work together since we are spending the entire year together learning and growing. Again, there are some WONDERFUL books that we can use to learn why it’s important to be a team. One of my favorites to use is, Teamwork Isn’t My Thing and I Don’t Like to Share. We read this book together and discuss the importance of teamwork and why we are a team. Then comes the fun part, team building activities! Below I’ve listed just a few of my favorites. These can all be easily adapted for social distancing by just a few masks and a couple gloves. 

Cup Stacking

Students start in their table groups just stacking cups to make one structure using their hands. Give them about 5 minutes then each group talks about how they worked together and what they made. The 2nd time they are not allowed to use their hands to move the cups. We give each table group a rubber band with pieces of string attached and they have to use that to move and stack. Afterwards talk about the difference and how they had to work together to get the cups stacked.

Worm and Lifesaver 

This is prepped with a gummy worm, a gummy lifesaver, a plastic cup and 4 paper clips. The cup is flipped over and the lifesaver is inside it, with the gummy worm on top. The students have to get the cup off the lifesaver and the lifesaver around the gummy worm without touching either of them. Teamwork is key!

Hula Hoop Challenge

 Students hold hands in a circle, put hula-hoop on one student’s arm and they have to get the hula-hoop all the way around the circle without letting go of each other’s hands and whoever can do it the fastest wins. If anyone lets go, then we will start over. 

Lily Pads Game

Students are split into 4 Groups of 6 (or the closest you can get to this with your class size). Each student in their group will get only ONE piece of paper (so that they will each have 6 pieces of paper). As a group they will have to make it from one side of the carpet to the next by only stepping on their paper. Their entire team has to make it across the carpet to win. This activity always challenges students to determine how to work together to get everyone across the carpet! 

Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship 

Students pair off to play a game of rock, paper, scissors. When they lose, they become a cheerleader to the person they lost to. The winner will then find another opponent. By the end, there should only be two players left but they each have a TON of cheerleaders! It’s such a fun way to cheer each other on and have fun!

Something really important after completing activities like this is to have a debrief but what we thought and why we do this. You can Think Aloud “I really liked”…. or “I thought”….. “What Did You Think?” and have students share as well. This fosters more effective communication and great social skills. 

Apologizing

Another crucial social emotional learning skill is knowing when and how to apologize in a meaningful way. This has to be explicitly taught. How many times have you encountered a kid doing something to upset someone else and their way of apologizing is by mumbling, “sorry.” This is where we step in by teaching them what it looks and sounds like to apologize. I like to use this poster to help students effectively apologize in a way that matters. Just like everything else, we MODEL and PRACTICE. We must create a safe space for students to express themselves.

Setting expectations for an environment where your peers are communicating, problem solving and apologizing when their wrong is how we create that safe space. We must teach them how to do it and why it matters. If you spend ample time at the beginning of the year, you will be amazed at how students are able to effectively communicate and solve their problems. Take the time to act out scenarios and role-play. These are the ways that students will learn and with consistent practicing, soon it will come naturally to them when they are in these situations. Check out this game equipped with various scenarios where students can practice all of these skills HERE. 

 

The Importance of Social Emotional Education During Morning Meetings

These gatherings are the perfect way to kick start your day and continue to grow together and learn more about each other. Morning Meetings can help you gauge how your students are doing each day and have important discussions about social and emotional skills, expectations and goals, or just to talk about the exciting things you’ll learn that day. I would suggest beginning each morning with a meeting together. There are tons of different prompts out there for you to have deep and meaningful conversations.

These meetings don’t have to be long but it’s a great way to continue to build those connections and be a community together. Morning Meeting Book is a wonderful resource to learn more about the impact of these meetings. As overwhelming as it is to think about how to make all these classroom moments happen virtually, try not to let the digital aspect of your teaching stop you from what you know is best practice. I have seen SO many amazing digital resources for Morning Meeting so be sure to do some research! 

Connection Circles

Connection Circles are an amazing way to, you guessed it, CONNECT! We hold one at the beginning of each day as part of our morning meeting. This sacred time helps create a safe haven, essential for building a strong classroom community. Starting the day with a group meeting sets the tone that everyone’s voice is valued and establishes expectations for communication and collaboration. While I never force students to speak, I prompt them twice to encourage participation. We discuss topics like favorite things, feelings, or “would you rather” scenarios. Having this consistent daily time gives students a structure and routine to interact respectfully, fostering a sense of belonging and understanding.

Restorative Circles

Restorative Circles are much different than your daily connection circle. Everyone still sits in a circle but in this circle, but this is to help regain calm in the classroom. When it comes to the importance of social emotional education, restoring order and peace in the classroom is crucial. These meetings are a wonderful tool to use when there have been behaviors displayed that have disrupted the safe space of the classroom. This helps to restore the trust and confidence to share about their feelings. What might this look like? Let’s say that someone has been stealing from classmates. The restorative circle is a way to communicate that the displayed behavior is not tolerated in our classroom. It also gives the victims a way to share how it has made them feel without singling anyone out.

We give students the language to express themselves again. For example, “My new brush was stolen from my backpack and it really makes me sad.” This way the student states how they feel about what has happened to them and lets the person who stole know how that made them feel. Restorative circles can be used to manage lots of different types of conflicts between students. They can be used with the whole class or even just two students. To learn more about Restorative Justice Practices, this article is a great place to start. If you would like to learn more about having a Responsive Classroom and Morning Meetings, check out this post HERE.

Social Emotional Learning Calming Strategies 

You can also see different calming tools I have in my “Chill Zone” that can be used. How to use this zone is another piece that is EXPLICITLY taught and modeled. Because there are lots of “fun” tools that we can use to calm our bodies, expectations MUST be taught. We also must learn how to time ourselves and how much time we spend calming. And of course we PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Now we have a designated space and strategies to manage our feelings and calm our bodies to be ready to learn again.

Remember though- This space is NOT a TIME OUT or PUNISHMENT. When stressing the importance of social emotional education, we teach students it’s okay to feel. This space is a tool for self-regulation so students learn to recognize when they need to calm down, and as teachers we can help students recognize if they are upset, so we do not force students to use this place. If ample time is spent practicing and modeling, this space becomes a very effective way for students to learn how to manage their own big emotions. 

 

Growth Mindset 

Learning to express yourself, apologize, and calm down are all really tough skills when it comes to social emotional learning. Developing a growth mindset ensures that we’re confident enough to pick yourself up and try again if you get it wrong the first time. There are ENDLESS books that cover having a growth mindset that really helps students connect and understand what it means to have one. In addition to great literature, one of my FAVORITE tools to teach growth mindset is with The Class Dojo mini series! Watch these 5 short videos over a week to spark great discussions about having a growth mindset. 

I also love using this anchor chart pictured below along with goal setting! The two topics really go hand in hand and help students recognize that we are ALWAYS learning and growing. My favorite is when students start to learn about having a fixed vs growth mindset, and start to recognize it in themselves or each other!  Teaching students this vocabulary and creating a supporting environment can really help students grow in their social and emotional health. It allows them to push themselves and others to continue to get better. It is truly a beautiful and magic thing that can be created in your classroom. Watch these 5 short videos over a week to spark great discussions about having a growth mindset.

Social Emotional Check Ins 

When it comes to the importance of social emotional education, all of these skills tie into our crucial mental health. Simple mental health check-ins are a great easy way to gauge where your students are at and plan how to address feelings that need support. Maslow must always come before Bloom. If students aren’t having their basic needs met, how on Earth could we expect them to be ready to learn? Conduct check-ins at the beginning and/or end of the day by having students simply mark their feelings on a board.i If a student is really struggling, you may need to check in with them more often. Grab it FREE below!

You also might need outside resources to check in. Maybe your student doesn’t feel comfortable with you yet or maybe they have a really strong connection with another adult in the building. Collaborate for the sake of your student’s mental health. Direct them to a trusted individual so they can feel safe and supported. Educators know that we are ALWAYS better together. USE your resources. Reach out to colleagues to give a helping hand with students who are really struggling or ask them to help you if you’re ever struggling to make a connection with a particular kid. Help foster those other connections and help your students be comfortable sharing their feelings with someone, even if it’s not you.

Other Social Emotional Learning Resources

As we’ve talked about, ample practice is the key to truly building these skills. There are some really great resources that open the space to form these habits. Boom Cards are a super engaging way to practice skills and I have created different sets of SEL Boom Cards: Kids can engage in activities such as How to Be a Good Friend, Making Good Choices and Big and Little Problems!

Another great resource that supports SEL in the classroom is Random Acts of Kindness. It is a great and FREE curriculum that can really make a difference with your students. The best part is they now have distance-learning lessons!! I have used the lesson ideas along with my own resources to support students. The Responsive Classroom is an additional wonderful tool to use while teaching Social Emotional learning to your students as well. 

If you want to implement these strategies but save yourself a lot of work, check out this JAM PACKED social emotional learning GROWING bundle. This means you’ll get everything for FREE whenever we add something! Grab it below!!

Social Emotional Growing Bundle

I hope it shines through how passionate I am about the importance of social emotional education. This is a LIFE SKILL that students need to know. Of course we need to teach them to read and how to do math, but it is also just as, if not more important, to teach them how to build social and emotional health. They need to learn how to communicate, how to ask for what they need, how to manage their emotions and learn how to solve their problems. If you utilize these strategies, you will see just how amazing your students are at becoming masters of their emotions and social relationships!

I really hope you enjoyed learning more about thee importance of social emotional education! Do you have specific questions for your classroom? Drop them in the comments below and we’ll be glad to help answer them! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the Digital Check In FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how-to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me  @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.

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