Strategies for Supporting Social-Emotional Learning

𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰  “𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙝” ➗📚 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬? 🤔 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 “𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙚.”🤝✋ #SocialSkills aren’t automatic. They have to be taught, practiced, and learned—just like any subject. 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗲 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗲... We tell kids this all the time, but here’s the problem: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒘? Some kids naturally pick up on 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑢𝑒𝑠. Others? They’re trying—but they’re 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬. And when they get it wrong, they don’t get a second chance. 👀 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭 because they don’t recognize a pause. 💬 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 about their favorite topic and don’t realize they lost their audience. 🤝 They struggle to 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 and just shut down instead. And then we blame them for being “𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝” or “𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞.” 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩? Instead of vague advice like “Be polite” or “Make eye contact”, we can give kids 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬: ✅ 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐋 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 – Narrate your own choices: "𝐼 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐽𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑤. 𝐿𝑒𝑡’𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒." ✅ 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 – Instead of just saying “𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦,” help kids say, “𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠. 𝐶𝑎𝑛 𝑤𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛?” ✅ 𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞-𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 – Practicing tricky situations ahead of time makes real-life moments easier. But for kids who need more than the basics, 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 💡 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨: 🔹 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 in real time 🔹 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 without shame 🔹 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 to build confidence Some kids pick up social skills naturally. 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐎𝐊𝐀𝐘. When we treat social learning like any other skill (𝑚𝑎𝑡ℎ, 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑠), we set kids up for 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒. 👇 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵? 𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴! #EmotionalIntelligence #ChildDevelopment #SelfAwareness #ConfidenceBuilding #KidsSocialSkills #ParentingTips #PositiveParenting #EQ

After traveling across the United States to reunite with family and friends, I’m back in my space as an educational consultant - leading workshops, sharing best practices, and touring schools and workspaces to observe and recommend improvements. One question keeps resurfacing: What are the biggest challenges #educators face every day? Two decades in, I now answer this through the lens of one who has worked with all stakeholders. In education, we often focus on lesson planning, classroom management, and assessments. However, the real challenges are often emotional and social. If you spot a child showing the signs below, that is a crisis demanding focus. 1. Disconnection: The child is quiet, unresponsive, and avoids group work or class discussions. They look and feel emotionally withdrawn. 2. Amotivation: A child lacks initiative - missing deadlines, submitting incomplete or rushed assignments, and showing little interest in school. 3. Learned Helplessness: The child frequently says, "I can't do this!" or "This is so hard!" They avoid trying, believing they will not find success. 4. Avoidance: Increased absenteeism, tardiness, or opting out of activities. Their emotional presence in school is diminished. 5. Low Future Orientation: The child’s response to future plans is apathetic, as if silently or loudly saying "I don’t care!" They seem disconnected from goals or growth as though they no longer believe in their ability to accomplish. If left unchecked, these behaviors can escalate into full disengagement, leading to a loss of motivation and withdrawal from the classroom community. How can educators respond using social-emotional learning (#SEL) strategies? 1. Empathetic Communication: Create a safe space for conversation to uncover the root causes of disengagement. Active listening and empathy are essential. A simple, "I’ve noticed you seem quieter lately. Is everything okay? I am here to talk," can open the door to support. 2. Emotional Self-Regulation + Metacognition: Help the child identify and articulate their emotions. Break down challenges into manageable steps, celebrating small wins along the way to restore their sense of control. 3. Positive Reinforcement: Acknowledge the child’s strengths and resilience. Recognizing effort boosts their sense of belonging and self-worth, vital for emotional engagement. 4. Autonomy Support: Provide opportunities for the child to take ownership of their learning. Let them share topics that resonate with their interests or offer different formats for assignments (a video, artwork, or a report). Every #child deserves an understanding #adult. The most effective interventions happen before full withdrawal. By creating an emotionally supportive environment - one that nurtures social-emotional growth - we can help sustain motivation, foster resilience, and empower our #children to thrive because those are the life lessons not explicitly listed in the lesson plans. . . . #backtowork #hattennoki #eq

Mirror, mirror on the wall… These are a couple of the kids at A Plus practicing a mirroring exercise. I have been teaching them mindfulness and yoga as well as creating a Social Emotional Learning curriculum for the past couple of years. The mirroring exercise combines physical movement with a social-emotional practice and the benefits are huge. Enhances Empathy: By mimicking another's actions or emotions, you can better understand and connect with their feelings. Improves Communication: Mirroring helps build rapport and fosters a deeper connection in conversations. Boosts Self-Awareness: Participating in mirroring exercises increases awareness of your own body language and non-verbal cues. Strengthens Relationships: By reflecting others' behaviors, trust and mutual understanding are often strengthened. Supports Emotional Regulation: Engaging in these exercises can help manage emotions and create a calming effect during interactions. Teachers, try this activity with your students?  Or leaders, why not include something similar in your training? We can all do with improving these skills!!