Where SEL Meets Academic Learning

Nothing says happy spring break like a blanket of snow covering the yard. Classic Chicago weather. Still, the snow is beautiful and peaceful looking. As the school year starts to wind down, I am reminded to appreciate the time we are given and the students who will soon be crossing the football field at graduation. Time is our most precious commodity, and it's fleeting like the snow that will soon be melted. What my students will remember from their high school years are the relationships they built along the way. We are collectively rebuilding from COVID and the impact of shifting learning environments. Helping students develop skills to build positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and manage their emotions is essential to the educational experience and significantly impacts academic learning.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) must be a regular part of our teaching practices as it helps improve academic achievement, prepare students for post-secondary endeavors, and increase student resilience. According to CASEL, SEL helps students acquire knowledge, develop healthy identities, achieve goals, and build relationships. The CASEL framework is an evidence-based guideline that helps students cultivate skills and thrive academically and personally.

On the last day before spring break, I tore up the lesson plan and had students complete an impromptu speaking challenge. They were broken into two groups and took turns going head-to-head against a peer as they created one-minute speeches with only two minutes of preparation time. Before they spoke, their teammates gave them ideas for their speeches. With laughter and peer encouragement, my students spoke confidently and had fun applying skills we have worked on all semester in a low-stakes, informal setting. This experience reminded me of the importance of building SEL skills in students. Skill acquisition does not occur overnight.

Getting students to this point takes regular practice and cooperative learning practices, communication skills, and self-awareness. How do we create spaces where students feel safe and confident to showcase their learning? How do we infuse SEL into learning?

Set clear expectations and establish learning goals.

The best way to support student learning is to clearly define the goals and the purpose of the learning activities in the classroom. I start every day with learning targets, and most recently, I have worked to make sure the language I use with students is student-friendly. These targets are not just goals taken from state standards but practical goals phrased to help students understand the why. When students see the why behind a learning activity, it becomes more relevant to the classroom and their lives beyond the classroom.

For example, yesterday's goal was: I can write and deliver an impromptu speech, practicing my ability to deliver a clear message to an audience in a professional setting. Students will think on their feet in professional settings often, and having this skill will make those communicative situations more effective and easier to produce.

Provide students with opportunities to collaborate.

Collaboration is one of the most sought-after skills by employers. It is also a skill that we all use with family and friends. Our society relies on the ability to work together. Giving students opportunities to work with diverse groups of people reflects real-world experiences. Group projects and activities that require collaboration also teach students to develop empathy and an understanding of others. Collaboration can be informal and short, and this skill can be formalized over an extended period. Frequent and diverse collaboration opportunities can encourage students to be ready to participate in society in many situations and foster stronger relationships.

Encourage and model active listening and effective communication.

Along with collaboration, SEL-infused learning helps students to develop listening skills. Often, students think they are good listeners because most can hear. Hearing and listening are vastly different skills. We all have internal barriers to listening in various settings, whether from subconscious biases or minor distractions like phone notifications or the desire to speak. In my speech class, I model listening and provide formal opportunities to practice, which involve putting down the electronics and communicating with others. These small practices at the beginning of class or even in the middle of a lesson give students sentence starters to have authentic conversations and apply these skills in and out of the classroom.

Create a positive classroom culture and foster a sense of community.

Frequent collaboration and the use of active listening both lead to a positive learning environment. Students know that they will be seen and heard in the classroom. What I love about teaching speech is that students have practiced building and maintaining positive relationships. They engage in self-disclosure and see the value in others - even those who may not be friends with them outside of the classroom. I love watching the teams of students cheer each other on and help the speakers generate ideas. The classroom is a safe space. Even though not everyone could produce a perfect impromptu speech, every student participated without hesitation. They knew they were safe to make mistakes, embrace failure, and learn from the experience. I hope they take these skills and use them to make every environment they find themselves in more positive places to be.

Offer students opportunities to reflect on their learning and emotions.

A good classroom environment not only promotes collaboration and community; it also encourages self-reflection. Students should be asked to monitor their learning and growth. This skill needs to be intentionally developed. Whether at the end of a unit, after a summative, or at the end of a grading period, purposeful reflection can help students identify their strengths and areas for growth. I use an SEL survey with students regularly to encourage them to evaluate their student skills, share their strengths with me, and also give me feedback on how I can best support them. This dialogue fosters trust and strong relationships. It also encourages students to take ownership of their learning.

We have the opportunity to create positive and supportive learning environments for students, but they must be intentionally integrated. SEL is not simply asking students how they are feeling or saying hello at the beginning of class, although those are places to start. Like the beautiful snow covering the ground this spring break, SEL strategies should be infused into all we do. As we continue to navigate the challenges of the post-COVID world, SEL will become increasingly important for supporting students' mental health and well-being. Let's prioritize SEL in our classrooms and help students develop the skills they need to succeed in all aspects of life.

Works Cited

CASEL. “Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).” CASEL: Advancing Social and Emotional Learning, CASE:, 2023, https://casel.org/. Accessed 25 March 2023.