Social-emotional learning is about cultivating a deeper care for the self in the present moment. That is something we all can do, and that is something that we should all do.
You can begin teaching social-emotional learning in your class in four steps: planning to pause, practicing, tracking it, and finally, by talking about it. Read more ›
My 9-year-old’s previous school tried to teach him skills such as self-regulation and empathy, but in practice the whole thing felt like just another item on his busy teacher’s daily checklist. But when my son switched schools last year, I saw how effective SEL can be. Read more ›
Friendships aren’t always easy for kids. Almost every child struggles socially at some time, in some way—having an argument with a friend, getting teased, or even trying to find a buddy in a new classroom.
Although these are typical problems, they can be tough. Read more ›
Millions of children spent months, even more than a year, attending school virtually from kitchen tables, bedrooms and laptops during the pandemic.
And this shift to computer-based learning may have led to negative consequences for younger kids, suggests a new Michigan Medicine study of a sample of families in Michigan. Read more ›
Whenever a mass shooting takes place in schools, public discussion often focuses on laws or policies that might have prevented the tragedy. But averting school violence needs more than gun policy. It requires both prevention and crisis response that take students’ emotional well-being – not just their physical safety – into account. Read more ›
Bullying in the classroom can have grave consequences for students, especially as they build effective social and emotional skills amid the disruption caused by the pandemic. While administrators must take responsibility for creating a school environment that is safe and welcoming, educators can promote a strong classroom culture through responsive and warm interactions with students. Read more ›
Remember when childhood summers looked like long, unscripted days of play with whichever neighborhood kids you happened to run into, riding bikes and climbing trees and not coming home until the street lights flickered on? If we were fortunate enough to go to camp, it probably entailed swimming, crafts and capture the flag, not STEM, VR and scratch coding. Read more ›
Americans are emerging from the pandemic more stressed out and reactive than ever. For example, in a typical year, the United States sees about 100 to 150 cases of “air rage”—passengers becoming violent or unruly on airplanes. In 2021, there were more than 5,700 cases, of which more than 4,100 were mask-related.
You might not be disrupting a flight or assaulting a stranger in the street, but maybe you are more emotionally volatile than you would like. Read more ›
Some parents express worry that masks might interfere with children’s ability to learn or to socialize. Other parents fear that unmasking will lead to more COVID-19 cases.
Amid the debate, a small but growing body of research is offering hints that masks do not have a significant impact on speech or social skills. Read more ›
