“How Are You Taking Care of You?”
Teaching is hard work. It is mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and physically demanding. It is also dynamic, engaging, at times even exhilarating, but always meaningful and tremendously important. In a typical year, you could describe most teachers as unsung heroes - paying for materials out of pockets, grading papers, or prepping materials late into the night, always straining to maintain that elusive balance between work and home. But this year... well, this year is not like other years. This year took the scale we use to balance work and home and sold it to the pawnshop for parts.
Supporting students’ social-emotional development has always been essential. But this year especially, educators are realizing the critical role of social-emotional learning (SEL). In remote learning contexts teachers need to come up with creative ways to keep students engaged and connected as well as practice key social skills. Teachers working with students in-person may have found that their students are struggling with more social, emotional, and behavioral issues, given all they have gone through this year.
During this period of change and uncertainty, supporting students’ social-emotional learning and development, in addition to their academic learning, is critical. This is especially true for students who already struggle socially, emotionally, and behaviorally. Below are five evidence-based resources that can be used either by caregivers in the home or teachers remotely to promote key social-emotional competencies, such as self-regulation, self-awareness, social skills, and behavior management.