Implementing Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom

We all want to foster a classroom environment where students feel confident, connected, and ready to learn, and this is best facilitated with Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).

SEL equips students with the skills to manage their emotions, build healthy relationships, and make responsible decisions. It’s not just a feel-good addition; research shows SEL programs can boost academic achievement and encourage positive behaviors both in and out of the classroom.

This can be a win-win for everyone. Teachers benefit from a calmer classroom environment, and the whole school can experience a more positive and supportive climate.

Of course, implementing any new program comes with obstacles to overcome. You might be wondering when you’ll have time for SEL, especially if – as is likely – your curriculum is already packed.

This guide is here to help. We’ll provide practical steps for implementing social-emotional learning in the classroom, making it a natural part of your school day.

Key Takeaways:

  • Social and Emotional Learning equips students with essential life skills that benefit them academically, socially, and emotionally.
  • No need to overhaul your curriculum—you can integrate SEL into existing routines and activities for a natural fit.
  • Collaboration, clear goals, and staff development are crucial for successful SEL implementation.

A successful SEL program needs a clear plan. Here’s what you’ll need to build from the ground up:

Step 1: Build the Foundation

SEL focuses on five key skills students need to thrive:

  • Self-Awareness: Understanding emotions and how they affect the individual and others.
  • Self-Management: Being able to control emotions, focus on tasks, and bounce back from setbacks.
  • Social Awareness: Recognizing the feelings of others and understanding different perspectives.
  • Relationship Skills: Building healthy friendships, communicating effectively, and resolving conflicts peacefully.
  • Responsible Decision-Making: Thinking before acting considering consequences, and making choices that are safe and ethical.

Setting Your SEL Goals

In the ideal school environment, you want students to feel comfortable expressing themselves, work well together, and make good choices. With SEL, you can turn that vision into reality – but before you begin, it’s helpful to outline your goals.

Here’s an example goal: “We want to cultivate a school environment where students feel safe expressing emotions, build healthy relationships, and make responsible choices.”

By setting clear goals like this, everyone in the school community works towards the same vision. Goal-setting has been proven to be an extremely effective way of monitoring progress on academic and behavioral outcomes.

Supporting Your Team in Implementing SEL

Teachers need support in implementing SEL strategies to ensure they get the most out of the program.

You can empower your staff through professional development and the sharing of ideas. For instance, you can hold workshops, conferences, and online courses to equip teachers and counselors with practical SEL tools, and create opportunities for your peers to share and reflect on SEL activities and strategies.

A 2021 evidence review of social and emotional learning in the UK commented that providing “high-quality teacher training and ongoing support” empowered teachers with the convenience to teach the SEL curriculum and adapt it for different groups of pupils.

The review also noted that schools should make an effort to support the wellbeing of staff, since teachers who have addressed their own needs and competencies are more likely to be able to support pupils.

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Step 2: Integrate Social and Emotional Learning in the Classroom

The convenience of SEL is that it can be woven into your existing curriculum to enhance teaching across the board. You don’t have to make time for it as you would for a completely separate subject, and, in fact, introducing SEL practices has even been found to prevent teacher burnout.

Here’s how to integrate SEL into your daily classroom routines:

Weave SEL into Your Daily Schedule

Here, we’ve highlighted some of the proven effective methods for implementing SEL into the school day.

  • Morning Meetings: Start the day off right and use morning meetings to build connections. Students can share goals for the day, practice greetings with a compliment to a classmate, or do a quick team-building activity.
  • Lesson Power-Ups: You can interwork SEL skills right into your existing lessons. For example, in literature, you could discuss how characters might be feeling, or in social studies, encourage your students to role-play how to resolve a conflict.
  • Brain Breaks for Everyone: An effective way to help students stay focused and manage their emotions is by introducing short breaks throughout the day. Try some deep breathing exercises, or lead a guided visualization to help them center themselves.

Explore Ori Learning’s SEL curriculum to further integrate social-emotional learning into your school’s day-to-day activities and improve student outcomes.

Target Specific SEL Skills with Activities for All Learners

SEL isn’t one-size-fits-all. Here’s how to incorporate social-emotional learning in the classroom with some engaging activities that target specific SEL skills:

  • Knowing Yourself (Self-Awareness): Journaling about emotions, identifying feelings in artwork.
  • Taking Charge (Self-Management): Setting goals and practicing positive self-talk strategies.
  • The World Around Us (Social Awareness): Activities that help students see things from different perspectives, and class discussions about current events.
  • Building Bridges (Relationship Skills): Cooperative learning projects and games that focus on communication skills.
  • Making Smart Choices (Responsible Decision-Making): Scenario-based discussions with role-playing to explore different choices and consequences.

Create a Positive Classroom Climate with SEL

Positive classroom management, along with a positive approach to delivering the social-emotional learning program, goes hand-in-hand with effective SEL implementation. This is beneficial to both students and teachers, with a 2021 Southeastern University study observing that teachers who had a positive perception of SEL concepts had a higher perception of preparedness for SEL implementation in the classroom.

There are a few ways you can foster a positive environment in the classroom.

This begins with setting clear expectations. Having clear rules and routines helps you provide a safe, predictable environment that reduces anxiety and supports students’ emotional regulation. Set expectations together and revisit them regularly.

Active listening is also key to sustaining a positive classroom climate when implementing SEL. Ask your students questions that reinforce SEL, such as, “How are you feeling about this assignment, project, or test?”, or, “What do you think is the most important thing you learned this week?” This shows students that you care about their feelings and helps them feel comfortable expressing themselves.

Positive reinforcement is the cherry on top. By praising students’ positive behavior and effort, you’ll create a more encouraging learning environment and enhance overall classroom management.

Fostering Inclusivity in Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

Delve into evidence-based strategies for building and implementing inclusive SEL programs. Essential for directors of counseling and counselors, this infographic elucidates how to integrate SEL interventions that engage all students, particularly those from marginalized groups.

  • Program Design: Highlights the application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the importance of addressing systematic barriers for students with disabilities.
  • Program Development: Emphasizes culturally affirming programs and family involvement to enrich SEL.
  • Program Implementation: Focuses on the role of teachers and the need for adult development in SEL programs.
  • Program Research: Points out the impact of culture on emotional development and the value of culturally responsive pedagogy.
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Step 3: Build the Home-School Connection

Parents, guardians, and caregivers play an important role in fostering SEL skills. Social and emotional learning starts at home, and a 2023 study on kindergarten pupils in China observed that caregivers who provided children with appropriate family support enabled their children to experience “a strong sense of autonomy, competence and belonging”, and “maintain a positive mental state and enjoy interacting with others”, ultimately fostering the development of their social-emotional skills.

The best way to get caregivers involved is to clearly communicate the school’s SEL goals and activities to them, providing resources and ideas for how they can support SEL development at home.

You could even offer workshops or information sessions to equip caregivers with strategies for helping their children manage emotions, build relationships, and make responsible decisions.

Partnering with families enables you to create a unified approach to social-emotional learning that benefits students both at school and at home.

Step 4: Measure SEL Progress With Assessment and Evaluation

Just like any program, it’s important to assess the effectiveness of your SEL implementation.

You can use a few different practical strategies for measuring and using SEL implementation data. These include:

  • Self-reflection surveys
  • Teacher observations (which can be recorded in SEL implementation logs)
  • SEL implementation surveys (for leaders, teachers, and other district personnel)
  • Peer assessments

These allow for feedback from students, as well as assessments from teachers on students’ behavior and interactions, and teacher feedback on their perceptions of SEL implementation in their school and district. You’ll also gain valuable insights from anonymous student-to-student assessments within the classroom.

Regular evaluation allows you to see what’s working and identify areas for improvement. This ongoing process is key to continually adapting and strengthening your SEL program.

Investing in Your School's Future With SEL Classroom Implementation: Next Steps

By following these steps, you can successfully implement social and emotional learning in the classroom. Remember, SEL is an investment in your students’ future success.

Strong SEL implementation relies on collaboration across the school community. Teachers, counselors, and administrators all play a vital role in supporting students’ social-emotional needs.

By working together and sharing information, you can ensure a consistent and supportive environment for all students.

More on Implementing Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom

Social-emotional learning in the classroom is all about teaching students important skills beyond just math and reading. It’s a program that can be woven into your existing curriculum to help students understand their own feelings, manage their emotions in a healthy way, get along with others, and make good choices.

The key benefit of social and emotional learning is that it equips students with the skills to handle the ups and downs of school life. It helps them understand their own emotions and learn healthy ways to cope. SEL also teaches students how to work effectively with others, which creates a calmer classroom environment and has been proven to boost academic achievement

There are lots of different ways to incorporate social-emotional learning into your classroom. Start mornings with check-ins where students share a feeling or goal. During lessons, discuss characters’ emotions in books or role-play how to handle disagreements. Sprinkle in short activities like deep breathing exercises to help students manage stress. Throughout the day, use clear expectations and praise good behavior to create a positive environment. 

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Tess Hileman M.Ed. (Director of Curriculum

Contessa Hileman (she/her) is a former educator and published author with a passion for developing innovative curriculum for students and teachers. Working with EdTech companies globally in the areas of Social Emotional Learning, STEM, English Language Development, Life Skills, and more Contessa has proven her ability to integrate educational technology with research based practices to create dynamic, interactive, and inclusive learning experiences that resonate with students and empower educators.

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