Social and Emotional Support of Students

These strategies for using play-based learning with older students can get them more engaged with your course content.

By using SEL to improve morale, administrators can make sure students and staff have what they need to perform at their best.

A student’s performance under conditions of high support and low threat differs substantially from how they perform without such support or when feeling threatened. To create identity-safe classrooms where students can learn and thrive, schools can promote trust and interpersonal connection; create purposeful communities of care and consistency; use restorative practices to promote understanding, voice, and responsibility; and recognize diversity as an asset.

The science of learning shows that addressing student behavior with restorative practices rather than zero-tolerance discipline is essential for students’ healthy development and academic success. Using examples from districts across the country, LPI researchers discuss key lessons on what is needed to successfully implement restorative approaches to create safe, inclusive schools that promote well-being and connectedness.

Providing opportunities for students and staff to participate in wellness practices can start with one dedicated day each week.

Shawn Ginwright’s healing-centered engagement model builds on social-emotional learning and trauma-informed care to provide educators and school leaders with tools for healing.

TREPEducator.org is a professional learning community for the development of Trauma Responsive Educational Practices

Create Peer Groups We know that ensuring that teachers have dedicated time to work together — to build curriculum, share lesson ideas, and strategize about how best to support individual students — often results in improved academic success of students.

Johnny, an eighth grader, hasn’t been able to stop fighting all year and tells all who’ll listen that he feels triggered daily, often in non-threatening situations. Marisela, a fourth grader, finds it difficult to keep friends, and is increasingly hard to draw out in class.

SEL and academics are inextricably connected and most parents see both as essential for student success.

The majority of public schools and districts in the U.S. report they are working to support the social and…

The science of learning shows that addressing student behavior with restorative practices rather than zero-tolerance discipline is essential for students’ healthy development and academic success.

SUPPORT FOR IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE STUDENTS: Fostering a Safe and Inclusive Learning Environment in California’s PreK-12 Schools Curriculum & Materials Regional Leadership Networks COVID-…

Joy is not an escape from the hard realities of our world, but a dive into them.

Multiple, ongoing crises—from the pandemic to systemic racism—are contributing to a collective and individual trauma that impacts the mental health, wellness, and education of students across the nation. These challenges also present an opportunity to redesign schools into restorative spaces where young people are known and nurtured. Research shows several practices school leaders can adopt to increase equity and help students thrive.

What would it mean to care for young people as whole people, not half-formed beings? How does knowing oneself allow us to find a resonant frequency with others?

Jason Reynolds is the award-winning and best-selling author of novels, non-fiction, and poetry for young adult and middle-grade audiences. In 2020, two of his books were among the top ten most challenged books released by the American Library Association. Learn more about Jason's work at his website, https://www.jasonwritesbooks.com/.

Cultures of Care is a project from the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley. Explore the project here at https://belonging.berkeley.edu/cultures-of-care

— CREDITS —
Project directed by Giovanna Fischer and Evan Bissell
Video edited by Majo Calderón
Designs and animations by Yuri Sakakibara
Music by Alex Lemire Pasternak

When restorative justice is implemented on a schoolwide level, it has the potential to transform relationships between teachers and students.

With an unprecedented mental health crisis resulting from the ongoing pandemic, social-emotional learning (SEL) remains at the forefront of school systems’ work to ensure students’ health, safety, and well-being. Below are eight strategies (and linked resources) for successful SEL implementation to

The theme of Public Schools Week 2022 is “Creating Safe, Equitable and Engaging Public Schools,” which directly aligns to the AIR-authored volume, Creating Safe, Equitable, Engaging Schools. AIR’s David Osher and Mary Cathryn Ricker from the Shanker Institute provide fresh insights on what safe, equitable, and engaging means in our current context.

Strong relationships with teachers and school staff can dramatically enhance students’ level of motivation and therefore promote learning. Students who have access to more strong relationships are more academically engaged, have stronger social skills, and experience more positive behavior.

Use this online version of our popular Relationship Mapping Strategy for your school, community organization, or religious group to help ensure that everyone has a strong connection to someone else during challenging times.

Social and emotional skills, habits, and mindsets can set students up for success. This two-part study explores how SEL-focused programs can prepare teachers from the university to the classroom.

Author of popular guide to social & emotional learning offers tips for educators—and parents!—in these trying times

Encouraging students is not enough, says a new study—you actually have to raise your ratio of praise to reprimands dramatically, and that might mean keeping track.