Now, more than never, it’s crucial that we are talking with our students in order to not only check on their physical well-being but also on their mental and emotional well-being. Oftentimes, students take on an emotional load that is not visible by sight from those around them. They may be crying out for help but we as educators can’t see these signs very easily. It’s important that we are incorporating activities into our lessons that allow our students to express themselves and speak freely about their feelings and thoughts. Are you building in opportunities for your learners to work together to build each other up, to self-evaluate, and identify their self-worth? SEL (social and emotional learning) activities can be as simple as a check-in, a form to fill out, artwork, open discussion, or even just a smile.

Our students often look to school as a safe place. At least we hope this is the case. We need to encourage positive talk and support our students with a safe space that fosters risk-taking and effective ways to embed SEL into our lessons. Some researchers argue that these skills are even more important than academic skills.

Jenallee loves helping teachers create lessons, especially ones that support social emotional learning. A few of our favorite ways to design SEL lessons are created in Canva for Education, Microsoft Teams Reflect app, and Flipgrid. Let us show you how.

Canva

Social and emotional learning is vital in today’s classroom. As educators, we are charged with offering our students support for their wellbeing by keeping them connected. We suggest doing this with SEL templates from Canva for Education. You can use these resources to create meaningful communication, activities, and connections. Below are a few links to Canva for Education templates that will allow you the ability to edit and add your specific content.

Feelings Check-In Template

Coping Mood Playlist

What I Need From My Teacher

Check out his quick TikTok to see how to create an SEL lesson in Canva for Education.

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TEAMS

“Reflect is a check-in app that supports educators in building a classroom environment that recognizes the whole student.

Support students in identifying and navigating their emotions by providing regular opportunities to share and be heard. Reflect can help broaden learners’ emotional vocabulary and deepen empathy for their peers while also providing valuable feedback to educators for a healthy classroom community.

Reflect uses emojis and research-backed emotional granularity to support educators in adding social and emotional learning into their already busy routine.”

Check out this link to get started with Reflect in Teams. 👉 Get started with Reflect in Teams (microsoft.com)

@jenallee1

Focus on #SEL with Reflect in Microsoft Teams! #MIEExpert #MicrosoftEDU #MicrosoftTeams @mtholfsen #Jenallee

♬ Mr Blue Sky – Fiach Moriarty & Various Artists

Here are some more useful links:

• Learn more about Reflect at https://aka.ms/reflect
• Watch this short video to understand the basics https://youtu.be/H4Ll4OM-n3o
• Start a conversation with your class using this video https://youtu.be/BcX8z8WOTUg​
• Read how to create your first Reflect check-in at https://aka.ms/reflect/support

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Flip

Flip is another amazing tool that can be used to support #studentvoice. Allowing students the opportunity to share and comment on each other’s videos will help to build that supportive community that we all strive for in our classrooms. Check out this blog post from our friends, the #eTwinz (@eTwinzEDU)

5 Ways to Foster SEL with Flipgrid

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It’s your turn!

Now go and be a different kind of awesome!  We can’t wait to see all of the different ways you incorporate SEL into your classrooms! Share your ideas, experiences, and thoughts with us!