Whether you work in elementary, middle, or high school…it’s that time of year! The time of year that we start planning for the transition for many of our students to new grade levels or even different schools. As a middle school Vice Principal, I’ve been reflecting on what a huge transition our 8th graders will be going through on top of an already strange school year. Despite the difficulties of this year, I feel our school site has done an amazing job getting to know our students and trying to find ways to support them from a distance. If we have two years of knowledge of our students, I truly feel it is our duty to help pass along this information to our feeder schools to continue to offer the SEL support that will help them succeed in high school.

Below, you will see a sample of a spreadsheet that I created for our administrators, counselors, and teachers to collaborate on about some of our most struggling students on campus. These struggles can range from academics, attendance, and behavior. The goal of this collaborative spreadsheet is to share information about these student’s struggles and what has been working for them in the previous school years. It is not a spreadsheet to “warn” the high schools of students with bad behavior or grades. It is a spreadsheet that is designed to share concerns and ways to continue support for the students as they move into high school.

If you decide to use this collaborative spreadsheet, I highly encourage you to frame the conversations around the things that the students do well, as much as where they struggle. I also encourage you to remember that the end result is to share information with the following grade levels that will support the student, rather than harm them. I hope you enjoy this spreadsheet and find it useful in supporting your students as they move on to new adventures!

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What have you tried in your classroom or at your school to support students as they transition into new grade levels and/or schools? Share in the comments below!

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) has been a huge focus for our site over the last couple of years – especially during the last year during the pandemic and distance learning. SEL is “the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.” (CASEL) If you are unfamiliar with SEL, I highly encourage you to check out CASEL’s website as a good diving point, then conduct your own research to learn more about how it can support your students!

One way that we are promoting SEL this year is on our “SEL Wednesdays” which has been our asynchronous days at our school site. Teachers have been encouraged to assign a short assignment that promotes SEL for their students to complete. Recently, I found several great activities on Scholastic and converted one into an editable Google Slide Deck for students!

In this activity, students are challenged to complete an “Optimist or Pessimist” survey and score their responses to determine which quality they have. After this, students are challenged to analyze their score and talk about next steps to either maintain or change their outlook. Below, you will find a quick look at the activity, as well as the full view and copy version:

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Do you have any SEL activities you are willing to share? Drop them in the comments below!

I’ve become a huge fan of implementing social-emotional learning (SEL) practices into the classroom over the last few years. Personally, I felt like I had already implemented many SEL practices into my classroom (just naturally) but I became more intentional about it over the last couple of years. I’ve seen it have a profound and positive impact on students, whether in my position as a teacher or in my newer position as an administrator.

Social-emotional learning is “the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.” (CASEL) Many of our students do not know how to manage their emotions or appropriately respond to situations. SEL practices can be a powerful learning experience to help students grow – but it can only be effective when taken as a schoolwide approach. Therefore, I recently created a presentation to give our staff some quick and simple ways to start implementing SEL in their classrooms.

In this presentation, you will find the following:

• A brief overview and video on introducing SEL.
• Four (4) quick SEL activities to use in your classroom.
• Two (2) digital resources for SEL activities.
• A restorative practices activity.

Below you will find the presentation, as well as a copy version of it if you would like to make it your own:

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How have you and/or your coworkers been implementing SEL practices into the classroom and/or school? Share in the comments below!

This week, I will be sharing social and emotional learning (SEL) activities and strategies in a breakout with our staff. It’s a completely brand new presentation – and a little outside my normal wheelhouse of presentations. However, I have been trying to be intentional in my last few trainings to create and lead on topics that I have not done before. It’s very easy to fall into a rut…and I definitely don’t want to do that!

In this presentation, I will cover:

• The five CASEL competencies of SEL.
• Four quick and easy ways to implement SEL into your classroom.
• A few helpful websites with SEL resources.
• A quick walkthrough and activity on restorative circles.

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Please feel free to steal, modify and use this presentation with your own staff members. Remember – we are better together!

In today’s busy world, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed or distracted by the many tasks that come at us on a day-to-day basis. At times, it can feel like we have never had a moment to ourselves or time to enjoy life. We can also feel like we are tied to our devices and cannot get away from the many responsibilities on our plate.

This is a problem for our students – but also for educators.

How many times have you not been mentally present with family, friends and coworkers because your mind is on your students, classroom, teachers or school? How many times have you spent an entire day on a device – rather than getting out of the house and enjoying life with friends? How many times have you checked your messages, email or social media during dinner – rather than spending that quality time with your family?

If I am being honest, I have been guilty of all of these things on more than one occasion.

So, I started thinking about how teachers can practice mindfulness with their students. How can teachers be an example of work-life balance to the students in their classroom?

Enter…the Mindfulness Calendar!

Mindfulness the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something. By practicing mindfulness, we will become aware of our thoughts, emotions and surroundings. We will practice being “present” in our lives and creating work-life balance.

The Mindfulness Calendar is simple – teachers and students will create a calendar of activities that will challenge them to do something besides work and/or school. These activities could include:

• Going on a walk.
• Asking three people about their day.
• Spending a whole day without technology.
• Trying something new.
• Cooking your favorite meal.
• Planning a trip.
• And more!

Below, you will find a template and an example of the Mindfulness Calendar. In this Google Doc, teachers and students will be challenged to pick a minimum of one activity per week to practice mindfulness. Activities and ideas are included within the document – but challenge yourself and students to pick their own activities, too!

Mindfulness Calendar

(Click HERE for your own copy!)

How do you practice mindfulness in your life and with your students? Share in the comments below!

Earlier this week, I came across a TEDEd video called “Why You Should Define Your Fears Instead of  Your Goals?” The premise of the video is:

The hard choices — what we most fear doing, asking, saying — are very often exactly what we need to do. How can we overcome self-paralysis and take action? Tim Ferriss encourages us to fully envision and write down our fears in detail, in a simple but powerful exercise he calls “fear-setting.” Learn more about how this practice can help you thrive in high-stress environments and separate what you can control from what you cannot. (TEDEd)

Click below to watch this video:

Honestly, I found this video to be fascinating for two reasons – an educational and a personal reason.

First, I found that this video is very relevant in education due to the conversations surrounding social and emotional learning (SEL). According to CASEL, SEL “is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.” While this definition primarily focuses on the positive aspects of emotional intelligence, I truly believe it is helpful for students to understand and define their negative emotions and how to overcome them. Therefore, this video gave me some excellent inspiration for a HyperDoc (which I will share below!) to support students in defining and overcoming their fears.

Second, I found that this video spoke to me on a personal level. It’s true, students are not the only ones with fears and areas of growth! Ever since I was a child, I have been an overthinker and someone who struggles with fears. You name it – I’ve probably thought of the worst case scenario that could occur. However, I have definitely improved over time and it was due to a very similar approach as in this video. I would start by thinking about what I feared, how I could prevent it, and, if my worst fears were to come true, what were the possible outcomes and how could I fix it. I’ve found it to be very helpful over the years by always asking, “What’s the worst that could really happen – and how could I fix it?”

As I finished watching this video, I realized it would be a fantastic opportunity for students to stretch their SEL skills. In fact, I really wish I had gone through an activity like this at a younger age! Therefore, I created a HyperDoc that I believe would be appropriate for any age, with slight modifications, to support students in defining and overcoming their fears.

Here are some key activities in this HyperDoc:

• ENGAGE: Students will create a collage of pictures that represent the word “fear” to them.
• EXPLORE: Students will research and rate common fears.
• EXPLAIN: Students will watch the TEDEd video: Why You Should Define Your Fears Instead of  Your Goals?
• APPLY: Students will complete the “Define, Prevent, Repair” activity.
• SHARE: Students will share their slide deck with a partner for feedback and collaboration.
• REFLECT: Students will reflect on what they have learned.

Create Your Own Copy!

If you are interested in using this HyperDoc, click on the link above to create your own copy – and it’s yours!

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on this blog topic. Have you done any “fear setting” activities with your students? What other ways do you support social and emotional learning (SEL) in your classroom? Share in the comments below!