As we planned our next “Change the Narrative” videos, I asked Kathy what topics she thought were the most important to cover. Without a pause, Kathy responded, “Coalition Building!”
So check out this video and build your team!
Why this Matters
Build a stronger coalition. Energize and develop the advocates of DEI initiatives. Resistance will form among some community members in dealing with any DEI initiative. In response to this resistance, we need to build up the voices of advocates for the work.
Build a broader coalition. Who are the groups that may not immediately jump on board with DEI work but may support some of the initiatives or changes you are advocating for? Find natural partners in this work.
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Social emotional learning (SEL) is the process in which people develop interrelational skills that include self-awareness, social and relationship skills, responsibility, empathy, and more. Social-emotional learning has become an important piece of high school education, as educators see improved student outcomes because of an emphasis on SEL. More and more schools and districts are adopting SEL programs or tracking social-emotional development during a student’s high school career in order to prepare a student for future success whether that is in a university or the workforce.
What Constitutes SEL
According to CASEL’S SEL framework, there are 5 elements that constitute social-emotional learning.
Self-awareness
Self-management
Social awareness
Relationship skills
Responsible decision-making.
Why is this important?
Social-emotional development is a vital part of a student’s upbringing. This kind of development impacts how a student shows up in the world, how they interact with their peers, how they approach school and jobs, and how they develop meaningful relationships. Social-emotional development is crucial in positive student outcomes because they are learning valuable life skills and concepts. Additionally, universities seek students who possess a broadened perspective on the world and developed self-awareness.
How do students develop social-emotional learning?
There are a number of ways students grow in these areas and they don’t come from just one thing! Many of these competencies are developed through school-related activities and programs. Five days out of the week and 7-8 hours a day, students are in school. They spend additional time with their classmates in after-school programs, sports, extracurriculars, etc. Tracking and encouraging social-emotional learning has become a priority for educators as they know so much of this comes from school or school-related activities.
There are three overarching ways students engage in social-emotional development through school:
Community service requirements, programs or clubs.
When they become active members of their communities through service, students are able to see outside of their small world bubble, and understand needs and different ways of life. Through service projects, students work with their peers, local or even national organizations, service activity coordinators, and individuals they are directly serving. This exposes them to needs and circumstances outside their normal bubble widening their world view. They are also learning valuable skills such as teamwork, communication, collaboration, and respect.
Many schools have a service requirement for graduation. Others highly encourage student involvement in the community and award it at graduation, while others have clubs and programs where students can engage in community service.
Work-based learning and internship programs
In part-time jobs, apprenticeships, internships, etc. students learn valuable workplace skills but they also learn the soft skills of problem-solving, relationship-building, empathy, understanding, cooperation, and collaboration. These school-based programs connect students with a job or internship and then have regular check-ins and assessments to evaluate a student’s development. It goes beyond a student just showing up for a shift, they are learning valuable skills they can take into the workforce in the future.
Service learning classes, humanities, or religion classes
Some schools have dedicated service learning classes or incorporate service and service learning in a humanities course. Private schools often incorporate service and service learning in their religion classes as it ties back to their faith and the mission of the school to encourage spiritual formation in students.
Service learning connects service to what students are learning in the classroom – this gives students context for their work and provides deeper connections beyond checking service hours off a list. They can see and understand the impact of their work and reflect on their experiences in a meaningful way.
Measuring and encouraging development
These school-based programs ensure students are given the opportunity to experience growth on a deeper level. Success and development come when educators can see a student’s progress month after month, year after year. Tracking their experiences, reflections, and areas of growth is an important step in advancing social-emotional learning.
x2VOL becomes an extension of schools’ student programs to ensure students can track their progress and educators have insight into student development. With x2VOL, students and administrators track and manage these experiences and reflections all online, in one easy-to-use platform. Click below to watch our 1-minute demo of how x2VOL works.
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The start of a new year is a great time to think about the progress we have made so far this year and consider trying some different methods and tools in our classrooms. Taking time to reflect on what has worked, what we have not tried, and areas, where we may be having some challenges, is important. We want to continue to reflect and implement new strategies and tools that will benefit our students and transform learning.
Just like at the beginning of a new school year, focusing on the continued building of relationships is essential year-round. To do so, we have to be intentional about evaluating our teaching practice and the opportunities that we provide for our students. For our personal and professional growth, we need to make time for reflecting on our daily work as educators. What are some areas that we notice where we have grown in our practice? Are there some methods or tools that we have on our list but have lacked the time to try? Have we asked students for feedback about their experiences in our classroom and what helps them to learn best? I think that this is important for our practice. Using surveys and having conversations with students makes a difference. There are even great tools available for educators to use such as LessonLoop, which helps teachers to better understand student engagement and their specific needs in our classrooms. Another tool that helps educators to really focus on their methods and classroom interactions is Edthena, a virtual coaching platform. Teachers can record themselves teaching a lesson and then the AI Coach uses prompts to guide you about your lesson and what your perception of their effectiveness was. With videos, we can go back and focus on specific parts of our lesson, and our delivery and then use this to guide our reflection.
Taking time to reflect is important so that we can start the new year fresh. Now is the perfect opportunity to dive in and start the new year off with some fresh ideas! By choosing some methods or focus areas and then leveraging different tools, we can transform student learning and provide opportunities for building essential skills such as SEL. The power of choice not only helps students to build content area skills but also will lead them forward into their future careers with a variety of skill sets. With different tools and methods, we can spark curiosity for learning and foster creativity in learning!
For educators, this means we have to be willing to try new ideas, make mistakes and try again. Doing this sets a good model for our students. We want them to become more comfortable with learning and making mistakes and the process of learning itself.
Choosing methods in our classrooms that help to foster joy in learning and also foster the development of social-emotional learning (SEL) skills, will benefit students now and in the future. Being able to master the content while also developing skills that enable students to collaborate and develop strong and supportive relationships are important for future workplace success.
One thing to keep in mind is to find ways to streamline the workflow and the types of methods and tools that we are using. We want to provide choices but not overwhelm students in the process. Finding methods and tools that are versatile and applicable to different content areas and grade levels is key. Here are four ideas to start with:
Elementari is a tool we started to use this year and it has been fun seeing what the students create. There are many options available with Elementari, including the option for students to create an interactive story and build their skills in coding. There are more than 10,000 illustrations and sounds available to choose from.
Genially can be used for genius hour, project-based learning (PBL), interactive lessons, and more. We have used it in my Spanish and STEAM classes for projects and I have used it personally for creating resumes, digital portfolios, and even presentations. Students can work individually or together on a collaborative presentation which also promotes digital citizenship skills too! Genially has thousands of templates to choose from with options for STEM and more.
Spaces EDU is a great tool that teachers can use individually and create different types of “spaces.” There are individual, class, and group spaces through which teachers and students can collaborate and communicate using multimedia options. With an individual space, students can share their learning with teachers in a space where they are able to build confidence in learning. Individual spaces work well for methods like genius hour and PBL or for checking in with students. A group space has been fun for doing activities in stations or a collaborative PBL or even something fun like a scavenger hunt. Spaces EDU also has curriculum tags and more that help teachers to connect the curriculum to the activities created in Spaces.
STEM-related: There are some new resources we have explored this year including iBlocksPBL which helps educators to dive into PBL and students can learn about relevant topics related to the SDGs that help them to develop essential SEL skills, especially in the competencies of self-awareness and self-management. A few years ago I used Hummingbird Robots with my STEAM class and more recently, we used the Finch robots from Birdbrain Technologies. Teachers can use these tools in any content area and have students create something to reflect what they are learning in class while building coding skills and even learning about AI. These are just a few to explore in your classroom. If you are interested in PBL, SEL, and STEM, any of these options would help to focus on those areas with the use of one tool. Involve students in the conversation and see what the impact is of using the different methods like genius hour or PBL or trying one of these tools. And for our own growth, using a survey created with Google or Microsoft Forms, or trying the LessonLoop student engagement survey, can help us to plan with our students’ interests in mind and continue to reflect on our practice. Taking risks and facing challenges along the way is a great model to set for students!
About the Author:
Rachelle Dené is a Spanish and STEAM: What’s nExT in Emerging Technology Teacher at Riverview High School in Oakmont, PA. Rachelle is also an attorney with a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law and a Master’s in Instructional Technology. Rachelle is an ISTE Certified Educator and serves as the past president of the ISTE Teacher Education Network. She was named one of 30 K-12 IT Influencers to follow in 2021.
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We have thousands of resources to choose from, and ideas we can gather from the different learning communities that we belong to, however, it can be overwhelming and time-consuming to sort through all of our options. It is always important when we consider our options to think about the purpose for using them. I try to find tools that have benefits beyond their educational use and that are applicable to the real world and will help students to prepare for the future.
As we look for activities and new ideas to keep students engaged, I think it is the perfect opportunity to explore some of the emerging technologies like augmented and virtual reality. While traveling around the world or exploring objects up close is limited during this time, we can use some of the AR and VR tools available to explore and also to have students create their own. Giving students the chance to engage in a more meaningful way with the content they are studying and move from consumers to creators using these tools helps to increase student engagement and leads to higher student achievement.
Using tools for exploring and immersing more in learning through AR and VR enables students to connect more closely with what they are studying. Having choices for creating with these tools, also enables us to meet specific student needs and interests. As a bonus, these tools are also fantastic options for anyone interested in learning about these emerging technologies.
Here are eight options to get started with:
Big Bang AR. Download the Big Bang AR app to learn about the big bang theory and engage in an interactive journey in mixed reality. Travel back 13.8 billion years and see the formation of the universe happen right in your real-world space. Imagine seeing the stars as they form right in front of your eyes.
Devar: Choose from one of the lively characters to bring into your classroom or home. Devar is easy to get started with and is a fun way for students or anyone to learn more about what augmented reality is and how it can be used for storytelling. Start by selecting a character and add music or your own narration to it and record. Share the video with students or have students create their own to tell a story. Check out the other resources available from Devar such as games and books related to different content areas and grade levels.
DisruptED. Provides augmented and virtual reality tools for students in pre-K through third grade. I recently learned about this one from Jaime Donally and had a chance to see the possibilities for engaging students through AR books. The new starter kit includes activity books, gamified activities, a headset and more. The newest AR book “Bee Safe” is available for a free download.
Google AR/VR. A website full of resources for learning about augmented and virtual reality through Google. Check out the experiences which include opportunities to learn about math, science, the human body, and more in AR. Bring prehistoric creatures or other animals into your environment. You can even create your own AR experience by downloading the software development kit (SDK) to create with Google ARCore. With the SDK, you can create new AR experiences or enhance existing apps with AR features.
Nearpod: Offers many options for promoting student engagement through its interactive multimedia platform. My first VR experiences were with Nearpod and there are thousands of lessons to choose from which include 3D objects and VR field trips. Lessons through Nearpod are great options for immersing students in different learning experiences and traveling around the world or exploring places and objects more closely.
It is important to offer multiple options to students that lead to more meaningful experiences that promote the development of essential skills for the future and empower them through self-driven learning. We have an opportunity to innovate and reimagine learning as we embrace the new school year. We can use these immersive tools to create new learning experiences for our students and empower them to create their own!
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I recently attended my fourth TCEA conference. This year marked the 43rd year of the TCEA (Texas Computer Educators Association) Convention and Exposition which was held in San Antonio, Texas at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Since the first time I attended TCEA in San Antonio in 2017, it has become one of my must-attend conferences each year. With more than 700 sessions to choose from on a variety of important topics, TCEA provided a great learning experience for educators again this year. There were also lots of spaces for educators to connect and build their network. Luann Hughes served as the 2023 Convention Chair and sent emails each day with an overview of the day’s schedule, some “Sessions to Savor” and other helpful information to get attendees excited for the day!
The highlights
The people: It is so nice to be able to join together in person at events like the TCEA conference again. For some people, this may have been the first time meeting a friend face-to-face or the first time seeing a friend in the past few years. For me, I love the opportunities to spend time with friends, make new connections and build our learning networks.
The mock schedules: Deciding on sessions to attend can always be a challenge especially when there are so many choices. One of the things I love about TCEA is that they put together mock schedules focused on the different roles of educators. The conference planning team reviews all sessions being offered for roles such as classroom teachers, IT, leaders, and librarians, or with a specific focus on SEL or STEM, special populations, and other important topics in education. Being able to look at a sample schedule helps any attendee but definitely, a first-time attendee to build a schedule focused on their specific interests and needs for professional learning.
Power Hours: There were a variety of session types and events during the conference. Each day started with a Power Hour with a featured speaker. On Monday, Dr. Adam Saenz focused on “The Power of a Teacher” and how important it is to remember the “why” behind the work that we do and the importance of focusing on relationships. On Tuesday, Dr. Michael Hinojosathe spoke about “How to Leverage Educational Technology as a Learning Strategy.” He has more than 40 years of experience in public education, as a teacher, coach, and superintendent/CEO. On Wednesday, the Power Hour “Keep it REAL. Keep it FUN. Keep it UP!” with Joe Dombrowski, an educator who has studied the art of improv comedy. He shared ideas and personal stories about how he uses improv to boost student engagement. His goal is to help students “want to be in school rather than have to be in school.” There was a lot of laughter during his inspiring session.
[Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis]
Thursday’s Power Hour was with Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis, a former Sandy Hook Elementary teacher and the founder and executive director of Classes 4 Classes. She inspired educators with her message focused on making choices with “purpose, passion, perspective, resilience, and hope.”
One of many interesting spaces in the center.
The sessions and topics
There were several hot topics this year. Attendees were very interested in learning about AI and in particular, ChatGPT, and its implications for education. Blockchain, NFTs, and the metaverse were also of interest, with several sessions available covering each of these. I presented a few sessions on artificial intelligence, emerging tech like NFTs, blockchain, the metaverse, and augmented and virtual reality. I also presented and attended several sessions on SEL. There were so many great sessions to choose from. As a presenter, I learn so much from attendees and I look forward to those opportunities to connect. The interactions in sessions lead to new connections and spark interest in new areas for teachers who walk away feeling more confident in diving into some of these new topics and trends.
One of my presentations focused on Chart A New Course: Teaching Essential Skills. Sharing methods and tools like BookWidgets, StoryJumper, Marty the Robot and many more!
Jaime Donally had a great experience for anyone looking to learn about augmented and virtual reality during her sessions such as “Top AR/VR Trends to Transform Learning” and the Digcit VR Journey. Rabbi Michael Cohen (The Tech Rabbi) presented a few sessions on Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, NFTs, and web 3. Also, a big focus was on SEL, with a great session for teachers presented by Jenallee, the eTwinz, and Scott Bricker. Many sessions covered these topics and drew large crowds. Monica Burns had so many ideas to share in her “15 Ways to Collect Actionable Formative Assessment Data” session. She presented quick ideas and also digital tools that help educators gather important data about student learning.
Strategies for Teachers Session by Jenalee and the eTwinz
There were a variety of sessions focused on specific tools such as Google from Dr. Desiree Alexander who had a lot of great tips for streamlining Google Drive. Holly Clark and Matt Miller presented on AI and ChatGPT and shared some ideas for how educators can explore this technology and ways to help students understand it and its implications for learning now and working in the future. Another engaging session was “Three by Thursday! Electrifying Strategies to Ensure Engagement in Learning” by Stormy Daniels and Wendy Hedeen. These are just some of the many topics you could explore and sessions that provided actionable strategies and many resources and also helped with building confidence in taking some risks in our classrooms.
The poster sessions: At each conference, poster sessions are a great way to take in a lot of new ideas in a short amount of time. Being able to interact one-on-one and ask questions specific to your needs in these topic areas really does make a difference. There were poster sessions for CTE, Librarians, Professional Learning, STEM, CTE, and content areas. Sometimes it can be tough to decide which sessions to attend at a conference, but there were opportunities everywhere, especially through the poster sessions.
Panel and Roundtable Discussions: There were roundtable and panel discussions held each day on topics such as equity, personalized professional learning, sustainability, and really relevant focus points for educators. Each day had a variety of panel discussions focused on issues relevant to classroom teachers, educators, and librarians and provided an engaging space to ask questions and make new connections.
Presenting on AI and sharing Marty the Robot
The big topics: Some of the big topics in emerging technology this year were blockchain, cryptocurrency, the metaverse, NFTs, and also ChatGPT. There were also a lot of sessions focused on SEL for students and ideas for educators for their own well-being. TCEA even had an SEL room available for educators to take time to relax in a calming and relaxing environment. It was also a space where educators could learn more about SEL practices and gather some resources.
The Exhibit Hall
I enjoyed exploring the exhibit hall this year with so many companies present and different opportunities to interact with cutting-edge technologies and new ideas for STEM and emerging technologies. Some of the favorites were the Escape Room bus, the Esports area, and of course the endless swag that was available to attendees. There was a lot of interest in STEM-related resources such as Ozobot, Sphero, Marty the Robot, and more hands-on learning materials for younger students like this awesome learning mat from Active Floor.
It is also another great way to learn some new ideas by checking out the different technologies and solutions or catching some of the booth demos given by educators. It gives attendees the chance to learn about a lot in that one space and also to walk away with some fun swag too!
Esports was popular this year with several sessions happening as well as a space in the expo for attendees to take in the esports experience. Throughout the hall, there were booth demos by educators sharing their experiences of using some of the tools like Book Creator, Edpuzzle, Kami, and Spaces EDU, and many booths with live presentations happening every 15 minutes.
Attendees could also step inside and take a tour of a fully renovated, 43-foot school bus that has become a makerspace on wheels. It’s a STEAM dream come true!
The Quest Escape Room bus
The space that TCEA creates
Arriving at TCEA each year, attendees are welcomed as soon as they enter the space. There are volunteers ready to assist you and lead you in the right direction, make sure you are enjoying the experience and check in on presenters to make sure everything is set to go. Don’t worry about attending this conference alone. It is a welcoming space and you will meet and connect with educators right away!
Meeting up with friends at registration to kick off the week!
Planning for next year! If you have been thinking about attending a conference, I definitely recommend TCEA. It has become a favorite event each year. The topics and strands focused on different roles for educators, the variety of sessions, and the welcoming TCEA staff and volunteers, really provide a tremendous learning experience for all attendees.
Rachelle Dené is a Spanish and STEAM: What’s nExT in Emerging Technology Teacher at Riverview High School in Oakmont, PA. Rachelle is also an attorney with a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law and a Master’s in Instructional Technology. Rachelle is an ISTE Certified Educator and serves as the past president of the ISTE Teacher Education Network. She was named one of 30 K-12 IT Influencers to follow in 2021.
She is the author of seven books including ‘In Other Words: Quotes That Push Our Thinking,” “Unconventional Ways to Thrive in EDU”, “The Future is Now: Looking Back to Move Ahead,” “Chart A New Course: A Guide to Teaching Essential Skills for Tomorrow’s World, “True Story: Lessons That One Kid Taught Us” and her newest book “Your World Language Classroom: Strategies for In-person and Digital Instruction” and Things I Wish […] Knew.
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Guest post by Dr. Shelly Vohra in collaboration with @ClassComposer
Response to Intervention (RTI) is a strategy geared towards students who face learning challenges. Students struggle for a variety of reasons and it’s important to understand why these students are struggling and the best way to create a learning path so that they are successful and feel good about themselves. The premise behind “interventions” is to ensure that students receive the supports they need so that the gaps in learning are not exacerbated. It is important to note, however, that “gaps” should not be seen as deficits; rather gaps are areas of growth for students and each student has their own areas of growth based on a wide range of assessments. I, personally, have an issue with the term “gaps” but that is a topic of discussion for another time. It is also important to know that RTI is not a program; it is an approach that identifies student needs based on collecting data from various sources and in a variety of ways and then identifies and applies relevant instructional strategies to develop those skills in students.
Gathering and accessing data
When it comes to data, there are many sources available for educators to learn about the needs of individual students. Being able to gather all of this information, sort through it, share it with other teachers, and develop a plan can take time. Not having a streamlined space for this makes it challenging. With Class Composer, educators have everything they need to be able to monitor student progress. The information is readily accessible to anyone, at any time. It enables all teachers to access the information they need about each individual student when they need it.
With Class Composer, it is easy to track and record student growth toward individualized goals and share this information within your PLC to best provide for all students. Simplify how you manage all the assessment data collected!
Supporting teachers to support students
As it is, one of the most important parts of the RTI process is to build a team to effectively support students who are struggling. The team should include classroom teachers, administrators, teachers who support special education students and those students who are learning English, the school psychologist, speech-language therapist, and parents. Teachers provide targeted teaching and then use formative assessment practices to determine if the intervention strategies are working.
With Class Composer, it makes it easier for teachers to have access to all this information in one space. It enables teachers to create a supportive learning community for students. These teacher-student connections lead to the development of the essential relationships that need to exist for all students to be successful. The simplified space creates a better way for teams to collaborate and access the information they need when they need it.
If they are not working, the team must decide how they will adapt and modify their instructional practices to ensure that students are indeed learning and growing. A significant aspect to keep in mind is that formative assessments inform us of what we must do to ensure student success, not what the student needs to do. In other words, how are we adjusting our practice to best support students? Assessment informs instruction; it is our responsibility to continuously revise what we are doing so that students meet the learning goals related to curriculum standards and expectations.
Even though there is no one correct way to implement RTI, it is a three-tiered approach and you can think of it as a pyramid in which each tier increases in the intensity of support. They are:
(1) whole class
(2) small group, and
(3) intensive interventions.
Some school boards call this a multi-tiered system of supports or MTSS. Although there are many benefits to this approach, I also see several problems and issues arising from the basic foundation upon which RTI and MTSS were built.
I will be discussing these issues in future blog posts as well as digging deeper into this system of support and how to best implement this framework so that all students succeed, grow, and have positive self-worth.
About the Author
Dr. Shelly Vohra is an educator, coach, and consultant. Dr. Vohra teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses in Technology and Mathematics as well as working with students who are learning English. She holds an M.Ed in Adult Education & Distant Learning and a Ph.D. in Educational Technology. Dr. Vohra has over 20 years of experience in education (K-12) teaching various subject areas. Dr. Vohra has written several courses related to Indigenous Education, Multilingual Learners, and Mathematics.
Most recently, she was on a writing team that revised the Science Curriculum (K-8) for Ontario. She has presented at various conferences in Canada and the U.S.A. Dr. Vohra’s work includes designing learning experiences for students through an integrated curriculum lens that combines inquiry with equity. Her research interests include social media in education and blended learning, Dr. Vohra is currently writing a book on her journey. You can find her blog at https://techdiva29.wordpress.com/. Her website will also be launching in late Fall. You can also follow her on Twitter @raspberryberet3 and on Instagram @elevate_ed_21.
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One of the largest questions schools are facing this year is how to try to improve student behavior. We all understand that one side effect of the pandemic was students were deprived of learning key social skills that can help regulate their behavior.
The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 84% of schools agree that student behavioral development has been negatively impacted and that has led to everything from student misconduct to acts of disrespect toward teachers and staff to prohibited use of electronic devices.
In reaction, many schools have used their COVID relief federal funding to start or bolster existing social-emotional learning programs. In fact, 88 of the top 100 districts in the U.S. reported spending funds on SEL – that meant more districts expanded SEL than sought additional technology, teacher training, or extended learning opportunities.
And that’s not a surprise. Many studies show that addressing and building students’ social-emotional skills can result in better academic performance, fewer disruptive behaviors, and less emotional distress.
As a quick aside, if your district is still searching for a solution, I have a detailed column that explains how to best vet a new program, considering your district’s available funds, current climate, and hoped-for outcome.
But if like so many districts, you have already purchased a program and are in the early stages of implementation, I have some advice that seeks to flatten your learning curve, enhance buy-in from staff, and start producing results quicker.
The first key lesson is that even if you have chosen the right program, simply buying something and beginning to train staff isn’t enough to guarantee success. Just as we know that students do better when they understand the relevance of the work they are completing, your staff is more likely to find success if they believe in the option you’ve chosen.
One way to accomplish this is by sharing with them the process you went through to choose your solution. You likely not only gauged your product’s effectiveness in schools in general but also studied exactly how it worked in schools that mirror your district. Let your teachers know what research went into it, and freely share any examples you have from other implementations, from successes to roadblocks.
If you completed a trial with a small group, let staff know. Allowing teachers and others to talk with multiple people about implementation will help tamp down fear of the unknown.
You should also set clear expectations for your program, even if it’s already been rolled out district-wide. Explaining that usage can deepen in coming years will offer a roadmap to staff, and help teachers see the end goal without allowing day-to-day frustrations to hamper their efforts.
The last method to improve your staff’s buy-in is to extend your SEL program to include care for their social and emotional states. During the last several years, teachers may have been working so hard to mitigate the negative effects from the pandemic on students, they ignored their own self-care. Teacher resignations and polls that show increased unhappiness in their jobs are proof that stress, extra work, and uncertainty have taken their toll on your staff.
Remind your teachers to take care of themselves and offer them programs in yoga or controlled breathing. This can not only reduce their stress, but also prove you care about their well-being. In short, take care of your staff like you hope they take care of your students.
Above all, remind staff that all of this work takes time to master, like any new skill. While you can’t expect students to absorb SEL lessons and improve behavior immediately, if staff is consistent with their lessons, progress will begin in mere weeks. This will then reinforce the importance of your SEL program.
Al Kingsley is an author, the CEO of NetSupport, Chair of a Multi-Academy Trust in the UK, Education Author and co-chair of Workstream 5 at the Foundation for Educational Development, whose mandate is to develop a framework for long-term vision and sustainable planning for education in England. He travels the world, speaking about and studying education. Al’s latest book isMy School Governance Handbook.@AlKingsley_Edu.
Guest blog opportunities
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In preparing students for the essential skills they need for the future, we have different methods and digital tools that we can bring into our classroom space. But what skills do students really need?
A great resource to explore is the skills outlook provided by the World Economic Forum. The top skills cited include emotional intelligence, collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
What is important to note is that these skills align with the five core competencies of social-emotional learning (SEL) skills of self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship building, and decision-making.
Because of the changes that we experienced in the past year, I believe that it is important to have various options, whether teaching in-person, hybrid, or virtually. Choosing methods like Genius hour or project-based learning, activities such as scavenger hunts or learning stations, or selecting digital tools that promote more interaction with and between students will help foster the development of essential future-ready and SEL skills.
How to foster the development of future-ready skills
Educators might wonder how to build SEL activities into the classroom and whether it takes a lot of time. Depending on the methods or tools chosen, some of them do require more planning and preparation initially, but there are so many benefits that the time is definitely worth it.
Here are four methods to consider:
Digital breakouts and Escape rooms
These have become more popular over the past few years. Even during virtual learning, they can be a great way to have students work together and build skills of collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Using breakouts and escape rooms is also beneficial for the development of social-emotional learning skills as well. There are a lot of ready-to-use games available to get started with.
With Genius hour, students explore an interest or a passion. It is focused on inquiry-based and student-driven learning, and infuses more student choice and student agency. Students have a chance to “Share their genius” with classmates. Genius hour builds student curiosity, encourages collaboration, and will help students to become more confident as they explore on their own and share their knowledge.
Learning stations
When I changed my classroom a few years ago and changed the rows into stations, there were many benefits for students and my own practice. With stations, using a mix of hands-on materials and digital tools enables students to experience more personalized learning and promotes the development of SEL.
It enables educators to develop a better understanding of where each student is on the learning journey to better plan for their lessons. Using stations also creates a collaborative classroom community where students can engage in activities with their peers, which supports building self-awareness, social awareness, and peer relationships.
Project-based learning
With methods like project-based learning (PBL) or problem-based learning, students drive their own learning, leading them to become more independent and have choices that lead to more authentic and meaningful opportunities.
It helps them to develop self-management skills in particular when setting goals for their research and dealing with any that come with independent work like PBL. Giving students the chance to explore something of personal interest or curiosity, promotes independence in learning, builds student agency, and also helps us to learn about their passions and interests, which assist us in designing learning activities with them in mind. As educators, we must focus on connecting them with the world and preparing them for whatever they decide to do in the future.
Especially during the past school year, digital tools helped facilitate learning in many different settings. Choose one or two versatile tools that will promote student choice and empower them to move from content consumers to creators.
Here are three ideas using digital tools:
Interactive lessons: With some of the platforms available, we can keep students engaged in learning by including a variety of activities that promote collaboration, discussion, and creativity in learning while they build skills in the content they are learning. Some of my favorites include using Formative, Google Jamboard, Nearpod, and Classkick, all of which are beneficial for connecting students in learning, whether in-person or remote, and which enable educators to have access to data or information about where students are in the learning process.
Multimedia presentations: Students can develop vital technology and digital citizenship skills as they learn to create multimedia presentations to demonstrate learning. Our favorites include using tools that offer options for all students that meet their specific interests and comfort levels with technology. Check out Buncee, which has designed an SEL toolkit with ready-to-use template activities for grades K-6 and 7-12 in addition to having thousands of ideas for classroom use and more than 38,000 items in their media library. Using a tool like Wakelet enables students to include images, text, Flipgrid short videos, and other links to share with classmates and their teachers. It is simple to get started with, and it offers students the chance to create their own lesson or even a digital portfolio to show their learning journey. Book Creator is another option for having students collaborate on a book and include audio, video, text, images, and more and build SEL skills. Read more: 8 Digital tools for engaging classroom presentations
Digital portfolios: Spaces offers a digital portfolio platform that assists teachers in better understanding students, their interests, and their needs in learning. Digital portfolios help students to develop SEL skills of self-awareness and self-management. Having students share their portfolios with classmates is also helpful for building relationships and social awareness. The benefits of portfolios are that students track their growth over time and can identify strengths and areas where they can set new goals.
There are many methods and tools to explore, but it’s important to focus on the why behind the choices we make for our students. The use of digital tools promotes collaboration, communication, creativity, and many more essential skills while also promoting the power of choice for students to share what they have learned.
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Over the past two school years, educators, students, and their families have experienced learning and living in new ways. There have been many challenges that we have all faced in education. For some educators, it was a necessary push to take risks, try new ideas or bring different technologies into their classrooms. Although those school years may not have gone as we had planned and we may not have covered as much of the content as we had hoped or had opportunities that we wanted for our students, learning still happened.
In many conversations, teachers are starting to shift from what has been a focus on “learning loss” and instead focus on reflecting on the skills that students gained by learning in different yet challenging ways. Some skills such as digital citizenship, how to collaborate and build relationships when not in the classroom together, and essential technology skills. Teachers learned a lot about themselves and the importance of reflecting on their practice. We learned in new ways and now, we have to continue to provide more authentic and meaningful learning experiences for all students.
Learning in New Ways
If we want to bring about changes for our students, we have to take some risks in our classroom and be open to new ideas, especially from students. It is important for our own professional growth that we continue to stretch ourselves and embrace new, and perhaps non-traditional methods of instruction. We need to foster student agency by promoting student choice and voice in learning.
It took some time for me to make changes in my classroom, but once I did, I noticed an increase in student engagement, the development of SEL skills, and a shift from students as consumers, to being creators and innovators. Students should have learning experiences that push them to drive their learning, problem-solve, create and reflect on the learning process itself. And just like for educators, this can be a risk for students and it can feel uncomfortable. Having the power to decide one’s learning journey provides many benefits, but it can be an adjustment to shift from having a specific end product to being the one to decide what the end product will be.
Promoting Student Agency
There are many ways to promote student agency in the classroom. Whether we try different teaching methods or bring in digital tools, we can amplify student learning potential. Leveraging a digital tool that connects students with real-world learning opportunities and expands their global awareness, for example, can transform the student learning experience. Using methods in our classrooms that foster social-emotional learning (SEL) skills, benefit students now and in the future, as these are the skills in demand. When students experience learning that is meaningful, purposeful, and relevant to their lives, it boosts student engagement and amplifies their learning potential, to better prepare students for their future careers.
Strategies and Tools
Because technology can and will change, it’s important that we focus on strategies first, and then find tools that help to facilitate these strategies whether in or outside of the classroom space. And when considering strategies, having goals in mind as to the skills we hope to help students develop. When thinking about the 21st-century skills or the skills in demand based on the Job Skills Outlook from the World Economic Forum, we know that the skills of collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving are a few of the skills our students need. What are some activities and methods that will help students to develop these skills? Here are three ideas to get started:
1. Stations:
My first risk was making a shift to using station rotations in my classroom. Without any experience, I decided to dive right in and make my classroom a more student-centered and even student-led space. Using the activities and some digital tools that we commonly used in class and working together at the same pace, I divided these into 4 or 5 stations in my classroom. Students worked together and it enabled me to interact with each student more. Rather than being the sole provider of content, I was the facilitator of learning. Although at first, it was a big change, felt uncomfortable not being fully in control for the whole class, the impact was quickly noticed. Students developed SEL skills, became leaders in the classroom, and developed confidence in learning and it fostered a supportive learning community. Students felt connected to their peers and enjoyed the different ways they were engaging with the content.
2. Project-based learning (PBL):
PBL is a method that I thought I was using however I was just assigning projects, which were a finite learning experience for students. When doing authentic PBL, students decide on their focus and it also gives students a chance to work at their own pace through learning that can happen anywhere. With PBL, my students built their skills of collaboration and communication by working with classmates and connecting globally with a class in Argentina. Beyond building their Spanish language skills, students explored topics of interest and developed social awareness about global issues, which led to a much more powerful learning experience. By leveraging tools like Microsoft Teams, Flip, Buncee, Wakelet, and others, students were engaged in a more meaningful and personalized learning experience which promoted student agency in learning. In addition to these benefits, students built their skills using technology by being able to collaborate, communicate, create, problem-solve, and connect during this experience. Engaging in PBL connects students with more authentic and real-world learning experiences.
3. Student-led lessons:
A few years ago, as part of the review at the beginning of the school year, I decided to have students become the teachers. Working in pairs, students had a topic and then had to come up with a way to teach it to their partner. After the first lesson, the roles would switch and the other student would teach the lesson. It was open for students to select a topic or two and they could use anything to create their review lesson. Students came up with great ideas which used some traditional activities such as creating a worksheet or making flashcards and others relied on the many digital tools available. Some students used Buncee, Formative, Nearpod, and Padlet to design their lessons. There are methods that I am using in my classroom today because of what I learned from students. This “teacher for a day” activity was a risk but with many benefits for learning the content and developing essential SEL skills as well as fostering student agency in learning.
Rewards for Learning
Trying new methods or digital tools, or taking a different role in the classroom may be uncomfortable at first, however, there are so many benefits for students and for teachers. Taking risks and facing challenges along the way is a great model to set for students. In using these three methods, teachers can shift to being the facilitator and enjoy opportunities to collaborate and co-learn with students.
As we prepare our students, we need to provide opportunities for students to work at their own pace and explore ideas based on their specific interests and needs.
About the Author:
Rachelle Dené is a Spanish and STEAM: What’s nExT in Emerging Technology Teacher at Riverview High School in Oakmont, PA. Rachelle is also an attorney with a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law and a Master’s in Instructional Technology. Rachelle is an ISTE Certified Educator and serves as the past president of the ISTE Teacher Education Network. She was named one of 30 K-12 IT Influencers to follow in 2021.
**Interested in writing a guest blog for my site? Would love to share your ideas! Submit your post here. Looking for a new book to read? Find these available at bit.ly/Pothbooks
************ Also check out my THRIVEinEDU PodcastHere!
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Learning as I go: Experiences, reflections, lessons learned 