Joan Fretz consulting
Joan Fretz consulting
  • Home
  • Services
  • Road Map
  • Staff Communication
  • SEL Skills for Students
  • 4 Communication Steps
  • Theories of Practice
  • Collaborative Solutions
  • Building Buy-In
  • INSIDE SEL PROGRAMS
  • Recommended Resources
  • PDFS SEL Skills
  • Joan's Blog
  • Videos: Student Experts
  • Videos: School Leaders
  • Videos: IE Founders
  • PDFS Collaborative Sol.
  • PDFS Inter Neurobiology
  • Reference List
  • The Science
  • Invitational Education
  • eBooks
  • CHOOSING AN SEL PROGRAM
  • Complete Reference List
  • New Book
  • Intro Invitational Ed
  • PDFS: Invitational Ed
  • More
    • Home
    • Services
    • Road Map
    • Staff Communication
    • SEL Skills for Students
    • 4 Communication Steps
    • Theories of Practice
    • Collaborative Solutions
    • Building Buy-In
    • INSIDE SEL PROGRAMS
    • Recommended Resources
    • PDFS SEL Skills
    • Joan's Blog
    • Videos: Student Experts
    • Videos: School Leaders
    • Videos: IE Founders
    • PDFS Collaborative Sol.
    • PDFS Inter Neurobiology
    • Reference List
    • The Science
    • Invitational Education
    • eBooks
    • CHOOSING AN SEL PROGRAM
    • Complete Reference List
    • New Book
    • Intro Invitational Ed
    • PDFS: Invitational Ed
  • Sign In
  • Create Account

  • My Account
  • Signed in as:

  • filler@godaddy.com


  • My Account
  • Sign out

Signed in as:

filler@godaddy.com

  • Home
  • Services
  • Road Map
  • Staff Communication
  • SEL Skills for Students
  • 4 Communication Steps
  • Theories of Practice
  • Collaborative Solutions
  • Building Buy-In
  • INSIDE SEL PROGRAMS
  • Recommended Resources
  • PDFS SEL Skills
  • Joan's Blog
  • Videos: Student Experts
  • Videos: School Leaders
  • Videos: IE Founders
  • PDFS Collaborative Sol.
  • PDFS Inter Neurobiology
  • Reference List
  • The Science
  • Invitational Education
  • eBooks
  • CHOOSING AN SEL PROGRAM
  • Complete Reference List
  • New Book
  • Intro Invitational Ed
  • PDFS: Invitational Ed

Account


  • My Account
  • Sign out


  • Sign In
  • My Account
KEY STRATEGY #2:

SEL Skills for Students

In a safe and supportive school, students discuss, learn, practice and apply social and emotional skills that will help them build positive relationships and realize their full potential.

Social emotional Skills for Students

What is SEL?

The term “SEL” is often attached to anything and everything that schools try to do that is positive.  The reason not much is accomplished, is that SEL is not that. "SEL is a process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish positive relationships, and make responsible decisions (CASEL.org).


SEL refers to the teaching of  specific social and emotional behavioral skills  in a sequential, developmental order, every year, to every student, in every grade.  Just like the skills we learn in order to read and write,  behavioral skills  help us deal positively with the social and emotional challenges in our daily lives.  An SEL activity doesn't "preach" about qualities of character nor use inspiring stories to encourage people to do the same thing.  The problem with "preaching instead of teaching" is that it leaves out the most important part of developing a character trait.  In order to help someone use a more beneficial behavior, we need  to teach the skill.

  

 So, SEL means modeling, teaching, practicing and applying specific behaviors that will help us reflect on and choose beneficial words and actions, which leads us to develop those desirable qualities of character.  Most importantly, SEL does not point out what people are doing wrong.  It is a strength-based approach that helps children see their own and other’s unique strengths and value. It begins with developing a positive self-concept by learning to recognize our natural affinities and strengths, identify our emotions, develop a sense of self-confidence, etc.  These Self-Awareness skills are followed by Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and then, Decision-Making skills. There are  27 specific skills within these 5 Core Competencies.   See CASEL's List of SEL Competencies.


Recently CASEL redefined SEL and provided new example of descriptors to show how SEL skills address today's school and community challenges. See CASEL's NEW SEL Framework.


Each SEL skill builds upon the one that comes  before, so the order in which they are introduced matters greatly.  For example, we are not really ready to make good decisions until we have developed the personal and social skills that are taught in the four previous categories.  So, starting the school year with an assembly program about not bullying others or doing drugs has little impact.



Learn More

What should I look for in an SEL program?  Visit SEL RESOURCES for suggestions, key components, sample lessons & implementation ideas.

Inside SEL Programs

What Happens in an SEL Lesson

In SEL lessons, life’s challenges are discussed, and proactive skills to address them are practiced during the lesson and then applied in other settings, in order to develop and "own" the skill.  There is no preaching about how you “should” behave.  For example, to help students ask for what they need without creating a defensive reaction, they learn to use "What When Why and How" statements.  The communication strategy includes WHAT (state the feeling,), WHEN (state the behavior without blame or judgment,) WHY (the behavior is causing the feeling) and HOW (I'd like you to do something different.)For example, a frustrated student might say,


"I'm fed up  being your science lab partner because you think you're the only one with good ideas.  If I worked with ANYONE else,  I'd get a better grade."
Using  the "WWWH" skill, the student might express the same concern like this:
"I'm getting frustrated being your science lab partner because you are not incorporating my ideas.  Would you be willing to  spend a  few minutes discussing my  suggestions  before finalizing our report?"   

 
The SEL skill is the ability to express our feelings and needs without blame or judgment and make  a request instead of a demand.  This skill is practiced using scenarios in class and at home.  


An SEL program is optimistic, caring, and respectful as it builds trusting, dependable relationships in our classrooms between the teacher and his or her students, as well as between the students.  Strong programs have family connection activities to help parents understand the skills and encourage them to model and practice them with their children and other family members.  This leads to improved communication and relationships at home.


If you apply this definition of SEL to the positive school initiatives  you are currently implementing, you can determine which ones are teaching and practicing specific competencies and which are pretty much preaching about what we wish for or expect from our students.  It’s not that qualities of character are less important.  Quite the contrary, providing students with specific social and emotional skills helps them to develop these qualities of character.   


The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is the nation’s leading organization advancing the development of SEL for all students. For more information on SEL visit CASEL and other related websites:
http://www.casel.org/http://www.nasponline.org/educators/elias_zins.pdfhttp://www.danielgoleman.info/topics/social-emotional-learning/SEL
You'll find information about what to look for in an evidence-based, sequential SEL program in SEL RESOURCES.

Sample SEL Lessons

As a trainer for the Lions Quest K-12 SEL Program, I'm pleased to share sample lessons and other resources from  this comprehensive program. Reviewing the components of the Lions Quest Program can help you in your review of other programs.

Sample Lions Quest Lessons

 Copyright © 2020 Joan Fretz - All Rights Reserved.

Powered by GoDaddy Website Builder

  • Home
  • Services
  • Road Map
  • Staff Communication
  • SEL Skills for Students
  • 4 Communication Steps
  • Theories of Practice
  • Collaborative Solutions
  • Building Buy-In
  • INSIDE SEL PROGRAMS
  • Recommended Resources
  • Joan's Blog
  • Videos: Student Experts
  • Videos: Research Experts
  • Videos: School Leaders
  • PDFS Collaborative Sol.
  • PDFS Inter Neurobiology
  • The Science
  • Invitational Education
  • eBooks