Discover how equity and SEL create inclusive education by fostering belonging, addressing biases, and empowering all students to thrive
What is Unconscious Bias? Unconscious bias is also called implicit bias—a type of social cognition that occurs below the surface, making it harder to detect as defined by Huda Essa, author of the book The Consciously Unbiased Educator. Essa cites social scientists who believe unconscious bias can develop as early as age 3 (Flannery, 2015). They are often undetected and may even contradict a...
Building a Belonging Classroom Student Sense of Belonging Strategies How to Build a Strong Foundation for the Year Student Sense of Belonging strategies are Reflections of Self, Quick Checks, 2 x 10 strategy, Kid watching, and Student and Family Inventories. These 5 strategies are from authors Colleen Urlik and Rebecca McKinney of Accelerating Learning For All Equity in Action. These strategies...
Table of Contents Identity and Agency Defined Identity refers to our comprehensive understanding of our own features, our self- perception in relation to others, our perceived abilities, and our recognition of our weaknesses, as stated by Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and Dominique Smith, the authors of the book “All Learning is Social and Emotional”. Authors define Agency as the capacity...
Identity Safe Classroom Identity Safe Classrooms are, according to Dorothy M Steel and Becky Crohn Vargas, “those in which teachers strive to ensure students that their social identity is an asset, not a barrier to success.” Shane Safir, author of the article “Fostering Identity Safety in the Classroom“, notes that such classrooms students feel safe, included and valued...
Authentic Self To be authentic is one of the 12 traits essential to every student’s success in life. It is an important virtue to also be humble. Humility does not mean being debased or self-degraded. It means “being right-sized,” which has two components: – Authentic persons are objectively aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. – They don’t pretend to be someone they aren’t...
Effective Questioning To Prompt Students to Think Critically Provoke and Release What prompts students to ask questions in class? According to the book Beautiful Questions in the Classroom by Warren Berger, a two-part strategy could be considered “provoke and release.” The idea is to provoke curiosity in students, which will tend to inspire specific, authentic questions, then provide a release...
Planning SEL Lesson Table of Contents Tracey A. Hulen and Ann-Bailey Lipsett share planning tools to support elementary teachers in providing authentic forms of SEL. Hulen and Lipsett ask how do we bridge knowing to actually doing? Authors believe the link that binds the two is often planning. Planning can help us reach our goals and be more efficient with our allotted instructional time. In many...
What is Cyber Bullying? Cyberbullying encompasses harassment using digital means such as social media, emails, and texting. Navigating the pervasive digital landscape requires a nuanced understanding of how these behaviors manifest and the effects they produce. Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying exploits the widespread reach and anonymity afforded by the internet. This new dimension...
SEL 101 What are Core Competencies and key setting? Effective SEL Teaching Practices In their book, Building Blocks for Social-Emotional Learning, Tracy A. Hulen and Ann-Bailey Lipsett introduce ten SEL instructional practices you can use to teach and integrate social-emotional skills into academic and social settings throughout the school day: Transitions Student goal setting SEL daily...
Bullying in Schools Bullying and Glasses in Schools Bullying often happens at school, and children who wear glasses are common targets. It can be verbal, physical, or both, and it often happens at school according to NVISION. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 49 percent of children in grades four to 12 reported being bullied by other students at least once...
Building a Belonging in the Classroom Building Sense of Belonging Building a sense of belonging is a strong sense of connection to a group or community. Feeling respected and accepted, having a sense of group purpose, and being part of a bigger system are ways to achieve this. People are more likely to be motivated and involved in their work when they feel belonging. It may also lead to more...
Introduction Have you ever faced this struggle: should I focus on academic content or boost social emotional character development? I am sure educators have encountered this dilemma many times, including myself. With no guidance on the topic, it is hard to know how to teach it to students. I have been thinking about social emotional learning for some time. I came across an article “Making...