FOCUS ON FEELINGS

Focus on Feelings: Teaching Important Lessons for an Unprecedented Back-to-School Experience

Social emotional learning, or SEL, helps children and adults understand and manage their emotions, set and achieve goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions, according to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).

With the pandemic causing our daily lives to look different, and with the emotions surrounding a very different backto-school experience, SEL is especially important to help students feel more at ease and help them learn.

Kids have a hard time learning when they are stressed or anxious, so performing daily SEL activities helps them to relax so they can then focus on academics. When students returned to school in the fall, teachers made sure to incorporate social emotional learning activities into their classroom routines. In Head Teacher Sarah Lewis and Assistant Teacher Kaylee Huntley's Orange 1 class, students made self portraits to show what they looked like with their masks on and off. They drew themselves on folded paper. When the paper was folded up, they had a mask on, but when it was pulled down, they had their masks off. The class spent time discussing how wearing masks can affect the viewing of facial expressions.

Head Teacher Nicole Goldman and Assistant Teacher Taylor Deedy's Green 2 class participated in a classroom scavenger hunt and various getting-to-know-you activities.

Students created their own Gaynor pride mask chains using green and white beads and discussed how masks hide emotions and could make it hard for people to see how someone is truly feeling.

 Upon returning onground in August, teachers focused on social emotional learning and helping students adjust to a "new normal" in school, while still making valuable classroom connections.

Taking the time to build classroom relationships and helping students understand and manage their emotions was important to set them up for success throughout the new school year.

Head Teacher Sara Curwin and Assistant Teacher Chryzl Goco's, Green 1 class participated with Green 2 in the Green Greek Olympics. The classes competed on the Great Lawn in Central Park and played Evolution Rock/ Paper/Scissors, Switch, Standing Long Jump, and Beach Flags.

“The students had a fun time competing and eating lunch together at the park,” Ms. Goldman said. Students in Head Teacher Casey Adler and Assistant Teacher Reshmi Nair's Silver 1 class played board games together to bond with each other.

Both remote and onground students played games, such as Battleship, Guess Who, and Headbanz.

The focus on social emotional learning was particularly important with the planned move to distance learning from Thanksgiving through Winter Break. The strong relationships and practice in managing emotions was essential to continuing those relationships in a remote environment.