Amber Chandler not only says what many educators are thinking but lives her classroom truth in the The Flexible SEL Classroom. Her compelling case for everyday SEL in middle schools is supported by a multitude of activities to benefit students, writes teacher Jenni Kramer.
Middle grades math teacher Mona Iehl applies five of author Gholdy Muhammad’s strategies to unearth joy as her students experience the December classroom scramble. Mona suggests activities to help realize each strategy with your students. Try musical math and much more!
Students in the middle are facing a perfect storm of stress, anxiety and overwhelm. Educators Trisha DiFazio and Allison Roeser share ways to help them grow a sense of connectedness and belonging with easy to implement SEL strategies for all content areas. Start with Battery Life!
There’s nothing wrong with “putting on a movie” after a tough week in class, writes Amber Chandler, but why not make the most of it? The former AMLE educator of the year shares her strategy (with lesson plans!) for using popular films to reach important SEL goals.
The life skills students learn in our classes prepare them to thrive in the real world. Middle grades teacher Laleh Ghotbi shares some lessons from her effort to use weekly community-building circles in her classroom to help students learn to respect their differences and focus on common values.
Compassionate discipline calls us to action, writes SEL & the Brain expert Marilee Sprenger – actions much different from our usual vision of discipline. Showing compassion and managing our behavior can help our students recognize their own emotions and regulate themselves.
Help your middle graders grow academically and behaviorally with these monthly SEL themes and activities developed by middle school teacher leader Kasey Short and her counseling colleague Janani Buford. Just right for busy teachers to incorporate into their advisories!
Katie Caprino offers three ideas for using Zillah Bethell’s YA novel The Shark Caller to engage your middle grades ELA students in social emotional learning. Caprino’s activities build on how the young characters interact as they face the impact of deaths in their families.
When Stephanie Farley coaxes her students into a good frame of mind – happy, relaxed, confident – they learn more, just as positivity research predicts. Join her as she shares 10 joy-inducing methods – including dogs – and suggests ways to reach across content.
We Belong by Laurie Barron and Patti Kinney offers a community-forward approach to classroom management that promotes a culture in which schools become “places where [students] can discover who they are and who they want to become” through the year, writes Michael McLaughlin.
