Why Social and Emotional Learning Matters

At Lansing School District's Woodcreek Achievement Center, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is inextricably tied to the process of enriching lives of students, building academic success, and providing them with tools that will build empathy and social. The process of learning teaches students how to manage their goals, develop appropriate emotional responses and decisions while dealing with the inevitable frustrations of learning. Student autonomy is celebrated and teacher connectedness is prevalent - learning is taking place - success is taking place. "No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship" (Dr. James Comer).

Ultimately the team helps students develop their ability to communicate with others and maintain positive relationships. These are essential skills sets for all teens, transitioning to the work world and increasing self-dependency. These are all the more critical for young people who may have not experienced academic success and may be handling multiple stressors in the personal lives.

Resiliency skills that can be developed in every classroom

Research and evidence-based data including longitudinal studies have established that strength in adolescent resiliency skills are associated with positive student development and academic success (Dr. V. Scott Solberg). Here are skill areas that can be developed in the classroom, and some ways in which this is being done at our Academies:

GOAL SETTING:

In the AdvancePath model, activities, visual cues and social cues provide the baseline: all students can achieve and can reach their personal goals. In the Academy, the team uses a phrase at each progressive benchmark - "My Goal Is Graduation." Principal Word (Woodcreek Achievement Center) encourages students on a daily basis to "Get Your Grind On" - students perceive education and college as being valuable to their future success and setting goals toward achievement.

ACADEMIC CONFIDENCE:

Academy teachers work with students individually to create personalized plans towards the Goal of Graduation, and they meet regularly to review progress. Students' competence in performing a variety of academic tasks and through effective problem-solving helps build self-reliance and confidence. They habituate this process of goal-setting, analysis and continuous improvement.

SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY:

Academy teams provide a number of options by which students can "give back" to their community, often through volunteer activities. They also provide class-time and mentor/counselor-backed guided activities in which students interact with adults in the workplace . They learn more about social support from these workplace meetings with business and community mentors, as well as family, teachers and peers.

HEALTH & WELL-BEING MANAGEMENT:

Teen and pre-teen years are notorious for high-risk behaviors, stress, and other issues affecting physical health and well-being. Typically, the student body at many AdvancePath Academies may skew to higher incidences of physical, emotional and socialization issues (often as a result of issues outside of their control - from homelessness to malnutrition to health issues). Creating a peaceful school atmosphere and, maintaining mutual trust and respect are essential to building the bonds in which issues affecting student performance will be revealed by the student to their teacher/mentor/counselor. Then students can be introduced to appropriate means for immediate and ongoing processes dealing with psychological and emotional distress.

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION:

Student self-determination is essential, most especially for an at-risk, disengaged population. To take on the value that school attendance is meaningful, maybe even enjoyable, requires every other aspect of the AdvancePath Blended Learning Model to be at play. Each day teachers greet students with enthusiasm and welcome them to another day of engagement and solid teaching and learning. The learning is active and infused with a hybrid of online, small group, and one-to-one instruction. Teachers are "mobile" and move among students, tutoring, providing the lead-in questioning that helps students find that "aha!" moment. Teachers are mentors and facilitators.

And the learning experience becomes a lesson in life skills - transcending coursework, enabling students to take charge of the next steps in their lives.