Play the videos about how schools have used drama, song and dance to advance social-emotional learning.
In low-income urban areas, many children do not feel safe outside of school. They may face bullying and feel anxious on their way to school. New teachers at these schools must learn the skills needed to help students deal with daunting social-emotional challenges. The video below describes how a Louisiana elementary school was able to improve both achievement and school climate through a program that utilized arts-based methods.
Conscious Discipline is an example of a social and emotional learning (SEL) program. Many such programs are available. Students are encouraged to rehearse remaining calm and in-control, as a strategy for learning how to react wisely when challenges and frustrations arise in daily life.
- You may download a brief description of the main strategy used in the video. Why do you think teaching students how to remain in control of their emotions in the classroom would be critical to effective teaching and learning?
- What is the Social Brain? (2:34 min.)
In the video above, an important part of the learning going on comes from the participation of the whole faculty and all of the students. Why was this important? This brief video will help you to answer this question. - Masters of Social Learning (2:22 min.)
What argument does this video put forward in favor of the advantage of asking students to work together on projects in small groups? - The Social Classroom (1:37 min.)
How can the way a teacher sets up seats in the classroom affect student learning?
How is the morning “conglom” at Riverside School in Ahmedabad, India similar to — and different from — the morning meeting at Joshua Butler Elementary School in the U.S.?
Parenting
Another challenge that elementary teachers face is that some parents may not know how to teach their children self-regulation at home. These children may then cause disturbances in the classroom, either by acting out or because of an inability to get themselves organized to carry out assigned tasks during the school day. Informational videos like the one below may be utilized by schools and teachers to provide advice on disciplinary strategies that do or do not work. The following video explains why the frequent use of “No!” and “Don’t” commands by parents tends to be ineffective in teaching children self-discipline within the home.
- Give 3 reasons why use of “No!” and “Don’t” commands is ineffective.
- Give 3 examples of simple, positive requests are likely to work better.