June 2019
 
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Social Emotional Wellness Snapshot

The Social Emotional Wellness Snapshot is focused information that will be offered five times in the school year. The purpose is to support leadership capacity and increase awareness and understanding of social emotional learning and its importance in a healthy community.
definition of social emotional learning
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SEL is the process through which we acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to:
- understand and manage emotions
- set and achieve positive goals

- feel and show empathy for others
- establish and maintain positive relationships

- make responsible decisions

CASEL (Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning
integrating SEL throughout the day
As the school year comes to a close, it‘s an opportunity to reflect on all that you have accomplished and to think about your hopes for the next school year.

Whether you‘re still exploring how to bring social-emotional learning into your school/classroom or looking to enhance existing practices, read on for some strategies on how to integrate SEL into the school day.

Chances are you are already using many of the strategies offered. If so, consider the question "are there additional actions I can take to enhance student‘s understanding of the social emotional skills they are applying in this activity?"

 

 

 

IDENTIFYING FEELINGS

The teacher can actively model self awareness by stopping at times to “think aloud” and describe how they feel, think, and act in  certain situations.

To support student
self awareness you can start and end each day (or week) with check-ins and check-outs. The chart below creates a way for students to reflect on how they are feeling and offers a non-threatening method to ask for support if they need it.
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GROUP WORK

Students develop relationship skills, such as communication and collaboration through structured group work.

To help students with 
responsible decision making ask them to be thoughtful about picking their partners, ask them to consider who they’ll be most productive with (rather 
 than who they’ll have the most fun with!) and have them write a brief reflection on the success.
Allowing students to choose whether to work independently or with a group also promotes
responsible decision making and self awareness. 

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ACADEMICS

Identify the social and emotional competencies needed for academic work such as perseverance, growth mindset, or asking for help and incorporate them into the lesson plan.

While discussing a passage in a book, historical occurrences, or current events, use the opportunity to highlight and discuss
social awareness.  Ask students questions like: “Why do you think he or she made that choice?” or “How did his or her actions affect others?"

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SELF-DIRECTED WORK AND PLAY

Provide students with multiple opportunities for self-directed work and play. Offering students the opportunity to create, discuss, negotiate, design, and explore promotes self awareness, social awareness and self management.

For younger students self-directed imaginative play promotes relationship skills, self management and social awareness.  

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CHILL TIME

Providing opportunities for students to center their minds and bodies with activities like slow breathing, yoga, meditation, brain breaks or brief physical activity (such as jumping jacks or a dance break) are a few examples of self-management techniques you can weave into K-12 instruction.

Educators can use “teachable moments” to guide students through 
self management skills such as helping them mediate a conflict.
Integrating SEL throughout the day ensures that students get plenty of opportunities to learn and practice these important skills, so they are reinforced and not forgotten.

Over time, SEL becomes the “lens” through which educators view teaching and learning. And for students, these skills are the door to becoming caring, contributing, and resilient adults.
Using data for sel interventions
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So why is data collection important? It is through data collection that an organization has the quality information they need to make informed decisions. Data collection  allows them to stay on top of developments, provide answers to problems and analyze new insights.  

All elementary and middle schools were invited to participate in the MDI during the month of February 2019.
The Middle Years Development Instrument is a self-report questionnaire completed by children in Grade 4 and Grade 7. It asks them how they think and feel about their experiences both inside and outside of school. 

Every school that participated received their own school level report in late April. If you are unsure if your school participated check with your administrator.

If your school did not participate you can download our District MDI Reports below.
SD Grade 4 Report   SD Grade 7 Report


adolescent health survey (gRADE 7-12)
For the past 27 years the McCreary Centre Society has surveyed youth in B.C. every five years. 

In 2018, over 38,000 youth completed the survey. 
At least one classroom in each of SD 61’s middle and secondary schools participated in the survey. 

The survey was administered by Public Health Nurses to students in mainstream public schools between February and June 2018. 

Survey results have been published in the document: Balance and Connection in BC: The Health and Well-Being of Our Youth
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social emotional wellness advocates (SEWA)
Our advocates this year have done amazing work in their individual schools! We are so appreciative of how they have embraced their role and shared their passion and knowledge with colleagues. 

We are pleased to say they we will be continuing with the Social Emotional Wellness Advocates in the 2019-2020 school year! 

If you are interested in becoming an SEWA please talk with your administrator. More information will be provided in late June. 

That's a wrap for this school year! We hope you have a summer filled with everything that brings you joy!

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