These days, social emotional learning, or SEL, feels like a total buzzword. We, as a society and as educators, are really learning how crucial it is to teach children social emotional learning skills. What can be extra hard is when there is only allocated resources and time for SOME students to receive this instruction. We know all kids need these lessons, not just some! Here are 3 simple tier 1 SEL strategies teach all kids across your school building.
1.) Calm tools boxes
As a social emotional learning coach, I made it my mission this school year to bring more tier 1 SEL strategies to individual classrooms. I started this by creating calm tools boxes that I delivered to every classroom. This also meant PE, art, music, Spanish, library, special education, and the school nurse. Inside the boxes I included a variety of materials that varied based on grade level. They included items like quiet fidgets, small coloring pages (pocket size), sharpened colored pencils, digital kitchen timers, sensory bubblers, affirmation cards, yoga pose visuals, breathing boards, and sensory bottles. I visited classrooms and helped teachers introduce these tools to their students, and followed the teacher’s lead on how these would be set up/utilized in their classroom. We modeled how to use each tool and when might be times these tools could be effective for students, knowing they would also vary based on student needs. How do calm tools boxes fit into tier 1 SEL strategies? Often materials like these are provided for students with accommodations written into 504 plans or IEPs. They are provided to students with scheduled social work or counseling minutes. If we know frustration, anxiety, loneliness, and overwhelm are universal feelings, why would we not provide materials universally, as tier 1 SEL supports?!
Funding materials like these can be tough in certain school buildings and districts. I have been there and I know the feeling of reading a post or seeing photos of really beneficial materials and not having the resources to provide them to kids. I suggest diving into the world of Donors Choose, checking out local grants, and setting up a meeting with your administration about creative ways to use school funds.
2.) 3 school “expectations”/”agreements”
Does your school follow specific expectations or agreements as a community? I really feel the simpler the better, and an excellent way to create an environment of tier 1 SEL building wide. Some examples are “Be safe, be responsible, be respectful”, “be kind, be safe, be smart”. It’s important with 3 agreements like this that students generate examples of what each of these broader agreements means. Students might share that being safe means using kind words, including others, and having safe bodies. They may share that being respectful is listening to others, cleaning up after yourself, and apologizing when needed. These types of conversations can be captured in a slide, anchor chart, or charter-like document that students can refer back to. I think these can be awesome catalysts for “class meetings” or daily “closing circles“. The class can reflect on how they have upheld their expectations/agreements and if there are any goals they should set for areas that have been challenging.
3.) Whole school teaching of coping & regulation strategies
This is by far my favorite tier 1 SEL strategy that is often missed. While it may seem like we’re tackling this topic by providing calm tools boxes, I challenge us to take this a step further! Often SEL-focused IEP goals will encompass students executing a regulation skill when they are experiencing heightened emotions. Then, the student is taught strategies. Let me be clear: THIS IS AWESOME! However, you don’t need an identified disability, or an emotional disability, to experience dysregulation. This is a normal brain and body experience that we all face daily.
What if we taught ALL kids, directly, a variety of coping skills? What if we made it a universal, tier 1 SEL initiative to ensure every student in the school building had a tool box of a few regulatory strategies they could try when they experienced big feelings? This may SEEM like a big ask, but truly it’s NOT. We can do this!!
I created this resource in hopes it might help make my tier 1 SEL dreams come true across schools everywhere! This simple resource provides slides that offer direct instruction for 36 coping skills. This means educators can teach one coping skill per week for the entire school year! One skill per week allows for daily practice of the new skill, many opportunities for teacher modeling, questions to be presented by students, and possibly even organic opportunities for students to use the skill in real time. There are VERY little materials needed (occasionally paper and pencil or a timer) and very little prep needed by teachers. Just toss up the slide and you’re ready to teach.
Looking for a bundle of Tier 1 resources for K-2 students in your building?
How about students in 3-5 grade in your building?
Excellent post!!! The strategy you have posted on this technology helped me to get into the next level and had lot of information in it.