How is SEL is like the Periodic Table?
That is an interesting thought. I was talking with a dear friend of mine who is a high school Chemistry teacher. He is currently using our Community Core Social and Emotional tools, lesson plans, in his classroom. I prefer thinking of our program as a toolbox and the lesson plan as tools. When a teacher walks into a classroom, they have their toolbox. Everyone has the basic tools, hammer, nails, screwdriver maybe a set of pliers. But what happens when you need a wrench or a drill? You fall short, you have to improvise until you get the correct tools or in some cases you just drop the project you were working on or skip over that particular issue so you can move on.
It is so important to make sure your toolbox has what you need. By having the correct tools, it allows you as a teacher to be autonomous when determining the needs of your students. How do you determine the needs of your students? By allowing space for conversations. Creating a Social and Emotionally safe environment allows educators - who have their finger on the pulse of their class – to select “tools” to help facilitate conversations that help navigate difficult moments or current events.
Back to the periodic table
The periodic table is the most important Chemistry reference there is. It contains an enormous amount of important information. People familiar with how the table is put together can quickly determine a significant amount of information about an element.
There is a direct correlation between the elements on the Periodic Table and the outcomes when they interact with each other. Think of Community Core as your SEL periodic table, or toolbox. Our numerous tools and supporting materials help students and teachers build a solid SEL vocabulary. This is in turn helps instill community-building concepts into your classroom. We call this the Concept of Social and Emotional Learning.
Once you understand the concept of your SEL Periodic Table you can start to Internalize what is means to create an emotionally safe environment. You have to practice and use the different elements, maybe try a variety of different tools to get the reaction you desire. A positive reaction builds confidence. Makes someone say to themselves, “I did it, this feels great!”. The more this confident feeling is internalized it becomes instinctual. We don’t have to rely on looking for our tools or our Periodic Table for guidance. We are able to function on Instinct. If this is a common thread throughout a classroom you now have a great SEL Lab.
I would emphasize that it’s the combination of these “tools” and the practice of these “tools” that helps turn Concept into Instinct. There is a direct correlation between elements on the Periodic Table and the outcomes when they interact with one another. The same goes for the SEL tools. How they are used in concert is where the magic is. Community Core is different from any other SEL program. By adding Community Core’s tools/lesson plans to your classroom you enable students to build their understanding of SEL. Your classroom becomes a lab where they can practice their tools and receive feedback from their teachers and mentors…YOU. You are giving your students the blueprint to solve problems and navigate life’s most difficult questions. Again, it’s the combination of these tools that mirror the Periodic Table. It’s the perfect analogy.
In academics it is believed that students must be tested in material after they have had time to practice it. Test SEL skills? On a written test? Who does that? My teacher friend did just that. On his last trimester exam, he added a question pertaining to Social and Emotional learning in the classroom.
“I tell you that chemistry, the study of matter, directly relates to our brains and the synapses therein. There is a cause and effect with each reaction that we discuss. We have also talked about cause and effect with specific skills (tools), that we value as a community, including: “valuing all feelings,” “upholding emotional safety” and having “conversation sensitivity.” Let us think of these like elements in a compound! One is not enough. How can using specific life skills, when brought together, break down or uphold communities? Are these “tools'' things that you feel proficient in? Can you give an example of when you had to use one? Maybe even more so now with COVID? And if so, what are your other thoughts! Give an example. (30 pts) Hint: I know there are so many follow up questions, just let me know what you are thinking!”
I’d love to share a few of the answers with you.
· “It is surprising to see this question on a chemistry test. But I think that it makes sense because these life skills matter in all classes. I think we need ingenuity, creativity, collaboration and patience/respect to help us navigate the stresses and difficulties of our learning model especially right now. I just do not know all of the things that I can do to help my peers and friends and still build a positive community.”
· “I can say that I use the skill of valuing all feelings on a day-to-day basis (or I try to) because I know that I can be very brutally honest and so when I say something, I need to practice thinking it over so that I do not offend or confuse someone. I would hate to accidentally hurt someone else’s feelings. These specific life skills help me uphold community in our chemistry classroom as well as at home with family and friends. Using these skills helps me have hard conversations, but I need more practice.”
· “When these three skills are brought together, a community can be brought together. Those skills encourage inclusiveness, which better any group of people. I feel that I work on these skills but have room to grow. Conversation sensitivity is something that I have especially faced recently. There are so many things going on in our world and I want to have more skills to manage them. Being sure to keep an open mind about “who” is hearing a conversation is crucial.”
Our Community Core tools are visibly hitting home with these students. Our curriculum helps teachers relate to their students in a way like never before. We have developed a system that helps teachers have conversations with their students that creates a bond that lasts. The system is based on years of research and practical use. We developed 56 tools and over 100 lesson plans that help students and teachers navigate some life’s most difficult questions. So much of what’s out there for teachers is created in a box. It doesn’t give teachers the autonomy to create their own path. Community Core does just that. Who better to determine the blueprint then a teacher who has their finger on the pulse of what’s going on in their classroom / community?