The Impact of Social and Emotional Learning is Clear!

Teachers care for their students. We care that they grow cognitively, socially, physically, and emotionally. It is why we do what we do. In order to help students reach their full potential, it is critical to purposefully support their social and emotional development by teaching and modeling social and emotional strategies. Doing so impacts other areas of development, including academic achievement. Research shows:

• 83% of students make academic gains when they have learned about social and emotional strategies.
• 11% is the average gain on standardized tests for students who learn social and emotional strategies.
• Social and emotional learning improves behaviors and attitudes toward school and prevents substance abuse. 
• 11% is the average increase in GPA for participation in one program focused on social and emotional strategies.

How can I teach social and emotional learning? 

Begin by modeling successful Emotional Literacy. Students need to be able to label the emotions they are feeling and the emotions others are feeling. Teachers have accomplished this through having students check in as they enter the classroom and select how they are feeling with popsicle sticks and pocket charts, smart board use, and through drawings. This becomes part of their morning meeting and/or classroom routine and is discussed to model successful labeling of emotions in self and others. Teachers have used read alouds and created prompts matched to the text to ask student how characters feel throughout in the story. Using the read alouds they typically use, teachers have asked students to write on white boards, hold up feeling cue cards, and share responses in order to label characters’ emotions. 

How can I foster social and emotional development?

Once you determine how you will engage your students in these learning opportunities, you can determine where your students are growing along a developmental progression and support their development to the next step using the construct progressions developed by the Office of Early Learning. Moving their development to the next step and modeling how to get there is key to their ongoing growth and development. 

Once students can label emotions, they can learn to regulate their emotions. Again, modeling success is important. Students need to see and understand what it looks like to successfully regulate their emotions. You can discover what this looks like and model it for your students using the Emotion Regulation construct progression provided by the Office of Early Learning. 

Both of these construct progressions can be found here for your use: Emotional Literacy  and Emotion Regulation 

The Office of Early Learning is hosting several sessions this year at the 13th Annual Elementary School Conference in October. Join us to learn more about supporting student growth and nurturing the whole child! Register here today!

About the Author:

Dr. Cindy Dewey serves on the Board of Directors for NCAEE as the NCDPI At-Large Director. At NCDPI, Cindy serves as an educational consultant in the Office of Early Learning on the K-3 Formative Assessment Team. Cindy’s teaching experience spans elementary, middle, high school, and university levels. She also served as a literacy coach, building administrator, and central office administrator prior to joining NCDPI. This is Cindy’s fourth year serving NCAEE. 

Get Energized at a NC Elementary Regional Conference!

The NCAEE has gained a reputation for hosting an outstanding Elementary School Conference each fall, but did you know that we also offer one-day regional conferences in each of the eight regions in our state?  Each session offers the opportunity to explore new teaching strategies, network with other educators, and earn CEU credit. Some sessions are on Saturdays, others are full-day workshops during the week, and others take place in the evening. Attendees also have the chance to win great door prizes like a Kindle fire or sets of math manipulatives. Registration fees are minimal and include refreshments and in some cases a meal. Our regional conferences are open to anyone; if you are interested in a conference that’s being held in a different region from where you live, feel free to attend. If you aren’t sure which region you’re in, click on the regional map in the sidebar.

Region 3 Conference – 2nd Annual RTI Forum
Earlier this month the Region 3 Conference co-sponsored the 2nd Annual RTI Forum, "Responding to New Standards." This event was held March 5th at Campbell University and was sponsored by Barton College, Campbell University, and NCAEE. It was a packed day, starting with Response to Instruction (RTI) updates related to the Common Core Standards.  Dr. Angela Hinson-Quick and Dr. Marie Petre-Martin from North Carolina Department of Public Instruction were the keynote speakers.

Over 100 attendees took part in 4 breakout sessions ranging from RtI strategies and best practices to Common Core implementation.  We were so proud to have not only the NC Department of Public Instruction, but also teachers and administrators to present throughout the day.  A network luncheon provided opportunities for participants to make connections and debrief from their sessions.  Lunch and door prizes were co-sponsored by NCAEE and Vendors. Congratulations to the Grand Prize Winner for the Kindle Fire, Vicky Temple-Rains from Johnston County Schools. Thanks to NCAEE Board Members Angela Gurganius and Jennifer Roberts who worked diligently with our co-sponsors to pull off this exciting event!

Upcoming Regional Conferences 
We have two more regional conferences scheduled this coming month and one in May. Click the title of each April session below to visit a page with more information and registration details:

• Region 1 Conference: Instruction in the Common Core
  Thursday, April 11, 2013 – Full day session to be held at the Vernon James Center in Plymouth, NC.  Lunch included.
• Region 5 Conference: Common Core across the Disciplines
  Tuesday, April 16, 2013 – Evening session to be held at High Point University in High Point, NC. Dinner included.
• Region 6 Conference: Teaching & Learning in the 21st Century
  Saturday, May 4, 2013 – Morning session to be held at Irwin Elementary in Charlotte, NC.– More information and registration details will be coming soon!

If your region is not listed above, check the Regional News page on the NCAEE website in a few weeks to see when yours is scheduled. Some regional directors are planning their conferences to take place in late July or early August.  Also, make plans now to attend the 10th Annual Elementary School Conference to be held at the Koury Center in Greensboro. Registration is now open and plans are in full swing. We look forward to connecting with NC elementary educators at one or more of these events!

Laura Candler
2013 NCAEE President