Trends in Ed Tech: SEL
Have you stopped to think about the current trends in educational technology, and how those trends fit into your classroom? In 2021 Diana Fingal wrote about the "Hottest Topics in EdTech in 2021". In this article she describes 9 trends that are taking over the digital classroom. These trends cover topics from Digital Citizenship to Creativity. This post will explore one of the digital technology trends, and offer a tool that educators can use to help their students.
What is SEL?
SEL stands for Social and Emotional Learning and is one of the hottest trends in education. SEL is often paired with cultural competence. Fingal (2021) describes this trend as helping students cope with trauma and anxiety. The past few years have taken a tremendous toll on many of us. Many have gotten sick and lost loved ones due to COVID or related complications. Studies have shown that students can be explicitly taught to process emotions and build resilience. Valenzuela (2021) describes one of the best ways of developing social-emotional learning is to help students develop their emotional intelligence. One of the best tools I have used to help students grow their resilience and build emotional intelligence is the Second Step curriculum.
What is Second Step?
Second Step is a social emotional curriculum developed by the Committee for Children. It's website describes it as "helping students build social emotional skills, like nurturing positive relationships, managing emotions and settings goals - so they can thrive in school and in life" (Second Step, Committee for Children). It offers curricula for elementary, middle, and high school as well as out-of-school time and even for adults!
Now that I know what it is, what does it cover?
I am a sixth grade teacher and I have used the middle school Second Step curriculum for three years. I will focus on the middle school as that is what I'm most familiar with. Some people question the effectiveness of the program, especially for high school students. I have found the Second Step program to be highly effective in helping students develop self-regulation and executive functioning skills. The middle school curriculum consists of four topics divided into 26 lessons.
Unit 1 is all about Mindsets and Goals. Lessons cover topics such as planning ahead, academic success, and growth mindset.
Unit 2 shows students how to recognize bullying and deal with harassment. Lessons include how to deal with conflict and helping others.
Unit 3 helps students sort out their thoughts, emotions, and decisions. Lessons include resilience training and tips for staying calm.
Unit 4 helps students manage relationships and social conflict. Topics in this lesson include growth mindset, perspective taking and relationships.
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I see the potential for students, but are there other benefits?
It is a scripted curriculum and everything is ready-made for the teacher. The lesson plan is ready to go and the curriculum already includes student handouts and extension activities. The videos are engaging and often interactive. Students will have many opportunities to come up to the SMARTboard and interact with the videos, as well as share out from questions that the videos poses. The lessons are easily digestible and the middle school curriculum only has 26 lessons. This is a curriculum that can be easily completed during one academic year. Lastly, studies have shown it to have a direct positive impact on elementary and middle school children.
This program sounds perfect, are there any constraints I should know about?
While this is a wonderful curriculum, it does come at a rather steep cost for some districts. There are discounts for purchasing multi-year licenses but it can run a school over $1,000 a year to use the program. It's not an insignificant amount of money. Another constraint teachers often face is the availability of time. This is one more thing added to an already full plate for many educators. I am not able to get to the lessons daily and sometimes struggle to fit it into a ten minute advisory period. Lastly, while it has proven to be effective for elementary and middle schoolers, there doesn't seem to be much of a direct impact for high school students.
How would I use it with students and what are the features I need to know to use it successfully?
The middle school program would easily fit with an advisory period or even a health class. My school only has a ten minute advisory so I would recommend using this as a health curriculum for a specials class. The program can seem a little overwhelming at Character Strong pocastfirst. I would definitely recommend watching the training videos and reading through the scripted lesson plan. The first few lessons I would recommend sticking to the script fairly closely. Over time you will be able to take and use what you need. Another recommendation is don't think you have to do everything! There are student worksheets and extension activities with most lessons. If you only have time to go through the videos your students will get a great deal of the program.
If you already use Second Step please let me know in the comments below. If you have found a different program please let me know about that too!
Additional Resources:
1. Build Better Schools podcast.
2. Character Strong podcast
3. Grow Kinder podcast
4. "The Truth About SEL, It Works" from the National Education Association. This union represents the largest labor union in the United States and is the voice of over 3 million educators.
5. "Conservative's War on Emotions in the Classroom" from VOX.
Bibliography:
Fingal, D. (2021, January 29). The Hottest Topics in Edtech in 2021 | ISTE. Www.iste.org. https://www.iste.org/explore/professional-development/hottest-topics-edtech-2021
Effects of the Second Step Program in Middle School on Violence, Victimization, and Substance Use in High School. (2023). National Institute of Justice.
Second Step Programs | Second Step. (2023). Secondstep.org. https://www.secondstep.org/
Valenzuela, J. (2021, November 3). 3 ways teachers can integrate SEL into online learning | ISTE. Www.iste.org. https://www.iste.org/explore/learning-during-covid-19-1/3-ways-teachers-can-integrate-SEL-into-online-learning
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