Social Emotional Learning Slides

Do you ever have a picture in your mind of something that you want to use, so you scour the internet, Teachers Pay Teachers, blogs, etc. and still can't find what you are looking for? This happened to me with my SEL lessons. I was not happy with the program that the county I worked for at the time used. I wanted something that was going to follow the same routine each week and just swap out the topic and activities. 

So I started working on this project in the summer of 2024 and built it throughout the year. I have gone back and fixed things that I discovered worked better as I was using the slides and now I am ready to share with everyone!

Each week follows the same routine.

Monday - Introduce SEL Focus

• ask the same three questions: what does it look like, sound like, and feel like?
• show a short video to introduce the topic

Tuesday - Read Aloud

• I tried to include 2 different books to choose from for each SEL focus
• I also tried to include a link to a video of the book being read aloud if possible

Wednesday - Activity

• the activities that were planned for Wednesdays tend to be more hands-on or independent activities that allow the student to explore the SEL focus

Thursday - Let's Chat

• one slide has a quote that students should think about the meaning of and how it relates to the SEL focus for the week
• one slide has a what would you do scenario for students to think about and discuss with a partner or whole group

Friday - Fun Activity

• this day is a little different each week depending on the topic, it may be a whole class or small group activity or it will sometimes be another independent task

Check out the entire Kindness Slides here!

Check out the SEL tab on my blog to see all of the slides.

Social Emotional Learning Topics Included:

• Awareness
• Choices
• Circle of Control
• Consequences
• Diversity
• Empathy
• Express Yourself
• Flexibility
• Friendship
• Goals
• Gratitude
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Kindness
• Listening
• Mindfulness
• Organization
• Patience
• Perseverance
• Power of Yet
• Respect
• Safety
• Self-Advocacy
• Self-Controls
• Sportsmanship
• Teamwork
• Time Management
• Values
• Work Ethic
• Zen

My Social Butterfly Has Lost Her Wings - Revisited

I am continuing to look at blog posts from the previous year and this one really struck home. The original post is below, but so much has changed since then. We have ventured into the world of virtual kindergarten. My little social butterfly is struggling. She just wants to make friends in her class, but that is so hard to do when online for 20-30 minutes at a time.

Luckily, since this post I have allowed my kids to go back to daycare. My 5 year old gets to go once a week on Wednesdays, when school is just small group time. It is SO good for her mentally. She NEEDS to have socialization with other kids. I have been told numerous times that staying home with mommy is NOT fun.

While we have eased up on our social outings (ie. we visit the playground every now and then if it isn't too busy, she gets to go to the store with me every now and then), there are still a lot of things that she is knows she is missing out on. She wants to travel and do fun things, but it just isn't the time yet.

This post reminded me that we are still in the middle of pandemic, especially with cases slowly starting to rise again. We have to make sure we are checking in on our children. While we think this is all hard for us as adults, it is even harder for the kids. So yes, my little social butterfly is has gained part of her wings back, but she is nowhere near full flight like if she was in the school building. I hope for ALL of the kids sake we can get this virus under control and slowly get our kids lives back to normal.

Original Post - March 17, 2020

Last night was tough. I was trying to put my 5 year old to bed and she was fighting it like a champ. When she avoids bedtime she asks questions and lately these questions have been hard.

In the past week I’ve had to explain to her that our trip to Tennessee to visit family has to be postponed. She doesn’t get to go to daycare and see her friends. Gymnastics is canceled until further notice. We all have to stay at home even though daddy has to go to work which in her eyes is “not fair”. 

My little social butterfly is losing her wings because of a virus that is challenging to explain to a 5 year old. She understands that right now there are bad germs in the world and the safest place for us to be is in our house, but she’s a planner and she wants to know for how long. She thrives off of being able to play with her friends and go to gymnastics.

While everyone is worrying about missing school, online learning, parents becoming teachers... don’t forget to also check in on your child’s social and emotional well-being.

These are tough times. There’s a lot of uncertainty and that’s scary for a child. So while I encourage you to try and continue helping your child learn, also know that it’s ok to just focus on survival. 

This morning we made green pancakes for St. Patrick’s Day. We made it into an art lesson. What colors mixed together will make green? It was fun. We all need to find more of these little teachable moments that will help all of us get through the new norm for the next who knows how many weeks.

Remember, check in with your kids, family, and friends. We all have a lot going on and we need each other right now.

Social Emotional Check-Ins or Check-Outs

While teaching through a pandemic, whether you are in the classroom, in a hybrid situation, or teaching virtually, it is important to think about the social-emotional well-being of our students. We have been hearing about this a lot on social media, through training, etc., but what does this really look like and what should we be doing?

I have decided to start the year off with a check-out at the end of the each of my lessons. I debated whether I wanted these to be check-ins done at the beginning, or check-outs at the end and ultimately decided on the end of the lesson for a couple of reasons.

I use Pear Deck with my presentations, which is a tool that allows my presentations to be interactive. (see more about that EdTech tool here) In the spring when I began doing check-ins at the beginning of the lesson I realized that some students took longer than others due to processing time, amount of time it takes to type, etc. so I would have some students who are done just waiting and I would have others who were still trying to type. I would also have those few students who would log on late and completely miss the check-in, which could have given me a good indicator of why they were late. 

So alas, I switched to check-outs. All of my students are typically still logged in by the end of class so I am getting many more responses. Plus, I tell the kids that once they have completed their check-out, they can begin working on their independent assignment so there is no waiting around for others to be done, they can get started working on something else right away.

Here is the important part about these check-ins or check-outs.... you must have a plan. If you are going to see how students are doing emotionally, then you have to follow through. If a student says they are not doing well, then you need to reach out to them or have a school counselor reach out to them. That following through is so important. It could just be that the student is having a bad day because they overslept, but it could also mean that someone in their life is sick or dying and if that is the case we need to have a plan in place to support them.

At the time I am writing this blog, I have completed 4 check-outs and have learned quite a bit about my students. Many of them are excited to have school back, but many of them are sad we are not in the school building. They miss their friends.

I am including a few examples of the ones I have used so far, but I am also including a presentation where I am planning to keep all of my check-outs this school year. I would bookmark the presentation or add it to your drive if that is an option, or bookmark this blog so that you can continue to check it out throughout the year.

If you have any other suggestions please let me know!

Click here for the presentation with all of the check-outs

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