No matter if you teach pre-k, 3rd grade, special education, or music, understanding social emotional learning is important for all teachers. Learn the link between social emotional learning and academic achievement. After reading, you’ll learn:

What social emotional learning looks like in the classroom
Why social emotional learning matters
The impact of social emotional learning on academic growth

If you haven’t already, make sure to read How to Integrate Social Emotional Learning into the Curriculum for a simple way to start teaching SEL in your classroom today.

Learn why social emotional learning is important for teachers and how it affects academic growth

What is Social Emotional Learning in the Classroom?

Social emotional learning is the process of learning and developing a wide range of social skills through instruction and modeling.

Social emotional learning involves teaching students appropriate and healthy ways to:

manage emotions
form cooperative relationships
develop effective problem-solving
and much more…

The level of social emotional skills that students are developing will depend on their age.

Social emotional learning is the process of learning and developing social skills in the classroom.

How Can You Teach Social Emotional Learning?

Social emotional learning can be taught through instruction and modeling.

Books and videos can be used to help introduce students to new social situations.

Teachers can help students transfer their knowledge by modeling how appropriate social skills can be used in their own lives.

Students can take ownership of their learning by participating in skill-building activities. Focused skill lessons can be used with students that may need additional time to build a new social skill.

social emotional learning lesson plans on goal setting using the book Because

Why Does Social Emotional Learning Matter?

School is a social environment. In order for students to be successful, they must have the ability to model social awareness.

Social emotional skills are important for all aspects of a child’s life. Students that have shown development in social emotional skills participate more in the classroom, develop stronger relationships with their peers, and have a higher self-esteem.

What Does That Mean for Students that are Struggling with Social Emotional Learning?

There is a strong correlation between SEL and academic success. If a child is struggling to maintain relationships or regulate their emotions, they may not be able to focus on learning.

When teachers help students meet their social emotional needs, students will not only see positive effects socially, but they will also see positive effects on their academic learning.

Teach students to regulate their emotions using a calm down tub. When students can regulate their emotions, they can focus on their academic learning.

What is the Impact of Social Emotional Learning on Academic Success?

You could say that you can’t have academic success without a strong social emotional foundation. The impact of social emotional learning can be found starting in pre-k.

A research study by Denham and Brown found that children with an ability to understand emotions, show a higher level of academic success in later years.

Academic success and social emotional learning are interrelated. When students have strong self-regulation skills, they can successfully and efficiently solve new problems.

These strong social emotional skills promote academic success and, in turn, help students continually develop stronger self-competence.

This cycle of social emotional growth and academic success continues as the student builds new skills.

When students have strong SEL skills, it leads to academic success. High academic success leads to healthy SEL. They are interdependent on each other.

Wrap-Up

Explicitly teaching social emotional learning skills is important for teachers of all grades and subjects. When we teach students strong skills for forming relationships and regulating their emotions, we are indirectly helping students achieve academic success.

Students that have strong social emotional skills have a higher self-esteem and participate more in class
Social emotional learning and academic success are interdependent on one another

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