Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) for Everyone!

 " One day . . . or day one.” Anonymous Cherokee Month of the Cold Moon (du no lv ta ni)   SEL:   #3 Self-Management    SEL:   #4 Relationship Skills    Digital Learner:     #4 Creative Communicator Triangulation can poison relationships. When Person A goes to Person B and asks him or her to tell Person C something, this is not direct communication. Being direct, with compassion, takes practice to learn because we rarely hear about it. Person C can put a stop to this by going straight to Person A. Person B has no business in the middle of A and C’s business anyway. If Person C is complicated, the easiest way to resolve issues is to put everyone in the same room. A few ground rules: No sentence can begin with the word “You . . ,” since that constitutes an attack. Limit each person to three or four sentences at a time. (I was upset one time, rambled on, and my husband said, “That was 23 sentences. You must be highly stressed...

“One day . . . or day one.” Anonymous   Cherokee Month of the Cold Moon (v s gi ga)   SEL:   #3 Self-Management             #4 Relationship Skills                               Digital Learner:    #2 Global Collaborator   “Did I hear you say . . .?” “No. I said . . . “ “OK. Now I heard . . .” “Not quite, but close . . .”   “I need more information.” “Sure . . .Now, what did you hear me say?” “. . . That’s it?” “Yeppers!” “Woo-Hoo! Finally!”   The technique of mirroring back my understanding of a conversation can help to resolve conflict before it starts and to avoid wasted time on business teams. My perspective may not be correct even though we are speaking the same language. I learned from a tech this summer that, as a computer science major...

“One day . . . or day one.” Anonymous   Cherokee Month of the Snow Moon (v s gi ga) SEL:  #1 Self-Awareness   SEL:   #4 Self-Management                    Digital Learner:   #5 Knowledge Constructor I’m amazed when I ask high school students how they learn: visually? Through audio, like my husband the drummer? Tactile methods like playing the piano or keyboards? Logical mathematics? Writing? Verbal or Linguistic? Nature or out of doors?   Audio learning offers many benefits which are: it can increase reading accuracy by 56%, comprehension by 76%, and creates a multisensory experience. It also improves phonics awareness. Audio learning creates a bridge between reading and achievement. Students can choose to listen above their current reading level and it raises interest in new topics allowing learners wider genre choices. It teaches pronunciation, helps in language acquisition, is good for ...

  “One day . . . or day one.” – Anonymous   Cherokee Month of the Snow Moon (v s gi ga)     SEL: #3 Self-Management           #4 Relationship Skills                    Digital Learner:   #6 Computational Thinker                                 #7 Innovative Designer   It took a lot of ingenuity from teachers and tech support staff to resolve issues for students struggling with at-home learning due to COVID-19 restrictions. In particular, math, physics, and chemistry formulas were tricky. One creative teacher taught remotely on the smartboard for only half of the class time.   Remote students logged onto Google classroom. The remote teacher was able to view the entire class from a lapt...

“One day . . . or day one.” Anonymous   Cherokee Month of the Trading Moon (nu da de gua)   SEL:   #2 Social Awareness SEL:   #5 Responsible Decision Making Digital Learner:   #7 Innovative Designer   Winter storms are nothing new near Glacier Park, Montana, USA. When the internet goes down at the high schools, I’ve seen resourceful students look out for others in the student community, both remotely and at the schools. During the COVID-19 quarantine, assignments were on Google classroom. First period: no internet, no physics, no panic. These students did not want to fall behind; scholarships and grades were at stake, and many students held part-time jobs after school. They were good at time management. “Write this down please, Ms. Sub.” I was their guest teacher and wrote, per their instructions, the necessary info to log into a variety of providers for their cell phone data plans. Those without smartphones partnered up with those who were ...

  “One day . . . or day one.” Anonymous Cherokee Month of the Hunt Moon (nv da ga)   SEL:   #1 Self-Awareness     SEL:   #2 Social Awareness   A legal injunction is designed to stop an act or behavior. A psychological injunction like “Buzz off!” will do the same when it is not spoken. Since I am not a brain scientist like Dr. Bruce Perry, I cannot give you the exact patterns and chemistry as to why this tool is effective. Nevertheless, it still works. Sometimes, I find myself in complicated situations not wanting to escalate a power struggle with students, staff, parents, community members, et al., so I silently affirm “Buzz off!” Often, the individual gets a puzzled look on their face as they begin to move away, across the room, or even out the door. Having time to strategize and mobilize, to breathe, to think, and to confer with wise folk can offer solutions to life’s perplexing problems. Aloha love, Carla    ...

    "One day . . . or day one.”   Anonymous Cherokee Month of the Harvest Moon ( du n inv di)   SEL:   #2 Social Awareness In the olden days of the early 1990’s, I did not have a computer in my home to google skunks, so there is no Technology in Education listing for this Blog. In my small Montana town, a skunk got under the deck and sprayed right under my cedarwood closet and bedroom. This was not funny! I had to go to work the next day at school. Every article of clothing I owned was in that room.   We acted fast. All tree branches, fencing, deck posts, and makeshift clotheslines held hangers of clothing, bedding, towels--anything that was exposed to our odoriferous visitor. Our back yard looked like a laundry. I sprayed products on the clothes I had to wear the next day. I got to school early and opened all of the windows. Students often expected strange behavior from substitute teachers, so the stink was well and good with them. One kid tu...