Surrey Traditional

This year, our focus on SEL has been guided by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework, and the following competencies in mind

As a staff, we began by reflecting on the areas in which we feel are areas that we want our learners to actively develop.  These include:

• Self-regulation skills
• Relationship Skills
• Conflict Resolution and Problem-Solving
• Growth Mindset and Perseverance

Our learners engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers to develop an understanding of self, identity, and community.  This allows us also to make direct connections to the First Peoples Principles of Learning, and the integration of Indigenous Ways of Knowing into our learning.

Learning involves exploration of one’s identity.

We then continued by thinking about ways in which we can embed SEL practice into our school-wide focus.  We began by choosing a monthly theme.  Some of the themes we incorporated included Kindness, Empathy, Respect, Responsibility, Perseverance, Growth Mindset, and Mindfulness.

We reinforced these important messages daily through the Morning Announcements.  We had a group of students that would create and read the morning announcements to students.  This included “Mindful Monday” which was a chance for students to actively begin their week by taking part in mindfulness practice.

We also incorporated the theme into our monthly assemblies where individual students and groups of students were able to share their learning/growth through performances/school-wide sharing.

Our staff shared key resources to build common language and engaged in professional meetings to align our school:

• Implementation of the Second Step resource
• Teaching of the Zones of Regulation
• Incorporated MindUp! strategies
• Discussion and activities based on monthly SEL goals
• Participated in school-wide Professional Development and Lunch and Learns about our school’s Areas of Focus and Strategies within SEL
• Invited staff to participate in the SEL committee and have a voice in planning monthly assemblies and areas for school-wide focus

Our focus on Social-Emotional Wellbeing is directly linked to the Core Competencies of Personal and Social Awareness and Responsibility. One example is our cohort of Grade One students.  Students were introduced to the concept of Growth Mindset after being prompted with the following questions:

• What is a mistake?
• Can you think of a time you made a mistake?
• What happened?

Students were then asked to share their thoughts and ideas in small groups first, and then, the entire class. From brainstorming to concrete example, students listened to a read aloud of “Beautiful Oops,” by Barney Saltzberg.   The concept of the book is the idea of how a mistake can be turned into something beautiful. 

Students then participated in an art activity where they used squeeze bottles of paint to create an “Oops” on a canvas.  This activity directly connects to “Self-Awareness,” and the development of Growth Mindset.

The Growth Mindset was further explored school-wide as we began to look toward the "Power of Yet".  This was reinforced through our morning announcements and Mindful Mondays!

From the First People’s Principles of Learning:

Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors.

This cohort of learners also participated in Zones of Regulation as part of their daily routine each morning.  Students learned about the Zones of emotions through role playing and through sharing how they are feeling in the class’ daily check-in.  Students were encouraged to use this consistent language throughout the school year to express how they are feeling.

The teacher stated that:

“From my perspective this has really helped my students with their relationship skills in terms of communicating effectively and resolving conflicts constructively.”

The Floor is Lava

This cohort of learners also participated in Daily Physical and Health activity that embedded Social-Emotional initiatives with a focus on cooperation and communication. One such activity was titled, “The Floor is Lava.” Students needed to move from one side of the gym to the other using just mats, and without touching the floor. The first time that students played, there was no discussion about important considerations in this game, so we could see if students would become aware of the issues that existed on their own (Assessment FOR Learning). 

After a short period of time, the class was stopped after two minutes to discuss what was not going well with the game, and share their insights and perspectives with each other.  (Assessment AS Learning). 

Students were then split up into pairs, small groups, and then finally, the class as a whole to discuss what needed to change (these ideas included: having respect for each other, listening to the voice of others, using our words, not using our bodies, and using kind language with each other).   This activity promoted Social Awareness and the adopting of other perspectives, Responsible Decision Making and evaluating the consequences of one’s actions, Relationship Skills and the importance of effective communication, and Self-Awareness and the development of growth mindset.  When the teacher finished the discussion, students were able to go about performing the activity again.  They were significantly faster and more organized.  The evidence of learning was clear as they took their conversation, the learning with the teacher, and their engagement in the lesson to work as a team, make change and listen to one another.  Our Assessment OF their learning showed them that more awareness, cooperation, and better decision-making led to a more effective practice in moving from one side of the gym to the other.   

This cohort of learners is one representation of the variety of work that is happening school-wide with an emphasis on Social-Emotional Learning.

At Surrey Traditional this year, we have focused on embedding SEL practices across various areas of the curriculum.  We have used the core competency of Personal and Social Awareness and Responsibility, and the CASEL Framework as our guides.  As a staff, our overarching goals were:

• the ability for students to be more self-aware as individuals,
• regulate their emotions accordingly
• be increasingly aware of and cognizant of the impact of our words and actions on others, and;
• the ability to use grit and perseverance when faced with a challenging task.

Our goal is to continue to follow the sample cohort, and others, next year with a specific focus on self and social awareness.

We will also continue to focus on embedding SEL school-wide with a continued focus on monthly assemblies and morning announcements, explicit instruction of SEL with a use of resources, such as Second Step, that are used school-wide, and Professional Development for staff on the use of these resources as well.

We will also be using a new SEL resource titled Open Parachute, with a lens towards providing additional support for our intermediate-aged students, and even our staff.

The staff at Surrey Traditional are committed to the ongoing support of SEL as an important foundational piece in all that we do.  We recognize that this is a fluid process and that it may change as we gain data and continue to focus on the important work ahead.