3 SEL Practices // Professional LEarning Unit
INTRODUCTION
“We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” – Joan Didion
What story are you telling yourself in order to live? Some teachers tell themselves that if they stay after school until 6 PM, take home work every night, or spend a certain amount of money on their classrooms, that they will be better teachers. You can pour your heart into your work, which is a good thing, but no one is going to stop you working 12 hours a day. There’s no award for not calling a sub when you’re sick, or ranking for who has the last car in the parking lot. You can only take as good of care of your classroom, your work, and your students as you’re taking care of yourself. Self-care is not selfish, in fact, it’s the opposite. Kathy Reed said, “Self care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you.”
Ask anyone why they became a teacher, and they’ll say it’s because they want to help students, help them to grow and make a difference in their lives. That’s a heart decision. After that point, we rarely do much to take care of our hearts. I believe this is why teachers are burning out and leaving the profession at the highest rates in history. Nearly 50% of teachers will leave the classroom within 5 years. If we can change our focus to support teachers, I believe we’d retain more teachers and help them to be happier in their work. Furthermore, supporting teachers will support students, which should be our focus in the first place.
“We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” – Joan Didion
What story are you telling yourself in order to live? Some teachers tell themselves that if they stay after school until 6 PM, take home work every night, or spend a certain amount of money on their classrooms, that they will be better teachers. You can pour your heart into your work, which is a good thing, but no one is going to stop you working 12 hours a day. There’s no award for not calling a sub when you’re sick, or ranking for who has the last car in the parking lot. You can only take as good of care of your classroom, your work, and your students as you’re taking care of yourself. Self-care is not selfish, in fact, it’s the opposite. Kathy Reed said, “Self care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you.”
Ask anyone why they became a teacher, and they’ll say it’s because they want to help students, help them to grow and make a difference in their lives. That’s a heart decision. After that point, we rarely do much to take care of our hearts. I believe this is why teachers are burning out and leaving the profession at the highest rates in history. Nearly 50% of teachers will leave the classroom within 5 years. If we can change our focus to support teachers, I believe we’d retain more teachers and help them to be happier in their work. Furthermore, supporting teachers will support students, which should be our focus in the first place.
Beginning of the Year Training: In a bank, there are credits and debits. We can spend time on activities that deplete our reserves or add to them. In the world of education, there will always be required tasks we must do, those which we don’t have a choice about, and those tasks may or may not deplete us. But the larger question is, what can we add to mix that will energize us and restore us? |
At one middle school campus, during a full week of PD, teachers were given 30 minutes of unstructured SEL time each morning before their group sessions began.
Here’s how the teachers said they used that time:
32% – physical activity (exercise, walking dog)
14% - mental activity (reading, journaling)
14% - mental & physical combined (yoga, meditation)
40% self-care (rest, eating breakfast)
We can see that teachers overwhelmingly make the most of free time they’re given for SEL, and understand its value.
Who will lead the PL:
This PL would be most effective if it were led by a core team organized of teacher leaders, counselors, instructional coaches, librarians and/or culturally responsive support people.
Audience:
Here’s how the teachers said they used that time:
32% – physical activity (exercise, walking dog)
14% - mental activity (reading, journaling)
14% - mental & physical combined (yoga, meditation)
40% self-care (rest, eating breakfast)
We can see that teachers overwhelmingly make the most of free time they’re given for SEL, and understand its value.
Who will lead the PL:
This PL would be most effective if it were led by a core team organized of teacher leaders, counselors, instructional coaches, librarians and/or culturally responsive support people.
Audience:
- Teachers
- Instructional leaders
- Campuses may also include administrators and/or counselors but those participants may not be able to explore the practice in classrooms with students unless they “adopt” a classroom with a cohort teacher.
Focus of PL:
Exploring 3 Different SEL Practices 1.Mindfulness 2.Journaling 3.Restorative Circles These are 3 practices that will energize and restore your emotional reserves. They can be practiced on your own or with students in the classroom. Initial PL Days: Day 1 – Mindfulness (2 hours) and Restorative Circles (4 hours) Day 2 – Journaling (2 hours) and Restorative Circles (4 hours) |
The initial PL days are designed to introduce teachers to the three practices and model how they can be used for self and/or with students. Initial exposure to a concept should be active, rather than passive.
Timeline for PL:
Initial 2 days of PL should happen early, ideally before end of September.
Year-long commitment - The duration of Professional Learning must be significant and ongoing.
Teachers choose from an option bank and commit to exploring one practice for the school year or choose two, one to explore in fall semester, one in spring.
Timeline for PL:
Initial 2 days of PL should happen early, ideally before end of September.
Year-long commitment - The duration of Professional Learning must be significant and ongoing.
Teachers choose from an option bank and commit to exploring one practice for the school year or choose two, one to explore in fall semester, one in spring.
There must be support for a teacher during the implementation stage.
Teachers form PLC Cohorts across the 3 categories: Mindfulness, Journaling and Restorative Circles, regardless of whether they plan to practice for self, with students or both.
Self-direction:
Teachers will implement their selected practice, whether that is on their own, with their students or a combination of both. Teachers will decide how and when they will explore their selected practice, but they should be prepared that every 6 or 9 weeks, they will have a set-aside PL day with a cohort of teachers who are exploring the same practice. While some of that PL time will be for independent work, reflection and planning, a significant portion of those days (2 hours each day) will be set aside for collaborative time with other teachers to share, listen, offer advice, ask questions and support one another as they learn more about the practice. During this time, teachers can also showcase student exemplars, model successful strategies, or share recorded videos. Modeling is highly effective.
Teachers form PLC Cohorts across the 3 categories: Mindfulness, Journaling and Restorative Circles, regardless of whether they plan to practice for self, with students or both.
Self-direction:
Teachers will implement their selected practice, whether that is on their own, with their students or a combination of both. Teachers will decide how and when they will explore their selected practice, but they should be prepared that every 6 or 9 weeks, they will have a set-aside PL day with a cohort of teachers who are exploring the same practice. While some of that PL time will be for independent work, reflection and planning, a significant portion of those days (2 hours each day) will be set aside for collaborative time with other teachers to share, listen, offer advice, ask questions and support one another as they learn more about the practice. During this time, teachers can also showcase student exemplars, model successful strategies, or share recorded videos. Modeling is highly effective.
Ongoing Application, Support and Collaborative PL:
1 day every 6 or 9 weeks (based on campus budget and school calendar) Teachers will be given a full day every 6 or 9 weeks. Every 6 weeks would yield 6 days of follow-up PL for the school year, while every 9 weeks would yield 4 days of follow-up PL. Funding: Schools will pay for substitute teachers for either the 4 or 6 days, to be paid out of PL funds. Fostering Collaboration: Teachers should coordinate with others in their PLC cohort to choose a date that works best for everyone. On the set date, a teacher will have the full day to do the following:
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These ongoing dedicated days will be critical to the success of the PL because they allow teachers significant reflection, planning and collaboration time. The planning time is a key component as teachers apply these SEL practices in their own various content areas. Content should be specific to discipline or grade level.
Resources Needed:
Resources Needed:
- Physical Journals for any teachers who select journaling practice. Teachers can bring their own journal from home or schools can provide a simple composition book to serve as journal.
- Physical journals for students whose teachers would like to incorporate them into classroom use. (Composition books or spiral notebooks)
Special thanks to Mariana Montejano (Restorative Practices Associate in Cultural Proficiency & Inclusiveness, EIR Grant) for her thoughtful feedback on this project.
Stop ignoring the hearts of teachers.
Teachers become teachers because of heart. They want to help children, watch them grow, and make a difference in their lives for the better. They believe that education has that kind of power.
They don’t do it for the money. In fact, most teachers I know have second jobs, and spend their own money on supplies for their classrooms without even thinking about it.
They don’t do it because they love testing, data or even because they love their subject. Teachers teach because they love kids.
So the decision to become a teacher is a heart decision. But after that initial point, teacher training and professional development is all about improving content and strategy, which is head work. I believe we aren’t looking after the hearts of teachers.
The US Department of Educations says that: Nearly 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession within the first five years. In 2017, the Economic Policy Institute reported that there was a shortage of 110,000 teachers in America. And that was up from essentially no shortage just four years prior. I was one of those teachers.
After teaching for 16 years, I walked away and didn’t know if I would ever go back. It wasn’t just for one reason. But what it boiled down to was that pressure from testing, and to move data points rather than be allowed to spend time on projects that I felt were more meaningful. Creative projects that allowed student voice.
Luckily, that’s not the end of the story. I took a year and a half off to help my husband run our photography business. In the meantime, I took good care of myself and after awhile, starting subbing. any time I was back at my old school, I felt how much I missed it. Then, my principal said she had a vacancy, but it wasn’t in the English department. She needed a graphic design and photography teacher. It was like my worlds colliding, being able to teach something creative that I did outside of school.
That said, I wonder if I could have still found my way to that point, but avoided those years of struggle. Today we understand that Social Emotional Learning is essential for students, but what about SEL for teachers?
Let’s remember the 5 Key Principles of Effective PL identified by the Center for Public Education
Keeping all that in mind, I believe we have to find a way to integrate SEL into our Professional Learning if we want to retain teachers and ultimately, support students and help them to grow. In caring for teachers, we’ll be caring for students. And that’s why we all became teachers in the first place.
They don’t do it for the money. In fact, most teachers I know have second jobs, and spend their own money on supplies for their classrooms without even thinking about it.
They don’t do it because they love testing, data or even because they love their subject. Teachers teach because they love kids.
So the decision to become a teacher is a heart decision. But after that initial point, teacher training and professional development is all about improving content and strategy, which is head work. I believe we aren’t looking after the hearts of teachers.
The US Department of Educations says that: Nearly 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession within the first five years. In 2017, the Economic Policy Institute reported that there was a shortage of 110,000 teachers in America. And that was up from essentially no shortage just four years prior. I was one of those teachers.
After teaching for 16 years, I walked away and didn’t know if I would ever go back. It wasn’t just for one reason. But what it boiled down to was that pressure from testing, and to move data points rather than be allowed to spend time on projects that I felt were more meaningful. Creative projects that allowed student voice.
Luckily, that’s not the end of the story. I took a year and a half off to help my husband run our photography business. In the meantime, I took good care of myself and after awhile, starting subbing. any time I was back at my old school, I felt how much I missed it. Then, my principal said she had a vacancy, but it wasn’t in the English department. She needed a graphic design and photography teacher. It was like my worlds colliding, being able to teach something creative that I did outside of school.
That said, I wonder if I could have still found my way to that point, but avoided those years of struggle. Today we understand that Social Emotional Learning is essential for students, but what about SEL for teachers?
Let’s remember the 5 Key Principles of Effective PL identified by the Center for Public Education
- The duration must be significant & ongoing.
- There must be support during implementation.
- Initial exposure to a concept should be active, rather than passive.
- Modeling is highly effective.
- Content should be specific to discipline or grade level.
Keeping all that in mind, I believe we have to find a way to integrate SEL into our Professional Learning if we want to retain teachers and ultimately, support students and help them to grow. In caring for teachers, we’ll be caring for students. And that’s why we all became teachers in the first place.
REFERENCES
Garcia, E. (2019) The teacher shortage is real, large and growing, and worse than we thought. Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/ Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the Teachers Effective Professional Development in an Era of High Stakes Accountability. Center for Public Education. Retrieved from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf Facts about the Teaching Profession for A National Conversation about Teaching. National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF). US Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www.nctaf.org/NCTAFWhoWillTeach.pdf.pdf |
Behind the Scenes // How-to
I started with thinking about my teaching journey, and reflecting on where we are with Covid-19, and what I think is really missing from teacher PL. Those became the bones of my narrative.
Then I looked for beautiful, royalty-free photos on Unsplash. Here’s a list of the photographers whose work I used in the presentation.
I knew I wanted to build my presentation in Keynote on my iPad, so I Airdropped all the photos I’d found over to my device.
After building the presentation in Keynote, I used the record screen feature to record the keynote playing through, then I opened the video in Clips to record a voice-over narration of the story I’d drafted, and added music in Clips using the Apple free music library and exported the video to my EP, which I’ve built in Weebly. I was able to remove the Weebly footer and add my own videos because I've purchased a Weebly pro account. The free Weebly account version will host videos already posted to Youtube, but not original content.
Self-reflection: I built my Keynote presentation in landscape mode, but when I went to edit it in Clips, I realized that the screencast of the Keynote was actually cutting off the vertical edges because Clips uses a square format. No other real content was compromised, but the final slide with my references isn't fully visible. To correct this, I would go back to the Keynote and reformat the references slide, and re-record the voice-over narration.