Let’s RIG Our Classrooms for Success! | By: Committee for Children Supporting social-emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom can be hard at times. SEL is much more than just behavior management, which even by itself can be an overwhelming task. My rule of thumb is to keep it simple. The more complicated systems get, the more confusing they get, and there's less follow-through. Consistency and love are the things kids need most. Points for each group of desks, rewards, homework points, and charts for doing and turning things in – why do this if there's no impact on student learning and student love of learning? Points and charts for every kid on every behavior get tedious and distracting to them and other kids. They can help for a while, but in the end, is the child learning the behavior? Do we even have time to teach the behavior, or are we just managing it? We have all seen when these external rewards don’t matter for certain kids, or only work some of the time, or are hard to implement and then even harder to manage. We as teachers feel like failures because we can’t stay consistent and on top of all our systems. We have enough on our plates without having to worry about “I need to mark that child’s sheet when he gets up from the rug.” We become managers, not teachers. The difference in an SEL classroom is that we don't just manage behaviors, we teach them. What do we want our children to know and be able to do at the end of the day, school year, or by graduation? These are the questions SEL teachers ask themselves. These are the questions of a teacher, not a manager. So let's RIG our classrooms for success so we can indeed teach those social-emotional skills throughout the day! It can be simple! Routine, Individual, Group! Routine Routine should be a high priority. We know students with special needs need routine. We know English-Language Learners need routine (such as a schedule shown with pictures on the board). We know all students need routine, because when we grow up, time management (routine) is a very important life skill. Those who can manage their time well are efficient and effective members of society. Those who can't complete tasks at all or on time often have little success. Routine is necessary for kids who are itching to know what's happening throughout the day, but it can also help ease anxiety in all kids so they are more able to be part of the positive culture of a classroom. This may seem like a a no-brainer, but I walk into so many classes where routines are changing daily or constantly, and the teachers don’t think anything of it. The classroom should run without you in a sense (at least by November)! Every child should have a job and know exactly what happens after the teacher greets the class each morning. This morning routine sets the tone for consistency and provides easy ways to integrate social-emotional learning. This is when we can talk about our school rules and shout the class motto or have kids give examples of how they will show the character trait of the day. Often schedules are posted in the classrooms I visit, but the class rarely goes over them or talks about what's happening throughout the day. Some classes just get right to content and never check in with kids or remind them of appropriate school behavior. Think about those kiddos who can't even read yet. What's going on in their little heads? In my classroom, I have always taken this opportunity to have the schedule be a reading lesson in itself. A student could read it, or I would read it, and together we could use our reading strategies to figure out tricky words. Talk about reading for a purpose and setting all kids up for success for the day!