Are you there students? It's me, Mrs. Hofmann...
I felt much like Margaret in the Judy Blume classic when teaching remotely. It was so difficult to have meaningful conversations and build lasting relationships with my students over a device.
Being home and using only technology to communicate has left our students lacking social skills in a way we never anticipated. That is why when finding the trend to focus on for this week, social emotional learning could not be ignored. ISTE's list of The Hottest Topics in EDtech in 2021 put social emotional learning and cultural competence as fourth on its list.. Diana Final specifically says,
"The pandemic has caused enormous emotional stress and trauma to students across the board."
My goal was to find a new technology that aided students in creating authentic connections with peers. I wasn't sure where to begin. It seemed counter productive to use the thing that caused the issue in order to fix it.
I Heard It on a Podcast
Thank goodness for podcasts! As I was walking with my dog and daughter, I listened to a bonus episode from Easy EdTech Podcast with Dr. Monica Burns. Dr. Burns interviewed the cofounder of Ask Class and inspired me to utilize the website in my own classroom.
Check out the video to learn more about Ask Class
Coming from teaching in a small Catholic school where I chose when to teach what subject and then moving to a district where I felt like every second of my day was dictated by a predetermined schedule. I struggled to fin in everything I knew my students needed. One of those areas that fell by the wayside, I am embarrassed to admit, was SEL and giving the students a chance for authentic conversation. I applaud the founders of Ask Class for seeing this gap and creating an easy to use resource educators can quickly begin implementing.
What else is out there?
Ask Class is not the only resource that integrates teaching social emotional learning with technology. Check out this annotated list to access even more resources.
SEL is important for teachers, not just students. We are also learning to take care of ourselves as more demands and expectations are put on our jobs. Wearable technologies can help us monitor the stress levels in our day to day lives. Devices like apple watches can track our heart rates even telling us when it is time to deep breathe and take a moment to ourselves.
The literacy coach in my building last year introduced me to using the app in my classroom. She would imbed one of the videos at the beginning of her lessons to center students and give them a quiet moment before diving into instruction. It offered a clean start after students transitioned from other classes to her. Another great thing is the Calm App now offers free memberships to teachers to use personally or with students.
In Larry Ferlazzo’s article Integrating SEL & Tech into This New School Year, he talks to the head of a k-12 virtual school. This director has a unique perspective on teaching SEL to students. She highlights seven key considerations in teaching SEL. One of these is respect. Their school focuses on teaching respect for self as well as respect for others. Now, how does this relate to technology you might be asking yourself. This is where the concept of digital citizenship overlaps with SEL. As a sixth grade teacher, I am trying to instill in my students the importance of respecting people online the same way they do in person. At the beginning of the year students are given examples of different situations they can get in online. We discuss how students may react to different situations and solutions when encountering disrespectful behavior. While not using technology to teach a skill, students are learning skills to use in a digital world.
Tamara Fyke outlines three strategies when using technology to teach social emotional learning. They are having the conversations, making it human, and adopting a makerspace mentality. Focusing on Fyke’s third point for adopting a makerspace mentality, implementing project based learning and allowing them to use technology based platforms such as Adobe Spark or Flip to create and collaborate.
Padlet is also a great resource to use when promoting SEL with students. My district began using Padlet before the pandemic, but we found its value. Padlet was a great resource for our classes to use like a social media page. Students used it to post about events going on in their lives and to communicate with one another in a safe way while stuck at home. We still utilize Padlet as a connection to SEL. Every year we have a happiness month based with daily activities to promote living a happy life and students are encouraged to post themselves doing the activities on a Padlet for everyone to see.
I am curious to know how others have married the worlds of SEL and technology!
Askclass. AskClass. (n.d.). Retrieved September 5, 2022, from https://app.askclass.com/
Easy EdTech podcast with Monica Burns. Spotify. (n.d.). Retrieved September 5, 2022, from https://open.spotify.com/show/0qjdB2LMPLMPxOq05ewboe?si=ea03df682a704483
Experience calm. Calm. (n.d.). Retrieved September 5, 2022, from https://www.calm.com/
Ferlazzo, L. (2021, September 14). Integrating Sel & Tech into this new school year (opinion). Education Week. Retrieved September 5, 2022, from https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-integrating-sel-tech-into-this-new-school-year/2021/09
Fingal, D. (2021, January 29). The hottest topics in Edtech in 2021. ISTE. Retrieved September 5, 2022, from https://www.iste.org/explore/professional-development/hottest-topics-edtech-2021
Grand, A. (2018). Finding that perfect balance when it comes to technology enhancing the classroom. The Teacher With Purple Hair. Retrieved September 5, 2022, from https://theteacherwithpurplehair.weebly.com/eci-830/finding-that-perfect-balance-when-it-comes-to-technology-enhancing-the-classroom
How can sel & edtech work together. the Learning Counsel. (n.d.). Retrieved September 5, 2022, from https://thelearningcounsel.com/article/how-can-sel-edtech-work-together
Sawh, M. (2022, April 1). Stress wearables: Best devices that monitor stress and how they work. Wareable. Retrieved September 5, 2022, from https://www.wareable.com/health-and-wellbeing/stress-monitoring-wearables-explained-7969
Hi Rachael,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts about SEL. Like you, this is one area that fell by the wayside, not just for students but for teachers too. I have been wearing a Fitbit for several years and have never used it to measure my social-emotional well-being. However, I have no excuse now. Regarding how I use SEL and technology in my classroom, our district installed Vivi devices on our classroom projectors. The Vivi app has a wellness option for me to play meditation and breathing exercises in the classroom. I have not used it yet, but I am excited about using it in the future.