Useful Counselling Activities to Promote Social-Emotional Learning
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) has become widespread amongst K-12 educators and even education service providers, like American College Testing (ACT). SEL does not reside alone in counseling offices; it’s become a collective movement to confirm educators meet the needs of the entire student.
As a counselor for ten years and a teacher for three years, I understand the challenge of creating an impact on students on the far side of their lecturers. We still attempt to facilitate them in numerous ways because we know reaching students is the first step in teaching them. A student’s social-emotional health will have a direct impact on their tutorial performance.
Social-emotional learning is an opportunity for significant collaboration between counselors and academics. Best boarding schools like Ecole Gobale implement such type of practices into their academics. Several of the challenges that I face within the counseling office are kind of like the challenges that teachers face in the classroom. Creative counseling techniques and activities will facilitate teachers to impact students’ social-emotional learning. Creative counseling provides students with something to remember, and it affects their minds and hearts.
Creative counseling activities for your classroom
Below are five activities that you will try with students as a way of connecting with them and promoting SEL.
Discussing worth vs. performance
Tool: Disposable cup
How to use: Once students enter the room for an examination and project, hand them a cup and ask them to put in writing their names on them. Instruct them to put the cup in a safe place. Explain to students that the cup represents their value and that their worth isn’t on the line while finishing the examination or project. Once the examination or project is complete, return every student’s cup as a reminder that their value is still intact. Use this tool to begin a discussion with students on reasons why value will be related to performance, the negative thoughts/feelings that can result, and ways to change their thinking.
Reducing anxious feelings
Tool: Pinwheel
How to use: Teaching students deep respiratory techniques during the height of anxious feelings will be challenging. You can, however, show them the way to operate a pinwheel (which can accomplish the same task). Once a student exhibits anxious feelings, instruct them to blow on the pinwheel to make it spin. Without noticing, they’re going to begin engaging in deep respiratory to calm down.
Exploring team dynamics/Seeing and celebrating the best in others
Tool: Winnie-the-Pooh characters
How to use: The Pooh characters represent some of the simplest and most challenging aspects of humanity. Once each resident of the Hundred Acre Wood attempts a feat alone, it always fails. Once the characters work together, they always achieve the best results. The same is true with teamwork. Engage students in a discussion concerning each of the characters, helping them to understand how teams will work well together.
Correcting negative thinking
Tool: Plastic ants and a gelatin mold
How to use: Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) happen to any or all of us and that they ne’er occur in isolation. Let’s say, “My mom wasn’t good at maths; thus, I’m not good at maths. I wasn’t smart at maths in elementary school; thus I know I won’t get any better in high school. If I can’t understand maths, I can’t go to college. And, if I can’t go to faculty, I can’t get a job!” That’s the snowball effect.
The gelatin mold, within the form of a brain, represents thinking. The plastic ants represent negative thoughts. Teach children to smash their ants with positive self-talk. once a negative thought comes up again, you and also the student now have a typical language to identify it as an “ANT.” Then the student must figure out the way to smash it!
Building trust
Tool: rubber band
How to use: Hold one finish of the rubber band whereas the student holds the other. Pull the rubber band as way back because the tension can allow it. Then inform the student that you simply are releasing the rubber band (they can begin bracing for the snap). Count to three, and so gently bring the rubber band back to its original position. Explain to the student that relationships, as well as yours, will have tension; however, you’ll not do anything to harm them.
