Social Emotional Learning More Important Than EVER!

I've seen a theme on Teacher Twitter lately- how the Students are misbehaving, bold, disrespectful, defiant. It's a month or two into school, students have settled in and are feeling comfortable in your class. It may seem as if it's time to taper off on the community building and social emotional learning. Time to hunker down and learn the "real, important" stuff. I want to challenge this notion. Instead of tapering off on it, now is when social emotional learning is the most important! 

It seems counter-intuitive. In any other year, now is when we might really start nudging our students to more academic learning. But this year, especially if your students were online last year, try something different. Try thinking about your classroom expectations from the perspective of your student. They were home, learning through a small screen last year, or they were face to face, socially distanced, in the same room as others, but not sharing the same space. Or, in the case of most kindergarteners, not in school in the first place.

Last year our provincial school board operated face to face all year. What we noticed was the behaviours we started to see taper off at the end of September were still being dealt with, long into the late fall and winter. Six months home, in a very small bubble of people impacted our social skills more than we had anticipated. We spent most of last year really dealing with big emotions from young learners. In a scary world, even if we aren't sure why it's scary, we just "feel" like it's scary, sometimes the only way we know how to react is defiantly. That self-preservation mode is strong, even in little humans.

While this year may seem a little different, our kids are still learning in the middle of a pandemic. If your students were online last year, then they have been in a small bubble for a long time! Things like that take their toll on us. Humans are tribal creatures. We work best when we work in community with other humans. Even the most introverted of us needs other people. Add this stress to seeing adults around them losing their minds over things like vaccination mandates and mask mandates. They see the anger, they hear parents and other adults talking, kids are observant. They know things we think they don't. And no one is asking them what they think. How many students have truly been asked their opinion of wearing a mask in school? The entire conversation has been around adults feelings and opinions, not on the actual ones who are directly affected.

Are your students talking back to you? Ask yourself what that motivation is. Are they getting up and walking around? Remember last year they could do that whenever they wanted. Maybe build that into your day (confession: if you were to ask my opinion, chances are they are sitting way too long in the first place. Not a slight against any individual teacher, but against a system that expects children to sit still for hours while adults are up walking around). 

Think about their behaviour from an out of body perspective. Whatever the reason for their actions, it's probably not even about you as the teacher, but about their reaction to living in an unpredictable world where too many adults aren't doing their job protecting the children. 

So, instead of blaming the kids, find ways to work with them. Be the adult leader they so desperately need. Smile with them. Laugh. Play games. Have FUN! Even when- especially when- they may seem like they are coming apart at the seams. The only way to stitch them back together is through love and understanding.

The world is a harsh and scary place right about now. Don't you think it's time we lead with love?

Don't You Just Love A Good Book?

The first three days of this week have been... days. You know the type- no one listens, there is always someone getting hit, or hitting, and only about 4 students actually want to be there. They were days that had me questioning every life decision I had ever made. And then today happened, and it almost made up for those other three days. Almost. Funny thing is (and it isn't so funny), my class knew this, too. They knew it wasn't very fun in KD on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. It's almost like they got together after they left school Wednesday, and decided they were actually going to try to have a good day today. 

Today had some real highlights- we've started a new routine of "outdoor learning" on 2 two days of our six day cycle, and we found the perfect spot on our school campus to do it; we found out a big project we are excited to do was given the green light; we had some awesome play this morning, and even took some time in the middle of our Writers Playshop to get up and dance (because when the song Heave Away comes on the playlist, what else can you do?).

Today was night and day compared to the rest of the week. At the end of the day, I found myself with about five extra minutes, so I grabbed a Leo Lionni book to read. 

I love Leo Lionni books. They always have a message, though we may not always understand it, and the books always produce some excellent conversations. Today we read: It's Mine. It is the story of three frogs who live on an island who argue, fight, and quarrel. There is a toad who comes over from the other side of the island to tell them to settle down- of course they don't listen... Then, one day, a storm comes up and the island is flooded. The frogs must all work together to survive, and, in doing so, they learn a lesson. 

Whenever I read a Leo Lionni book, I try to leave the discussion to the students. I don't like to add my

own thoughts because the books produce such deep conversations on their own. 

I read the book, then I put it down, ready for the end of the day routine. Before I could start that though, many of my students decided they had some words to say. And they all said some of the same things, "Those frogs sounded a lot like our class!" I had to agree, of course, because they did! From the quarrelling and fighting to finally working together. 

I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring. With this class, it's anyone's guess. This much I do know- I will leave the book "It's Mine" out someplace where they will see it. It will be a quiet reminder to them that even though we may quarrel and fight, we do have our moments of cooperation and togetherness too. 

Don't you just love a good book?

Echo In The Canyon and What It Teaches About 21 Century Learning

Those who know me, know I have a slight obsession with music documentaries. From 20 Feet from Stardom to Clive Davis: These Are The Songs Of Our Lives, to Echo in the Canyon. Today, I want to talk about Echo in the Canyon and what we can learn about 21st Century learning from 1960 rock music.

Echo is about Laurel Canyon and the community influence on the explosion of music in the 60s. At the beginning of the doc, Jakob Dylan (Bob Dylan's son and former Wallflower and successful artist in his own right) is interviewing some of the influential music makers of that time. All of them talk about how, everyone living so closely, all having like minds, sharing and collaborating, made for some of the best music. And not just the best music of the day, but music that has lasted over time. The Beach Boys, The Mama's and the Papa's, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Jackson Browne, all of the individual artists that came out of these groups, and more. Even the Beatles were a part of it, and were heavily influenced by The Byrds and The Beach Boys.

Their legacy shows us this: Music is more than sounds, more than entertainment. Music teaches us, influences our thinking, and the process of creating music, good music, can't be reduced to a mere check list or data program. Good music is a product of communication, of collaboration, of creativity, and of critical thinking. All of the markers of 21 Century Learning. 

Do we ever notice this in our classrooms? Do we notice how a group discussion can grow from a simple thought into a fully developed idea because more and more people add their thinking? Have you ever watched a group of students in pretend play build a whole world based on a simple box? It's the creativity and the creative flow that happens between 2 or more people that grow it and embellish it. While that can happen alone, but it becomes a fuller version when you add others' thoughts into the mix.

I think of students playing in the block area. One may begin building a simple structure, but soon another joins in and adds their idea. The structure becomes complex, more complex than if they were both playing alone. Once we add other children to the mix, we begin to discuss how we can make that bridge work, how tall can we grow that building without it falling over. We practice, we fail, we build again. We think about the laws of physics in a critical way, and before you know it, we understand the importance of all those teach us. We may not have the fancy words or explanations, but we have the experiences. And those experiences are the foundation for our learning- not just in blocks, but in many other areas. Vygotsky would call this "scaffolding". That, "learning occurs through purposeful, meaningful interactions with others." 

All of these are interconnected, these ideas of critical thinking, of collaborating, of communicating, and creativity. While they can work in isolation, they are at their best when they are together. I think we need to realize this, and remember this. We can't teach them as subjects, they must be infused in all we do. Learning is a social endeavour, and humans are social beings. We cannot live, nor can we learn, in isolation. If we want society to be the best, the fullest, it can be, we must work together, and we must allow our students to work together. I know that in the age of Covid and social distancing this is difficult. But, wherever possible, we need to be thoughtful and creative ourselves and find ways to provide this type of environment.

I'm going to add a 5th C- one that is interspersed through all of the 4 C's: Community. When we put all of the 4 C's together, we get Community. and when one of the 4 C's breaks down, our community breaks down. What happened to the music of Laurel Canyon? What happens to everything eventually, there was a breakdown in the Community. We spend much time in Kindergarten creating community. Community is the heart of what we do, and without it, we cannot raise competent children. 

I realize the "hot topic" in education at this very moment is face to face learning vs. online learning. Everyone agrees that face to face is best, but what if "face to face" means we are all sanctioned off in our own spaces, never touching another student? Can we do all of what we are talking about in that type of situation? I have seen that we can, but it isn't easy. Can we do this with virtual learning? I have seen what some have done, so yes, but, again, it isn't easy. But "hard" never stands in the way of quality teaching, and if there is anything we've learned over the last year, we can do hard things- we were meant to do hard things! 

Some of the best music was written in community. People living and working together, sharing ideas, letting others influence them. How can we take this lesson and apply it to our lives and our classrooms today? Don't make the mistake that, because we must be apart, that we still can't be together. Building community is more than an idea today, it is a necessity. And the longer we have to deal with this pandemic, the more important it becomes.

Resources used:

Vanity Fair: Oral History of Laurel Canyon

Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding