Social-Emotional Learning & Personalized Learning

DISTINCTIVE GUEST POST:
​Social-Emotional Learning & Personalized Learning

Sarah Gaw

Guest post by: Sarah Gaw

​The Distinctive Schools network continues to make fantastic gains in our implementation of Personalized Learning (PL). Part of our PL journey has been to learn how to look at our daily work through a PL lens. As the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Coach for the Distinctive Schools network, I advocate that using the PL lens helps us to see the SEL opportunities all around us! ​

At Distinctive Schools, we empower students to learn about themselves so that they can take more ownership over the learning path they choose. Our students learn to navigate the flexible learning environments in their school to pick the best space for them to work, using self-awareness and responsible decision-making to make the right choice for them. Our students identify (and share and celebrate) their motivations and goals within their learner profile and use the SEL skill of self-management to check-in on their progress and alter their plan in collaboration with their teacher. Self-directed learning is an SEL skill!  The learner profiles we utilize tie our students’ academic experiences to the SEL skills that they need to be successful in school, in life and in the future. 

Although not explicitly outlined in a student’s personal learning path, our teachers notice each student’s social and emotional development and explicitly cultivate foundational skills and provide coaching and mentorship to facilitate the student’s SEL progress. Finally, using our SEL Roadmap and PRIDE model, we ensure that our students follow the path created by CASEL’s SEL Competencies. In that way, we are creating our own DS competency based SEL progression that is personalized for each student! ​​

Our aim is to make learning meaningful, with an ultimate goal of growing a community where students see themselves impacting positive change in their classroom, their school, neighborhood and beyond.

Our teaching of SEL skills is not separate from academic learning, but rather is a critical part of every interaction we have with every student. Our teachers understand that SEL skills are embedded in each moment we have with our students. Our aim is to make learning meaningful, with an ultimate goal of growing a community where students see themselves impacting positive change in their classroom, their school, neighborhood and beyond. We hope to cultivate well regulated citizens who are motivated to make a difference in the world. ​

As we look forward to the 2017-2018 school year, one strategic focus will be continuing our fantastic SEL work across the network and deepening our connections to one another as a learning community. Although we are still in the planning stages, Danielle, Mike and I wanted to share a little preview we are hoping to bring to campuses in the fall. 
We will work to grow PRIDE at each campus, to further refine its practices, make systems more consistent, and continue with the great structures campuses have already built. 
We hope to expand the mentorship at each campus, creating authentic opportunities for older students to teach younger students SEL skills that will serve them in and out of school. 
 As part of our community work, it is our intention to build restorative practices, skill building, and consequences  that extend beyond the Dean’s Office, to create a larger community of team-work and support through restorative justice. ​

We aim to help our primary grades build a strong foundation of self-regulation and coping skills, necessary for each learner to access the academic content being taught in their classroom. ​We hope to continue to grow our incredible Middle School program, deepening our understanding of the MyWays Model, so that we can incorporate intentional teaching/assessing of the MyWays competencies: ​Content Knowledge, Creative Know How, Habits of Success, and Wayfinding Abilities. ​​As each campus refines their use of the learner profile, it is our aim for students to build in self-management tools that they can access when they are struggling with an emotion.

2016-2017 has been an incredible academic year for our SEL work! We built common language and collaborative practices across campuses with a shared PRIDE structure and a new vision for the importance of student strategies, classroom practices, and school-wide systems and events. Conversations with students have become more solution-focused. We see staff members challenging our students to use skills they already have to solve new problems and encouraging the growth of new SEL skills that will serve them long after their academic career at our campus ends.  I wanted to share a few highlights of this year: ​

• At CICS Irving Park, Katy Eagen’s 5th grade class has worked with the PRIDE Committee to create the student-run PRIDE Store and use it as a way to apply PRIDE skills and math to solve real-life problems. 
  
• At CICS Bucktown, SPED teacher Emily Parkinson and Dean of Students Bryan Jackson have worked with their PRIDE Committee to facilitate monthly PRIDE grade-level planning. 
  
• At CICS Prairie, the staff and students have worked hard to build strong PRIDE Assembly celebrations and share the strong classroom communities they have built. Earlier this winter, the middle school had a hand-shake competition that was truly amazing! 
  
• ​And new to CICS West Belden this year is the multi-grade mentoring program Bulldogs Belong, where middle school students lead small groups of students through activities designed to grow PRIDE and SEL skills. 
  

Bulldogs Belong initiative at CICS West Belden

The work that we’ve done so far could only happen through the hard work of each member of the Distinctive Schools network. High-fives to everyone! We’re excited for what’s to come next school year, and to see all that our students can accomplish.     

-Sarah Gaw
​Social Emotional Coach