• What is Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)?

    CASEL (2017) defines SEL as: “the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”

Student Support

tree of growth

  •  

    Students, are you having trouble expressing yourself?  Try these methods to share your thoughts, feelings, and needs:

    • Use Art (draw it out, paint it, sculpt it, design it on a computer)
    • Write it all down (poems, free writing, creative stories)
    • Act it out (spoken word, theatre)
    • Music (sing it, play an instrument to it, find a song that already exists and describes it)
    • Dance it out

    In need of additional assistance outside of school?

    PerformCare NJ

    • Crisis Response and Stabilization Services
    • Care Management Organization

    2nd Floor NJ

    • Hotline
    • Text or call 24/7
    • Message boards

    Amanda's Easel

    • Creative arts therapy
    • Domestic violence assistance

    Lighthouse Counseling 

    • Holistic therapies

    Integrated Care Concepts and Consultation

    • Holistic and traditional therapies

    Portrait Health Center - Eatontown, NJ

    • Outpatient therapy

Teacher Support

  • Strategies for teachers to incorporate SEL into their classrooms!

     

    Free SEL resources for teachers/school staff

    FREE lesson plans for teachers/school staff interested in teaching about Social Emotional Learning or Tolerance

     

    • Create - Create a nurturing, caring, and safe environment
      • Provide multiple ways for students to report, discuss, and work through conflicts
      • Greet each student by name every day
    • Integrate - Incorporating students' social and emotional experiences into the lesson
      • Offer a problem-based project based on students' topics of interest
      • Build creative writing into a lesson to allow students to express their emotions
    • Instruct - With clear guidance, you will ensure that your students fully understand SEL content and expectations
      • Explicitly teach protocols and procedures for handling challenging social situations. Recognize that time spent on topics such as conflict resolution counts as a “teachable moment” just as time spent on academic content).
      • Invite families and community members to share how they effectively manage their emotions.
    • Reflect -
      • Social and cultural reflection 
        • Evaluate school practices to ensure equity amongst all students and staff with respect to support and fairness
        • Offer multiple venues for positive expression (e.g., music, writing, visual art, computer programming, etc.)
      • Self-reflection
        • Does your lesson only represent your views, or does it also acknowledge those of your students
        • Ask staff from cultures different from yours to view your lesson plans and provide feedback
    • Respect - Positively respond to the diverse needs of others
      • Use academic content to encourage and teach respect
      • Model respectful behaviors to your fellow staff members
    • Communicate - All stakeholders communicate with one another about their SEL experiences and vision
      • Call/write to home to praise a student for using an SEL skill
      • Ongoing professional development for staff on the topic of SEL
    • Empower - Empower students to take charge of their own social and emotional learning
      • Include student-led activities throughout the day
      • Ask students to voice their thoughts, feelings, and needs (provide the option for them to express themselves in different venues - writing, voice recorder, eat lunch with them, etc.)