Supporting and empowering students through SEL: A conversation with students and school leaders

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Supporting and empowering students through SEL: A conversation with students and school leaders (5 October 2021)
In this session, the second webinar in our series on Social and Emotional Learning, we heard directly from student panelists about what is on their minds as they return to school and what they need from their teachers, leaders, and community to feel supported and be successful. School leaders shared concrete SEL approaches they have implemented, lessons learned, and strategies to recommend and avoid.

Panelists
Students and educators from the following schools were represented:
American school of Guatemala - Guatemala City, Guatemala
Griswold High School - Griswold, Connecticut, USA
John F. Kennedy High School, Waterbury, Connecticut, USA
St. Luke's School - New Canaan, Connecticut, USA

Resources

RULER - https://www.ycei.org/ruler/

Mind Matters Club - https://digitalsentinel.org/1814/on-campus/new-mind-matters-club-making…

Although I began working on this program with a team of educators a year before any of us had ever heard the words "Covid" or "pandemic," both words kept us going:
https://hydediscoveryprocess.org/

Calm app - https://www.calm.com/

Articles:

NAFSA: Compounding Stress: The Pandemic’s Effects on Mental Health (of students) - https://www.nafsa.org/ie-magazine/2021/4/6/compounding-stress-pandemics…

Isolated Students May Struggle to Stay Mentally Healthy
Teachers can build strong relationships with and between students to help them get through this very challenging time. - https://www.edutopia.org/article/isolated-students-may-struggle-stay-me…

How Young People’s Social Anxiety Has Worsened in the Pandemic - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/us/social-anxiety-pandemic.html

How teens adapted and changed during the pandemic - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/how-teens-adapted-and-changed-durin…

12 things we know and don’t know about pandemic’s impact on students - https://districtadministration.com/things-we-know-dont-know-about-pande…

APA: 8 ways teachers can continue supporting students during the COVID-19 era - https://www.apa.org/topics/covid-19/teachers-supporting-students

Perspective | During COVID-19, teachers can support students using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - https://www.ednc.org/perspective-during-covid-19-teachers-can-support-s…

Messages from Teachers to Students During the Pandemic - https://www.weareteachers.com/messages-to-students-during-covid-19/

How Teachers Can Buffer Student Stress From COVID-19: Ordinary Magic - https://www.edweek.org/education/opinion-how-teachers-can-buffer-studen…

Teachers reflect on a year of Covid: students struggling, others thriving - https://edsource.org/2021/teachers-reflect-on-a-year-of-covid-students-…

Teachers on Covid: lessons learned and advice to pass along - https://edsource.org/2021/teachers-on-covid-lessons-learned-and-advice-…

Students Need Emotional Support When Returning to School in Person. Here’s How
Six ways schools can prioritize students’ emotional well-being - https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-students-need-emotional-suppo…

How Mindfulness During Class Can Help Students and Teachers - https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/57002/how-mindfulness-during-class-can-h…
Four ways to help students and teachers in the new academic year:
Social-emotional learning can help students heal from the turmoil of 2020 - https://www.apa.org/topics/covid-19/help-students-teachers

The impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of adolescents and youth - https://www.unicef.org/lac/en/impact-covid-19-mental-health-adolescents…

Ways to support your child’s mental health this school year - https://www.childrens.com/health-wellness/back-to-school-anxiety-during…