Do you keep hearing the buzz phrase ‘social-emotional learning’ and aren’t quite sure what it is?

This blog aims:

To give you an insight into what Social-Emotional Learning is
To explore its importance in schools, institutions and companies
To introduce the new Quizalize Social-Emotional Learning curriculum to support teachers and students

What is Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)?

SEL is the teaching and learning of skills which help with both the social and emotional development of a child, adolescent or adult. These can include:

Understanding and managing emotions
Setting and achieving positive goals
Solving everyday problems
Showing empathy
Maintaining positive relationships
Normalising differences

SEL is just as important as learning traditional academic subjects, such as Maths and English, as it gives students a toolkit of how to manage their emotions, behaviours and attitudes as they grow up.

It has been scientifically proven that starting to include activities from an early age which work on a child’s social-emotional development doubles the likelihood of a student successfully finishing their education.

How can we help you at Quizalize?

We also see the importance of students’ social and emotional learning and as a result of this we have launched our very own SEL curriculum! At present, there are 14 quizzes which allow teachers to support students in learning about topics such as online safety, compassion, anti-bullying and understanding emotions.

Alongside the quizzes, there are some additional resources such as meditations for teenagers, videos on how to manage certain emotions and cartoons to explain feelings in the simplest way for young children.

Go to app.quizalize.com

Visit the SEL Curriculum here!

How is SEL being fostered in schools around the world?

SEL can be integrated into day-to-day learning through small changes to routine or a simple check-in with your students each morning, but there are also other ways to make it a bigger focus point in your school community.

Three ideas to integrate SEL into the classroom

1. A morning greetings choice board so the student feels empowered to choose how they wish to greet their teacher on entering the classroom.

2. Emotion cards made by the children which can be used daily so students can hold up which emotion they are feeling, or if a quieter class, merely put the emotion card next to them on the desk so the teacher can still see how they are.

3. Five-minute guided meditations are useful as a ‘brain break’ for long teaching sessions, as well as a way to creating a calmer environment after excitement such as break-time, physical activity or a whole school reunion.

Three ideas to showcase SEL into whole-school activities

1. Having a peer mentor system whereby an older student is allocated to a younger student to be there in times of need, encouragement or just for a friendly chat on a difficult day!

2. Whole school gatherings on important themes such as Mental Health Awareness Day whereby educators and students can lead activities to show support for the topic and educate others.

3. Staff appreciation gifts! Whether this be a little post-it note on a colleague’s desk, a positive quote on a card or just a thank you in the corridor, this could really foster a supportive environment in the matter of minutes.

Go to app.quizalize.com

Zzish Content Implementation Manager Lindsey Warden-Bowler at Mental Health Awareness Day in the UAE

Would you like to get involved?

If you would like to share SEL in practice in your classroom, school or wide community, please feel free to email lindsey@zzish.com with photos, videos or anecdotes.

On another level, if you have any quizzes or resources you already use, or feel motivated to create some of your own, we would love them to be added to our curriculum for others to benefit from.

Quizalize is free for everyone to use and benefit from. Visit Quizalize now and get started on the SEL curriculum, make your own quizzes, or browse more than 1 million ready-made, curriculum-tagged resources!

Try Quizalize for FREE here!

Visit the SEL Curriculum here!

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