How to Teach Social-Emotional Skills in Classrooms

Many people are not self- or socially aware, are not effective decision-makers or personal problem-solvers, and lack the skills to manage their feelings and thinking and to successfully work through misunderstandings and conflicts in relationships. We are not born with these skills. They are either learned from others in our lives who model or teach them. Social-emotional skills, like most skills (e.g., playing a musical instrument, athletic skills), are complex and not easily mastered. If students are given ample opportunity to learn and practice them in class, receive feedback, reflect on and analyze their performance, and apply them in their lives outside the classroom, they can master them, and their use can become natural, automatic, and fully integrated into their behavioral repertoire. Outlined below are the

steps in teaching social-emotional skills.

Helping Students See the Need for the Skill

Providing students with a rationale for learning a new skill and relating it to their experiences can help them see a need to learn it. We must help students see why they need to learn a new skill. It would be good for them to know that their lives would be better if they learned it.

Ensuring Students Understand What the Skill Is

To learn and master any skill, we need to understand it. Skills need to be specific, observable, and describable. Teachers must clearly describe what these skills look and sound like so students know what to say and do as they practice them in class and apply them in real life. Like coaches, teachers must demonstrate the skill so students “see it” and understand how to use it.

Setting Up Repetitive Practice Sessions

Students need a chance to “try on” the new skill and see how it fits. We can’t just ask our students to talk about a new skill. Like a coach or a music teacher, we need to give them a chance to practice it. This means having students practice it repeatedly. Role-playing situations should be used to allow students to practice the skill.

Ensuring That Students Process Their Use of the Skills and Receive Feedback

Not only must students practice the skill in class, they also need time to reflect on and process their use of them to determine what they did well and what they need to do to improve. Whenever possible, student observers can be used during role-playing situations. They can use an observation/feedback form that outlines the steps in a skill, placing a check whenever the step is used, and then provide feedback at the end of the role-playing.

Apply the Skills in Real-Life Situations

It is not enough to have students role-play the skills in class. At some point, they must be given

opportunities to apply their skills in real-life situations outside of class. Using skills in real-life situations, processing the results, and modifying their response is necessary. Following the completion of skill development learning experiences, students can set a goal to apply a skill outside of school. These skill projects can range from simple to complex. A simple behavior change project involves setting a goal and assessing progress at the midpoint and upon completion. More complex skill development projects involve students developing and implementing a plan to use the skill, monitoring their progress over time using self-monitoring charts, and self-assessing their effort, progress, and the extent to which they have become more skillful.

Resources for Teaching Social-Emotional Skills in the Classroom

To learn more about teaching SES in the classroom and how my research and teaching experience informed the development of these materials, please visit Teaching Social-Emotional Skills . Modules include:

• student SES learning experiences that facilitate the development of self-awareness, self-management, decision-making and personal problem-solving, relationship skills and healthy relationships, and conflict-resolution

• readings that provide background information about the importance of each skill

• skill cards that outline what students need to say and do when using them

• projects that require students to apply the skills in real-life situations

• student self-assessments

• modules on How to Teach SES and How to Assess & Grade SES

The website includes over 150 research-informed, teacher-tested, free documents, including student learning experiences, projects, background readings for teachers and students, skill cards, and assessments. The purpose of the website is to help teachers facilitate the development and mastery of social-emotional skills, with the ultimate goal of promoting their students’ social-emotional well-being.