Sick of Classroom Chaos? Try These 10 Simple SEL Hacks Today!

Do your students struggle to manage their emotions? Have trouble collaborating? Lack empathy for their peers? Just because a child is book smart doesn’t mean they possess crucial social-emotional skills. As teachers, we want our students to thrive both academically and personally. That’s why purposefully cultivating social-emotional learning (SEL) is critical. 

Read on to explore 10 captivating ways to promote social-emotional learning all day long and turn your classroom chaos into calm.

Embed SEL Deeply Into Classroom Life

SEL teaches students how to understand and express their emotions, build healthy relationships, show empathy, make responsible choices, and more. And the impact goes far beyond the classroom walls. Students who master SEL are better equipped to navigate complex social dynamics, embrace diversity, cope with anxiety, resolve conflicts, and make thoughtful decisions throughout their lives.

The key is integrating SEL into your everyday teaching in compelling ways that truly hook students. Avoid disconnected SEL curriculums or sporadic lessons. Instead, make social-emotional learning impossible to ignore by embedding it into your classroom culture, instructional strategies, relationships with students, and even your own modeling.

1. Make Emotional Check-Ins A Classroom Ritual

Start each morning by taking students’ emotional temperature. Have them report how they’re feeling on a scale of 1-5 using hand signals, colored cards, or emojis. Take time to discuss their emotions. Simply validating their feelings sets a positive SEL tone for the day.

2. Turn Literature & Current Events Into Empathy Lessons

Stories offer a powerful vehicle for cultivating empathy and compassion. When discussing books, historical events, or news, have students analyze how the characters might feel, why they react as they do, and what positive SEL strategies they might employ.

3. Flip Conflicts Into Peacemaking Opportunities

Don’t just rush to mediate disputes. Guide students to reflect on their emotions, how their actions contributed to the conflict, and how they can build empathy. Teach phrases like “How can I understand your perspective?” to foster reflection over reaction.

4. Make Kindness Contagious

Challenge students to perform anonymous acts of kindness for their classmates, like leaving encouraging notes or helping with a difficult assignment. Spotlight students who display kindness. When children witness compassion being valued and modeled, it spreads joyfully.

5. Infuse Academics With SEL Relevance

Connect classroom lessons across all subjects to SEL skills like responsibility, teamwork, and decision making. For example, when solving math problems, discuss how students showed grit and self-control. In history, analyze how figures’ choices impacted others.

6. Arm Students With Self-Regulation Strategies

Teach specific techniques like deep breathing, visualizing calm images, mindful movement, and positive self-talk that students can use to recognize and regulate difficult emotions like anger, disappointment, or embarrassment. Practice regularly.

7. Let Students Lead Community Meetings

Designate time for students to share their perspectives on school, social, and ethical issues. Appoint student facilitators to model leadership and ensure all voices are respectfully heard. They’ll gain public speaking skills while you gain insight into their thinking.

8. Make SEL Part of How You Manage Behavior

When disciplining misbehavior, focus discussions on the root emotions and needs driving students’ actions. Help them reflect on how they can manage themselves differently next time. Guide them to make amends through empathy-building projects.

9. Infuse SEL Skills Into Group Projects

Group work builds teamwork, communication, and conflict management skills. Structure projects to the necessity of interdependence, diverse roles, and collective decision-making. Support students to see value in others’ perspectives.

10. Model Healthy Emotional Management Yourself

As the saying goes, your vibe attracts your tribe. Students are always observing you. When you handle anger and stress calmly, build collegial relationships, listen empathetically, and admit mistakes, you model ideal SEL skills for your class.

While SEL may not be formally tested on exams, nurturing students’ social-emotional development is just as essential for their success. Use these 10 strategies to create a classroom where SEL is inextricably woven into all you do. You’ll see students thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.