Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL)

At P-H-M, we value each student and want to help them reach their fullest potential.  We can help unlock potential through Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)! According to the Collaborative for Academic and Social-Emotional Learning, SEL is 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. SEL is vital and can offer so many benefits to students, such as an increase in prosocial behaviors, social and relationship skills, emotional wellness, academic success, stress management and the list goes on and on. Since SEL has so many benefits and is crucial for ALL students’ success, P-H-M has a unified, systematic focus on SEL and developed goals and initiatives on this front. One of our major goals is to offer SEL lessons to all students. We have aligned our teaching and learning to the SEL competencies set forth by the Indiana Department of Education. In order to teach students these skills, the Youth Service Development Specialist will deliver the Social-Emotional Learning lessons one day per week during IMC or computer lab time, with the exception of a few weeks throughout the year due to testing, etc. For the months of August, September, and October, we will focus on offering an overview of SEL, and then learning more about self-awareness/insight, mindset, self-management/regulation, identifying strengths and goal setting.  If we want our students to learn the important SEL skills, we must intentionally teach the skills so they can benefit both now and in the future. In fact, research shows SEL can really move the needle in terms of academic performance. Furthermore, if we look down the road, Forbes identified the top qualities employers want in their employees, which are all related to SEL (e.g., ability to work on a team, problem solve, make decisions and communicate). Therefore, we must teach these skills to our students so they can be successful now and as well as later in life.  SEL is a value-add to all P-H-M can offer to help unlock potential.  For more information on SEL, please visit P-H-M’s SEL web page https://www.phmschools.org/parents/social-emotional-learning or contact Dr. Jennifer Sears, Director of SEL & Mental Health at jsears@phm.k12.in.us