Social Emotional Learning

“Cultural relevance is the plate from which we educate our students–not just one more thing to add to our plate.” –Dr. Nicole Evans, Embracing Equity.

We work hard to be culturally relevant in our work with elementary students in afterschool programs across the country. The WINGS curriculum, organizational culture, professional development, and assessments are intentionally rooted in cultural relevance in order to:

• Support student academic excellence
• Support student cultural competence
• Facilitate critical thinking about the world around us

Topics Covered:

• The foundations of social emotional learning
• Where and how to start with culturally relevant social emotional learning

At the end of this interactive workshop, participants will be able to:

• Reflect on the role you play as a youth development professional
• Actionable steps to make a difference
• Resources to continue the work with your students

An exceptional school year requires extra care, practice, and patience for front-line educators. Working with youth – whether in the classroom or in an afterschool program – starts with adults. This session dives deep into the five core competencies of social emotional learning and provides opportunities for reflection and application in both personal and professional settings.

Topics Covered:

• Understanding the five core competencies of social emotional learning: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making
• Adult social emotional skills and perspectives, including strengths and weaknesses
• Strategies for developing social emotional skills in personal and professional life

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Explain the impact of social emotional skill development on themselves and reflect on the application of the five social emotional skills in their own lives.
• Implement 2-3 techniques for SE skill integration

Connecting with students and building trust is critical to student learning. Today, more than ever, we need to engage and build a sense of community in our classrooms and programs. This session provides an introduction to teaching practices and modeling adult skills needed to build relationships with students.

Topics Covered:

• Adult social emotional skills and perspectives
• Modeling SE skills for others thoughtfully
• Tangible rituals and routines to engage students and build relationships

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Reflect on the application of the five social emotional skills in their own lives
• Appropriately model self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, and relationship skills as teachable moments
• Implement activities to intentionally foster connections among students

This session helps participants set the stage for an inclusive environment (whether in-person or virtual) where everyone belongs and kids can be the best version of themselves with our field-tested S-E-T Framework: Support, Engage, and Teach; including ways to identify and leverage “teachable moments” to reinforce social emotional skills with quality and consistency.

Topics Covered:

• Overview of social emotional learning – what it is and what the research says about the impact
• Adult social emotional skills and perspectives
• Deep dive into developing a social emotional learning culture through the WINGS S-E-T Framework including practice and application

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Explain the impact of social emotional skill development on themselves and youth and reflect on the application of the five social emotional skills in their own lives.
• Describe what a positive, supportive, and engaging culture looks, sounds, and feels like and practice ways to foster this.
•  Identify opportunities for “teachable moments” to reinforce social emotional skills.
• Develop one to two ways to integrate social emotional learning into an existing program schedule.

We all have good days and bad days where our emotions run wild – especially during the pandemic! This workshop will provide you and your staff with a comprehensive tool-kit of concrete proactive and corrective behavior management strategies you can implement the next day.

Topics Covered:

• Review of essential proactive techniques to avoid negative behaviors, and corrective behavior management strategies to de-escalate a situation once negative behavior has occurred.
• Additional strategies to add to the resource toolbox
• Practice and application

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Utilize a resource toolbox of strategies including; M.E.S.S, Disregard & Divert, G.E.T P.A.S.T, DDADA, and Positive Reinforcement.
• Incorporate behavior management strategies into existing program structure.