SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING AND HPL

D. Sue Vernon, Ph.D.

• The Talking Together Program,
• The SCORE Skills: Social Skills for Cooperative Groups, and
• The Socially Wise Program

Advance Organizer

• Introductions and reflections
• HLP and SEL (rationales..no slides yet)
• Emotional safety in the classroom and school
• Learning communities
• Community-Building Series: Talking Together
• Social Skills (The SCORE Skills and the Socially Wise program)

Activity Debrief

• How did using the skills and guidelines facilitate your discussion?
• Was voicing your opinion easy?
• You didn’t receive instruction or models of the best behavior in groups. As experienced, socially adept adults, you were probably familiar with the concepts, right? All you needed were some basic guidelines and perhaps a reminder…

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For students, the story is different.

• Students often lack the skills to participate respectfully in class discussions.

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• They also often lack the skills to

work cooperatively and productively in small groups.

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• Creating an emotionally safe learning community is not always easy.

SOCIALLY, students with learning disabilities:

• Score the same as juvenile offenders on a test of social skills
• Do not participate in class discussions
• Often demonstrate rule-breaking behavior
• Are less active in school and out-of-school activities
• Do not recognize opportunities for social skill use

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How do teachers create a learning community?

• They challenge discriminatory attitudes & behavior
• Conscientiously eliminate the attitudes, policies and behaviors that allow even one child to face a day at school with fear and dread
• They educate students about how their actions affect their lives and others

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They also

• Teach respect, tolerance, support and skills Including others, giving compliments, conflict resolution, problem solving, dealing with critical feedback, apologizing, empathy, anger control, self- control...
• Use evidence-based programs
• Talking Together
• The SCORE Skills: Social Skills for Cooperative Groups
• The Socially Wise Program
• Evaluate and reflect on outcomes

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Evidence-based programs: The Community-Building Series

TALKING TOGETHER

Only a very strong, constantly cultivated culture can prevent the weeds of mistrust, disrespect, and uncooperativeness from taking over the garden.

Champy, 1995

The Talking Together program

• Consists of six lessons presented in two formats: At-a-Glance and Play-by-Play.
• The At-a-Glance format outlines the major instructional procedures.
• The Play-by-Play format provides a in-depth description of the instruction.

Lesson 1: Participation & the Discussion Skill

• Introduce the concept of learning community, feeling safe, comfortable, and respected
• Discuss participation
• Teach the Discussion Skill
• Discuss the option to “pass”

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Lesson 2: The Partner skill

• Introduce the Recorder’s job
• Discuss class goals
• List ways to celebrate
• Discuss the Partner Skill

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Lesson 3: Respect

• Discuss respect
• Discuss different kinds of respect
• Discuss how to show respect

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Lesson 4: Tolerance

• Discuss the meaning of diversity
• Discuss ways we are different
• Discuss tolerance

Lesson 5: The Support Skill

CHARACTERISTICS OF A LEARNING COMMUNITY

ALWAYS PRESENT

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• Trust, tolerance shown
• Fairness, respect shown
• Everyone belongs
• Everyone is valued
• Everyone has a voice
• Support, help, and encouragement offered
• Everyone feels safe
• Everyone participates

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NEVER PRESENT

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• Putdowns, teasing
• Lying
• Not listening
• Arguing, interrupting
• Leaving people out
• Laughing AT others
• Cheating, meanness
• Rudeness, shaming
• Some not doing their share

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Lesson 6: Describing Our Learning Community

Research results

• Experimental-group students learned and retained concepts (such as respect and tolerance) and the skills necessary to create a learning community.
• More targeted students in the experimental classes participated in the class discussion.
• Participation by experimental students was more respectful (e.g., hands were lowered when others talked, there were fewer disruptions, and fewer answers were yelled out).
• Overall, experimental teachers complimented the students more, they provided more low-risk opportunities to keep all students actively involved (e.g., partner responses, group responses), and they called on more students.
• Satisfaction ratings by both students and teachers were high, students recommended the program for other students, and teachers strongly endorsed it.

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Accountability

• Think about data collection
• For example,
• Office referrals, suspensions
• Absenteeism, truancy
• Satisfaction with the program (teachers and students)
• Recorder’s Log: Increase in respectful participation in discussions, increase in positive behavior, decrease in negative behavior

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• COMMUNITY BUILDING sets the stage for additional skill instruction and content learning.

• What are other “FOUNDATIONAL” skills that students need for success in the classroom and in life (think about cooperative learning groups)?

Expectations of students

• SOCIALLY, students must follow rules and interact appropriately with peers and adults.

When do you teach social skills?

• Reactive
• teach skills in response to specific situations.

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• Pro-active
• teach basic skills and require students to learn and practice appropriate social behaviors in various settings.

Proactive teaching (evidence-based programs): The Cooperative Thinking Strategies Series

• The SCORE Skills
• The Teamwork Strategy
• The THINK Strategy
• The LEARN Strategy
• The BUILD Strategy

Purpose of the Cooperative Thinking Strategies

• To enable students to learn skills for working in groups

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• To enable students to learn simple structures for completing higher-order thinking tasks

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• To enable teachers and students to learn how to create a learning community

THE SCORE SKILLS �

Social Skills for Cooperative Groups

Professional Development Workshop

What are the SCORE Skills?

• Share Ideas
• Compliment Others
• Offer Help or Encouragement
• Recommend Changes Nicely
• Exercise Self-Control

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Social Skills Instruction in the General Ed Classroom

All students can receive instruction.

Expectations for socially appropriate behavior can be defined in a common language for all students.

Basic skills can be taught and can provide the foundation for more complex skills.

Instruction can address issues in the setting in which problems occur.

• The greatest compliment that was ever paid to me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.

Henry David Thoreau

SCORE Adaptations for Older Students

• Frame skills as expectations for appropriate and successful team interactions:

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• Share, synthesize, keep an open mind, and ensure that everyone has a voice
• Compliment, commend teammates
• Offer Help, encourage
• Give (and accept) constructive feedback
• Exercise self-control

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THE SOCIALLY WISE PROGRAM

Interactive Social Skills Computer Instruction for Students

Purpose of the research project

• To design, pilot test, and field test an interactive multimedia computer program for teaching social skills to youth with social-adjustment problems.
• To provide instruction to prevent social isolation, address antisocial behavior, and provide youth with alternatives to behaviors that result in formal and informal reprimands from authority.

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• What are the potential benefits of having a self-paced computer program for social skills instruction?

THE SOCIALLY WISE PROGRAM:

Ways to Increase Your Social Interaction Quotient

Overview of the CD program

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Structure

Body Language

Learn it

The narrator describes the new skill, provides rationales for learning the skill, and describes the skill steps and situations in which the skill can be used.

See it

Students see vignettes in which a skill is used or not used.

Save it

Students interactively review the information associated with skill using: flash cards and a step-recognition game, called “Step Blaster.”

Quiz it

Students take a quiz to demonstrate their mastery of the information. Both multiple choice and fill-in the blank questions are included in this section.

Practice it: Reflect & Choose Activity

Students watch a scene unfold and choose the best use of each skill step until the situation is over.

Practice it: Role-play Activities

Students first see a model of how to role-play. They then practice the skill in novel situations with a partner and provide performance feedback to one another.

THE SKILLS

Introduction to social skills (and body language)

Dealing with Critical Feedback

Coping with No

Accepting Advice

Negotiation

Apologizing

Responding to Peer Pressure

Involving Others

Giving Feedback to Peers

Design Your Own Skill

PROGRAM PREVIEW

Contact Information

Sue Vernon, Ph.D.

Social Perspective, LLC

Lawrence, KS 66044

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Phone: 785-371-6554

www.socialperspective.org

Email: svernon2@windstream.net