Social–Emotional Learning

A multi-tiered system of support is an instructional framework with three different tiers. Students receive instruction and support on a much more general scale in the first tier and then it increases in personalization as needed. Simultaneously, educators use the data and assessments to make informed decisions about what each student needs at each phase.

We were joined by iRobot’s Anna Elzer and Daniella Bonazzoli, who shared the iRobot story, including how, despite being known for the world-famous Roomba robot, every member of their organization is also committed to education. With help from the audience, they discussed the Root robots, the tech within them, creating SEL connections, and more.

In offering these grant opportunities, we’re looking for educators who have creative ideas for addressing these deficiencies. Whether your primary focus is on helping students overcome learning loss or boosting their social-emotional health, this award is designed to help teachers reclaim normalcy starting in the next few months.

If you couldn’t make it to the broadcast or want to relive the excellent presentation, the full replay is inside. We’ll cover the highlights, including how the BirdBrain materials align to standards and offer a low floor and high ceiling. As for using the BirdBrain robots in social-emotional learning, there are close connections to the five pillars of SEL.

This first webinar is scheduled for Wednesday Sept. 15 at 3:30 PM ET. Since SEL (understandably) is very closely tied to students experiencing new emotions and communicating their thoughts, it’s connection to hands-on, exploration-based learning continues to grow. So, we’ll be focusing on how to integrate SEL in the classroom this school year.

According to the broad acceptance of how learning loss is defined, a large percentage of students will be affected. In order to begin truly addressing this gap, however, teachers might be better off starting with SEL to allow students the chance to adjust and process emotions. From there, they can get in better position to address academics.

Luckily, students still have the potential to use STEM tools to boost their overall social-emotional connections. It comes down to finding the right technologies and aligning those tools with accessibility and relevant projects. Other SEL tools are built more for the classroom and that’s okay, too. Here are a few of the best for combining SEL and STEM.

MakerEd tools allow students to connect their heads to their hearts using their hands. And, up until a year ago, so much good was being done in the classroom to advance social and emotional stability in students by using technology in creative ways. Now, however, there are all new reasons to focus on SEL in remote learning.

Some schools will not be opening on the first day of classes and, in other districts, it’s yet to be decided what the approach will be. Throw in some political pressure and we’ve got a pretty volatile, potentially dangerous, and likely fluid situation for the rest of the summer and the first few weeks of the year.

The title of our presentation is “Combining SEL, STEAM, and MakerEd tools to increase students’ learning capacity.” If selected, we’ll be discussing the commonalities that STEAM and SEL have as well as how MakerEd tools help create these experiences. Specifically, maker tools help teachers connect the heads, hearts, and hands of students.