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My personal Portfolio focuses on the important aspects of what shapes the students we will teach. I have realized more than ever the large impact we as teachers will have on how students grow up and learn. My portfolio discusses the brain development of children and how SEL affects a child's development. I chose to focus on this because I want to be able to improve student's learning for the better when I become a teacher.
ED 304 Portfolio Project Plan
I. The Problem of Practice: Students struggle in school due to many reasons academically. I think that students more often struggle due to emotional reasons and confusion. If educators can use the principle of reflecting on children’s upbringing and use Kohlberg’s theory of Moral development, we can understand and help children succeed despite these struggles.
II. Essential Question: If we can aid students in eliminating emotional barriers, can we help improve their success and knowledge?
III. Hypothesis: If educators are learned in reflection of a child’s upbringing, and the theory of Moral development, we can better understand and aid children to be successful in school.
IV. Students’ Needs: A safe and open space to be able to express themselves. / Teachers who try to understand and allow for mistakes without harsh consequences. / warm relationships
V. Goals: Study and research the correlation of Moral development and a child’s upbringing / Come up with possible solutions for helping specific students. /
VI. Anticipated Success Criteria: I can identify research on the relationship of a student’s emotional state and academic success. / I can clearly state what I find while learning. / I can change the way we think about teaching and the considerations we need to have to be an educator.
Developmental Stages of the Brain
I created a lesson plan with my group that focuses on how children's brains develop throughout their lives, and more specifically the way their development affects them, shapes them, and how educators can guide them through these developments. I focused on the adolescent age group for my portfolio, however the entire presentation which covers all ages in in the link at the bottom of this section. i focused on adolescents because I hope to some day teach high school art. Knowing the developmental stages of the brain, and being aware of ways to guide students is a crucial factor to a healthy classroom environment.
Based on the stage of their Brain Development, Adolescents are more likely to naturally be inclined to act on impulse, misread or misinterpret social cues and emotions, get into accidents, get into fights, and engage in risky or dangerous behavior. with guidance and support adolescents can be more likely to think before they act, pause to consider the consequences of their actions, and change their dangerous or inappropriate behaviors.
"These brain differences don't mean that young people can't make good decisions or tell the difference between right and wrong. It also doesn't mean that they shouldn't be held responsible for their actions. However, an awareness of these differences can help parents, teachers, advocates, and policy makers understand, anticipate, and manage the behavior of adolescents.”
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-NR4vPVMUiC838S3hT0OjAAEUBwUxCcVYXzZo9EQz7w/edit?usp=sharing
Applying Social Emotional Learning to Development
I created my own presentation on SEL to highlight the evidence of a need for this help, and the important factors that make it so beneficial. I chose this topic because I want to make a difference using SEL and I believe I could have benefitted from a more prevalent SEL program in school.
SEL is the process where children and adults acquire and effectively apply knowledge, skills and attitudes, to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, and establish and maintain positive relationships. SEL focuses on improving self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision making, and relationship skills
Effects & Benefits:
•Self-awareness: Identifying one’s thoughts, feelings, and strengths, and recognizing how they influence one’s choices and actions.
•Social Awareness: Identifying and understanding the thoughts and feelings of others, respecting their rights, and appreciating diversity
•Self-management: establishing and working toward short- and long-term goals, and handling emotions so that they facilitate rather than interfere with the task at hand
•Responsible decision Making: generating, implementing, and evaluating positive and informed solutions to problems, and assuming responsibility for personal decisions and behaviors
•Relationship skills: communication, listening, and negotiation skills to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding connections with individuals and groups
•Each of these categories enables students to be more successful in school and gives them the ability to improve upon
The need for SEL is real
To coincide with my presentation, I created a survey to ask students here at BYUI how they felt about their educational experience. These questions were meant to gauge whether or not my research into beneficial classroom practices was even needed. I used the information I gathered from the results to explain how a teacher can influence a student and their learning in different ways.
I created a survey to accompany my field project which asks students about their experiences with teachers, emotional struggles, and help available to them during school. This is the survey:
https://qfreeaccountssjc1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7WpFcZZ39ZAl5pI
Two of the questions ask students if a teacher's positive/negative attitude has affected their educational experience. "Strongly agree" was the most answered for both of these questions. This shows us that educators largely impact a student's education solely based on their enthusiasm in class. Another question asks students if emotional struggles have ever inhibited their ability to learn. 21 of 32 students strongly agreed. A follow up question was if students knew how to get help and if they believed they would benefit from help from different authority figures. Most students only somewhat know how to get help when they need it, and most students said they would benefit from help fro school counselors rather than teachers or school leaders.
This survey shows that as future educators we need to have an awareness for the emotional support needs of students. Teachers should have the necessary training and preparation to create a warm relationship in order to support a student emotionally. SEL can benefit learning environments by allowing this relationship to form and therefore allowing safe spaces for students to e supported by their educators. Students have shown us that they do need emotional support, and they would prefer to get help from a school counselor. If SEL is implemented into classrooms, students will be able to overcome emotional challenges and better their learning experience.
Effects of SEL on Content Areas (The Arts)
When I created this mind map I tried to focus on the arts since that is my passion. The effects of using SEL and self-efficacy within the classroom is discussed as well as how to encourage good development as a result of using these techniques.
{This mind map represents the connections between Social Emotional Learning and the arts. I chose to focus on this because I am an art major, and I want to be able to show students in arts and other subject areas that you don't have to be naturally good at something to be successful. The only way for me to represent my map was a picture of it so it is not clear but I am going to explain the main implications and ideas. I also could not retrieve the link and I am not allowed to upload the file I have for it.}:
Social Emotional Learning coupled with self efficacy can benefit high school student's educational experiences. Social Emotional Learning focuses on a student's ability to understand and control their emotions and behaviors. Self efficacy focuses on the student's confidence in themselves and actions. A way to boost a student's self efficacy and then consequently improve their social and emotional learning, educators need to create warm relationships with their students. By "greeting youngsters warmly, expressing concern when they seem worried, lending an ear when they want to share hopes or frustrations, can make the world of difference" (440) in working towards that warm relationship. When a student obtains self efficacy they are more comfortable in the classroom and can begin to exhibit signs of SEL. Signs such as asking for help and showing empathy towards their peers portray how a student will benefit from self efficacy. Once they are able to begin these practices, students can be better prepared to handle their emotions, especially the ones that hold them back from their education such as anxiety, depression, and fear. Teachers can also "coach them in basic social skills, such as resolving conflicts by talking through the issues, avoiding accusations, and focusing on solutions." (441) to improve student's educational experience.
Connections Case Study
In the case study I created with one of my team members, we decided to use a younger age group but still focusing on the warm relationship and environment that a child needs. I tried to draw the focus to the supportive learning environments section which describes different ways to achieve this environment for your students.
In my connections case study I focused on the supportive learning environment. This is a large factor when using SEL in a classroom. I also used a lower grade level for this assignment because I would like to teach all ages at one point or another so focusing on one age group didn't seem as interesting to me. In this case study the supportive learning environment includes different learning opportunities, autonomy for children, and the ability to communicate and speak up. these aspects in a classroom are all characteristics of SEL. First, the child is able to learn in a way that best suits their style. Second, children are given choices and freedom when learning. And third, that warm relationship is made between the student and teacher when children are able to communicate their opinions in a safe environment. As future educators this is how we can prepare to shape the students we will teach.
Social Emotional learning Chart (Takeaways)
I created this mind map to sum up the most important aspects I learned throughout all my research. This is so that I can create my own personal teaching philosophy when i am older and apply it to my students.
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