Teaching SEL Skills in Virtual Learning

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is foundational to student success - academically, socially, and emotionally. SEL supports students in developing skills to manage stress, adapt to change, strengthen relationships, and engage in learning with confidence and resilience. During times of uncertainty or transition, SEL routines, explicit SEL instruction, and SEL-integrated academic practices are critical in supporting student well-being and readiness to learn.

SEL must remain a daily, intentional part of instruction, whether in-person, hybrid, or remote. A consistent SEL structure communicates:

You are seen
You are valued
You belong here

These conditions foster students’ sense of psychological safety, which in turn enables learning.

Embedding SEL Into Daily Instruction

SEL is not only taught through explicit curriculum and classroom meetings. Students learn and strengthen SEL skills through the way learning is designed and facilitated every day. Instructional practices are where SEL becomes:

Visible in relationships
Felt in the classroom culture
Practiced through the application of skills in context

The goal is not to create new lessons, but to make small, intentional shifts in instructional routines that build SEL skills alongside academic ones.

The instructional practices below are adapted from the Equity-Centered SEL Instructional Practices Framework and are designed for use in-person, hybrid, and virtual settings.

ISBE SEL Goals, Standards, and Performance Descriptors

Teaching SEL in Remote & Hybrid Classrooms

SEL can and should happen both explicitly and implicitly through:

Daily SEL Routines (greetings, check-ins, closings)
Explicit SEL Skills Instruction
Instructional practices that integrate SEL skill-building

Virtual and hybrid learning environments benefit from predictability, visible norms, and multiple avenues for participation.

ISBE SEL Goals, Standards, and Performance Descriptors

Illinois schools are guided by the ISBE Social and Emotional Learning Standards, organized into three overarching goals:

Goal 1: Develop self-awareness and self-management skills to achieve school and life success.
Goal 2: Use social awareness and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive relationships.
Goal 3: Demonstrate decision-making skills and responsible behaviors in personal, school, and community contexts.

The performance descriptors (Pre-K, Grades K-1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grades 9-10, Grades 11-12) outline what these skills look like developmentally across bands from Pre-K through 12th grade, and should be used to:

Identify the target SEL skill
Design learning experiences that support skill development
Observe and reflect on progress over time

How to Use the Performance Descriptors

Select a skill to focus on
Embed the skill into community meetings and/or academic instruction
Provide space for students to apply and reflect on the skill.

Classroom Meetings

Classroom Meetings provide a consistent, structured routine that nurtures a sense of belonging, emotional safety, and positive relationships. This routine is effective across PreK-12 and can be adapted for virtual or hybrid formats. Classroom meetings occur twice daily:

An Opening Meeting to begin the learning day, orient students to each other, and support emotional readiness.
A Closing Meeting to reflect, reinforce skill use, and support emotional regulation before transition or dismissal.

The structure remains the same in remote/hybrid learning; what changes is the mode of participation.

Classroom Meeting Handbook- Updated with Adaptations_Feb21.docx

Opening Meetings (10-16 minutes)

Greeting (3 minutes): Sets the tone for a sense of belonging. Every student is acknowledged as a valued and present member of the community.

Virtual adaptations:

- Allow students to greet using chat, emojis, reactions, name cards, or voice.
- Maintain a camera-optional norm; students can still be seen by name, presence, and response.

Community Check-In (2-5 minutes): This is a brief routine designed to promote emotional awareness. The goal is to help students name feelings without judgment and learn that all emotions are welcome.

Virtual adaptations:

- Offer multiple check-in modes, including chat, emojis, polls, a color/mood meter, and more.
- Normalize emotional variation

Share and Respond (5-8 minutes): This activity supports listening, empathy, perspective-taking, and communication skills.

Virtual adaptations:

- Use structured turn-taking
- Use sentence stems for supportive responses
- I heard you say…
- I can relate because…
- Something I’m wondering is…

Closing Meetings (10-15 minutes)

Activity and Debrief (15 minutes): The purpose is to apply targeted SEL skills and reflect on progress, and provide guided practice for the specific SEL skills you are working on.

- The activity should be short, structured, and applied to real life.

Virtual adaptations:

- Provide visual instructions in the chat or on screen.
- Offer choices for participation (voice, chat, or shared doc/journal).
- Provide debriefing opportunities for students to make sense of their experiences.

Important reminders for virtual/hybrid classroom meetings:

Participation should be flexible. Students may contribute by mic, chat, emojis, or shared work.

Camera use should never be required to be considered present or engaged.

Structure creates safety. The routine stays the same even if the content varies.

Chicago Public Schools-Supported SEL Curricular Models

Teachers who are implementing SEL skill instruction through a formal curriculum (e.g., Second Step, Wayfinder, Harmony Academy) are encouraged to continue using their materials to provide weekly SEL lessons, homebound materials, and extra activities via Google Classroom and resources/packets shared with parents.
For schools that were not implementing a weekly, specific curriculum, teachers may choose from any of the resources linked on this page.
To better sustain implementation and create continuity across grades once school resumes, it is best that teachers collectively agree on what SEL curriculum the school should adopt while schools are closed.
Teachers and school leaders can consult with their Network SEL Specialist and the Skills Instruction and Assessment Team (healingcentered@cps.edu) for assistance in selecting a curriculum or program that meets the specific needs of their school and students.

Grades PreK-8

Second Step is a research-based, teacher-informed, and classroom-tested curriculum to promote the social-emotional development, safety, and well-being of children from Early Learning through Grade 8. Second Step has developed resources to help teachers, students and families to navigate virtual learning included below.

Strategies for adapting the Second Step® Elementary digital program remotely:

The lessons in the Second Step® Elementary digital program were designed to be taught in person, but with some modifications they can be just as effective when delivered remotely. There’s no single approach to modifying that works for all classrooms. The best adaptations for a lesson will depend on the technology tools available to you and your students, and on your knowledge of what works best for your kids. For example, besides your students’ learning preferences, you know how your individual students’ access to the Internet, stress levels, and privacy concerns affect their ability to participate in online instruction. When adapting a lesson, it may help to think about the purpose of lesson elements and instructional strategies in order to find an equivalent that works for your situation.

Mind Yeti: English / Spanish

Mind Yeti mindfulness sessions are designed to help kids calm their minds, focus their attention, and connect better to the world around them by building awareness.

Harmony SEL is a CASEL SELect social and emotional learning (SEL) program for PreK–6th grade. We encourage schools to utilize Harmony’s Digital Everyday Practices, including Meet Up and Buddy Up, to embed SEL throughout the school day. Harmony’s curricular resources are also available online, with remote learning guidance available with each lesson.

Harmony Professional Learning: Harmony Professional Learning™ supports and inspires the Whole Educator in Pre-K to 12th grade as they build instructional practices and healthy relationships in classrooms.

National University’s SEL Playbook: This website is designed to help teachers, parents, and counselors apply SEL in their schools. Each playbook on our website features in-action scenarios, steps for classroom implementation of SEL, guided reflections, and a place to share your own ideas and best practices. You will find strategies that encourage educators to be agents of change and support for educating the whole child.

Grades 9-12

Wayfinder is a CASEL SELect Tier 1 SEL approach, developed within the secondary setting, centering the unique needs and interests of high school students. The program centers SEL skill development around purpose and belonging, and aligns to College and Career Readiness Standards. Educators utilizing Wayfinder can access and project resources virtually to students by logging into their account through Clever. View Wayfinder's Virtual Teaching Best Practices guide here.

Overcoming Obstacles is a non-profit that provides access to free, high-quality K-12 life skills activities to teach students how to learn and apply social-emotional skills, including communicating effectively, achieving meaningful goals, and making good decisions. The entire curriculum is available to download for free from their digital library.

Additional Resources to Supplement and Enhance Tier 1 SEL

Chicago Public Schools’ Library Department makes numerous E-Books available to CPS educators and students from their database website. Consider locating one of these SEL-themed titles on their site for a virtual read-aloud and discussion.
Overcoming Obstacles: A free, downloadable SEL curriculum for Elementary, Middle, and High School Students.
Facing History and Ourselves offers numerous, high-quality, SEL-aligned resources available for free with an account, many of which are adaptable for virtual instruction.
Common Sense: SEL in Digital Life Resource Center provides CASEL-aligned activities, family conversation starters, and professional development resources.

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