SEL Activities

Below you will find several social-emotional learning activites we use as a counseling department to help students learn and develop social and emotional learning. Some of these activities work best in a classroom setting.

1. Mindfulness: Studies have shown that mindfulness can reduce stress by taking the time of being present and in the moment.

-Visualization to release stress: Imagine what your current stressors look like, what they feel like inside of your body and then release them.

-Noise isolation: There are a variety of sounds that can be heard within a classroom. Have students focus on one noise only and describe it to themselves and recall a previous time where they interacted with it.

2. Name an emotion you're bringing to class: Have each student call out the emotion that they are feeling. The can help students know how they and other students are feeling, what different emotions look like, and how to better interact with their peers based on how they are feeling.

3. Write down, rip up and throw away your stress: Have students write down their expectations and insecurities, rip them up, and throw them away. This emotional check-in takes three minutes. By acknowledging how your students are feeling at the start of class, you'll acknowledge their barriers to learning and create a safe space for students to overcome.

4. Growth Mindset v. Fixed Mindset sharout: Have studnets share moments whent they have demonstrated a growth and fixed mindset among the class.

5. Quote of the day: Introduce a quote relevant to what your students are learning or to a shared experience. You can facilitate a whole-class discussion, group students into pairs, or have each student share a one-word response to the quote. This gives students the space to reflect on their beliefs and experiences and whether they agree or disagree with the quote and other students' opinions. It also gives students insight into their peers' perspectives and feelings.

6. Starting positive: Have each student tape a sheet of paper to their back and then walk around and write positive qualities about their peers on their backs.

7. Circle sharing: To encourage active listening, create small groups. Have your students position their chairs in a circle so everyone can make eye contact. When discussing emotionally charged topics, its important to have guidelines to foster safe space. Protocols can range on group norms and rules, but it is important to agree on staying engaged, experiencing discomfort, speaking your truth and expect and accept nonclosure.

8. Have a conversation with someone you don't know: Pair students up with someone they may not know that well. Provide the pairs with five questions to ask each other. Each student introduces their partner to the class, speaking as if they were their partner, while the rest of the class looks at thestudent being introduced.

9. Play interest and identity related bingo: Instead of squares filled with numbers or vocabulary words, create cards with information relating to your students. Ideas might be "I like to read" or "I was born in a different country".

10. Appreciation, apology, aha: This activity is set up as a closing. Have students get into a circle and share an appreciation, apology, or realization with the group. It's best to have authentic and timely apologies. Apologizing for something that happened a long time ago has less impact than apologizing for something that happened that day or week. It's important to let student s know that they don't have to name who they're apologizing to when they apologize for what they did. Things that could be shared:

-I would like to appreciate ________ for facilitating the conversation in our small group

-I would like to thank everyone for taking this class seriously

-I apologize to everyone for having my headphones in for half of the time