RULER
What is RULER?
RULER is an evidence-based approach to social-emotional learning (SEL) that teaches the skills of emotional intelligence and supports the school community in:
Understanding the value of emotions
Building the skills of emotional intelligence
Creating and maintaining a positive school climate.
Developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, RULER stands
RECOGNIZING emotions in oneself and others
UNDERSTANDING the causes and consequences of emotions
LABELING emotions with a nuanced vocabulary
EXPRESSING emotions in accordance with cultural norms and social context
REGULATING emotions with helpful strategies
By integrating these principles into education, RULER helps reduce problematic behavior, build positive relationships, and boost academic achievement.
Emotions Matter
Research shows that emotions (and what we do with them) influence:
Attention, memory, and learning
Decision making and judgement
Relationship quality
Creativity
Physical and mental wellbeing
Our ability to form and maintain healthy relationships
At home, at school, and at work!
RULER is not just for students, but adults too!
By recognizing the importance of emotions in our daily effectiveness, RULER seeks to integrate emotional intelligence principles into the very fabric of each school. This approach influences how leaders lead, teachers teach, students learn, and families support students.
How RULER Works Brochure for Families- from Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence
How is RULER Implemented at Odyssey
Adult Personal and Professional Awareness: RULER starts with teachers, school leaders, and staff members in our school community learning and practicing emotional intelligence skills. We begin with the adults because to teach and model these skills effectively, we must use them ourselves.
Student Integration: Students begin the first six weeks of school with daily RULER lessons. After this initial period, RULER lessons are scheduled every Friday. Throughout the school day, students consistently use RULER tools, such as checking in on the Mood Meter to recognize and manage their emotions, using Meta-Moments to be their best selves, and employing Blueprint reflections to handle conflicts with peers. These practices help students build and maintain emotional intelligence, enhancing their personal and social interactions.
As we practice and improve our skills, we observe the positive effects emotional intelligence has on our relationships with families, friends, and colleagues. The more we incorporate emotional intelligence into our daily lives, the better we can model these skills.
Terminology
What is Social Emotional Learning (SEL)?
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults understand and mangage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions (CASEL 2024).
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is what we “do” with our emotions. It is the guide to understanding the role of our emotions, the information we gain from them and our ability to manage them. These are skills we need to be successful at home, at school, at work, and in life.
RULER Tools
The RULER program emphasizes four essential tools that students, staff, and parents should master. These tools are designed for use not only in the classroom but also in everyday life.
Strategies for Enhancing Family Bonds
To foster stronger family relationships, it's important to recognize, understand, label, express, and regulate emotions. Here are some practical tips to improve emotional well-being and strengthen family connections.
Explore these valuable strategies that everyone can implement to support better family dynamics. Click the links below to download your tipsheet.
The Mood Meter:
The Mood Meter is a tool designed to enhance self and social awareness for people of all ages. It helps us comprehend how our emotions impact our thoughts and behavior, enabling us to recognize, label, and manage our full range of emotions more effectively. These skills improve our interactions with others and help us make better life choices. Emotions can be understood as a combination of our level of pleasantness and the amount of energy we have
Resources By Grade
Kindergarten 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Middle School
The Charter:
The Classroom Charter builds and sustains positive emotional climates by creating agreed-upon norms for how people want to feel and how they help each other to experience those feelings.
The Charter is guided by two questions:
1. How do you want to feel when we’re together?
2. How will we help each other have these feelings more often
Resources By Grade
Kindergarten 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Middle School
The Meta-Moment:
The Meta-Moment is a process that helps us extend the time between being triggered and responding. By taking Meta-Moments, we stay true to our values over time. With practice, our responses become more deliberate and skillful. Even in intense emotional situations, we can pause, envision our 'best self,' and select a constructive strategy.
Step 1: Sense
Step 2: Pause
Step 3: See your "best self"
Step 4: Strategize and act
Step 5: Debrief
Resources By Grade
Kindergarten 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Middle School
The Blueprint:
The Blueprint supports the development of empathy and conflict resolution skills by serving as a guide for reflecting on conflict and restoring effects. The Blueprint offers a series of questions that can be applied to nearly any conflict situation. First, you answer the questions from your own perspective, then you reflect on the same questions from the viewpoint of the other person involved.
1. What happened?
2. How did I feel?
3. What caused my feelings?
4. How did I express and regulate my emotions?
5. How might my actions have affected others?
6. Next time, keeping my Best Self in mind, how might I respond differently?
Resources By Grade
Odyssey RULER Videos
Conversation Starters About Emotions
Conversation starters are intended to encourage your family to discuss social and emotional skills at home. These activities come in three categories: "Talk About It," "Do It Together," and "Did You Notice?"
Download the conversation starters tailored to your child's age by clicking the links below.
Conversation Starters Grades K-1
Additional RULER Information
Recommended Reading from RULER
Permission to Feel, by Marc Brackett, Ph.D
Pride and Joy, by Kenneth Barish, Ph.D
Creating Compassionate Kids, by Shauna Tominey, Ph.D
Peaceful Parents, Happy Kids; How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting, by Dr. Laura Markham
No Drama Discipline:The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind, by Dan Siegel, M.D.
Emotionally Intelligent Parenting, How to Raise a Self-Disciplined, Responsible, Socially Skilled Child, by Maurice Elias, Ph.D, Steven Tobias, Psy.D, & Brian S. Friedlander, Ph.D
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, & Listen So Kids Will Talk, by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
Raising Emotionally Intelligent Teenagers, by Maurice Elias, Steven Tobias, Brian Friedlander
Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers, by Mike Riera
What Great Parents Do, by Erica Reischer, Ph.D
How to Build Emotional Resilience in Your Kids: 7 Expert Tips for Story Time, by Lynda Dell
Resources:
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning- https://casel.org/
RULER Online https://www.rulerapproach.org/
University of New Hampshire- https://unhconnect.unh.edu/