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The Write Stuff Teaching

Helping Teachers Inspire Learners

Social Awareness in the Classroom

There’s nothing like being away to learn a very good lesson.  The classroom is ticking along nicely, the students are practicing their self regulation skills, and we are all learning to be more mindful.

That is really saying A LOT given where the students were when I got them.  They are one of THOSE  classes.  But are they really?  I was prepared, given some of the things I knew about last year.

I have had a wonderful year of getting to know these kids. They are one bright group of diverse learners!

So when I began my mindful learning and personal awareness teaching with them as part of their social and emotional learning this year, I was very pleased with how they responded.   That’s not to say that they are perfect but they have learned a lot and we practice this daily.  Until…..
I was away for an inservice and professional development this week.  Oh dear.

When I returned, I could feel the VIBE in the room.  It was very energetic and the kids were NOT listening.  It seems they were running their own show again like they did at the beginning of the year.
This was not right.  This was not what we had all worked so hard for since September. I knew I needed to reflect and rethink this.

In designing programming for social and emotional learning in my classroom, my main goal is that these skills become innate and we can build on them from there.  There are no points, no endless candies or rewards. The rewards are that the teacher is happy, therefore the kids are happy and that equates to a good day.

So when I was away I was a bit surprised at the feel in the room when I arrived for the afternoon session.  There was a short time before the kids went to Gym and Music so I decided I would start on this the very next day as opposed to right away.

I had been away before and it was not a big deal but this time it was over a couple of days. I reflected about what was possibly to blame for this lapse in awareness.  Was it just as simple as the fact that they are only 7 and 8 years old? Perhaps. But as I pondered my next steps, I realized that maybe I had missed the sign that these students were ready to move beyond themselves. I had spent a longer than usual time on the self awareness due to the nature of the kids.

The next day I started a lesson on Social Awareness.  I usually move my students on to social awareness by moving from self to classroom to outside of classroom ( see info here ). This time, I had a real world NEED for students to reflect on what it means to be socially aware. I talked to them about what it felt like to walk back into the classroom and the vibe I felt.  Through discussion, we came up with these 3 principles for social awareness.

Social Awareness 3 things

Students wrote these down in the speech bubble and then got to work on writing about how OTHERS would feel if…  We talked about some name calling that had happened and some behavioral things that may go on within the classroom like calling out etc.  How would your friend feel…how would the teacher feel…why does this matter?  I purposely used the term CLASSMATE (and I explained this) because not everyone in your classroom is necessarily your FRIEND but they are your classmate and they have feelings.  I think that was an important distinction to make.

Here are a few samples of what the social awareness lesson produced. (Sorry for the bad pictures.)

It was interesting as one student decided to take the perspective of what was happening at the present moment. He missed the intention of the lesson BUT he was listening intently and had written that he thought the kids were happy that we were learning about this and that the teacher is a good teacher so she should feel PROUD.  Wow, that was coming from someone who doesn’t necessarily have good days all of the time.  It was an ah-ha moment for him and and for me.

If you’d like to grab a free copy of this lesson, please click on the picture below.  Send me some feedback on this resource and let me know what you think.  Receiving feedback on TPT helps me design new lessons and resources that you need for your classroom.

If you would like to see a bundle of mindfulness resources for your classroom, click here.

Thanks for reading and I hope you find it useful.

Social Awareness

Shelley The Write Stuff Teaching
« The Leader in YOU – Bright Ideas January
New Teacher Series: Writing Essentials »

Comments

  1. Debra says

    January 24, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    Thanks, Shelley. My kids could really benefit from this (and the original lessons Mindful Brains, Mindful Hearts-on my wish list). Do you have a pdf of the Social Awareness poster some where? Love your work!
    ~from Ontario where it is cold and snowy

    Reply
  2. Shelley says

    January 24, 2015 at 7:32 pm

    Hi Debra,

    You're welcome and YES! I added that poster to the file and updated it with a new link. Thanks for letting me know it wasn't there! Thank you for visiting and your kind words. BC is a balmy 10 degrees. 🙂

    Shelley

    Reply
  3. Owl Things First says

    January 25, 2015 at 2:55 am

    Thank you so much for these wonderful materials. Having a new student who struggles with social interaction, I know that this packet will help him and the other students to be more understanding. This is brilliant!!
    Jenny

    Reply
    • Shelley says

      January 25, 2015 at 4:55 pm

      That is such a tricky one Jenny. I wish you luck and I hope this helps you!

      Shelley

      Reply
  4. Sonja says

    January 25, 2015 at 6:20 am

    This looks fantastic! I will definitely be teaching this lesson this week. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Shelley says

      January 25, 2015 at 4:55 pm

      Thank you Sonja!

      Shelley

      Reply
  5. Debra says

    January 25, 2015 at 2:10 pm

    Thanks, Shelley! BTW, your new website design looks fabulous!

    Reply
    • Shelley says

      January 25, 2015 at 4:56 pm

      You're welcome! Thanks so much for the compliment! I just love it!

      🙂 Shelley

      Reply
  6. Megan says

    January 25, 2015 at 9:06 pm

    Thank you! I have one of *those* classes this year, and this lesson would really help us!

    Reply
  7. Shelley says

    January 27, 2015 at 3:10 am

    Great to hear Megan! Thanks so much for stopping by!

    🙂 Shelley

    Reply

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