Ali Meehan

In the past several years, social emotional learning has become a hot conversation point in American education. Most schools and teachers seem on board with the movement, aiming to implement lesson plans that support students coping mechanisms and emotional health. In fact, “in a nationally representative survey, half of pre-K-12 principals agreed with this desire for additional teacher professional learning on SEL” (Stickle 2019). Unfortunately, however, likely due to time and financial constraints, “Teachers report limited training and confidence in supporting students’ social and emotional development” (Stickle 2019). As a member of the Billiken Teacher Corps, I have been blessed with the time and opportunity to delve into some of these social emotional teaching concepts, as well as various strategies to support students in the classroom. These are lessons and techniques that I hope to utilize regularly in my own classroom, but also hope to share with my colleagues to help support their students as well.