MEDWAY –Superintendent Armand Pires is pleased to share that educators at Medway Middle and High Schools are developing plans to better support social-emotional learning in all subject areas starting this fall.
The district has partnered on the project with Teachers21, a nonprofit, and William James College, who have developed a partnership to offer social emotional consulting services to schools.
Volunteer groups of teachers and administrators at both schools met with a consultant from Teachers 21 for the first time early this April, and will meet with the consultants again before the end of the school year and during the 2019-20 school year.
During these meetings, educators are developing methods to incorporate into daily classroom life the five “core competencies” for social-emotional learning outlined by CASEL, an educational organization that offers resources to teachers looking to reinforce social emotional learning in their schools. These competencies include self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision making, relationship skills and social awareness.
Starting this fall, the schools will introduce teaching practices, procedures and routines to support the development of these skills. For example, a teacher might reinforce social awareness by asking students to reflect on their collaboration with others during a group project.
“Our goal is to come out of this planning with universal practices and structures the whole school can adopt to support social-emotional learning,” said Director of Wellness Ryan Sherman. “Making it routine to practice skills like self-awareness and self-management in the classroom will help students hone these competencies and become stronger learners.”
The district has also worked to support social-emotional learning at the elementary level. Medway elementary schools implemented Responsive Classroom learning this fall, an evidence-based approach to supporting the development of social-emotional skills. This approach empowers students through engagement and positive interactions with one another, their teachers and school staff throughout the day.
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