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How can we explicitly teach executiveÌýfunctioning toÌýbe successful with SEL inÌýthe classroom?

Why is this an important question?

We want to build community in the class,Ìýcreate a safeÌýlearningÌýenvironment,Ìýincrease instructional timeÌýandÌýhave our students recognize the size ofÌýtheir problemsÌýand useÌýstrategies toÌýhelpÌýsolve them.Ìý​

Self-regulated students will be able to meetÌýtheir fullÌýpotential, have more confidenceÌýand be able to workÌýwell with others.

What were you noticing about learners?

We are still seeing the effects of the pandemic on social interactionsÌýand levels of anxiety.Ìý​

There areÌýa number ofÌýstudents who are entering in-person school forÌýthe first time and struggling with basic routines andÌýsocial interactionsÌýwith peers and adults.​

We are noticing more challenges with self-management (regulation),Ìýlack of focus, harder to transition, taking a lot longerÌýto do simple tasksÌýin the classroom, and more interruptions to deal withÌýbehaviours.​

Overall, we have noticed that students feel overwhelmedÌýmuchÌýquicker.Ìý In previous years, there were only a fewÌýstudentsÌýthatÌýneeded direct instruction on self-regulation. Currently,Ìýthe majorityÌýofÌýthe class needs explicit support and directÌýinstruction.Ìý

What actions were taken?

• We wanted to gather baseline data on our studentsÌýabout their emotional well-being and their ability toÌýrecognize and regulate their feelings.​
• We created 3 questions with prompts to help keepÌýconsistency amongst the two classes.​
• ​Before asking the questions, we taught a lessonÌýabout the term "belonging" to give the students aÌýcommon understanding about the meaning of theÌýword.​
• ​We pulled students 1:1 to ask them the 3 questionsÌýand scribed their answers.​

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What Actions are you taking?

We are using the Zones of Regulation. We have integratedÌýthis framework and vocabularyÌýin daily routines (morningÌýcheck in), curriculum (cross-curricular tie ins) and addressingÌýspecific emergent issues.Ìý Ìý​

We have tried to provide students with physical self-regulating tools such as: resist bands on chair legs, noise-muffling headphones, fidget toys, wobble chairs, stabilizationÌýcushions, breathing exercisesÌýand glitter bottles in addition toÌýthe strategies provided in Zones.ÌýSome of these tools haveÌýbeen more successful than others.Ìý​

There areÌýa number ofÌýschool events that have addressedÌýthese themes including: Prides (Family Teams), KindnessÌýWeek, and 12 Days of Kindness Challenge.

What have you learned so far?

Direct instruction needs a lot of practice and re-enforcement.Ìý​

The personal relationships and connections that studentsÌýhave with adults and each other have a strong effect onÌýtheir ability to apply directly taught strategies.ÌýÌý​

Students across the self-regulation continuum are highlyÌýengaged in these topics. Direct teaching SEL has beenÌýhelping individuals recognize and self- regulate, and it hasÌýalso been helping other students empathize and considerÌýothers' perspectives. Students are recognizing how theirÌýbehaviourÌýcan positively or negatively affect one another.Ìý​

Building the bridge between home life and school life is anÌýimportant pillar of the implementation of Zones and theÌýconsistency in our practice.

We noticed:​

A number ofÌýthe students are new to our school, and we wereÌýsurprised that many of them report that theyÌýget alongÌýwithÌýeveryone and felt connected.Ìý​

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The students' comments were not always aligned with theÌýprompts provided toÌýthem.​

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We are wondering:​

What can weÌýimplement to improve outcomes?​

• Continued follow up lessons on belongingÌý​

• Empathy buildingÌý​

• Continue to practice the strategies in their toolkits​

• Continue to teach SEL lessons​

• A professional learning book club​

• How can we expand our practice into the local community?​

• Can guests come in or can we go beyond theÌýschool?​

• Can we add more questions into our survey for May?​

• Can we alter our prompts or not give any?

How has your inquiry made a difference?

• Students are moreÌýself-awareÌýand some are more aware of others' emotions.​

• They can recognize their emotions and name them.Ìý​

• They can find a calm down strategy that works for them.​

• They understand the word "trigger" and know what triggers them.​

• Throughout the year, we have paused other lessons because students areÌýunregulated and have taken time to address theirÌýsocial-emotional needs asÌýa class so the learning can take place.​

• Students have maintained engagementÌýall year on these topics.​

• Parents have asked, and we have been able to share the concrete programsÌýand steps we worked on. Some parents have been able to continue to useÌýthe language at home.​

• Students have Increased independence in problem solving during recess andÌýlunch.​

• Teachers have had to spendÌýless time "fighting fires".​

• Students have increased confidence to persist and are more resilient.​

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What has been noticed?

• As time went on, we organically moved the direction of the implementation away from our initial question.ÌýOur question was veryÌýbroad, and we chose to focus on self-management (self- regulation) because we found that our students needed.​

• Our inquiry took place in two classrooms with two distinct class make ups. This led to two distinct paths targeted and tailored to twoÌýdistinct class makeÌý.ÌýÌý​

• Questions:Ìý​

• What is the best sequence to teach these skills and use the various programs,ÌýieÌýTeach Zones first and then MindÌýUp​

• How can we implement further lunch and learn or collaborative opportunities with more school staff?​

• How to select which is the next book or resource to look at?​

• Where can further funding be accessed for seating, tools and other self-managementÌýimplements.​

• How does schoolÌýdemographicsÌýinfluence our approach?Ìý​

• How doÌýhome environments influence the effectiveness of our approach?​

• How do we take whatÌýwe'veÌýlearned at the classroom level to implement it across the school?​

• -Do we need to update our matrix?​

• Data: We wish weÌýhad hard numbers on how many "melt downs" occurred at the beginning of this cycle.Ìý We suspect thatÌýweÌýhaveÌýhad less as time goes on or that the nature orÌýcauseÌýof them have changed.​

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