Teaching Social, Emotional Skills Critical in Pandemic

 

For Bryant Atencia, the social and emotional well-being¹ of his students is more important than his lesson plans.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected² students and their families in Laguna Province in the Philippines, where he teaches high school. Students are also facing what he calls a "huge adjustment" to distance learning.

Atencia told VOA that before the health crisis³ started, he mainly taught from books and gave tests on the material.

"But now, I try to touch the emotion, touch base with the students and their parents. I try to build up the relationship that would make the students more comfortable in taking lessons online."

Right now, teachers around the world are amending⁵ their lesson plans for online learning. So, teaching social-emotional skills, or SEL, may not be high on their to-do list. Yet some experts say these skills are more critical than ever.

Hope floats

Christina Cipriano is director of research at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence at Yale University in Connecticut. In an open letter to teachers after schools closed in March, she wrote, "Now is when we need to apply everything we've learned about SEL." She added that these are "real skills that can support us in managing the rollercoaster of emotions we will be having over the coming days and months."

Atencia, who also trains teachers and teaches English at another job, was ready for whatever came. In May, he took online trainings on SEL and how to use it in the classroom.

One month before his high school students began classes, he held weekly Zoom⁶ video conference meetings with them. His goals were getting students excited about distance learning and identifying their skills and needs.

In one meeting, Atencia put the students into three separate online "rooms" and gave them a creative activity. He wanted to see how well they worked independently and in groups, and which ones would need the most support going forward.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, or CASEL, is a research and training organization. It divides social-emotional skills into five areas. They are recognizing and controlling one's emotions; setting and reaching positive goals; showing sympathy for other people; developing and keeping positive relationships; and making responsible decisions.

The Yale center's research found that emotions like happiness and curiosity support a person's ability to pay attention and have greater involvement in school. But emotions like anxiety and fear, especially over long periods, hurt one's ability to think clearly.

Aileen Watts⁷ has witnessed this kind of anxiety in students firsthand.

In her 20 years of teaching, she has worked with students from all walks of life, including those who were homeless and those requiring special education. She has also taught Iraqi children living in the United States.

Watts says that, over the years, she has often included some form of SEL in her lessons.

Last year, she taught sixth graders at a school in McLean, Virginia. Some of the students were born in Iraq and had seen friends and family members killed.

Watts said she and other teachers built in activities to help students reduce anxiety. Classes took "brain breaks," which meant stopping the lesson to play a short game or even do a dance. And, if a child was feeling anxious, he or she could partner with someone to help calm those emotions.

"We've discovered that if they're stressed out, they don't take in new information. They don't participate."

Watts, who is based in Arkansas, has just begun teaching fifth graders online at Fort⁴ Belvoir, a U.S. Army base in Virginia. She said most of the SEL activities are built into the first part of the day and involve relationship building, dealing⁸ with social pressure and recognizing one's strengths and weaknesses.

A recent study of teenagers found that many struggled with depression, anxiety, and sadness during the mass school closures six months ago. Around 40 percent said they had not been offered any social or emotional support by an adult from their school.

Watts told VOA that in addition to pandemic-related stress, spending six hours in an online class daily causes children more stress. So, she says, educators in Fairfax County, Virginia are "desperately⁹ trying" to put together de-stressing activities.

Teachers are human, too

Students are not the only ones facing increased anxiety and stress because of the health crisis.

After the pandemic began, the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence partnered with CASEL on a questionnaire for teachers. Within three days, more than 5,000 responded, saying they most often felt five emotions: anxious, fearful, worried, overcome and sad. Some teachers feared that they or a family member would get COVID-19. Another cause of stress was having to deal with their own needs and their families' needs while working full-time¹⁰ from home. And there was anxiety around using new teaching technologies.

Watts noted¹¹ that the head of one Arkansas school asked its counselors¹² to create de-stressing activities for the teachers. There, the teachers were facing increased pressure from problems involving the new technology. And some have family members who have lost jobs during the pandemic.

Atencia's high school, too, seems to know the value of SEL in the current climate. He has been entrusted¹³ to teach the skills to some of the other teachers.

Words in This Story

lesson - n. a single class or part of a course of instruction

adjustment - n. a change that makes it possible for a person to do better or work better in a new situation

comfortable - adj. causing no worries, difficulty or uncertainty¹⁴

rollercoaster - n. a ride at an amusement park which is like a small, open train with tracks that are high off the ground and that have sharp curves and steep hills

positive - adj. hopeful or optimistic

curiosity - n. the desire to learn or know more about something or someone

anxiety - n. fear or nervousness about what might happen

participate - v. to take part in an activity or event with others

teenager - n. someone who is between 13 and 19 years old

desperately - adv. done in a way that uses all of your strength or energy and with little hope of succeeding

1 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

4 fort   

n.要塞，堡垒，碉堡

参考例句：

• The fort can not be defended against an air attack.这座要塞遭到空袭时无法防御。
• No one can get into the fort without a pass.没有通行证，任何人不得进入要塞。

5 amending   

改良，修改，修订( amend的现在分词 )； 改良，修改，修订( amend的第三人称单数 )( amends的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Amending acts in 1933,1934, and 1935 attempted to help honest debtors rehabilitate themselves. 一九三三年，一九三四年和一九三五年通过的修正案是为了帮助诚实的债务人恢复自己的地位。
• Two ways were used about the error-amending of contour curve. 采用两种方法对凸轮轮廓曲线进行了修正。

6 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

7 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

10 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

13 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。