On March 10, 2023, classrooms around the world will come together to celebrate World SEL Day. This year’s theme is “Energizing the Heart, Connecting the Mind.” The annual event connects schools and communities around the world to promote social emotional learning (SEL), and help students develop lifelong wellness skills. help students develop lifelong wellness skills.
Microsoft is proud to support students’ academic, social, and emotional well-being by providing powerful technology and resources to help students develop future-ready skills such as self-awareness and social, self-management, and responsible decision-making.
“Social and emotional skills are an important ingredient for success. Also, they contribute to well-being. We know that intelligence is not enough to ensure that children succeed in school or go on to be happy, healthy, and productive adults.” –Mark Sparvell, Director Marketing Education at Microsoft Education and an Emotional Intelligence Society of Australia ambassador.
Importance of SEL
Understanding our feelings, connections, and relationships is an important part of being human. Just as students may need help learning to balance equations in their chemistry class, many people need help learning how to balance their relationships, emotions, and feelings. These social and emotional skills are important for children and can be supported at home and at school.
School stakeholders recognize the benefits of developing these skills in students. More than 90 percent of parents They want their students to develop life skills such as setting goals and believing in themselves. For educators, 93 percent want a greater focus on SEL in schools and 80 percent believe that positive emotions — a common outcome of developing SEL skills — is critical for academic success.
The impact of SEL extends to academics as well. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), students who participate in a well-rounded SEL program grew 11 percentile points academically. And researchers found a positive effect on students decades later.
Celebrate, uplift, and connect
Many educators may be wondering how to introduce SEL into their classrooms, schools, or communities. The International SEL Day team has developed a useful toolkits and resources to introduce SEL to communities. Also new this year is an online SEL Summit with keynote speakers, resources for families and classrooms, and data showing the benefits of SEL for students.
Sign up to participate in SEL Day 2023!
Join Marcus Stroman for a Flip Event on self-care
Instructors can also introduce students to Microsoft Flip, a video-based discussion platform, to help facilitate connections and conversations in the classroom. Flip the hosts regularly Flip Events which connects students with authors, experts, and other students.
On March 30, 2023 at 10am PT, Marcus Stroman, a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, hosts an authentic talk about the importance of taking care of your mind and body. Marcus will share his story and experience of overcoming doubt as well as tips and advice on how students can believe more in themselves and find their inner balance.
Tools to help develop SEL skills
Microsoft Reflect is a Learning Accelerator in Microsoft Teams for Education that uses daily check-ins, academic reflection, and emotional vocabulary to help students develop social and emotional skills. Through regular check-ins that only take a few moments, students and teachers can communicate feelings, notice emotional patterns, and offer support to help cope. the individual needs of each student.
Reflect offers many features to support social and emotional growth.
- Emotional Vocabulary. Students can refine their emotional vocabulary with the help of animated Feeling Monsters that represent emotions.
Screenshot of a Reflect check-in
- Academic reflection. Students can engage in reflection about their learning experiences alongside the course content.
Screenshot of a teacher doing a Reflect check-in
- Actionable data. Educators can access Reflect data in Education Insights to help shine a light on individuals, classes, or school-wide trends or areas of concern.
Screenshot of Reflect data in Education Insights
- Connected apps. Reflect appears in commonly used Microsoft Education tools like Teams for Education and OneNote Class Notebooks as well as PowerPoint presentations, Flip topics, and Kahoot! Tests.
- Build vocabulary and navigate emotions. Explore PowerPoint templates which helps students better understand their feelings.
- Facilitate SEL discussions. Include one of the 26 Reflections discussion topics on Flip.
- Develop emotional skills. Behavior Hoot! tests to initiate conversations in the classroom about feelings and well-being practices.
Pivoting focus in the classroom
All Hallows’ School in Brisbane, Australia has a unique approach to identifying and meeting the needs of their students. Used by the school Microsoft Reflect to capture and analyze student well-being data for both short-term and long-term trends. This may mean pivoting from planned instruction to meet an immediate need or may lead to developing school-wide solutions for larger trends.
“I look at a snapshot of the class and see how my class felt that day. I read their responses and it shows me, on an individual basis, if I need to touch base with specific students. Maybe I can see that they’re a little overwhelmed right now, and I can chat with them to help them hear and develop strategies to reduce that stress. Or I know that I need to slow down, to stop moving through the material at my normal speed. – Steve Crapnell, Head of Digital Pedagogy at All Hallows’ School
Learn more about the story of All Hollows’ School.
Energize students and connect with others from around the world through celebration World SEL Day on March 10 and using powerful Microsoft technology to help students develop important social and emotional skills throughout the school year.