Social Emotional Learning in the Early Years

It. Is. Everything.

It’s in our conversations, our classroom setup, our read-alouds, and the activities we do, and it is a key lens to look through as we plan for learning. Here is a sketchnote from a professional development session I attended (virtually) in early May that shows some important examples and ideas of how social emotional learning can happen and be supported:

Emotional Regulation Resources by Dr. Jody Carrington

I highly recommend seeking out any of Dr. Jody Carrington’s fabulous work to learn more about the importance of emotional regulation, and how we can model and support it:

• I read her book Kids These Days.
• I participated in her online course How to Connect with Kids These Days.
• I sign up for her workshops and speaking events every chance I get. My first time hearing her speak was at the beginning of my first year teaching in Alberta, and it was what I needed to hear and keep on hearing.
  • You can find a sketchnote I made about her Connecting in COVID-19 workshop that she provided for the Alberta Teachers Association in May of this year on this blog post.
  • I am also signed up for her upcoming FREE Workshop on August 14th: The Mental Health of Kids These Days in the Classroom. (Update: I added my sketchnote from this session below.)
  • I was absolutely thrilled to win a ticket to her RELIT 2020 event from a giveaway by the wonderful Laurie MacIntosh. The theme is Bring Your Brave, and that is such an important message – now and always. Thank you so much to Dr. Jody & Laurie for the ticket and the Bring Your Brave goodies that will serve as lovely reminders for me!
    • Laurie is writing a book called Teachers These Days with Dr. Jody Carrington and I can’t wait to read it!

More Resources

• This week I soaked up the “Clear + Vivid” podcast episode where Alan Alda and Dr. Brené Brown discuss Empathy, Courage, and Where They Come From.
  • Dr. Brené Brown has a Daring Classrooms Hub and a lot of free downloads on her website.
  • I also highly recommend all of the episodes of Dr. Brené Brown’s podcast “Unlocking Us”.
• MindUP resources for mindfulness and social emotional learning based on neuroscience
• Here is a UDL (Universal Design for Learning) blog post about a session by Kristin Wiens that I attended 5 years ago. Check out her website North Star Paths for more resources.
• Mme Mariah of A Playful Purpose creates resources for sensory play, outdoor education, and mindfulness, both in French and in English. Check out my blog post from the Bilingual Educators Virtual Summit 2020 for my sketchnote on her session for nurturing calm.
• My recent blog post about the Play First Summit has a lot of ideas on the importance of play for social emotional learning.
• Le fil invisible (The Invisible String) is a beautiful book about missing people and connection. Click here for a story I shared on my Instagram account about why it is so important in my personal history as an educator.

What are your favourite resources, activities, or other ideas for nurturing social emotional learning in the early years?