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Social and Emotional Learning in the Age of COVID

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

After COVID-19 took learning out of the school building and into the virtual world, three priorities became apparent to Ryan Tienhaara, school counselor and ACP coordinator at Rhinelander High School: clear communication, student/family well-being, and establishing routines.

Students across the spectrum—from 4.0 students to those who have struggled academically, homeless students, and others—all were challenged as routines were upended, social connections were redefined, and events were cancelled. And while mobile hotspots and virtual learning were deployed to address academic needs, it was clear that strategies were also needed to shore up students’ basic needs, mental health well-being, and social-emotional learning—the social-emotional readiness that is a cornerstone of Academic and Career Planning (ACP) and foundational for many of the top 10 soft skills for career-ready students.

“I think the biggest thing that [we did was] to be in contact as much as we [could] with both students and families, and the ‘how’ just changed because of COVID 19,” says Tienhaara. The “how” came in the form of personalized contact with families and students through emails, phone calls, and Google Voice/Meet/Zoom. Tienhaara made more frequent contact with struggling students to assess needs and support, and scheduled weekly check-ins. Many parents were incredibly receptive to this communication.

“Honestly, I’ve found a big thing that seems to help the students is to tell them that I believe in them and that they can do it!” he says. Many of his students told him that his words helped keep them moving in the right direction.

Another big priority was student/family well-being, which involved practicing self-care, or compassion resilience. As the saying goes, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” So mental health support staff (school counselors, social workers, and psychologists) worked at getting students to focus on things they could control.

The idea, says Tianhaara, was to offer “ways to cope and figure out how to move forward so we could get back to having those conversations about postsecondary plans.”

Strategies came in the form of wellness challenges: mindfulness and apps to helps students refocus; exercise challenges to get them out and moving; and creation challenges using their hobbies to make something.

Self-care is also vital for educators. Modeling self-kindness, addressing stress, and using relaxation strategies make it possible for educators to provide the kind of support students need. Through both communicating and supporting student/family well-being, Tianhaara helped build new routines for his students as well as himself.

Physical distancing will continue for the foreseeable future; however, the need for social connections has not changed. Students, families, and communities continue to rely on connections to plan and prepare for postsecondary options.

—Madeline Tolkan Conrad, LCSW, Academic, Behavior and Mental Health Intervention Specialist, CESA 9

For more on social and emotional learning, go to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), a trusted source for knowledge about high-quality, evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL).