Tips & Ideas
Guidance and inspiration to help you build skills and community in your classroom and school
Well-facilitated circles can give students a chance to listen and share their thoughts and feelings about difficult or emotional subjects. Here are some suggestions for facilitating a circle in which strong emotions surface.
Encouraging students to use put-ups can improve the climate in your classroom. But many put-ups are about surface qualities. (I like your shoes!) Help students craft deeper put-ups with these simple steps.
Once your students have identified their personal anger triggers, have them share those triggers with each other. This can foster empathy, increase students' awareness of themselves and others, and reduce conflicts.
Sometimes students become aware only later, after reflection, that they could have handled a situation in a better way. Lay the groundwork for students to request a "do-over" so they can address a mistake or misunderstanding after the fact.
Students are often stumped when it comes to finding a resolution to a conflict beyond saying “I’m sorry.” To get over this hump, encourage students to take two additional steps: Ask creative questions to understand the other person’s needs, and make a written commitment to change.
We've been doing circles at my school as a study skills course since the start of the year. It's been challenging when students act out, not respecting the talking piece. It impacts the rest of the group and their willingness to share. Do you have any suggestions of how to handle disruptive behavior...
"I Messages" are a great SEL tool for conveying our emotional needs. But sometimes they can be used to make accusations. We can prevent that from happening with this simple tweak in the I Message format.
Young people can be active allies to someone who is being targeted without directly engaging with the aggressor. Help students learn a safer, non-confrontational way to be an ally: the "Join Us Intervention."
We've been doing circles at my school as a study skills course since the start of the year. It's been challenging when students pass, pass, and pass again. This passing seems to get contagious at times. Do you think it would work to tell students that they can't pass for more than a go round or two...
Deep learning often begins when students start applying the social and emotional skills you’re teaching to real-life problems.Try setting up a space in your classroom where students can cool down, resolve conflicts, and put their new skills to use.