With back-to-school time, it's important to integrate social emotional learning activities from the start. The good news is that there are countless activities and strategies you can use to build SEL skills with your learners. What is Social Emotional Learning? Social emotional learning is the
12 interactive and fun games to teach self-control and build self-regulation skills for kids and teens. Strong skills for self-control are the foundation for success in and outside of the classroom.
Coping strategies are the skills and activities we use to manage tough emotions. They are critical in helping kids and teens manage stress and persevere through challenges. Lessons and activities to explicitly teach coping skills to kids and teens. Lessons teach a variety of strategies from list
12 interactive and fun games to teach self-control and build self-regulation skills for kids and teens. Strong skills for self-control are the foundation for success in and outside of the classroom.
With back-to-school time, it's important to integrate social emotional learning activities from the start. The good news is that there are countless activities and strategies you can use to build SEL skills with your learners. What is Social Emotional Learning? Social emotional learning is the
Working with kids and young adults who are oppositional can be challenging. Being oppositional might mean refusing to do work, breaking rules, and engaging in other challenging behaviors. The truth is, many kids can be oppositional from time to time, so many of these strategies work with all learner
Being able to de-escalate and defuse situations with kids and young adults is an extremely helpful skill. Kids and young adults who become emotionally overwhelmed or irritated in a situation may begin to express their emotions in challenging ways. Some examples of these behaviors might include aggre
As a middle school special educator, social skills have been one of my favorite areas to teach. These skills are so important but often get left behind, especially in the upper grades. These are a number of roadblocks to teaching social skills to kids and young adults, including now having enough ti
Planning, organization, time management, and self-control. These are just a few of the extremely critical executive functioning skills that we use every day to accomplish tasks and be successful. We use them so regularly that we may forget their importance. But to kids and teens (and yes, even adult
Being a special educator is an amazing title that comes with lots of prep work and responsibility! There are just some resources that a special educator really needs to have in their classroom to help keep them organized, data-driven, and their students on track. Whether you are prepping your classr
Coping strategies are important skills for kids and young adults to learn. These are the activities and strategies we use to help us calm down when we're emotionally overwhelmed. We can probably all think of a few kids and young adults who need extra practice managing their emotions effectively! Tha
All kids benefit from practicing mindfulness. Who wouldn't love the kids and young adults we work with to become more focused, calm, in control, and self-aware? Mindfulness is a technique that can help teach and strengthen those abilities over time. By practicing mindfulness, people can learn to bec
Relationship building is so important!
I absolutely love teaching middle school. Sometimes, though, when people hear that I teach middle school, they seem to feel bad for me. Like middle school is some type of unknown vortex for kids. Maybe that's why I love it so much. It's a time of creativity, instability, and the unknown. It's a time
Pathway 2 Success Resource Library
Kids and young adults need to be able to problem-solve on their own. Every day, kids are faced with a huge number of social situations and challenges. Whether they are just having a conversation with a peer, working with a group on a project, or dealing with an ethical dilemma, kids must use their s
Coping strategies are techniques that help reduce negative feelings when someone is feeling under stress. Those feelings might be the result of anxiety, anger, depression, or just general day-to-day stress. Practicing coping strategies can help kids and young adults learn how to manage their emotion
Social and emotional learning, often known as SEL, is the process that helps kids learn critical skills, attitudes, and mindsets for social and emotional success. These skills cover five major areas: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships, and responsible decision-making. I
Challenges with focus and attention can become a huge roadblock to learning for kids and young adults. Simply put, attention is critical to learning. If students can't focus on the lesson, they are going to struggle with understanding the new content. If students can't focus on the directions, they
Self-regulation is a critical skill for people of all ages. It is the ability that helps us to control our behaviors to make good decisions for the long-term, rather than just doing what we want in the moment. It's also the skill that allows us to manage our emotions when we're feeling angry, disapp
Self-regulation is a critical skill for people of all ages. It is the ability that helps us to control our behaviors to make good decisions for the long-term, rather than just doing what we want in the moment. It's also the skill that allows us to manage our emotions when we're feeling angry, disapp
Kids and young adults need extensive practice in strengthening their executive functioning skills. Executive functions are the processes in our brains that help us accomplish all tasks from beginning to end. We use them when we plan our day, organize our materials, begin a chore, focus on important
The discussion comes up a lot about the difference between modifications and accommodations in the classroom. In the shortest terms, a modification is a significant change to the curriculum for students who are far below grade level expectations. It is changing WHAT kids are learning. An accommodati
Throughout my years teaching middle school, I have had the experience of seeing many "work refusals". These are the situations when kids, for a variety of reasons, just refuse to start the work you give them. They might shut down and rest their head on their desk or lash out in anger, shouting about
Kids and young adults need social-emotional skills to be successful at school, home, and for the rest of their lives. These are the skills that help kids build confidence, understand their own strengths and weaknesses, collaborate with others, navigate social situations, develop strong relationships
The Pathway 2 Success SEL Curriculum is a complete social emotional learning curriculum to teach critical SEL skills for the entire year. It is filled with over 180 lessons and activities targeting social awareness, confidence, SMART goals, social skills, study skills, managing emotions, understandi
Use this craft and activity to teach coping strategies for anxiety, anger, stress, and other strong emotions. Kids and young adults will complete a lesson to learn about coping strategies and then create an ice pop craft with their individualized strategies chosen. This craft includes over 30 unique coping strategies for kids and young adults to choose from. This would be the perfect spring or summer activity while still focusing on learning critical skills! Why Teach Coping Strategies Coping strategies are any activity that can help calm emotions and stress. Kids and young adults may often experience difficult emotions but do not have appropriate coping strategies for dealing with those feelings. Just some of the coping strategies discussed and practiced within this resource include: listening to music, taking a walk, coloring, deep breathing, focusing on an object, using positive self-talk, practicing yoga, counting to ten, talking to a friend, and much more. How to Use Students will complete a worksheet that discusses and reviews the concept of coping strategies. To complete the craft, kids will select 2 or more coping strategies, cut out all the pieces, and glue them together. Note that step-by-step directions with photos are included to make it easy! Kids can add as many coping strategies to their ice pop to make it taller! The top of the ice pop says "I can...", encouraging kids to internalize using those strategies to help them manage emotions. After completing their craft, kids are encouraged to practice those strategies, as it is essential for kids to practice those strategies when they are calm. This will allow kids to learn how to use those same strategies when they are angry, sad, frustrated, or any other strong emotion. Alternatively, a blank version is available for kids to write in their own completely individualized strategies. Some of the strategies include: • Use positive self-talk • Write in a journal • Take a walk • Practice yoga • Think of a happy place • Slowly count to ten • Listen to music • Color or draw • Talk to someone • Read • Make a list of choices • Take 5 deep breaths • And many more! Need MORE Coping Strategies? { Mindfulness and Coping Strategies MEGA Bundle } This is a HUGE bundle with over 500 pages focused on teaching mindfulness and coping strategies to encourage self-control, happiness, positivity, and many more positive outcomes. It contains a variety of lessons, workbooks, posters, task cards, foldable crafts, and much more! Tips for Customers: Click here to follow my store for new resources and freebies. If you have questions, please contact me through Q & A and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Please consider leaving feedback on this resource to receive TpT credits! I always strive for 5 stars and love hearing your feedback. Terms of Use: © Pathway 2 Success. One license is for the classroom/personal use for one educator and their students. Materials may not be shared with other educators without the purchase of extra licenses. Materials may not be posted on the Internet where they can be publicly accessed. Personal and classroom use only. Please see full terms of use for more information. Disclaimer: These resources are for supplementary support/education purposes and are not a replacement for education or other necessary supports. Educators, parents, and others who utilize these materials are encouraged to seek out additional support, as needed.
In many ways, strong executive functioning skills are the foundation for success. These are the mental processes that help learners plan through assignments, organize materials, initiate a task, manage time well, stay focused, try new strategies when stuck, and persevere until the completion of a go
Solutions for Social Emotional Learning & Executive Functioning
Self-regulation is a critical skill for people of all ages. It is the ability that helps us to control our behaviors to make good decisions for the long-term, rather than just doing what we want in the moment. It's also the skill that allows us to manage our emotions when we're feeling angry, disapp
Strategies and supports for executive functioning challenges can make all the difference, especially for students who struggle with task initiation. This is such an important skill, since it's like the motor in allowing us to get started on all tasks and assignments. When someone is struggling to in
A number of kids struggle with executive functioning skills on a daily basis. Sometimes these struggles are obvious, like having a messy binder or forgetting to turn homework in, but other times they are more hidden. This is a critical topic because all educators have these kids in our classrooms ev
Executive functioning skills are the brain processes that help kids and teens plan, organize, manage time, and persevere through challenges. Read more about executive functioning skills here, or consider some of the resources below to get started right away. Resources for Older Learners: Int
Working with kids and young adults who are oppositional can be challenging. Being oppositional might mean refusing to do work, breaking rules, and engaging in other challenging behaviors. The truth is, many kids can be oppositional from time to time, so many of these strategies work with all learner
Kids and young adults with ADHD can be extremely bright, creative, and helpful. These are often the learners coming up with new invention ideas, filling up a journal with intricate comic book drawings, and eager to answer all of your questions in class. With that said, learners with ADHD can struggl
Kindness is an important social skill the plays a huge role in creating a positive learning environment for all. When we have kinder students, kids are better able to work together, share, express differing opinions in respectful ways, and help each other when someone is in need. To help teach a
All kids benefit from practicing mindfulness. Who wouldn't love the kids and young adults we work with to become more focused, calm, in control, and self-aware? Mindfulness is a technique that can help teach and strengthen those abilities over time. By practicing mindfulness, people can learn to bec
Kids and young adults need social-emotional skills to be successful at school, home, and for the rest of their lives. These are the skills that help kids build confidence, understand their own strengths and weaknesses, collaborate with others, navigate social situations, develop strong relationships
Planning, organization, time management, and self-control. These are just a few of the extremely critical executive functioning skills that we use every day to accomplish tasks and be successful. We use them so regularly that we may forget their importance. But to kids and teens (and yes, even adult
Executive functioning skills are getting a lot of attention right now in education. Honestly, it's not even the amount of attention that they deserve, though. Executive functions are essentially the building blocks for completing all tasks in life (in school and beyond). If you think of executive
Social skills include the social knowledge, skills, and abilities that help all learners be successful. Learn more about social skills here, or consider some of these resources to get started right away. Use social skills task cards to target and discuss basic interactions, conversations, empath
