In recent years, teachers have noticed a troubling trend in their classrooms: Students are struggling more than ever with social-emotional skills. We surveyed nearly 500 teachers in our We Are Teachers community to learn more about the wins and limitations of teaching SEL at school.
Heather G., a 3rd grade teacher in Colorado, noted, “Post-pandemic, I’ve had more dysregulated kids than ever before. Having to evacuate kids and clear the room might have happened one or two other times in my entire career. Now it’s once or twice a month.”
Maura Jones in North Dakota teaches high school with a different set of problems: student motivation and initiative. Here’s what she told us:
Many teachers noted they need more time to teach SEL to address the ongoing problems in their classrooms. From Katherine Sharpe in Virginia: “An incredible amount of time must be spent explicitly teaching SEL skills these days. …