Dr. Lisa Dieker, a professor at the University of Kansas in the Department of Special Education, and Dr. Rebecca Hines, a professor at the University of Central Florida in the College of Community Innovation and Education, have worked with schools and parents across the country. Dr. Dieker directs a center in the Achievement and Assessment Institute called Flexible Learning through Innovations in Technology in Education (FLITE) and Dr. Hines directs several doctoral grants and the teacher preparation program. In this podcast, they take a fun and informal look at "practical" solutions from teachers, parents, and people with disabilities. The approach in this podcast is to provide fast, flexible thinking about "real" life problems. This podcast is not about the "legal" approach but their best advice from personal and professional experience.
Drs. Rebecca Hines and Lisa Dieker, UCF Faculty members, share their recommendations for encouraging social and emotional learning in the classroom. They highlight the importance of knowing your students well enough to determine the best way to connect with them. Tune in as they share practical tips including strategies, ways to connect, and much more!
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Lisa Dieker:
Welcome to practical access. I'm Lisa Dieker.
Rebecca Hines:
And I'm Rebecca Hines. And Lisa, I understand that today's question is on a topic that we, we talk about often. And I'm looking forward to seeing the question that we can come up with.
Lisa Dieker:
All right, so I'm going to play the message from Google Voice. And thank you for leaving the message caller, and we will respond to it. And the topic today will be about Becky's social emotional learning.
Unknown:
What recommendations do you have for teacher on social emotional learning to continue to support their students with emotional challenges?
Lisa Dieker:
So that's a wide 50 miles wide and 5 million miles deep question. And we thank you for sending it. And I think I'm going to start with a really simple statement, which is connect, you know, whatever way that might be for some students that might be not talking to them. I think we often forget, some students don't want to be bothered, but maybe being present sending them a silent
Rebecca Hines:
I think that's absolutely what I would say as well, you know, I was a teacher of kids with severe emotional behavioral disorders. I've worked with kids who, who had real reasons for, for feeling like the world was against them. And it resulted in behaviors that were very difficult in the school setting. But connecting was the key. And I'll try to give a few specifics in this see what you have. You know, let's make this a great day. What do you have? And it wasn't judgmental, and they weren't trying to get them in order. It's like, hey, do you have you know, you got your pencil, the kinds of things honestly so that a mom would do to be honest or dad. And so making that first thing in the morning connection with an adult and I'm not talking about elementary school
Lisa Dieker:
Yeah, and I'm going to go kind of back to that same statement, but maybe in just a bit different direction and have a kind of a fun little side note. So I did cross categorical and had many of the kids I had the, you know, children who I had the runner I was really good at throwing off my shoes and running the biter. I had the stabber, I had the child who defecated on set, you know, Hierarchy seems a little bit silly. But you know, at the top of that is self actualization? Well, you and I are very comfortable with ourselves, maybe too comfortable. Because we have an overdose of self esteem. That's what people do that advocate, our kids with disabilities to be advocates really have to come to an understanding about those differences. And that can't happen unless you have
Rebecca Hines:
I wholeheartedly agree, I don't, I think it's the concerning thing about the language of SEL for me is that sometimes in education, we try to cling on to like a specific thing. And then we look for a blueprint for it. And the best way I can describe it, for me, was a constant modeling of all the things I wanted kids to be able to do. So I modeled being able to manage stress. I did so think like changing changing my mindset helped me help kids change theirs. So thinking differently about the in the moment and not letting it be a perpetual failure by kids.
Lisa Dieker:
And I'll just kind of clue with too little real practical, easy things you could do that I love. And one is a smiley frowny and straight face. So really great for little kids. And when they walk in, they get a little marble, half marble, whatever and they drop it in whichever one they are. And then as it nothing else, you don't have to ask them to put their name or anything on it. form when kids want to, but if you're going to do it, be ready to have thick skin yourself if things are gonna bother you and be prepared because kids are not always nice. And then whatever you pull out of the box, do keep you know it anonymous so that students identity is protected And you can even rephrase it. If you think it might be obvious like that kid, I knew who it was. So I just said,
Rebecca Hines:
Absolutely. And I think the the reference, I would give everyone, sure there's a lot of good SEL material out there. But I always recommend everybody go back to Glasser and look at I believe his websites probably wglasser.com. I know it was and and and look at choice theory and reality therapy, and just some real simple things like, you know, learning how to talk to kids in a way
Lisa Dieker:
so I'll wrap us up today and just remind you to take care of yourself. I think we both remind each other of that quite often as friends. And I do think teacher and parent self care is just as important as our care of kids with disabilities and our care of CO teaching and inclusion. So please do you know take care of your own social emotional learning. I think that's that's a core
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