Dan Haber's Portfolio Page
My Mini Lesson - ETAP 623 Fall 2021 (Zhang)
About me
I am a 2nd grade teacher at Round Hill Elementary School in Washingtonville Central School District. I graduated from SUNY Cortland in December of 2020 with my Undergraduate degree in Early Childhood/ Childhood Education, with a concentration in Social Sciences. I am currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Curriculum Development and Instructional Technologies through SUNY Albany.
I enrolled in the CDIT program at SUNY Albany to better understand the backbone of my students' tools. We use technology every day in the classroom whether we like it or not. Enhanced by COVID-19, the need for technology experts in the classroom has sky rocketed. I want my students to be proficient learners with all of the tools I can possibly provide.
My Topic and Purpose
My topic for this mini course is investigating new engaging ways to explore Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in real academic contexts. Typically in elementary classrooms, SEL is overlooked and trickled down to reading a story and asking a student "How are you". These are both important tactics when creating social and emotionally literate individuals, but I believe we can do more. The goal of this mini course is to lay out the steps and processes we can do to make SEL more meaningful to our students. This means using real world examples, references to students' prior knowledge, and examples of SEL in our academic curriculum.
Needs Assessment
Instructional Problem: Typically, in an elementary school classroom, Social Emotional Learning is taught by itself. In past years other educators and I have dedicated about ten minutes of our days to read a story with a social emotional theme to our students, have a quick discussion, and move on. We always aim to make our lessons reach students’ prior knowledge and have real meaning in their life. Is the extent to our students’ social emotional learning a ten-minute read aloud? I believe we should be developing these skills and having these conversations throughout the school day and in all of our lessons.
What is to be learned: Educators who take this mini course will learn the importance of extending the time of social emotional development past a discussion and into all aspects of our students’ educational day.
The Learners: The learners for my mini course are educators looking to further their knowledge and look at social emotional learning from a different point of view. Leaners should have basic technology skills and prior knowledge of teaching elementary aged children social emotional learning.
Performance-Based Objectives
By the end of this mini lesson, learners will be able to identify and utilize at least one strategy to teach social emotional learning in each academic subject (math, social studies, science, and literacy).
Task Analysis
Prerequisite Skills, Knowledge, and Attitude
- Willing to incorporate SEL into students' curriculum
- Reading comprehension skills
- Understanding of pedagogy
- Ability to apply newly learned strategies
Outcome Skills
- Ability to successfully integrate aspects of social emotional learning into and elementary curriculum
Outcome Knowledge
- Understand the importance of connecting concepts across the curriculum
Outcome Attitudes
- Value social emotional learning
- Hold ownership of classrooms' learning environment
Curriculum Map
Check out the curriculum map for the units of instruction. This will include unit topics, lesson break downs, and checks for understanding.
References and Resources
McSheehy T., (2021) Developing Social-Emotional Skills Through Literature, Thoughtful Learning, Derived from https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com/blogpost/developing-social-emotional-skills-through-literature
Moomi Family. (2020)A Little Calm Spot By Diane Alber READ ALOUD, [Video] Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DyI2Nv1AvE
Mrs. Agbabiaka's Library. (2020) My Strong Mind Read Aloud| Social Emotional Videos for Kids | SEL Books for Kids, [Video] Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZSGgsDirLo&t=175s
https://twigeducation.com/blog/5-ways-to-use-social-and-emotional-learning/
https://www.edutopia.org/article/social-and-emotional-learning-science-class
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/documents/NYSSELBenchmarks.pdf
https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/
https://www.edc.org/3-ways-promote-social-and-emotional-learning-through-math