{"id":1068,"date":"2019-10-08T14:08:18","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T21:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/?p=1068"},"modified":"2019-10-09T14:31:53","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T21:31:53","slug":"social-and-emotional-learning-the-foundation-of-hillbrook-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/2019\/10\/social-and-emotional-learning-the-foundation-of-hillbrook-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Social and Emotional Learning: The Foundation of Hillbrook School"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Anne-Marie Strohman, Hillbrook writer, Middle School parent, and alumni parent<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Social and Emotional Learning at Hillbrook starts the moment students set foot on campus. Every child is greeted as they get out of a car, climb off a bus, or ride by on a bike. Students are greeted again by their teachers as they enter their classrooms. During Morning Meeting and Advisory, students greet each other formally, making eye contact with each other and connecting. From the very start of each day, students are seen and valued, and they are taught to see and value each other.
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As a parent, I thought of social and emotional learning taking place primarily during Morning Meeting in the Lower School and Advisory in the Middle School. But social and emotional learning takes place all through the day\u2014during recess, group lessons, collaborative learning, and even individual work times. Kindergarten teacher Megan Collins says, \u201cI am constantly looking at free play and structured classroom time as opportunities to help young children learn how to navigate their own feelings as well as grow in understanding their peers\u2019 feelings.\u201d
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Two core beliefs undergird Hillbrook\u2019s approach to social and emotional learning: children are human beings worthy of respect and dignity, and interacting with others and taking care of yourself are skills that can be taught.
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For the past decade, every teacher and staff member at Hillbrook has been trained in either Responsive Classroom, a curriculum for Lower School, or Developmental Designs, for Middle School. This year, as teachers prepared for school to start, they spent additional time dedicated to social and emotional learning, including two days of specialized training. Teachers have already continued these conversations in regular teacher development, at grade-level meetings, in subject-level meetings, and informally.
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For new 7th grade history teacher Chris Chiang, the most immediately valuable aspect was learning as a group of colleagues. \u201cWe had time to reflect and plan procedures that would best support kids,\u201d he says. Faculty and staff develop consistent classroom procedures across campus so that as children move from class to class they can feel comfortable in each learning environment. According to Ilsa Dohmen, Director of Teaching and Learning, \u201cWhen teachers use a common approach and draw from a set of shared strategies and language, students can become their best selves.\u201d
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Sara Lee, a 2nd grade teacher, describes social and emotional learning as a necessary part of education. \u201cIt is just as important as academic learning,\u201d she says. She and her colleagues spend time at the beginning of the year establishing classroom communities so that each child feels valued. Teaching students procedures as big as how the school day will go and as small as clicking the caps closed on pens creates a sense of comfort and safety. \u201cOnce they feel safe\u2014physically safe and emotionally safe,\u201d Ms. Lee says, \u201cthey feel safe to make mistakes and to take chances in their learning.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In addition to procedures, the Responsive Classroom curriculum focuses on behavior, the topic of the recent Lower School training. \u201cBehavior is always a communication,\u201d says Colleen Schilly, Associate Head of School, \u201ca communication about what a child needs.\u201d Sometimes a child has a basic need\u2014they might be low on sleep, or they may have skipped breakfast. \u201cSometimes,\u201d says Ms. Schilly, \u201cthe child is missing a skill that can be taught.\u201d
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Responsive Classroom centers on five core skills: Cooperation, Assertiveness, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control. Children are learning to live in community with each other, and these are skills they will carry into their adult lives. Sometimes this kind of learning is tough. Children have to learn how to respond when they are the ones hurt and when they are the ones doing the hurting. Ms. Schilly reflects, \u201cHow we hold children in moments of conflict and struggle is actually where the most powerful social and emotional learning happens.\u201d
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Middle School teachers attended a Developmental Designs training on language. \u201cWe focused on how to use language in a way that is supportive and growth-oriented,\u201d says Amy Hand, Middle School Head. \u201cHaving that grounding in language permeates all of the work we do with kids.\u201d
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\u201cWords really, really matter to children,\u201d says 6th grade Math teacher Jacki Jung, \u201cespecially when our words don\u2019t line up with our reality. For example, if I say, \u2018this is going to be fun,\u2019 and the child doesn\u2019t actually have fun, they start not trusting what I say. Instead, I\u2019ll say, \u2018I find this math activity fun, and I hope you do too.\u2019\u201d This strategy frees up students to find out if something is fun for them or not, and eliminates possible frustration with the teacher for misdescribing their experience. This kind of intentionality in very small moments translates to kids feeling valued.
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This intentionality and care for children\u2019s social and emotional well-being are evident in the way Hillbrook approaches kids\u2019 mistakes–even big mistakes. For Amy Hand, the approach depends on valuing kids and responding to their individual needs. Change happens, she says, \u201cwhen you have relationships with kids and when you have an orientation toward discipline that involves conversation and understanding.\u201d
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Our family chose Hillbrook because of the intentional care for the whole child–body, mind, and heart. Over and over again we have seen our children treated with respect, their independence and confidence grow, and the dignity of all children protected. They are treated as individuals who are valued for who they are, and in their struggles have been guided toward growth. I credit Hillbrook\u2019s expert faculty and staff. Their modeling and advice have helped me to become a better parent. Hillbrook truly is a good place to grow.
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7 ways parents can support social and emotional learning at home <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social and emotional learning is a community effort. Below, teachers and administrators recommend ways for parents to partner with Hillbrook and apply Responsive Classroom and Developmental Designs strategies at home.
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  1. Consider how basic needs, like sleep and hunger, affect kids\u2019 emotions. Let your child\u2019s homeroom teacher or advisor know if something is going on at home that might affect your child at school.<\/li>
  2. Check in with your child\u2019s emotions–whether it\u2019s a scale of 1-5, or a color code system, or names of emotions. With Lower School students especially, having them communicate something concrete can often lead to conversation, while questions like \u201cWhat did you do today?\u201d can be too open-ended.<\/li>
  3. Help your child move toward self-regulation. If things get heated, take a break. And if your child asks for a break, let them have it. When emotions are high, it\u2019s probably not the time for deep lessons.<\/li>
  4. In Middle School, protocols are designed to lead students to greater independence and responsibility. At home, help them think through solutions to problems on their own, instead of offering a quick fix. If they forget their homework, let them work out with a teacher what happens next instead of rushing it to campus.<\/li>
  5. Kids make mistakes. Even big mistakes are a normal part of being human. See mistakes as an opportunity to grow. Sometimes your child will be hurt, and sometimes your child will hurt another person. Have patience with the process of learning. Offer the same dignity to other students as you want for your own child.<\/li>
  6. Developmental Designs identifies four needs of adolescents: fun, competence, autonomy, and relationship. Consider these needs at home as well. \u201cKids need spaces away from family and teachers where they can hit their stride and figure things out on their own,\u201d says Middle School Humanities teacher Jenn Gingery.<\/li>
  7. Catch your children doing good. \u201dWhat you pay attention to grows,\u201d says Chris Chiang. \u201cIf the only thing you pay attention to is misbehavior, and you don\u2019t pay attention to other things that your student is doing well, there is no incentive for them to do those things.\u201d<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Anne-Marie Strohman, Hillbrook writer, Middle School parent, and alumni parent Social and Emotional Learning at Hillbrook starts the moment students set foot on campus. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","content-type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-emotional-learning"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1068"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1109,"href":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1068\/revisions\/1109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hillbrook.us\/voices\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}