SEL: What to do when students get themselves "in a pickle"?

This is an age where students are still somewhat awkward in their decision-making and problem-solving, not fully understanding the consequences of their actions, nor what to do when they get “stuck”.  If I can contribute to their decision making process, where they can look at both sides critically, then I have done what I have set out to do.  I talk with them quite openly, letting them know that they are at an age where decisions they make can have long-lasting, perhaps permanent, effects. Students might be attending events where they have to make decisions. It is important for them to think through the event. If it is a party, they should be asking, “Who will be there, and are they people I can trust?”  If they are at a movie with friends, and those friends want to leave the theater, a question should be, “If I told my parents that I will be at the theater, what might happen if I leave?” There are many questions that teenage students should ask themselves, and on a regular basis.

Figure 1: Love and Logic Poster (“Positive Teaching Solutions and 

Practical Classroom Management, n.d.)

I also strive to help my students when they get “stuck” and they need to do some problem solving. Years ago, our school went through some training based on the principles of Love and Logic (“Positive Teaching Solutions and Practical Classroom Management”, n.d.). I used to have the Love and Logic poster hanging on my classroom wall (Figure 1). I recall it being introduced as a way for teachers to assist students with problem-solving situations without having the student a set of positive techniques for maintaining calm and effective classrooms. 


During the training we learned that (“Positive Teaching Solutions and Practical Classroom Management”, n.d.):

1. Respect, appreciation and love prevents potential problems. When students feel respected, appreciated and even loved by their teachers, they are far more motivated and cause far fewer problems. 
2. Freedom to problem-solve and make decisions fosters motivation.Students are far calmer and more motivated when their teachers allow them to make choices and solve their own problems within limits. 
3. Focusing energy on problem prevention is rewarding.Successful educators focus most of their energy on simple tools for preventing misbehavior or keeping it small...rather than trying to provide consequences for every problem.
4. Showing empathy and compassion is effective. When consequences are necessary, effective educators provide them with sincere empathy or compassion. 

I see some of the Social Emotional Learning Competencies within the list; words such as empathy, compassion, problem-solve, decisions, but it may not be enough for my students in this time of age.  I no longer “use” the Love and Logic practices, per say, but some of the principles resonate with me.Quite simply, I love my students. I love teaching, but I know that learning does not have to stop once the standards are met.  Standards must be taught.  Standards must be learned. Standards, however, are only the beginning. There are the competencies of Social Emotional Learning that must be intertwined in the lessons and the daily lives of our students.

As Pennant states, a problem is something you do not immediately know how to solve (Pennant, 2013). There is a moment in which you recognize a gap between where you are starting and the solution. This moment is captured in my infographic in which I show what a problem looks like: one standing in the “now-state” trying to move toward the “goal-state”. 

Using www.piktochart.com, I have designed a simple infographic to help guide my students when they find themselves “in a pickle”, possibly stuck between a starting point and a solution. Guiding the students are five steps that allows the student to work through the process of problem-solving. Included are some statistics as to why this is considered an important SEL competency to develop.


Resources

Love and Logic (n.d.) Positive Teaching Solutions and Practical Classroom Management.
Retrieved from https://www.loveandlogic.com/educators/ what-is-love-and-logic-for-teachers

Pennant, J. (2013, September). Developing a classroom culture that supports a problem-solving
approach to mathematics. Retrieved from https://nrich.maths.org/10341