Mrs. Donna Veurink -- September 2022
Social Emotional, Common Core, Project-based, Dibels, Learning Styles, NCLB, Mainstream…Once upon a time in my education career journey, I had to write a paper about how teachers could best address individual special needs of students. The course was filled with educational buzz words, and I mentioned in my paper that certain buzz words were the current version of old-school concepts, like “mainstreaming” a student while “individualizing instruction”…which is the same thing as the one-room school house concept of many children in one room all working on their own lessons. (The underlying idea here is that it is better to mix learning levels, rather than isolate learners because there’s benefits to having the support and motivation from peers who may be at a different learning levels.)
Social-Emotional Learning is a current educational buzz word. It’s been around awhile. It might be one of those current phrases for an old-school concept. Social emotional learning is (and always has been) so important! Social-emotional learning (SEL) is the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success, and using those skills to support each other. Is this a new concept? I don't think so. The Bible addresses these things many many times, and stresses the importance of community (social).
Supporting each other is a central tenet of the Christian life! Praying for one another, working together, caring for each other, are all in actuality, social emotional learning! What a great idea to teach our students! And it’s Biblical!
Spurring each other on toward love and good deeds is what Dakota Christian strives to do. I pray that our students use their self-awareness and interpersonal skills to support each other. Be Kind! Pray for each other! Use words that build each other up! Dakota Christian is working hard to address social emotional learning, which is really nurturing godly character. Won’t you join us?
