Urban Assembly High School for Media Studies Hosts SEL Showcase

"Our communities could be different if everyone learned SEL skills because instead of being posted up on the block or the corner at 1AM we could help each other make better decisions for our future."

Chris Munoz, 12th Grader, Urban Assembly School for Media Studies

In order to demonstrate the importance of social-emotional development as a foundational aspect of success in school, work, and life, the Urban Assembly High School for Media Studies (UAM) hosted an SEL showcase where senior DOE officials and colleagues from Washington, DC and Syracuse, came together to see how UAM provides direct instruction, assesses, integrates and creates sustainability for social-emotional learning in their school.

Here are some key takeaways from the day:

• Creating consistent language around SEL in your school is key. When staff and students are using similar language, students have a easier time generalizing and applying their skills to real life problems in and out of school. High quality SEL curriculum can help create that common framework.
• Adult development of SEL skills is an integral part of professional development. We can't take others where we haven't been. Developing the skills of the adults in your building will help them to develop their skills of their students. Professional development should integrate SEL skills in the context of teaching and learning.
• You don't have to do everything at once. While students should learn a variety of skills during direct instruction, integration of skills in content areas should be more focused. For example, cuing active listening during turn and talks or identifying how decision-making impacts character development is much more likely to be sustainable than focusing on all competencies at once.
• Students regularly use SEL skills outside of school. Students talked about applying for jobs, college interviews, and communication with their parents as examples of how they use the SEL skills that their teachers have taught them. To paraphrase Dr. Maurice Elias, social-emotional learning is helping our students prepare for the tests of life, not for a life of tests.

We looking forward to sharing more of our learning as the year progresses!