Supporting Children's Social Emotional Learning: A New Resource Hub!
For many of us, including our students, this last year has been emotionally taxing. With the Covid-19 pandemic, some students are anxious about getting sick, or are concerned about family members who have been infected. Others miss their daily routines and interacting with their friends. On top of the stressors of the pandemic, students may have sensed anxiety related to the presidential election. In addition, troubling news about racism and violence have caused increased feelings of stress and trauma for communities of color. With such an intense, emotional year, how can we ensure our students feel safe and secure so that they can continue growing and learning?
Explore the ECE Resource Hub
We invite you to explore the newly launched Early Childhood Education (ECE) Resource Hub. Developed by UVA researchers, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Education, the ECE Resource Hub provides teachers with free, high-quality resources, curated by CASTL from a variety of trusted sources. These resources are designed to support students’ social and emotional development this year and beyond! Resources are organized around a specific skill, such as building student-teacher relationships, or supporting children’s emotions. Each featured skill has exemplar videos and a summary sheet, describing that skill specifically.
Additionally, the highlighted monthly skill area includes a focus on:
Monthly Skill Areas:
COVID-19 Adaptations
• Provides ways to adapt your teaching to work with students around this skill during the Covid-19 pandemic
• Includes adaptations for in-person, virtual, and hybrid instructional models
Trauma-informed practice
• Shares ways to incorporate trauma-informed practices when supporting children’s development of each skill
• Focuses on supporting you and your work with students who may be experiencing traumatic events
Equity and inclusion
• Gives strategies to advance equity and inclusion when supporting students around each skill
• Emphasizes racial equity, inclusion of students with disabilities, and equitable learning opportunities for multi-lingual/English Language learners
Books and activities
• Supplies a related set of activities, games, and a list of books
Family resource
• Provides resources to spark connection and collaboration with families to support their child’s development of this skill at school and home.
What Can I Find in the Resource Hub?
The ECE Resource Hub includes a diverse mix of videos, webinars, podcasts, and short readings. For instance, one of the equity resources for December’s topic, supporting students’ emotions, is a Stanford University Ted Talk by award-winning educational leader, Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum. In this engaging short talk, entitled “Is My Skin Brown Because I Drank Chocolate Milk?”, Dr. Tatum explains the connection between emotions and race/ethnicity as early as preschool, particularly for children of color. She also provides concrete examples for how we can engage in conversations with children that advance their skills to recognize and describe their feelings.
How Can I Use these Resources?
Each of the resources in the ECE Resource Hub include a brief accompanying handout with a set of questions and/or activities to guide their use. For example, this handout from Dr. Tatum’s talk provides ways you can reflect on the themes presented in the talk.
The resources and handouts can also be used with colleagues in a professional learning community, during a coaching session, or independently for your own professional development.
Applicable for Pre-K and Kindergarten Teachers and Classrooms
Although many of the video examples highlight preschool classrooms, the content and resources apply to kindergarten classrooms as well. Pre-K and Kindergarten students can benefit from the strategies, activities, and topics in the ECE Resource Hub.
Want to Know More?
Visit the ECE Resource Hub and subscribe for the “Topic of the Month” newsletter to have these resources delivered to your inbox each month.
The ECE Resource Hub is funded by the Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Early Childhood. The ECE Resource Hub is created by the Center for the Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning at the University of Virginia.
More questions? VKRP provides support via the online chat feature when you are in the system, via email vkrp@virginia.edu, and via toll free 866-301-8278 ext. 1
