3 Effective Approaches to Enhance Events, Lessons and Meetings

June 25, 2024

Embracing CASEL's SEL 3 Signature Practices at kid-grit

At kid-grit, we are huge fans of CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning). Right now, CASEL is open for registration for a course called The SEL 3 Signature Practices: Facilitating for Impact, offering a wonderful introduction to their playbook of promising practices. CASEL offers an abundance of free resources!

In this blog, we’ll share how these practices work in real time for students, teachers, and families. These practices are hugely impactful for all ages, from 5 years old to 105 years old. Backed by CASEL’s research, these methods have become integral to kid-grit events, training, meetings, and student activities. Here’s our take on the three practices.

1) Opener, Warm Welcome, Ice Breaker

This is an inclusive and inviting activity where you ensure that you are seeing your participants when they arrive. You are opening the doors to the learning or an event with an easily integrated icebreaker that supports each person attending. This opener gives the facilitator(s) a chance to get to know their audience, do a pulse check, and check in with students (and/or participants) on how they show up. Brene Brown is well known for her two-word check-in. If the participants (staff, families, or our students) show up in a distressed emotional, mental, or physical state they will not be ready for learning or enjoy the event at hand. As a leader or facilitator, once you know this, you can take action and address what’s happening in real time.

Engaging, warm-up, and icebreaker. Clark County School District, Las Vegas, Nevada.

2) Robust and Interactive Content

Whether facilitating a meeting, teaching a lesson, or planning a family engagement event, involve your team, and make it inclusive and hands-on! Create an engaging event, lesson, or meeting. In your lesson, event, or meeting you can include cooperative planning, stimulating learning, and interactive activities. No one wants to “just sit there”. 😉

Robust and engaging family event. TANF Family Conference, Carlsbad, CA.

3) A Reflective and Designed Closure

Connect the dots at the end of the session, lesson, or event. Give participants a moment to reflect and think critically about what they just experienced. In a lesson, ask students a question that helps them bridge the learning to real-life application and set them up for the next steps. In a staff meeting, end with an activity or question that helps you understand if what you presented resonated with the team. At the end of a family engagement event, provide families and guardians a moment to recap what they accomplished or experienced, and offer a warm departure opportunity. Ensure you have staff at the exit sharing pleasantries and warm remarks about the participants showing up. This is customer service at its best!