Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

Bringing Play and SEL Practices into

the Classroom

Jesus Horta, BCHS History Teacher

Audience: BCHS Teachers and Staff
April 4, 2022
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Jesus Horta
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

Presentation Objectives and Standards

Proposition 5: Teachers are Members of Professional Communities
(5.1: Teachers Collaborate with Other Professionals to Improve
School Effectiveness)
NBPTS 5.1 will be incorporated into the project during the
presentation portion. The goal of the project is to create a better Presentation Objective: The objective
school climate as well as help students with their mental well-being.
Both of these goals will help in the school’s overall effectiveness and of the project will be to educate the audience
can bring new strategies to maintain that effectiveness. broadly about Multi-Tiered Systems of Support
(MTSS) and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL).
Domain 2: Accesses and Uses Research to Improve Practice and
Student Learning (2.a: Assists colleagues in accessing and using Audience members will understand the benefits
research in order to select appropriate strategies to improve of each and how they can up their school’s or
student learning. classroom’s climate by integrating these
TLMS 2.A will be incorporated into the project by the research and
statistics I use to strengthen my presentation and overall argument practices. Information and knowledge of these
in my project. I will use research from MTSS and SEL articles, and fields come from previous conferences I have
their information will help me deliver knowledge to my fellow attended.
teachers. Bringing these pieces of information to my colleagues can
help them research on their own and together, we will increase the
climate of our school, which helps all our students achieve.
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Jesus Horta
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

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Jesus Horta
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

How does this play into

our everyday
classrooms?
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Jesus Horta
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

How to Define: what is the

problem?

handle

Evaluate: Is it working?

Analyze: why is it
happening?
behaviors we
see from
students
Implement: What are
we going to do about
it?

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Jesus Horta
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

How did it
happen?

How were you

affected by what
What
you did?
happened?

What can you

do to repair What part
the harm? did you play
in it?
Who else
was What did
affected you need
by what to make it
you did? right? 6
Jesus Horta
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

Everyone Stand-up!!!
Let’s Play a quick game!

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Jesus Horta
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

Post-game wrap up
- How do you feel?

- When was the last time

you played before this
game?

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Jesus Horta
 Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

Why is Play Important?

- Play builds executive function in the brain.

- Intrinsic enjoyment is critical to learning.

(Provides a safe space)

- Play provides students a fun environment to

feel positive, safe, and energized for learning.

- Students build stronger community through

play as well as increase overall participation,
engagement, and willingness to ask for help.
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Jesus Horta
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

Relationship Between Play and Learning

- “When people play together they
work better together.”

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Jesus Horta
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

Relationship Between Play and Learning

- “Those things learned
without joy are soon
forgotten.” -Finnish Saying

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Jesus Horta
Relationship Between Play and Learning
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

- Dr. Karyn Purvis: It takes

400 repetitions to create new
synapse. Unless you learn it with
play...then it only takes 10-20

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Jesus Horta
Now You Try and Think
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

- Can you think of something you learned

in the past that was easy to learn
because it was fun or playful?

- Why do you think play is something

rarely used in middle to upper grades?

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Jesus Horta
 Mindfulness added to play
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

- Miscommunications lead to issues between teachers and

students.

- “Perception is reality”
-

Example of how a miscommunication can go wrong…

*Student is on phone*

Teacher: “You’re ALWAYS on your phone and NEVER doing

your work.”

Students: “You’re ALWAYS picking on me, what did I do?

Other students have their phones out!

(Student storms out or is kicked out of class after

confrontation over phone.)
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Jesus Horta
 Now You Try and Think Back
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

- Have you ever had an interaction with student, or

your kid(s), or any other person that negatively
impacted the relationship due to an over
generalization or misunderstanding of an action?

- What became of that relationship?

- Have you ever felt the impact of someones

overgeneralization about yourself?

- Who’s responsible for making sure interactions

with students are positive, teacher or student?
Why?
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Jesus Horta
 3-Step Communication System
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

STEP 1 STEP 2
“I Notice...” “I Imagine…”
Notice and point out what Notice something and STEP 3
is unarguable, not make an assumption
“ Is this true?”
imagined or believed. based on what you are
noticing. Check in to see if it is true.
Find out if you are right or
wrong.
Most of the time when we It’s not about being right
think something is real is or wrong, just about being
curious It makes the recipient feel
actually imagined.
honored that you are
trying to capture their
world as they see it as
closely as possible
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Jesus Horta
 Benefits of Play and Mindfulness
Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

in the classroom
- Students excited to come to
class, your class. (Higher
attendance)
- Community Building
--->“Community Agreements”

- Students willing to try new

things and feel empowered.

- Positive and fun learning

environment.

- Positive climate and culture

on campus.
- No more wasted time on
Jesus
discipline!!
Horta
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Bringing Play and SEL Practices into the Classroom

Let’s Wrap It Up
- What have you learned today about MTSS or Play in the
classroom?
- What strategies do you think you will use in your
classroom or workday?
- What questions do you have about any of the content
that was presented?
- What do you commit to do based on this presentation?
- In 30 days Horta will check on you and see what you
implemented in class, Will you have an update for
Horta? 18
Jesus Horta