SEL and the SMPs:

Integrating Social Emotional Learning and the

Standards for Mathematical Practice

Katrina Bech
Whitworth University
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Master of
Education degree
August 11, 2021
How can SEL be integrated with
math teaching practices?

Why does it Does it make

matter? a difference?
 Only 13% of students in Chicago
Public Schools who failed both
semesters of Algebra 1 in 9th grade
graduated in 4 years.
Importance
of Grade 9 24 credit requirement for high
school graduation in Washington
State leaves no room for failure.
Math challenges

• Many students experience anxiety and have low self-confidence in math

class.
• Addressing the social and emotional health of students is a prerequisite to
building their math skills and must continue to be a part of the
curriculum.
Positive relationships between students
and teachers can reduce the likelihood
that a student will drop out.

Impacts
Emotionally healthy students have a
greater chance of achieving academic
success.

Students are more likely to remain in

school if they have two or more friends.
Literature Review
Highlights
Attendance linked to academic
performance

Attendance
SEL interventions improve attendance
and
Relationships with students, need for
Academics
belonging, study skills, emotional
regulation
Employability
Skills
• Employers seek workers skilled at working
towards goals, adapting to setbacks, self-
management, cooperation, communication, and
taking initiative.
• SEL develops these skills
Cost Benefit
For every $1 spent
on in-school SEL
programing, society
gains $11.
Simple
• Greeting students at the door by name and a
pleasantry increased student on-task
behavior.
• Changing mindset from “What’s wrong with
this child?” to “What is happening in the life
of this child to cause him to act this way?”
affects teacher decisions.
 Mentoring
• Connecting students with adult or peer advocate

BARR (Building Assets Reducing Risk)

• Positive school climate, relationships between students
and teachers, student engagement in learning
Curriculum
Connections CharacterStrong
• Stand alone curriculum with a focus on personal
attributes

Lions Quest
• Can be integrated with academic subjects
• Application through service learning
Project
Description

• Design a unit for the beginning of the school year.

• Focus on community building, collaboration, and
problem-solving skills for an extended period
• Set the stage for the rest of the year
Backward Design Process

Analyze Develop Determine Create Plan Collect

Analyze the CCSS Develop learning Determine what Create summative Plan lessons and Collect data
SMPs and the goals that address the evidence will be assessment tied to the activities that teach • Survey data collected at the
Washington State SEL overlap between the needed for students to learning goals. the skills needed to beginning and end of the
unit.
Benchmarks and two sets of standards. demonstrate mastery. • Differentiated for interest show mastery on the
Indicators and learning profile summative
assessment.
• Differentiated for readiness,
interest, and learning profile
Learning Goal Example
SMPs SEL Benchmarks
Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Self-Awareness
• Monitor and evaluate their progress and change course as • Analyze the effectiveness of actions I take to deal
necessary with my emotions and feelings
Model with mathematics.
Self-Efficacy
• Reflect on whether the results make sense, possibly
improving the model if it has not served its purpose • Evaluate steps taken to accomplish a task and
identify areas for growth
Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning
• Continually revaluate the reasonableness of their • Reflect on progress toward achieving goals and
intermediate results demonstrate the ability to make revisions as needed

S2: I can monitor my progress toward meeting goals, analyze the effectiveness of my
actions, evaluate the results, and make changes as needed.
 Reviewed sources from ninth grade interventions
research

Added sources from SEL and differentiation courses

Research Verified my personal observations

Process Explored SEL curriculums

Gathered ideas from colleagues, district resources, and

previous trainings
 Question Response Options

When complicated ideas are presented in math          

class, how confident are you that you can Not at all Slightly Somewhat Quite Extremely
understand them? confident confident confident confident confident

Future Data How confident are you that you can learn all the
material presented in your math class?

How confident are you that you can do the hardest  

   
Not at all confident Slightly confident

 
 
Somewhat
confident

 
   
Quite confident Extremely confident

   

Collection
work that is assigned in your math class? Not at all Slightly Somewhat Quite Extremely
confident confident confident confident confident

How confident are you at setting and achieving          

personal goals? Not at all confident Slightly confident Somewhat Quite confident Extremely confident
confident

When you get stuck while learning something new,          

how likely are you to try a different strategy? Not at all likely Slightly likely Somewhat Quite likely Extremely likely
likely

Preassessment survey Before you start on a challenging project, how          

often do you think about the best way to approach Almost never Once in a while Sometimes Frequently Almost always
the project?

How often are you able to control your emotions          

when you need to? Almost never Once in a while Sometimes Frequently Almost always

How often do you use ideas from math class in          

your daily life? Almost never Once in a while Sometimes Frequently Almost always

How carefully do you listen to other people’s          

points of view? Not carefully at all Slightly Somewhat Quite Extremely
carefully carefully carefully carefully

To what extent are you able to work well with          

others? Not at all A little bit Somewhat Quite a bit A tremendous
amount
Curriculum
Overview

Ninth grade Algebra 1 students at LCHS

Class time focus
Alignment to best practices
Summative Assessment
Sample Lessons
 Purpose Activities Total time in Percentage of
minutes class time
Attendance questions
Community and Name tents
Relationship Circle time 275 minutes
Building Who is it?
Two-word poem
  28%
Redefining fair
…and I’m a Mathematician

Let’s make squares

Collaboration and

Class time
Good group work 225 minutes
Preparation for 100# task   23%
Task #1
Group Work
Leo the Rabbit
Problem-Solving WIM Pattern Menu
Taxicab Geometry 190 minutes
19%

focus
Strategies for learning math  
video
Task #5

Data talks
Communication Task #3
Task #4
110 minutes
 
11%
Preassessment survey
Emotional Task #6 170 minutes
Regulation and Mood Meter   17%
Mindset video
Reflection Task #2

Total time: 50-minute classes 970 minutes

  20 days of lessons 97% of class minutes accounted
1000 minutes of instruction for
Alignment to
Best Practices
Modeling
Service learning
Caring relationships
Morning meeting
Identify and regulate emotions
Environment
Summative
Assessment
• Portfolio of tasks that address the unit learning
goals.
• Introduction to service learning
• Reflection and progress monitoring
• Data investigation
• Rich math task
Sample Task
Task #3
Good listening
(K3)

This is an individual task.

Listening is an important part of showing respect and communicating effectively with others. We’ve described, talked about, and practiced listening and responding
skills during class so look back at class activities, use the charts on the wall, and ask your classmates if you need any reminders about what good listening and
responding entails.
For this task you need to find OR make a video that shows effective communication and active listening. The video doesn’t need to be long, think less than 2 minutes,
but it does need to showcase each of the elements of active listening, including looking at the speaker, summarizing what the speaker said, and asking questions.
Attach the video, a link, or a QR code to this assignment.
 Explain how your video demonstrates good listening and effective communication. Write your answer using complete sentences.
 Day 3 (Attendance question, circle time, two-
word poem, introduce reflection journal)

Day 5 (Attendance question, circle time, review

Sample group work, 100#, reflection journal)

lessons Day 8 (Attendance question, problem solving

strategies video, Leo the Rabbit, reflection
journal)

Day 17 (Attendance question, circle time,

portfolio task #5, reflection journal)
100# Group
task
Leo the
Rabbit
Portfolio Task #5
Trestle
A man is crossing a train trestle on foot. When he is 4/7 of the way across, he sees a train coming toward him
head-on. He realizes he has just enough time either to run toward the train and get off the trestle or run away
from the train and get off the trestle. If the man can run 20 kilometers per hour, how fast is the train going?
Next Steps
This year

Convince others in department to implement

More focus on SEL throughout the year

Give students more control

Acknowledgements

Whitworth Dr. Tully for

My parents are
University being flexible
the real MVPs!
faculty with me