Teachers want to support students’ social and emotional well-being, but finding time to add something new to an already full school day can be challenging. The good news is that many strategies that support social and emotional learning (SEL) are already part of effective teaching.

The Center on Great Teachers & Leaders has identified 10 teaching practices that support students’ social and emotional skills. These strategies can help teachers create positive, supportive learning environments while strengthening the five core SEL competencies.

1. Student-Centered Discipline

Student-centered discipline focuses on classroom management strategies that are developmentally appropriate, proactive, fair, and consistent. Rather than relying on punitive consequences, teachers help students understand classroom expectations and take responsibility for their behavior.

Whenever possible, consequences should be logical and directly connected to the behavior. For example, if a student pushes ahead of others to get to the front of the line, a logical consequence might be having that student move to the end of the line rather than taking away recess.

Students can also have a voice in establishing classroom expectations. Teachers can begin with essential rules and then work with students to discuss what those rules mean and how they should look in practice. This gives students a sense of ownership while maintaining the structure needed for a safe and productive classroom.

2. Teacher Language

The way teachers communicate with students can have a significant impact on students’ confidence, motivation, and ability to regulate their own behavior.

Effective feedback should be positive, specific, and constructive. Instead of simply saying, “Nice job,” tell students what they did well and what they can do next.

For example:

“Sahil, your introduction immediately caught my attention. Your reasoning becomes less clear in the middle of the essay, though. Try adding more details to support your original claims. The graphic organizer we used last month may help you organize your ideas.”

Teacher language can also help students work through frustration. Instead of immediately providing an answer when a student gets stuck, guide them toward strategies they can use to solve the problem themselves.

Teachers should also model and explicitly teach academic language. Helping students understand when and how to use formal academic language prepares them to communicate effectively in school and beyond.

3. Responsibility and Choice

Giving students appropriate choices can help them take greater ownership of their learning. This doesn’t mean students control every aspect of an assignment. Instead, teachers provide clear structure while offering meaningful opportunities for students to make decisions.

Voice and choice can be incorporated in several ways:

What: Allow students to make choices about what they learn when appropriate. They might choose a book to read, a topic to research, or a subject for a writing assignment.

Who: Give students opportunities to choose who they work with. Before doing so, teach them how to select partners who will help them stay focused and successful. Students might consider:

• • Who would I work well with, and why?
  • What are my strengths?
  • Where might I need help?
  • Who could I help with this project?
  • Who could help me?

Why: Help students understand why they may need additional support or a different approach. Recognizing their own learning needs can build independence and self-awareness.

Where: Give students some flexibility in where they work. Flexible learning spaces might include traditional desks, standing desks, tables, comfortable seating, or floor space. Students can then choose an environment that helps them focus and learn.

When: When appropriate, allow students some flexibility in when they demonstrate their learning. For example, when students are developing vocabulary skills (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.11-12.4), they might study and complete an online assessment when they feel ready within a set time frame rather than taking it on one teacher-assigned date.

4. Warmth and Support

Students are more likely to learn and take risks when they feel supported by their teachers and peers. Teachers can build a warm classroom environment through small, consistent actions.

Some ways to show warmth and support include:

• Ask students both academic and non-academic questions to show interest in their ideas and lives.
• Follow up when a student is struggling or shares a concern.
• Share appropriate personal stories that help students see that challenges and mistakes are a normal part of learning.
• Reinforce the idea that mistakes provide opportunities to learn and grow.
• Create an inclusive classroom community where students feel accepted and valued.
• Use classroom meetings to discuss problems, resolve conflicts, and build a sense of belonging.

These practices help students develop trust and feel safer asking questions, making mistakes, and seeking help.

5. Cooperative Learning

Cooperative learning gives students opportunities to work together toward a shared goal. It goes beyond simply putting students into groups. Students need to actively communicate, contribute, and reflect on how well they are working together.

Cooperative learning games can be a useful way to introduce these skills before adding academic content. Because the goal is for the group to succeed together, students can practice communication, problem-solving, and teamwork in a low-pressure environment.

Some examples of cooperative learning games include:

• Four Corners – Label each corner of the room with a response or choice. Students move to the corner that matches their answer, then work together to explain their reasoning. 
• Team Pictionary – Teams work together to identify a vocabulary word, concept, historical event, or other course content based on a teammate’s drawing. 
• Silent Line-Up – Students must arrange themselves in a particular order, such as birthday month, alphabetical order, or a content-related sequence, without speaking. This encourages nonverbal communication and teamwork. 

6. Classroom Discussions

Meaningful classroom discussions encourage students to think deeply, explain their reasoning, and respond to the ideas of others.

Open-ended questions are especially useful because they encourage students to do more than provide a single correct answer. As students build on one another’s ideas, the conversation becomes increasingly student-driven.

Students also need explicit instruction in discussion skills. They should learn how to listen actively, identify key ideas, explain their thinking, and respond respectfully to different perspectives.

The OARS strategy can help:

• Open-ended questions
• Affirmations
• Reflective listening
• Summary statements

Students also need enough background knowledge about a topic to participate meaningfully. Building content knowledge and communication skills together can lead to richer classroom discussions.

7. Self-Reflection and Self-Assessment

Self-reflection and self-assessment encourage students to think about their learning, behavior, and contributions. These practices strengthen self-awareness and help students recognize how their choices affect both themselves and others.

For example, a kindergartener might use a simple checklist after completing a reading station. A middle school student might answer similar questions on an exit ticket:

• Did I complete the task?
• How did I contribute?
• What did I do well?
• What could I do differently next time?

Questions like these encourage metacognition—the process of thinking about one’s own thinking and learning.

For self-assessment to be effective, teachers should provide clear goals and expectations so students understand what successful performance looks like.

8. Balanced Instruction

Balanced instruction combines direct teaching with active learning and gives students opportunities to learn both independently and collaboratively.

Project-based learning (PBL) is one example. In PBL, students develop knowledge and skills by investigating authentic, complex problems connected to real-world situations.

A project might include direct instruction from the teacher as well as individual research, group collaboration, problem-solving, and a final multimedia presentation. This variety gives students multiple ways to engage with the content while developing communication and collaboration skills.

The goal is not to choose one type of instruction over another, but to use the right combination based on students’ needs and the learning objective.

9. Academic Press and Expectations

Students benefit from knowing that their teachers believe they can succeed. Academic press refers to maintaining meaningful, challenging expectations while giving students the support they need to meet them.

Rigor does not mean making work unnecessarily difficult or introducing advanced concepts before students are ready. Rigorous learning asks students to think deeply, engage with meaningful content, and develop a strong understanding of important concepts.

Differentiation can help make rigorous learning accessible. When teachers adjust instruction based on students’ needs, students have a stronger foundation from which to engage with challenging material.

High expectations paired with appropriate support communicate an important message: You can do this, and I’m here to help you succeed!

10. Competence Building: Modeling, Practicing, Feedback, and Coaching

Social and emotional skills become stronger when students have regular opportunities to see them modeled, practice them, receive feedback, and try again.

Teachers can incorporate SEL skills throughout the normal instructional cycle—from introducing learning objectives and modeling skills to guided practice, independent practice, and reflection.

For example, students may need explicit instruction on how to respectfully disagree with someone. Providing sentence starters gives them language they can use:

• “I want to better understand your point of view. Can you explain why you feel this way?”
• “I see your point. However, . . .”
• “I disagree with the point about . . .”
• “I understand what you’re saying, but I can’t find evidence to support that reasoning.”
• “I believe there may be an error in . . .”
• “I can tell this is important to you. Can you explain how you arrived at this viewpoint?”

Teachers can also use everyday classroom conflicts as opportunities to practice SEL skills. If a disagreement occurs during group work, for example, guide students through problem-solving and conflict resolution rather than simply resolving the issue for them.

These teachable moments happen at every grade level and can involve sharing, taking turns, apologizing, managing hurt feelings, giving compliments, or asking for help.

It’s Just Good Practice!

These ten practices can support students’ social and emotional development while also strengthening academic learning and creating a more positive classroom environment.

Better yet, many teachers are already using these strategies. Viewing familiar teaching practices through an SEL lens can help teachers become more intentional about building students’ self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Want to Learn More?

To explore social and emotional learning in greater depth, visit the Professional Development Institute (PDI) website or browse our Social and Emotional Learning courses.

For over 28 years, PDI has provided affordable, high-quality online professional development for K–12 teachers. Our courses are completely online and focus on practical strategies teachers can apply in their classrooms. University credit options are available through American College of Education (ACE) and the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Division of Extended Studies. Explore our catalog of online courses to find professional development for the topics that matter most in today’s classrooms.

Article References:

Miller, A. (2016). “Voice and Choice: It’s More Than Just ‘What.’” Retrieved 6 Dec. 2017 from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/voice-and-choice-more-than-what-andrew-miller