Social-Emotional Learning Adaptive Practice provides educators with strategies for integrating SEL into lesson plans and classroom routines across all content areas and grade levels.

Districts and schools across the nation recognize the importance of social-emotional learning toward student academic and behavioral outcomes but are often challenged by integrating authentically the development of these skills and mindsets into daily practice. EDC’s SEL Adaptive Practice training series assists teachers and leaders in charge of instruction or curriculum design in embedding implicit and explicit strategies into lesson plans, classroom routines, and student interactions.

Learn more about our philosophy

Overview of SEL Adaptive Practice

SEL Adaptive Practice offers an intensive, practice-focused professional development experience aimed at helping a targeted group of educators integrate SEL directly into daily instruction. Through a structured series of workshops and coaching, educators engage deeply SEL strategies tailored to a selected focus area, such as grade level or content subject. This service emphasizes long-term instructional change, encouraging small teams to reflect, plan, and apply SEL in ways that are sustainable and aligned with classroom learning goals.

Audience

Classroom teachers and leaders in charge of instruction or curriculum design attend the training as a team of 8 to 10 educators from within a school or across a district. Educators may be classroom teachers, leaders in charge of instructional or curriculum design, or administrators.

SEL Adaptive Practice takes a small-team approach, encouraging targeted professional development tailored to the needs of a school or district. A school or district may choose to assemble a team made of educators who are already highly engaged with SEL or, conversely, assemble a team that finds integrating SEL principals challenging. Another option is to focus on a single subject area or area of interest, from science to multilingual learning.  

Purpose

Whatever the strategy, SEL Adaptive Practice allows a school or district to prioritize time and resources for key educators, helping them strengthen their practice and influence larger implementation. By targeting support where it can have the greatest impact, EDC can help you build stronger SEL capacity across classrooms and sustain long-term instructional change aligned with your school- or district-wide goals. 

Prioritize SEL Skills & Mindsets

Participants will learn how to identify the SEL skills and mindsets that align with a particular grade level and content area. For example, in Mathematics, schools and participants might prioritize developing a growth mindset and collaboration skills. They will acquire deeper knowledge about these priorities, and the strategies in practice that correspond to the appropriate grade level. 

Implement Strategies for Integration

Participants will have opportunities to practice integrating these strategies into lesson plans, interactions with students, objectives, etc., with technical assistance, as well as opportunities to share learnings and iterate on their approaches. 

Sessions

SEL Adaptive Practice is comprised of five, 1.5-hour online workshops for teams of 8 to 10 educators from a single school within a school or district. Workshops will provide tools for reflection, self-assessment, and lesson planning. The training series includes technical assistance consultation between sessions. The service may be delivered across several weeks or months, at the discretion of AISD.

Session Topics

1. Understanding SEL: Research & Reasoning
2. Ensuring Equitable, Inclusive & Trauma-Informed SEL
3. Implicit SEL Adaptive Practices
4. Explicit SEL Adaptive Practices
5. Peer Sharing & Applying Lessons Learned

Teams will work with technical assistance specialist between sessions to embed these learnings into practice and implement them in the classroom.  

Preview Guiding Questions and Strategies

This tool, part of our larger provides guiding questions and strategies for integrating SEL into lesson plans and classroom routines across all content areas and grade levels.