What is the Ruler Program? Do we need Social Emotional Learning in Schools?
Over the last several years I've been hearing so much about the Ruler program in schools and wondered what it was all about. I knew it was a program to incorporate social emotional learning into the classroom but I wasn't familiar with the components. I see posters of the Mood Meter on classroom walls and students placing their picture on the appropriate square quite often throughout the school day. Is teaching social emotional learning helping our students and the school community?
What is Social Emotional Learning?
According to National University, It is a methodology that helps students understand their emotions. These learned behaviors can help students be responsible, make positive choices, and build positive relationships with others.
What are the Components?
How Can it Help Students?
Having self awareness can positively affect behavior
It helps with setting goals and a plan for how to achieve them
To help act empathetically within the school and community
Maintain healthy relationships with students from different backgrounds
How to resolve conflicts peacefully
Choosing how to respond to situations that may be difficult or stressful
What Does RULER stand for:
Recognizing emotions in yourself and others
Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions
Labeling emotions
Expressing emotions in accordance with social context
Regulating emotions with helpful strategies
It is so important to bring social emotional learning into schools. Emotions can:
- Impact memory
- impact attention
- affect learning
- ability to make decisions
- overall health and well being
- creativity
- relationships
This is a great article, and I agree with how important the implication is within a classroom. Especially for students that younger ages, they are learning about their emotions and others, and by having this chart helps them to look at it engagedfrom it. I do think we need social emotional learning in schools because of the way we think act and feel predict the outcome of each day.
ReplyDeleteMy school uses Ruler! Every classroom has a mood meter and students start learning how to use it in pre-k. When I taught kindergarten students learned a few different moods and how to place themselves on the chart. It was used as a morning activity so students could start practicing thinking about how they felt and we could see where they were at. Now I am in second grade and honestly the chart is rarely used in formal lessons but students still refer to it. We do have a school charter project at the beginning of the year that is designed by the Ruler program. Students come up with their top five words for how they want to feel at school, the class votes on the ones they most want, and we figure out how we can make that happen in our classroom. Then we all sign the agreement. Each class and grade then takes turns presenting their charters to the whole lower school during assembly. So far I really like Ruler and I am glad it is part of our curriculum.
ReplyDeleteAt the elementary school my children attend, the Ruler Program was introduced and taught in kindergarten. Now that my children are in 4th grade, it doesn't seem to be a formal part of their daily learning, however there are reminders up around the room for them to refer to when needed. I think learning how to manage feelings at a young age is critical especially considering the times that we live in where there are so many stressors for children. Learning how to properly identify and deal with feelings and emotions in an appropriate way and at a young age can set the stage for empathetic, socially appropriate and engaged adults who can manage their emotions and resolve conflict. Emotional health goes hand in hand with academic learning. I see this at the high school level more and more. There has definitely been an increase in emotional and behavioral concerns at the high school level over the last several years, and especially now coming out of the pandemic. Many of these students just can't function in a high school environment, can't engage in their learning and are doing poorly in school. I wonder if learning the Ruler Program at a young age would have at least helped alleviate some of these symptoms. Thank you for this article. It shines a light on the importance of emotional health in our students.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an important topic, now more than ever. Over the summer, I am a camp director at my local YMCA's summer camp. Every year, the directors go to a big camp conference, and last year I attended a session that was all about the Ruler program and how to apply it in a camp setting. It was my first time hearing about it and I loved how it gave the child the ability to reflect on what they are feeling and help them to label it. At the camp, I oversee the program for our youngest campers (ages 3-5). Something that really resonated with me was that whatever behavior you are seeing from a child, is the result of several emotions they are feeling under the surface. For example, if a child is hitting another child, it could be because they feel scared, upset, and anxious. Being able to ask kids about how they are feeling and help them come up with ways they can regulate those emotions is extremely important. I taught this to my staff at training, and I will definitely be using again this year.
ReplyDeleteI haven't used the Ruler program before but my school does use something similar. I know I always start my morning meeting off with a mood meter to gauge how students are feeling. We use emojis and words along with the zones of red, yellow, green, and blue. I find it quite beneficial to students. When they can label their emotions you can assist them in how they might be feeling and how to regulate the stronger emotions. I also think it bonds you with students and gives them a safe place to share how they may feel. SEL learning is so valuable to schools, not only because of all these kiddos missed out on during the pandemic but because it gives them a chance to understand their feelings.
ReplyDeleteThis great! I work with 11-13 year olds and only a percentage of them have the ability to correctly and effectively express what they are feeling. Getting started with this program when students are younger is a great way to kick off their social-emotional learning. One thing that stuck out to me was that under the "stakeholders" in the infographic, students are considered stakeholders. I think this is a really important concept for students to understand about this program. It gives them agency in their emotions and their experience in school.
ReplyDelete