Teaching emotional skills pays big dividends for Wietka elementary school

WINNETKA >> It sounds a bit touchy-feely. But worrying about students’ emotional well-being has had concrete benefits at one Losu2009Angeles Unified elementary school.

Social-emotional leaing is one component being tracked by six Califoia public school districts belonging to the Califoia Office to Reform Education, better known as the “CORE districts.” The districts have come up with their own ways to measure school quality, instead of using the standards behind the controversial federal No Child Left Behind law.

In Fresno, Longu2009Beach, Losu2009Angeles, Oakland, Sanu2009Francisco and Santau2009Ana unified school districts, the emotional development of students is seen as a crucial component of academic success.

At Limerick Avenue Elementary School in Wietka in the Sanu2009Feando Valley, an off-the-shelf program called Second Step, leaves even very small children sounding a bit like lifelong therapy patients.

“If you just use negative self-talk, it just makes those feelings stronger instead of calming things down,” says a third grade boy in teacher Tammy Yu’s class when asked how a boy — in an example — should have acted when he wasn’t chosen for a classroom leadership role.

In Carlos Donis’ kindergarten classroom nearby, his students sit in a circle on the carpet and pass around the “alpha ball,” each child saying one letter of the alphabet when holding their ball, leaing to take tus. Collaborating in groups is a big component of education under the Common Core State Standards.

But since the Second Step program was fully implemented this school year, after being only fitfully so in previous years, it’s made a big difference, according to Limerick educators.

“This is a great program. Before, they didn’t know how to work together and solve problems,” Yu said. “It’s easier to solve a conflict with this program because they understand empathy and the words to say. It is working.”

One way it’s working is a big single-year drop in disciplinary referrals.

“I think it’s shrunk about 50u2009percent,” said principal Betsy Garvin. “We try to problem-solve before they’re sent to my office. It’s more mode, instead of just punitive.”

That’s a big deal at a school with a high enrollment for an elementary school: This past school year, Limerick Avenue had 846u2009student across 46u2009classrooms, according to the Califoia Department of Education.

Garvin’s not sympathetic to “spare the rod, spoil the child arguments:”

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“If that stuff worked, those penitentiaries would be empty,” she said.

Thanks to the lessons, students are better able to resolve their own conflicts, according to Cathy Johnson, the social-emotional leaing coordinator at the school.

“We really do see kids out on the playground, problem solving,” she said. “It really does work.”

The hope is that this, in tu, leads to less bullying. And less bullying and less conflict could translate to fewer students being suspended and sent home and fewer students skipping school.

“If kids feel safe, they come to school,” Garvin said. “They keep coming back.”

While the students are leaing to handle discipline issues, the skills will carry over to other group activities, which have become more important under the Common Core State Standards: “They’re in academic settings, using academic language to solve group problems,” Garvin said.

“They have to sit in groups to solve problems before they take any tests online,” said Suzae Blake, arts coordinator for Los Angeles Unified.

Educators regularly have new programs pushed at them from the district office, Sacramento and Washington, but at Limerick, they’re buying into social-emotional leaing, according to Garvin.

“Teachers are kind of desperate for tools to get kids to behave and get along and lea better,” she said. “The word of mouth is that they’re all using this because it’s starting to work.”