ABOUT
"SEL Goes Green" is a project that began development in February 2020. Originally planned to be a teacher's handbook, it's been transitioned to the digital space due to logistics during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Additionally, the following project was done as an independent study capstone by TCNJ undergraduate student Brittany Kroeckel for her minor in Environmental Sustainability Education (see subsequent tabs for more information). She has been working closely with her mentor, Dr. Louise Ammentorp in the TCNJ School of Education, and Helen Corveleyn from Hopewell Elementary School. Helen Corveleyn is the STEM facilitator for Hopewell Elementary School and is passionate about conservation, nature and high quality STEM education. Her background is in Environmental Policy and Conservation Biology and has been an educator for 20 years.
Regardless of the unexpected change in the presentation of this project, the ultimate goal remains the same: to provide teachers and educators with tools to integrate necessary social and emotional learning standards through the school day in a number of different approaches. Since the world has become so digital, the importance of nature and Social and Emotional Learning has greatly increased. However, can we really ask today's educators to put more on top of their plate of overflowing expectations in a given school day? SEL Goes Green is tailored to provide short, yet effective, activities teachers and educators can implement in their classroom. There's no need to compromise important instruction time, yet research shows children do need regular time in nature and there are significantly positive health effects with exposure to the outdoors.
Brittany Kroeckel
Brittany is a junior Elementary Education and Psychology major in the Environmental Sustainability Education program (as of Spring 2020). She transferred to The College of New Jersey in the Fall of 2018 from Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg, New Jersey. After this semester, Brittany will have officially completed all requirements for the minor. Once she graduates, she plans on going into teaching but strives to return to graduate school one day to become a school guidance counselor.
On campus, she is involved in a number of organizations. She in an inducted member of the Zeta Psi chapter of Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority, Order of Omega Honors Society, and Kappa Delta Pi Educators Honors Society. Furthermore, she is involved with the TCNJ Commuter Collegiate Union and the Student New Jersey Education Association. Brittany works in the Office of Student Transitions as a Griffin. In this role, she mentors a group of incoming transfer students to The College and ensures the smoothest transition possible for each student.
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Project description: The Nature Harmony Project at Hopewell Elementary School is intended to be an innovative nature-based program that meets the needs of students in a variety of ways. It is intended to build foundational skills for children to create community among their classmates, to be able to identify self-awareness from the very beginning of their learning, and to embrace restorative practices through the use of nature-based micro interventions.
Project Goals: Our students are recreationally viewing screens at an alarmingly young age: inattention, anxiety and the inability to manage interpersonal relationships are beginning in our preschool aged learners. Through extensive research in our school community and conversations and interviews with medical and mental health professionals, a prevailing concern in our school district is the feeling of very young students not being able to maintain attention in school or at home. Through the Nature Harmony Project, students and teachers will be trained using innovative measures in a variety of outdoor spaces to connect with nature and use the powerful calming force of outdoor restoration. Mindfulness activities, poetry, art therapy techniques, resilience strategies, and building connectedness to others will be married with environmental and ecological awareness. Our work includes building an easily reproducible program for other schools to implement and creating an outdoor space from which to base the project.
Social and emotional learning
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) was developed to help "children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions" (CASEL).
As shown in the visual representation provided, there are different components, as well as various levels of presenting SEL to individuals. Let's explore those below:
FIVE CORE COMPETENCIES
1. Self Awareness: identifying own emotions and thoughts, how their thoughts and emotions will impact their behaviors, acknowledging personal strengths and limits, self-confidence, and developing an optimistic growth mindset.
2. Self-Management: managing stress, self-motivation, setting goals for oneself, working on and achieving said goals, controlling impulsive behavior, and self-discipline.
3. Responsible Decision-Making: identifying and solving problems, making choices based on ethical principles and safety, and evaluate possible consequences of one's actions on self and others.
4. Relationship Skills: working as a member of a team, developing and sustaining healthy relationships with others, communicate and listen to others, and work through conflict.
5. Social Awareness: having respect for others, expressing empathy, take on another's perspective (especially ones of those who differ from self).
THREE APPROACHES
1. Home: Parents and family members can be crucial models in a child's life. These individuals should nurture life skills and promote behaviors and attitudes embraced through SEL.
2. Classrooms: SEL is important in educational settings because it can aid students with developing relationships (student-student and student-teacher) and conflict management. Teachers should be foster an environment in their classrooms that creates community building.
3. Schools and Districts: Broadening the scope from individual classrooms, SEL isn't relevant to the student body. Rather, it should be promoted through staff as well. Teachers and educators who have connections to SEL in their own lives will be better equip to pass it on to their students.
Environmental Sustainability Education Minor
The Environmental Sustainability Education (ESE) Minor was developed by the TCNJ School of Education and became available as a minor for undergraduate students during the spring 2015 semester.
To fulfill the requirements of the minor, students must complete a 5-course sequence. This sequence consists of:
- 3 ESE core courses:
- ELE/ESE 100: Environmental Sustainability in Education: An Introduction
- ELE/ESE 220: Sustainability and Society
- MST 203: Environmental Science for Educators - 2 content-deepening courses in the following areas:
- Life and/or Physical Sciences (1)
- Humanities, Arts, and/or Social Sciences (1) - An independent study with a value of 0.25 units or more
NOTE: students who are interested in declaring ESE as their minor do NOT have to be majoring in any form of Education. The minor is open to all TCNJ students.
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