BUDA, Texas — As any teacher can tell you, emotions can play a large role in the classroom. Students may feel anxious, nervous or, at times, overwhelmed – and that can affect their learning.
At Hays CISD, a new program aims to tackle this problem.
The student became the teacher in a bit of a role reversal at Johnson High School in Buda. A classroom KVUE visited was filled with Hays CISD educators.
And students like Angelica Rodriguez were giving the lesson.
"Teachers have like, 100 hats at one time. And that is very hard to juggle. It's almost like being a second parent, but having to teach a curriculum at the same time," Rodriguez said.
The hour-long seminar touched on an important topic that hasn't always been addressed in schools.
"We are teaching a social-emotional learning lesson. That's what SEL stands for," Rodriguez said.
"We never learned about social emotional learning, and I think that it's been a thing for several years. But honestly, after COVID, there was such a disconnect from students getting back into the classroom that it just became imperative," said Janell Puckett, an education and training teacher.
PHOTOS: Social-emotional learning at Hays CISD
Social-emotional learning (SEL) is about being in tune with your emotions.
"Kids are going to have bad days. It's just going to happen. They have to be in it mentally and ready and able to focus, or they're not going to get what you're trying to teach," Rodriguez said.
For example, younger students could be feeling separation anxiety about being away from their parents.
In one lesson, the teachers made bracelets with each bead signifying what they can offer students to show support. Teachers also learned coping mechanisms to help students, from quick mediations to reset to remembering how to fill each other's buckets with kindness and positivity.
"If you're filling into somebody else's bucket, they're going to fill into your bucket. And then, over time, you just see your day getting better and better," Rodriguez said.
All of these lessons are part of Lehman High School's education and training program, led by Puckett. It's like a grow-your-own-program to help train future teachers.
The program has helped aspiring teachers like Mia Saucedo gain a lot of experience. In turn, the Buda teachers were learning from them.
A lot of times, SEL is just an understanding that you never know what kids are dealing with personally – and those issues can trickle into the classroom.
This SEL program has become so popular that it's now on wheels. Hays CISD transformed an old band trailer into a mobile classroom where elementary students are able to learn the same lessons.
Proof that tapping into SEL benefits students of all sizes – in the classroom and in life.
"My students were so reluctant to work together, to work in teams, to work and communicate with each other. They would just prefer to sit in their seats and do their work and then leave the classroom," Puckett said. "Using these strategies, by the end, we had group teams and relationships filled and kids that stayed in contact over the summer and just a lot more fun in the classroom."
And a big congratulations to Rodriguez and Saucedo. They, along with other teachers in training, competed at a state education competition. Many advanced to Regionals and a few went on to Nationals. So now their lessons are getting all kinds of recognition.