Naomi Meredith  00:00

SEL is quite a buzzword in the education community, but the overall concept isn’t new. In fact, no matter what subject or grade level you teach, there’s always room for integrating social-emotional learning, growth mindset, and developing soft skills in your everyday teaching. Today, we have a special guest, Jill Loesch, from the Self Nurtured Teacher, and she is going to be talking about just that. She’ll explain what SEL means to her, ways that you can embed it into your STEM and hands-on learning, and a variety of resources for teachers and students. This episode is packed full of actionable tips and resources. I know you’re going to adore Jill and her thoughtfulness, her sweet soul, and a plethora of experiences. 

Naomi Meredith  01:18

Well, thank you so much, Jill, for being here. I am so glad that we connected through a mutual business friend of ours, Molly Wheatley.  I did a training in her group and then you were there and you were smiling. You were so excited about the topic, and then we messaged a bit. Then I said, “I think you would be really great on this podcast with your expertise.” I really liked the sound of your voice. So I’m so glad that you’re here. I know our listeners are really going to benefit from what you have to share today, as it relates to SEL and STEM and hands on learning and all of those awesome things that are so important for our kids no matter what age level they are. So to help us get to know more about you tell us about yourself, your teaching background, and how you stepped into the role as the self nurtured teacher.

Jill Loesch  02:10

Thank you! I am so excited to be here and love making these online connections with other educators. I think for those people that are listening to this podcast and other education podcasts, we can feel so much in silos sometimes. It’s kind of nice to be able to find people that align with us that don’t necessarily geographically live by us. So thank you for having me. My education started really, as a child, both my parents are teachers. So I grew up around education. I just remember being in my dad’s classroom, from really little on and then I had the amazing opportunity to attend the school that he taught at and had him for my fifth grade language arts teacher. I come from a long line of teachers, which is great. Along with that also come some of the things that many of us teachers struggle with, right, the all in the at all costs as it pertains even to our ourselves. Flash forward to my teaching career, which started in 1997. So I’ve been teaching for for a while. Mostly I’m an elementary teacher. I’m also licensed preschool. So in Minneapolis, where I live and taught in, I’ve taught classroom, pre K through second grade, but also was a literacy coach for K through five and an instructional coach for K through five teachers and students. I did a lot of parents things with that, too. 

Jill Loesch  03:49

So I think, the biggest shift for me, and what brought me to the Self Nurture Teacher, which is where you’ll find my website. And that is me as a teacher to overworked women, not necessarily just teachers looking to create opportunities for everyday self care. Self care and SEL are very tied together and understanding that and when I was diagnosed with Addison’s disease in 2017, that’s a life threatening illness. I have no adrenal gland function. So it really it created a different shift that was necessary for me to be able to stay alive and teach. It really was taking the systems and the structures that I was so good at and putting into place with students, and the procedures and all that, those kinds of things, but into my own planning time, and energy expenditure. I realized that what I was doing at that time was really benefiting my colleagues that I was working with and received all kinds of feedback and thanks like, “Wow, thank you for showing me this and allowing it to be okay to do my best but not put myself in harm’s way as terms of health and mental health.” So that’s where I am. That’s how that’s how I got here. The resources I create for teachers is like a little extension that’s teacher specific. That is the self nurtured classroom. So it kind of embodies that idea of you nurturing yourself, your students, your energy, your environment, all the things that we have control over because there’s many things that we do, but most things that we don’t have control over.

Naomi Meredith  05:38

I appreciate your story, and just thank you for being vulnerable and sharing that like, that’s a lot. I love how I can tell you’re just a very positive person and just how, like you that’s. I can’t imagine how you’ve taken that as a positive experience and just have really been, ” Okay, I have this going on, but how can I help others.” You’re just an amazing lady to be doing all of this and like you even just sharing your story. Who knows how you have helped someone. That’s so amazing. Also, your passion for education, your experience is so valuable, like, I am so glad that you are here today. You are amazing. So when it comes to SEL, and how it relates to elementary, how would you describe that? What research do you use to refine your practice?

Jill Loesch  06:30

So for me, SEL is a 24/7 way of being human. So just kind of a back step of this, like, I started teaching prior to No Child Left Behind where SEL was just kind of best practice and what kids did in school, and then the large, like pendulum swing to the academic push. Don’t get me wrong, like I’m all about taking these academics and taking the potential and moving them. But at what cost, right? So SEL is not new to me. It’s just kind of how I’ve embodied my teaching. As a licensed early childhood educator, that’s what we did. We looked at the whole child providing hands on experiences, and nurturing the confidence in students, just who they are as a person and where they are in their academics and where they can go. So I just like to, like preface that it’s 24/7; it’s not a 15 minute lesson. It’s not something like “Oh, I’m doing SEL!” It’s really how your day, your class if you’re a classroom teacher, if you are a special teacher that are focusing on STEM, it’s how you structure your entire time with those students. When it comes to the mindset, the way your class is organized, everything is set up for them. SEL in education for me is providing numerous real life experiences and opportunities for students and ourselves to practice within our space and to grow within that together to really become just a well rounded person and community member. I mean, that is the ultimate goal for me.

Naomi Meredith  08:25

I appreciate that, and that is so true. I feel like SEL can be a buzzword. I don’t know if you would think that. But it isn’t something new, and I actually taught preschool when I was in college. It was such a hard decision to choose between going into elementary or early childhood. You’re so right, it is about the whole child, which we do that in elementary, but I feel like we’re missing that sometimes. And it is so like this 15 minute lesson, but it really is 24/7. Do you have any specific resources or research that you’ve used or things that have helped you? I know your experiences are the best research of what you’ve done with kids.

Jill Loesch  09:06

I know that I have that listed down, like I had a write down. I’m like, Yeah, and that’s like, Oh, yes. And then this and then this, because I think sometimes, you know, we think research and these articles, which that’s a part of SEL, that’s a part of everything. Then it’s teaching there’s the art and science of it. Being a human there’s like the book smart paper on paper looks great. Then there’s the reality and it’s somewhere in the middle right is where the magic happens. So yes, I have over 25 years of hands on experience, trial and error of that, right, like, oh, and then each kid is different too. So it’s understanding this strategy or that I would never do this strategy with this kid because that would just shut them down. Whereas you kind of have to navigate that you start with a base and then you can kind of see which way we can tap into the potential for each student. Most of my practice is really rooted in Responsive Classroom. I have level one and level two training, and I have had the great fortune of teaching alongside two national trainers. So we had all kinds of opportunities with that. 

Jill Loesch  10:19

So that can absolutely be brought into a STEM program for people that are teaching that as you know, a standalone content area, as well as if you’re the one responsible. For me, in my classroom, we were responsible for our science and STEM. So if that’s you listening to this, like, there are some really simple ways that you can tap into that. Responsive Classroom is a great way to just utilize that in just everyday structures without even necessarily a specific STEM lesson, so to speak. In addition to that, ENVoY, which is a nonverbal classroom communication management. I taught with a teammate that was a national trainer for ENVoY. So just really, you know, understanding how to tap into capturing engagement with kids. That wasn’t just kind of some of the management, which is a part of SEL. I have two different trainings in IB PYP program. I’m not sure a lot of people recognize IB PYP from an high school standpoint, but the organization has an accredited elementary program, which is highly rooted in profiles and attitudes, which are directly correlated with SEL. 

Jill Loesch  11:46

Again, just being a human, being a risk taker having empathy being responsible. There’s like 20 of them between the two, that paired with just growth mindset, Carol Dweck’s work looking at a lot of that, and having training as an instructional coach. Minneapolis brought in trainers, and we had lots of training around that as it pertained to working with adults, and coaching adults through that to get students and then I personally did numerous things around that with parents. In the one school where I was the coach, I focused heavily on advanced differentiation. Many people might call it gifted and talented, we call it advanced differential differentiation. And so really looking at a preventative parent workshop to look at how do we approach with a growth mindset. Because when you have gifted or advanced learners, they tend to really fall into a fixed mindset, which is kind of hard for people to hear like, “Oh, they’re so smart.” It’s like, No, we don’t want to be saying that to them. We want to really go into some depth and complexity. So I have lots of training around advanced differentiation. That was part of part of my my job. I will always be looking to Castle for what they say best practices around SEL.

Naomi Meredith  13:06

I think that’s such a well balanced mix of things. So in my role, I teach all the kids in the school and you said what works for one kid might not work for another. And so just being any teacher, you have to be prepared for what comes your way. I see K through five, 500 Plus kids, a lot of stuff teachers do even if you’re a classroom teacher, you have different kids every year. So just keep on refining your practice using these resources. Obviously, your experiences in training are gold, no one can take those away from you. But I think this is really helpful, especially when people are feeling stuck, or they need a refresher. I’m glad you mentioned growth mindset because I’m going to have an episode coming out real soon about that because it’s so important. We see that, especially with the gifted kids, but even when it comes to STEM, it’s so interesting. 

Naomi Meredith  13:59

I thought my first year kids would be all excited about building, which they are but they aren’t if they are not given those experiences all the way. They’re like, “Well show me what it’s supposed to look like, and how am I supposed to do it? Oh, it didn’t work. I give up.” Like lots of tears, lots of crying. But I’ve really had to work on growth mindset, year after year with all the grade levels and the kids are used to me by now and they’re excited. They now know, if I failed, I have to try it a different way or here, look at this strategy I did or look what I did. But it’s just taken a long time, literally years since I don’t see them every single day, I see them five days a week for the month. All of those components that you mentioned are enormous in the STEM space or any hands on learning anything that when you’re creating it’s just such a vulnerable thing to create something, it’s scary. Even this podcast can be scary. It’s creating. I think that’s super helpful. I wrote those all down so we’ll link those on the show notes for people so if they’re interested so they can check this out even further. So speaking of that, with the hands on learning, how do you see this relating with SEL? So how do you think STEM and hands on learning go together? We talked about growth mindset, but what connections and skills do you feel this helps build?

Jill Loesch  15:18

Yeah, so STEM activities, and the learning structures that come with with STEM are actually just a really natural opportunity to practice every day SEL, and those five Castle competencies which are self management, self awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. So those are the five components that kind of embody SEL, from an individual level to even families and the community, everything is kind of connected with that. So when you’re talking about STEM, for instance, like self awareness, really discovering, identifying and understanding of students emotions, and just their personal strength areas and their areas for growth is, I mean, think of all the all the things that happen there, right. Typically, then when it comes to self management, there’s lots of different emotions, and the emotional roller coaster kind of how you just just talked about with growth mindset happens and are pretty high when students are faced with challenging situations. 

Jill Loesch  16:24

In STEM, and from just my inquiry background, because IB PYP is based on inquiry, it’s very challenging, when you’re just posing questions and kind of facilitating, when there’s not just like, step one, step two, you know, and it can create those emotions. So giving, and having some different structures and systems in place for students to regulate those emotions to manage the stress and the impulses and the just shutting down. I mean, it’s a process, right? So when you first do this, you’re gonna feel like why and then it’s about staying the course, right? It’s kind of, like when you start working out, and like, I’m not seeing the results and like, just keep going, it will happen, it will happen. When it comes to self awareness, just two big components of self awareness are other people’s perspectives, or just, you know, multiple perspectives in general, and then being able to empathize with other people. So being able to be aware of that, and a lot of STEM things happen in collaboration. It’s not just an isolated thing all the time. 

Jill Loesch  17:30

So kind of understanding how that works. And that moves into the relationship skills is that in the classroom, and then if someone let’s say, you know, they grow up, and they have a STEM job, teamwork is a big part of that, and so being able to communicate to listen, knowing how to handle conflicts is just really important. So that plays out in many STEM activities. Then the responsible or the, yes, responsible decision making that Engineering Design Process is just like an overall great guide to understand how your decisions can identify and solve problems and the consequences of doing this or this and then having to go back. And so I think, when it comes to a STEM lesson, but really, this is just a great process to to approach for just life, right? Like, oh, there’s this problem, how can I solve it? Like what we did in my Kindergarten classroom, and like I said earlier with my fellow co-teacher, we did a pictorial input chart, which is a GLAAD strategy on the Engineering Design Process. And so really, like had the pictures up and walking through and doing some specific charts around that, because they were inventing something they were there was specific to the project and the unit we were doing, but also, we connected that then to oh, how does this connect with how we approach things in the classroom? 

Naomi Meredith  19:07

I am so glad you mentioned the Engineering Design Process. We’ve been talking about that so much on this show. I even had a whole mini series, and I broke down each step for teachers. So there’s an episode about the ask, there’s an episode about the imagine. So it’s not something new. It’s not new. And you were doing this in a Kindergarten classroom, not as a STEM teacher per se. It can be anywhere. And you just saw the importance and how they are building upon those soft skills. And I’m so glad you said like, oh my gosh, you’re so great. This is awesome. Yeah, so definitely those soft skills. That is what STEM is all about. And I tell the kids that all the time, like it doesn’t matter what tools that you’re using. You’re here to build on skills that you’re going to use the rest of your life. The tools are just a way for me to help you practice these skills. They’re going to change you’re not going to have these robots when you’re 25 But This skill is how you can collaborate and work together. and problem solve, you need to have those skills, whether you’re in a STEM job or not, you need to be able to do these things. So I’m so glad you said that, because that is like a huge, that’s like, probably the biggest why I am in STEM is like all that all those soft skills, you get to be creative, but you’re really building up yourself as a human. That is like the whole goal of my class.

Jill Loesch  20:24

Well, you know, it was kind of eye opening, it’s hard for me to say, because it’s been already so long, since I started my IB PYP, like career. It’s like, Ah, it just feels like yesterday, but it’s not. But I just remember being very awestruck, in that time where it was, like, you know, no longer is education, the place where it used to be people come because that’s where the knowledge was. But with just the technology advances and the information at people’s fingertips, we need to create critical thinkers to understand processes and work together, because the kids that you’re teaching right now, the jobs that they are going to have haven’t even been created yet. I mean, even five years ago, would we have been like, Oh, someone can be a social media manager and make a really good income with that people would have been like, what that is ridiculous. And so we don’t even know what they’re gonna end up doing. So we really want to prepare them to handle challenges and be prepared for those really unknown situations.

Naomi Meredith  21:29

Oh, I didn’t know I was gonna be a STEM teacher, I didn’t originally go to college for this. I knew I wanted to be a teacher, I went to school to be Elementary Ed. And then through experiment, like kind of like the kids like, Oh, I was really like hands on. I’ve always loved hands on learning in science, let’s be real. I’ve always loved that. But then STEM was coming up. I’m like, I think I can do this. And now I have a master’s in that and went back to school and everything. But even for just teaching there’s so many new roles out there. And even having a teaching podcast, like who knows, like, you have no idea what is going to be out there. So if we as adults can figure it out, then like, hey, we can totally get our kids to do it. We just have to be they’re cheerleaders by giving them those skills to be successful. You mentioned the pictures for the Engineering Design Process, which I think that’s amazing. That’s awesome. Are there any other ways teachers can easily implement SEL into their instruction like top ways you’re like, “Oh, definitely do this, or this has worked really well?” No matter what they’re teaching, what would you recommend? 

Jill Loesch  22:35

Well, I have lots of ideas because just like students, teachers are on their own path, and not everyone’s going to be in the same place or not everything’s going to feel comfortable. Before I give the ideas, I would just say, really, think about your own growth mindset, it’s really hard to have students tap into that. And they can smell it if you aren’t tapping into that. So getting out of your comfort zone and starting with the next small thing that feels doable. So when I say that, um, you know, just think about your own schedule where you are, because really, I am all about using the schedule, you already have to determine where would be some appropriate times and good fits to implement aspects of the five Castle competencies. For example, I love Responsive Classroom, morning meeting as a part of that. If you are in the classroom, you can kind of bring in some STEM things if you’re teaching STEM. I was in the classroom, if you are like you, Naomi, and you’re doing that you can take maybe just five minutes, like a real condensed and one part of a morning meeting to start building the community. Because here’s the thing, your learners in order to be risk takers in these things need to feel safe in that space. That’s not going to happen day one, it’s not going to happen day seven, it’s not maybe going to happen for some students until maybe the end of the year. 

Jill Loesch  24:14

So really recognizing that risk factor and providing low risk opportunities as you start. So for instance, at the start of the year, it may be simple like, “Hey, I’m going to introduce you to my to my friends,” and the teacher says everyone’s name and getting to know everyone’s name and then maybe doing a name game and then maybe having a would you rather that’s really revolved around the unit that you’re doing, you know, would you rather X or Y and then y and then starting to get them comfortable with really using their voice because if you don’t do that, the rest of your amazing lessons and everything you have on paper, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. Good on paper means nothing if you cannot implement it in a way that brings kids to the ultimate objective, because the lessons you’re creating are not about you. They’re about the students. And if the students aren’t in a space where they can feel heard, valued, vulnerable, they’re not going to explore those challenging things. And they need to know that it’s okay to do that. So I would start with that. After that, really, there’s so many so many ideas, differentiation is key, you’re gonna have kids, just as when Naomi and I were talking like a big range sometimes, and understanding where those kids, those kids that can do it, they need your support just as much as the kids that are really struggling. And that can be tricky. But what I like to use are the prompts of depth and complexity, those are really great entry point. Their icons, you teach them to the whole class. 

Jill Loesch  25:49

But let’s say you have a group that’s gone ahead in the unit or a project you’re doing, you can say, “Oh, okay, now, I want you to look for patterns in your findings, “or whatever, and just have that up there. And it’s a really easy way for you to differentiate without planning. The idea isn’t that you’re planning all different lessons, you’re teaching to the same standard, with the same kind of idea. It’s just getting kids that need to go deeper, going deeper into it. So that’s a really great way. I kind of addressed this already, but really scaffold your year and your units from that low risk to high risk. And don’t assume like, well, it’s January, we’ve gotten to know each other, and it’s a really challenging unit, don’t assume that they’re just going to jump in with like, Whoa, yeah, I’m really ready to fail, like, don’t assume that just start low, low risk. And you can use engaging text to support thinking or concepts. Really, there’s so many amazing texts out there. 

Jill Loesch  26:50

I wrote some books down, like my class LOVE THE MOST MAGNIFICENT THING. The Andrea Beatty books. There’s one that I just recently came across. I’ve not used this in the classroom, but there’s three, maybe you know, about these, Naomi, what would you do with an idea? What do you do with the problem? What do you do with the chance? They’re really good? Yeah. So I mean, just really utilizing that and taking a step back, like go slow to go fast. So what if you take the first day of a new unit to look at a book that has concepts that they’re going to be encountering, or mindset ideas that, you know, like, hey, they’re going to really struggle with, you know, this emotion, perhaps when they’re going through this. So I’m going to start with a book that’s going to address that. And I would say, do a beginning of the unit SEL questionnaire about the content and subject, find out where the kids are in their feelings about it, that will give you so much information, and that they’re feeling validated. 

Jill Loesch  27:51

Like it’s okay to say that I’m scared about this, or I’m nervous. I don’t know about this. Finding out where they’re at, not just from a content standpoint, but from where they are in terms of how they feel they’re going to do with it. And then having some exit slips that include a self evaluation or reflection. And you can do that after certain lessons or at the end, especially. And that will give you good information. Every class and every year is different. But you can take some common things to like, “Oh, I think I want to tweak this for the next time.” I have not done this, but I thought about this, when I was doing this, I think I’m going to put this in, I’m going to make this for my TPT store. But I would have an Emoji check in system before, during, and then the completion of the projects. And there’s lots of different ways you can have that you can literally have them printed out. And you can just go with like kind of three or four basic kinds of emotions. And even while they’re working, they could just, you know, put like, I’m confused. And if they put that there as you’re walking around, or whatever. It’s just a real easy way that’s low risk. They’re not having to be like I don’t know, and then a way for you to check in with either that individual or group. Then even creating just some posters of strategies, of course that you go over of how to deal with your feelings when you feel like you’re out of control or confused or you want to just give up.

Naomi Meredith  29:27

Every single thing you talked about, I’ve talked about. Yes, you know, you’re a great coach. I wrote all of these down for people. So we’ll link all of this, all the books that you mentioned. Teachers can do all these things that you’re mentioning. You’re like, oh, or maybe they’re like, I already do that. Or oh, that’s a cool way to do it. So those are just like you said, you can implement it in your teaching everyday no matter what you teach, even if you do teach all the kids in the school. I want to go back to when you were saying where you really need to create a space where students are feeling safe and they are filling welcomed, that is so true. It’s so hard when you’re a specialist, and that’s a big thing. Going from classroom teacher to specials, I feel like is you have your same kids, when you’re a classroom teacher and you see them every day, you know them, you can tell when they’re in the best mood or the worst mood. You just really know who they are. I used to do The Five Love Languages quiz for kids when I was a classroom teacher, and it was so eye opening and interesting to see how they felt the most loved. One of my most neediest class, their love language was primarily quality time, which made sense. They always wanted lunch with a teacher for a prize. But as a specialist teacher, that was huge and was probably one of the hardest things going into this role is I don’t have them all day. And so I’m here year five, and I know them pretty well. But it’s just taken a long time for them to get to know me and I get to know them. Also, creating a space where they do feel safe, that they want to take risks, they want to have those challenges, they are feeling comfortable communicating, collaborating, and it’s so different too. I don’t know what they do with their classroom teachers, like some are really strong about these strategies. Sometimes STEM is there only a time of the school year where they get to work together. So it’s just so interesting with those classroom dynamics and just being in this role. But no matter what you’re teaching, these are just all important things, for sure. So I feel like people are gonna walk away with so much knowledge from this episode. And I’m so, again, so grateful that you are here. Are there anything, freebies or anything you want to let teachers know about? And how can they find you and connect with you?

Jill Loesch  31:44

Yes, so if you go to my Instagram, my handle is the self nurtured classroom. I have a link there for a year-long SEL guide. Right now it’s just K through one, but I’ll be adding to that. I’m adding things to it all the time and updating, but it includes book lists, and questions that are aligned to the five Castle competencies. Some of those in there, again, may not be directly STEM related. But when you’re building that, like just what you said, you know, prior to this, I would venture to say, and it’s hard because there’s pressures from different ways. I would rather take the first six weeks of school and that’s less time when you’re not seeing everyone every day all the time to build those relationships because your return on that time investment is going to be like 100 fold, it can feel like oh, I should be doing this content right now. But if you don’t get those relationships in that space, you’re going to be battling that all year. But if you just take the time in the beginning, then it’s amazing. It’s amazing how that goes. So you can grab that for free. For more adult SEL, again, not teacher specific, although I do have many teachers that you know do this, my website is selfnurturedteacher.com. So there are some free things there for adults, and you can just kind of check it out.

Naomi Meredith  33:21

Awesome, well, thank you so much again for your time. And I know that this is such an important episode. Very timeless, it can last forever. And this is a year-long evergreen thing that we always need. It’s just such a great refresher. And I learned so much! You should definitely see my desk right now with all of my notes. I learned a lot here, and I’m excited to implement a lot of the strategies you talked about. So thank you so much again, Jill, and hopefully, we can have you back another time. You’re great.

Jill Loesch  33:50

Yeah. Thank you. I would love that.