Social Responsibility Committee 2021-2022

In response to the work that the staff took part in during our Pro-D Day on September 24th, where we went through the evidence of our School Scan and looked for common themes in our student responses to formulate our School Focus, there was a strong desire to find ways to build a common SEL language throughout our Westwind Community.  To dig into this area further, a Social Responsibility Committee was created. 

The Committee immediately reached out to Marni Flores, our SD38 Area Counsellor and part of the Social Responsibility Team for Elementary Schools.  The Westwind team sought support for ideas and activities that could bridge between students from K to 7, that teachers could easily “latch onto” and integrate into their classes, and SEL strategies that our students could easily learn and begin to internalize.

From this initial meeting, the SR Committee then started discussions with Ellen Hsu, our District Teacher Consultant for Mental Health and SEL.  She suggested that the SR team and any other interested teachers attend her full day, “SEL in Your Classroom” workshop that was offered in the coming month.

“SEL in Your Classroom” Workshop – November 9th, 2021

Three classroom teachers (primary and intermediate), one resource teacher and an administrator attended Ellen Hsu’s full day workshop for “SEL in Your Classroom”.  The session was recommended for all who are beginning their inquiry to help students develop self management, self regulation and social skills.  This description fit this group of educators to a tee!

Based on the CASEL – Educator SEL framework, this workshop covered cultivating teacher social and emotional competence to help students cultivate their own, promoting SEL for students by using explicit SEL instruction, student engagement and SEL approaches, and building foundational supports by participating in authentic partnerships with other staff, parents and community.

This workshop gave our teachers ideas that they wanted to try in their classroom - this included the Mood Meter!