Social-Emotional Learning

Character Building

We educate the whole child by placing social-emotional learning as a core component of our curriculum. This is brought to life through daily activities that develop social and emotional competencies, as well as positive relationships among peers and leaders. Plus, all grades participate in multiple Adventure trips throughout the year (including overnight camping trips) as well as our robust movement, music and art programs.

A young girl smiles while holding a small clay heart sculpture in a classroom setting, showcasing creativity and engagement in an art activity.

Every day, students are grounded in our school-wide character traits, defined as “The Way of the Blue Bear”: Compassion, Courage, Craftsmanship, Tenacity, and Self-discipline. Our goal is to bring these traits to life for students by explicitly teaching social-emotional skills needed to demonstrate them.  

Learn more about character

Crew Block

All of our students begin their day with Crew, which is a block of day used to connect, build relationships, and engage in social-emotional skill-building. During Crew Block, students are given an opportunity to practice and reflect on character traits and social-emotional learning skills. We expect that DDES students not only know the traits and what they mean, but also know their own relative areas of strength and need for character growth.  

We have grounded our Crew Block instruction in research-based Casel Social-Emotional Competencies as a foundation to develop units and developmentally appropriate learning targets for each grade-level. 

The Casel 5

The abilities to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose. Such as:

 

  • Integrating personal and social identities
  • Identifying personal, cultural, and linguistic assets
  • Identifying one’s emotions
  • Demonstrating honesty and integrity
  • Linking feelings, values, and thoughts
  • Examining prejudices and biases
  • Experiencing self-efficacy
  • Having a growth mindset
  • Developing interests and a sense of purpose

The abilities to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal/collective goals, such as:

 

  • Managing one’s emotions
  • Identifying and using stress-management strategies
  • Exhibiting self-discipline and self-motivation
  • Setting personal and collective goals
  • Using planning and organizational skills
  • Showing the courage to take initiative
  • Demonstrating personal and collective agency

The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports, such as:

 

  • Taking others’ perspectives
  • Recognizing strengths in others
  • Demonstrating empathy and compassion
  • Showing concern for the feelings of others
  • Understanding and expressing gratitude
  • Identifying diverse social norms, including unjust ones
  • Recognizing situational demands and opportunities
  • Understanding the influences of organizations/systems on behavior

The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem-solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed. This includes:

 

  • Communicating effectively
  • Developing positive relationships
  • Demonstrating cultural competency
  • Practicing teamwork and collaborative problem-solving
  • Resolving conflicts constructively
  • Resisting negative social pressure
  • Showing leadership in groups
  • Seeking or offering support and help when needed
  • Standing up for the rights of others

The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacity to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.This includes:

 

  • Demonstrating curiosity and open-mindedness
  • Identifying solutions for personal and social problems
  • Learning to make a reasoned judgment after analyzing information, data, facts
  • Anticipating and evaluating the consequences of one’s actions
  • Recognizing how critical thinking skills are useful both inside and outside of school
  • Reflecting on one’s role to promote personal, family, and community well-being
  • Evaluating personal, interpersonal, community, and institutional impacts