As we are now in the third month of the year, we want to take the time to reflect on the celebration of Black History Month which was this past month of February. Part of celebrating Black History Month is taking the opportunity to highlight the work of important Black leaders and milestones in racial justice movements.
As mentors and educators, we want to acknowledge and emphasize that Black history plays an integral role in all American history and should be taught, learned, and presented as such in schools, media, and institutions all year-round. By taking the time to teach the history to our students, we are further emphasizing the importance of social-emotional skills such as self-awareness, social awareness, and relationship skills.
To ensure that we are reserving more than just this month to recognize Black history, we have enumerated some additional resources that can be incorporated as activities or into lesson plans that will allow students to continue learning about all American history. These resources will encourage students to become more culturally and socially aware – beyond the classroom!
Intersectionality is another aspect that we here at SECD Lab would like to emphasize as important in understanding the entirety of history. This is the interconnectedness of social categorizations such as race, class, gender as they may apply to a given individual or group. Essentially, it is the overlapping of interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. To learn more about it and to incorporate it into lesson plans, we have provided this article that could be of interest to you!
In the article, "5 Teaching Tools to Honor Black History Month in the Classroom," Social Studies Content Expert Geraldine Stevens highlights how using biographies of important Black figures can be used to enforce SEL in the classrooms. Included in the graphic is a short list of powerful biographies that can be used, but there are so many important people to learn about. Click on the graphic to be redirected to our Pinterest page!
While February is also known for being the month of love, SECD Lab wanted to emphasize self-love and self-love practices. Rebecca Wu also created this visual for our instagram post and listed some ways that we can all incorporate self-love practices into our daily lives! In order to love others properly, we must first love ourselves! For more information regard this instagram post, please go to our instagram page.
Our team at SECD Lab strives to inspire everyone to spread positivity to all members of their community, and to be more mindful of the present. In honor and celebration of Black History Month, Rebecca Wu created this visual for our Instagram page. For more information regarding this post, please go check out and follow our instagram page!
It's important for everyone to practice self-love and self-care. Learning these healthy habits in the classroom from an early age can help guide students towards a better lifestyle as they get older. This article by The Social Emotional Teacher explains ways to plant the seeds of self-love for students and teachers in the classroom.
Graphic made by Alexa Ruperti.
SOME REMINDERS
New STAT Book Available for Pre-Order
A new book containing the teaching strategies of the STAT curriculum is now available for pre-order from ASCD.
Pre-order here:
New STAT Book Now Available for Pre-Order! — Rutgers SECD Lab