Every student steps into the classroom with their own unique personality, needs, and abilities, and no two students will have the same learning or developmental journey. One student may excel quickly in athletics but need more time and instruction to develop academically. Another student may easily learn to read and write but may require additional guidance to build social skills. All of us can likely remember times throughout our lives where we have excelled easily in some areas and had to work harder to succeed in others.
As the year progresses, educators have the opportunity to get to know what makes their students unique as individuals. This understanding shapes the classroom—not only by building a sense of community—but also by allowing educators to recognize how they can intentionally offer students the foundation they need to learn and grow
Knowing your students
To teach effectively and support the growth of all students, educators must account for students’ developmental differences by meeting them where they are. Getting to know students allows educators to gain insight into where their students fall developmentally so they can recognize where they need the most support.
The best way to do this is to create space to learn more about who your students are as learners, honoring their backgrounds, interests, strengths, and what challenges them.
Doing this provides valuable insight to shape your teaching and helps to cultivate a caring classroom environment where positive outcomes flourish. Additional benefits of forming connections with students include:
- Improved student engagement
- Heightened academic achievement
- Increased positive interactions
- Feelings of safety in the classroom
Guiding age-appropriate skill development
Understanding that development impacts learning and seeing students for who they are is a crucial first step to fostering a developmentally responsive classroom. The next step is explicitly teaching students the skills they need to progress in their learning journey.
To guide this intentional skill development, the Center for Responsive Schools identified five social and emotional competencies that students need to be successful in and out of the classroom. These competencies, known as C.A.R.E.S., are:
- Cooperation: Working with others
- Assertiveness: Speaking up for yourself
- Responsibility: Acting and following through on expectations
- Empathy: Understanding oneself and others
- Self-control: Regulating thoughts, emotions, and behaviors
The C.A.R.E.S. competencies are at the core of the Fly Five SEL curriculum and highlight the skills that students need as they progress through developmental stages. These competencies and age-appropriate skills place educators on solid instructional ground and help them set learning goals that foster academic, social, and emotional success at every age and stage of development.
By integrating SEL into the classroom, educators are transforming what we know about student development into actionable opportunities for students to learn and practice the skills they need to be competent, engaged learners.
Meaningful learning takes place when we honor students’ experiences, identities, and developmental journeys. When we do this, it is possible to meet students where they are and push them to grow—all while setting realistic expectations. This developmentally appropriate approach to teaching allows teachers to see, hear, value, and support every student for the unique learner and person they are.
