Cement Those Skills
You've been teaching SECOND STEP lessons weekly or biweekly (or some semblance thereof). But have you thought about transferring skills outside of the lessons? Transfer-of-learning (TOL) activities allow your students to see the skills they've learned in a different context from the lessons and begin to apply them in real-life situations.
The Why of TOL
One of the reasons the SECOND STEP program is so successful in teaching social and emotional skills is because of the skill practice built into it. Your students learn and practice skills during lessons, and through transfer of learning, these new skills start to set. When that happens, the classroom climate improves, students are better able to concentrate on their work and solve problems, and the playground becomes a safer place.
The How of TOL
So, how do you do it? Here are some tips for making TOL a seamless part of the school year.
- Positively reinforce behaviors whenever students use an appropriate skill—a powerful motivator to repeat the desired behavior. For example, when a student interrupts you politely to ask a question, make a point of acknowledging his or her behavior.
- During a language arts lesson, discuss what problems the main character is facing and what kinds of solutions might work. Go a step further and have students write a scene depicting the character using the solution. With younger children, write the scene together.
- Have older students "adopt" a buddy from a kindergarten class and come up with ideas to help their buddy transition into school. The buddy system could also be used when new students join the school.
- Add an advice column to your classroom newsletter, and fill it with solutions your students have offered to a problem the class has faced since the last newsletter. Or ask students to submit questions anonymously, and allow volunteers to take turns writing the column.
- Keep parents informed of the skills their children are learning by sending home the take-home letters. Consider sending around the Family Overview Video with a bag of microwave popcorn so families can learn more about reinforcing skills at home.
You can also use the TOL model, found on page 49 of the Teacher's Guide, to help transfer the learning (Imagine the Day, Reinforce the Behavior, Remember the Day).
SECOND STEP lessons include all kinds of TOL activities, many of which support academic subjects. Think of these as ready-made lessons you can incorporate into your classroom curriculum. You can even brainstorm some TOL activities with your students. Ask them which skills they think they need more practice with, then come up with some fun, real-life ways to practice them together.
Callie Rivas
Program Implementation Specialist
Committee for Children
