Knowing yourself
Students look closely at their own emotions, values, and habits, and notice how those show up at school, at home, and with friends. They name what they are good at and where they want to grow.
What does a student learn in
This is the stretch when students start running their own lives. They learn to notice what they're feeling, name it, and choose a response instead of reacting. Students practice handling stress, sticking with long goals, working through conflicts with people who see things differently, and asking for help before things fall apart. By spring, students can talk through a hard decision and explain how it affects them and the people around them.
- Self-awareness
- Managing stress
- Healthy relationships
- Responsible decisions
- Empathy
- Conflict resolution
- Goal setting
Year at a glance
How the year usually goes. Every school and district set their own curriculum, so treat this as a guide, not official pacing.
- 1
- 2
Managing stress and goals
Students practice handling stress, slowing down before reacting, and staying organized. They set goals that matter to them and figure out steps to keep going when school or life gets hard.
- 3
Seeing other perspectives
Students work on understanding people whose backgrounds and experiences are different from their own. They notice who they can turn to at school, at home, and in the community when they or a friend needs support.
- 4
Building healthy relationships
Students focus on real conversations: speaking clearly, listening, working on a team, and working through conflict without making it worse. They also practice asking for help and offering it.
- 5
Making thoughtful choices
Students think through decisions before acting, weighing what might help or hurt themselves and the people around them. They look at choices about friendships, school, and personal safety with more care.
Mastery Learning Standards
The required skills a student should display by the end of Grade 10.
Social Emotional Learning
Social Emotional Learning
- High School
The abilities to understand one's own emotions, thoughts
Students learn to notice what they're feeling and why, then connect those feelings to the choices they make. They also take stock of what they're good at and where they still have room to grow.
- High School
The abilities to manage emotions, thoughts
Students practice keeping emotions and impulses in check so they can follow through on goals. That includes managing stress, staying organized, and thinking before acting.
- High School
The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathise with others…
Students practice seeing situations through someone else's eyes, especially people with different backgrounds or experiences. They also learn to spot the people and resources around them at school, at home, and in their community who can help.
- High School
The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships…
Building and keeping good relationships takes real skill. Students practice listening, speaking up clearly, working through disagreements, and knowing when to ask for help or offer it to someone else.
- High School
The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior…
Students practice weighing the real costs and benefits of a choice before acting, including how that choice affects other people. This applies in personal situations and social ones, across all kinds of groups and settings.
| Standard | Definition | Code |
|---|---|---|
| The abilities to understand one's own emotions, thoughts High School | Students learn to notice what they're feeling and why, then connect those feelings to the choices they make. They also take stock of what they're good at and where they still have room to grow. | RI-SEL.1.9-12 |
| The abilities to manage emotions, thoughts High School | Students practice keeping emotions and impulses in check so they can follow through on goals. That includes managing stress, staying organized, and thinking before acting. | RI-SEL.2.9-12 |
| The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathise with others… High School | Students practice seeing situations through someone else's eyes, especially people with different backgrounds or experiences. They also learn to spot the people and resources around them at school, at home, and in their community who can help. | RI-SEL.3.9-12 |
| The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships… High School | Building and keeping good relationships takes real skill. Students practice listening, speaking up clearly, working through disagreements, and knowing when to ask for help or offer it to someone else. | RI-SEL.4.9-12 |
| The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior… High School | Students practice weighing the real costs and benefits of a choice before acting, including how that choice affects other people. This applies in personal situations and social ones, across all kinds of groups and settings. | RI-SEL.5.9-12 |
Common Questions
What does social emotional learning look like in high school?
Students work on knowing themselves, managing stress, getting along with different people, and making thoughtful choices. The work shows up in how students handle a hard week, a group project, or a disagreement with a friend, not in a separate subject on the report card.
How can a parent support this work at home?
Ask open questions at dinner or in the car. What was the hardest part of today? Who did you sit with at lunch? Listen without fixing it right away. Five minutes of real conversation does more than a lecture.
My teenager shuts down when stressed. What helps?
Name what you see without judgment, then give space. Something like, you seem wiped out, want a snack before we talk? Help students notice what calms them down: a walk, music, sleep, a shower. Over time they learn to reach for those tools on their own.
How should this be sequenced across the year?
Start with self-awareness and routines in the first weeks, when relationships are forming. Build into stress management and conflict skills before the busy middle of the year. Save deeper work on decision-making and community for spring, when students are thinking about what comes next.
Which skills usually need the most reteaching?
Impulse control under stress and asking for help. Most teenagers can describe these skills in a calm room and lose them in a tense hallway. Short practice in real situations, like a tough email or a group disagreement, sticks better than a worksheet.
How can a parent help with friendship or conflict trouble?
Resist the urge to call the other parent or solve it directly. Instead, help students plan what to say and when to say it. Role-play the first sentence out loud. Knowing how to start the conversation is usually the hardest part.
What does mastery look like by the end of high school?
Students can name a strength and a limitation honestly, calm themselves down enough to make a decision, and repair a relationship after a mistake. They also know which adult to go to for which problem. That last one is often the clearest sign of growth.
How do students learn empathy for people very different from them?
Through real contact and honest conversation, not posters. Reading, interviews, service work, and structured discussions about hard topics all help. The goal is for students to sit with a perspective they disagree with long enough to understand it.
When should a parent worry and ask for help?
If a student pulls away from friends, sleeps far more or far less than usual, stops caring about things they used to love, or talks about not wanting to be here, reach out to the school counselor or a doctor that week. Asking early is never an overreaction.