SEL, Common Core & Goals

Social Thinking has always stressed the importance of the connection between social learning and the core academic standards and now the latest version of the academic standards, called the Common Core Standards (CCSs), recognizes Speaking and Listening as an integral part of learning. Standards included in the new CCSs include concepts related to collaboration, cooperation, understanding other’s minds or point of view, analysis of fiction, understanding bias in our media and science, just to name a few! For those of you who've struggled to convince others about the importance of including a social component to the academic day or write goals/objectives related to this, the broader adoption of the CCSs may be of help. Finally, social relatedness, group listening, and conversational skills will be recognized as part of the academic day.