Mood Meters and SEL

Social and Emotional Elements are important to any class and this year I've strived to include something almost daily. This year (2022-2023), I am doing the following through the week:

​1. Mondays and Wednesdays are vents and brags days. Bob Patrick came up with this the year our team did a book study on For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood and the Rest of Y'all Too. You can find resources for this work in the references on this blog post. 

2. Tuesdays and Thursdays are quick check days. I use a mood meter for this work. This is a quick and wonderful way to build relationships, check the mood and atmosphere of the class, and have a little fun at the start of class. 

There are quite a few resources for mood meters. You can make your own on paper (something I am thinking of trying next year), or you can use a digital one. Here are two quick links to mood meters I reference daily. 

• Epic Mood Meters by Ms. Pace
• Miriam's Mood Meters Pinterest Board
• Bouncy Balls - Sound quick check - This one is less of a mood meter and more of a quick check for sound levels when you are working. I'll post more on this later, but wanted to share it anyways.  

References

1. Emdin, C. (2017, January 3). For white folks who teach in the hood: And the rest of y'all too. Beacon Press.
2. Patrick, M. (2019, January 18). The cogen: A first meeting. Pomegranate Beginnings. https://pomegranatebeginnings.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-cogen-first-meeting.html
3. Patrick, R. Ph.D. (2019, January 8). That problem class: Part 1 in a series. The Inclusive Latin Classroom. https://inclusivelatinclassroomblog.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/that-problem-class-part-1-in-a-series/