SEL In Tutorial

You sit down in Tutorial, ready to get a start on your massive heap of homework. Then you remember it’s Wednesday, an SEL day, which means you won’t have time for that homework.

Nearly every Wednesday at Wredling Middle School, tutorial classes include a lesson focused on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). SEL is crucial for building skills to manage emotions, make responsible choices, and more. Wredling follows CASEL’s SEL framework. The CASEL wheel addresses 5 main components of SEL: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Clearly, SEL is important. However, tutorial time is also when many students like to unwind, catch up on homework, or read. Losing this time can be challenging for some. Wednesdays also have an early release schedule, making all classes, including Tutorial, even shorter. So, should SEL lessons stay on Wednesdays, or would another day work better?

On one hand, SEL is an essential skill to learn. As CASEL states, “(it) develops skills that promote future readiness and contributes to healthy well-being.” Schools are required by law to integrate social-emotional learning and/or character education into the curriculum, as these skills are essential for adult success.

Since Wednesdays are already short due to early release, having SEL on that day means Tutorial is already brief, so students already have less time for homework. Mrs. Roskos supports keeping SEL on Wednesdays, saying, “It’s in the middle of the week…” and can be a nice way to break things up. She points out that Fridays and Mondays are often busier, with more homework or a greater need for downtime. A seventh grader named Jaxon agrees that it should be on Wednesdays. He says that some teachers don’t assign as much homework on Wednesdays. Another teacher says that “Wednesdays are already weird days, ” so it should stay on Wednesdays. 

On the other hand, some believe SEL should not be on Wednesdays. If it were held on a regular school day, half of Tutorial time could focus on SEL while the other half could be used for homework, games, or downtime. Sixth-grader Teagan Kaufman says, “It shouldn’t be on Wednesdays because if you have a big test the next day and are busy at home, you need the tutorial time to study.” Another sixth-grader agrees, suggesting, “We should do it on a different day because we have shortened time on Wednesday.”

So what do you think?