Addressing the COVID Skills Gap
It’s no secret that COVID has caused significant skills gaps in education— but also in other key industries around the world. A recent article from the popular consulting firm McKinsey & Co says, “The urgency of addressing skill gaps is clear—and, across industries, more important than ever to do. Most respondents say that skill building (more than hiring, contracting, or redeploying employees) is the best way to close those gaps and that they have doubled down on their efforts to reskill or upskill employees since the pandemic began. The results also point to a shift in the most important skills to develop, which tend to be social and emotional in nature: for example, empathy, leadership, and adaptability.”
The key here is that closing the skills gap we see in our students begins with Social Emotional Learning. It begins with teaching our students and children ways to cope with stress and change and how to adapt to the unforeseen crises that life throws at us.
As writing teachers, we have ample opportunity to use reading and writing as a vehicle for addressing students’ social and emotional needs.
Here are THREE WAYS to use writing to help our students with SEL so that we can better equip them to focus on the content skills learning that needs to take place.
ENNEAGRAM Test + Writing Prompts
The ENNEAGRAM Test helps you find your specific personality type. There are nine Enneagram types, and according to the Enneagram Institute, "It is common to find a little of yourself in all nine of the types, although one of them should stand out as being closest to yourself. This is your basic personality type."
Students can take a free Enneagram test here at Truity to discover their predominant personality type and then respond to the corresponding prompts below.
Type One
Type Ones are dedicated to making the world a better place. However, with that comes the baggage of expecting perfection within themselves and others.
Prompt: How do you feel when you can’t make something perfect? What is something that you can let go of? Why is it okay not to be perfect?
Type Two
Type Twos are always helping and taking care of others because they genuinely care, but also because they fear that if they don’t, they won’t be loved.
Prompt: How can you show yourself love? What makes you worthy of love all on your own?
Type Three
Type Threes are great motivators to others and achieve greatness because of that. However, this pressure to do great things can be overwhelming and cause threes to doubt themselves if they don’t accomplish every goal they set forth.
Prompt: How do you feel when you don’t achieve a goal? What can you do to cope when things don’t go your way? Has anything good ever come out of a failure?
Type Four
Type Fours are self-aware, creative individuals who often feel different from everyone else. This can lead to them feeling alienated and questioning their identity.
Prompt: Why do you feel different from others? How can you connect with people who are different from you?
Type Five
Type Fives are curious and intelligent, driven by a desire to know how and why things work (basically, they’re Ravenclaws). Sometimes though, fives are terrified by what they’re unable to find answers for because it makes them feel uncomfortable or even incompetent.
Prompt: Are you a chronic Googler who has to know all the things? How do you feel when you don’t know something or can’t figure something out? What can you do to work through these feelings?
Type Six
Type Sixes are dedicated to defending their beliefs and those that they love. But they put their beliefs and others before themselves, giving loyalty to others rather than themselves.
Prompt: What are some concrete ways that you can show loyalty and dedication to yourself this year?
Type Seven
Type Sevens are spontaneous and adventurous, often juggling multiple passions at once. This can lead to overwhelm and the feeling of not finding a life-purpose.
Prompt: What are some ways that you can bring balance to your life? What is one passion you can nurture this year instead of being spread so thin?
Type Eight
Type Eights are natural leaders with high levels of charisma and persistence. Type Eights want to feel in control of their surroundings but can struggle with feelings of being misunderstood.
Prompt: What do you have control over in your life? What do you not have control over? How can you cope with the things you cannot control?
Type Nine
Type Nines are dedicated to helping others and trying to make everything right in the world. However, because of this support, type nines can tend to be taken advantage of by others—especially in friendships.
Prompt: Who is someone in your past that has taken advantage of your kindness, but hasn’t returned it? How can you avoid these toxic relationships in the future? Why are you worth more?
Cognitive Distortions
I’ll be the first one to admit that I love therapy! No shame here! One of the most powerful pieces of information that I learned in therapy was about how our anxieties and worries are caused by “cognitive distortions.” This is powerful information and worth teaching our students about.
According to researchers at Penn State University, only about 8% of the things people worry about come true. In other words, less than 1 in 10 things you stress about is actually worth it.
That means 92% of the things we worry about do NOT EVER HAPPEN! Those are odds that I’d bet real money on.
Knowing these facts can be life changing. I recall a student of mine from last year who was born with a deformity that left her unable to walk or use her arms very well, so she was in a wheelchair. One morning, she came in and said that she couldn’t sleep because she was afraid that she’d die in her sleep. I looked at her and jokingly said, “That’s the dream though, isn’t it? To do in your sleep?” She started laughing so hard and agreed… and that was that! No more worries. But there are several cognitive distortions that can give us anxiety and that hurts our health. Our bodies do NOT recognize the difference between a real threat or a perceived threat. Our bodies follow what our minds think.
So, what is a cognitive distortion? A cognitive distortion is a thought pattern that causes people to view reality in inaccurate — usually negative — ways. According to Healthline.com, “Research suggestsTrusted Source that people develop cognitive distortions as a way of coping with adverse life events. The more prolonged and severe those adverse events are, the more likely it is that one or more cognitive distortions will form.” That makes perfect sense, right? If you have a bad experience, it can make you fear that the same experience will happen again. However, this fear or anxiety can lead to unhealthy thought patterns that distort reality.
Here is a list of common cognitive distortions… and you might notice that many of these distortions are used as advertising techniques to convince us to purchase products and services!
Polarized thinking
According to Healthline:
“Sometimes called all-or-nothing, or black and white thinking, this distortion occurs when people habitually think in extremes.
When you’re convinced that you’re either destined for success or doomed to failure, that the people in your life are either angelic or evil, you’re probably engaging in polarized thinking.
This kind of distortion is unrealistic and often unhelpful because most of the time reality exists somewhere between the two extremes.”
Overgeneralization
According to Healthline:
“When people overgeneralize, they reach a conclusion about one event and then incorrectly apply that conclusion across the board.
For example, you make a low score on one math test and conclude that you’re hopeless at math in general. You have a negative experience in one relationship and develop a belief that you just aren’t good at relationships at all.
Overgeneralization has been associatedTrusted Source with post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders.”
Catastrophizing
According to Healthline:
“This distorted type of thinking leads people to dread or assume the worst when faced with the unknown. When people catastrophize, ordinary worries can quickly escalate.
For instance, an expected check doesn’t arrive in the mail. A person who catastrophizes may begin to fear it will never arrive, and that as a consequence it won’t be possible to pay rent and the whole family will be evicted.
It’s easy to dismiss catastrophizing as a hysterical over-reaction, but people who have developed this cognitive distortion may have experienced repeated adverse events — like chronic pain or childhood trauma — so often that they fear the worst in many situations.”
Personalization
According to Healthline:
“One of the most common errors in thinking is taking things personally when they’re not connected to or caused by you at all.
You may be engaging in personalization when you blame yourself for circumstances that aren’t your fault, or are beyond your control.
Another example is when you incorrectly assume that you’ve been intentionally excluded or targeted.
Personalization has been associated with heightened anxiety and depression.”
Mind reading
According to Healthline:
“When people assume they know what others are thinking, they’re resorting to mind reading.
It can be hard to distinguish between mind reading and empathy — the ability to perceive and understand what others may be feeling.
To tell the difference between the two, it might be helpful to consider all the evidence, not just the evidence that confirms your suspicions or beliefs.
At least one studyTrusted Source has found that mind reading is more common among children than among adolescents or adults and is associated with anxiety.”
Mental filtering
According to Healthline:
“Another distorted thought pattern is the tendency to ignore positives and focus exclusively on negatives.
Interpreting circumstances using a negative mental filter is not only inaccurate, it can worsen anxiety and depression symptoms.
ResearchersTrusted Source have found that having a negative perspective of yourself and your future can cause feelings of hopelessness. These thoughts may become extreme enough to trigger suicidal thoughts.”
Discounting the positive
According to Healthline:
“Like mental filters, discounting the positive involves a negative bias in thinking.
People who tend to discount the positive don’t ignore or overlook something positive. Instead, they explain it away as a fluke or sheer luck.
Instead of acknowledging that a good outcome is the result of skill, smart choices, or determination, they assume that it must be an accident or some type of anomaly.
When people believe they have no control over their circumstances, it can reduce motivation and cultivate a sense of “learned helplessness.”
Emotional reasoning
According to Healthline:
“Emotional reasoning is the false belief that your emotions are the truth — that the way you feel about a situation is a reliable indicator of reality.
While it’s important to listen to, validate, and express emotion, it’s equally important to judge reality based on rational evidence.
Researchers have foundTrusted Source that emotional reasoning is a common cognitive distortion. It’s a pattern of thinking that’s used by people with and without anxiety or depression.”
Remember to trust FACTS, not FEELINGS.
Labeling
According to Healthline:
“Labeling is a cognitive distortion in which people reduce themselves or other people to a single — usually negative — characteristic or descriptor, like “drunk” or “failure.”
When people label, they define themselves and others based on a single event or behavior.
Labeling can cause people to berate themselves. It can also cause the thinker to misunderstand or underestimate others.
This misperception can cause real problems between people. No one wants to be labeled.”
How to Change Cognitive Distortions Through Reflective Writing
There are many other types of cognitive distortions besides the ones on this list, but these are a starting place to discuss with your students. Here are some follow-up prompts to use after discussing each distortion:
Have you ever been worried or anxious? Do you have anxiety?
What do you think causes your anxiety or worries?
Can you identify a cognitive distortion that may have caused you anxiety?
How does knowing this information reshape your thinking?
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Creative Writing
Students tend to love creative writing because it allows them the freedom to explore their worlds and their life experiences. I like to build in creative writing opportunities throughout the school year— some of these assignments are teacher-directed while others are free student choice. It’s all about striking a balance between the two. Here are a few creative writing assignments to help students with their social and emotional well-being.
What I love About myself…
We don’t spend enough time building up students to love themselves. In fact, we spend most of our time as teachers marking all the things they do wrong. This can have a negative impact on a student’s self-image. Instead, have students write about what they love about themselves. They can do this as a poem or as a short essay.
I’ve seen some teachers even have students take a picture of something they love about how they LOOK and then write about why they love this feature of themselves. I think this can be powerful— especially since we are all our own worst critics. Let’s find ways to help students love their bodies and their minds.
Funny Reviews
Have you ever come across a funny review on Amazon or another retail website? This is a fun creative writing assignment that is great for building camaraderie in the classroom and practicing social skills… not to mention that there’s no better medicine that laughter and humor.
I’ve written another blog post about funny reviews here.
The gist of it is this:
Certain brands have become a haven for inspiring creative writing through online reviews. One of the more popular ones is the Haribo Gummy Bears reviews found on Amazon by going here. For some reason, the mythical nature of the gummy bear has spawned an entire world of creative stories inspired by these cute, little, yummy, gummy bears— that apparently are also LAXATIVES!!!
Check out this hilarious review example:
Hilarious Haribo Gummy Bear Review
Emotional Check-in
Sometimes, we just need to be asked how we’re feeling and how we’re doing. A simple way to do an emotional check-in is to ask students: How are you feeling today?
Then, allow students to respond to the prompt in any way they see fit— poetry, song lyrics, a diary entry, a drawing, a game idea, etc. The idea is to allow students a chance to respond in any form that they choose. If students want to share what they created with the class, they can, but they shouldn’t be required to do so.
Another way to approach the emotional check-in is to ask students to select their theme song for the day and write about how the song reflects their feelings. Music is always a powerful tool to connect to emotions.
What other activities do you plan on starting with this year to reengage students? Please share in the comments below.
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About the Author
Meredith is the founder and creator of TeachWriting.org and Bespoke ELA. She has taught high school English for 10+ years in Dallas, Chicago, and New York City and holds a M.A. in Literature from Northwestern University. She has always had a connection to the written word-- through songwriting, screenplay writing, and essay writing-- and she enjoys the process of teaching students how to express their ideas. Meredith enjoys life with her sweet children, crazy Yorkie, and monkey cat.