Social Emotional Learning: Empowering Students through Music - Sarah Kyalo

Teacher

Supporting students, families, and staff as the building Social Worker, Sarah Kyalo’s “classroom” is all of Normandale Hills Elementary! She supports students within both general education and special education settings by embedding social/emotional learning into the instructional day and by supporting the mental health needs of students.

Sarah is a member of the building Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) team, Individual Student Support Team (ISST), Learning Supports team, and serves as both the Attendance and Homeless/Highly Mobile Lead. Additionally, she is the building 504 case manager.

Instructional Strategy

The 5th grade teaching team at Normandale Hills, comprised of Danielle Andvik, Matt McDonell, and Melanie Christmas, are members of the district's Student-Centered Cohort. This year their student-centered goal involved developing a learning series for their students and inviting other staff at Normandale Hills to join in teaching lessons each Friday. Sarah Kyalo, social worker, Brian Carhart, technology integration specialist, and Talina Molzahn, ADSIS reading intervention specialist, jumped at the opportunity! The learning series is called Friday Friendzy.

“Our team designed and piloted a model in which students explored the six areas of an Asset-Based Learning Profile. [Asset-Based Learning helps]...students explore their interests, experiences, ways they communicate, their cultural backgrounds, learning styles, and strengthens their social/emotional health. We felt this would be the perfect vehicle for enhancing positive relationships between learners, between learner and teacher, and learner and staff.” - 5th Grade Team

The 5th grade teachers mixed the student groups so they would be with peers from each of the 5th grade classrooms during Friday Friendzy. Their intention was to foster relationships and build community across all three classrooms. Sarah, Brian, Talina and the 5th grade teachers each focus on a different component of the Asset-Based Learner Profile with their lessons. Each series of lessons last three weeks. By the end of the school year, all 5th graders will have rotated through every series of the Friday Friendzy lessons.

Sarah’s Friday Friendzy lessons were developed to strengthen students’ social/emotional health and are titled: “Empowerment. What’s your Power Song?” Sarah designed her instruction building from students’ interests in music and technology. Using these interest areas, students learn about empowerment, the use of positive personal self-talk, and believing in themselves. She brings high-energy, engaging visuals, multimodal learning, and individualized accommodations into her instruction, all of which keep students highly engaged in learning.

See What It Looks Like

Check out the presentation Sarah uses during her Friday Friendzy rotation.

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