Apps and Tools / Google / Instruction / SEL · November 9, 2021

SEL and Jamboards

I was able to work with some awesome 7th and 8th graders from North Side to build this Jammin’ SEL resource that is easy to edit and simple to use. This isn’t limited to just middle schoolers though! Anyone can use Jamboards to connect to SEL!

Why SEL

We are learning the importance of social and emotional learning and the impact it has on students’ learning. Creating opportunities where students can thoughtfully reflect on their own emotions can help them process through some of the more difficult ones. A student was helping me build this jamboard and she said, “doing this in class could show teachers that sometimes I’m not okay.” I think this was a good reminder how powerful simple SEL check ins can be! This activity is simple and takes around 5 minutes of your class time if you decide to use it.

Why Jamboard

Jamboards are great to help students self reflect and build healthy habits. I used canva to build the background of the jamboard. Since you are an educator you have access to everything on canva including awesome stickers, clipart, and all the fonts they provide! The animated stickers also will stay animated if you download the canva presentation as a GIF. When I was done making my canva background and downloaded it as a GIF, I clicked the background option in jamboard and uploaded the GIF.

This is just one example I made that would can be used either in a class or advisory at the end of the week. The sticky notes can be changed with different words if you want. Look at the pictures below and add this jamboard to your drive by clicking the link below.

Click here for a copy of the Jamboard

Other Ideas and Examples

Emojis are great for students of all ages, especially younger. I redesigned the above jamabord to have emojis instead of words. You could also add pictures that the students can move around that would better for younger grades.

Note that this Jamboard does not work with iPads. When emojis are made available on iPads within Jamboard, we will update the post.

This activity can still be used in a computer lab setting or any place students are using a Chromebook or desktop.

Click here to receive a copy of the emoji jamboard

If you want to add emojis follow the directions below.

Mac: Use this shortcut on your computer, ⌘ + ctrl + space

Dell: Just go to this website and copy and paste any of the emojis provided.

While looking for other ideas I came across this blog post that provides quick jamboard activities that promotes SEL. You could also build your own on Canva that will take less time than you think.

What about emojis on iPads?

Right now, emojis don’t work on the iPad version of Jamboard. Instead of using the built in emoji keyboard, you can copy/paste emojis as images and include those on the board for students to move around. The iPad has stickers available for a similar activity. You can add stickers for students to drag & drop or they can pick their own to do the activity.

How do I give this to Students?

Before you share a jamboard, you should be aware that anything that is not locked in place students can move. This is why the stickys are nice because they can move them around. My tip is you make a background on slides or canva then put the background on the jamboard. Then add text, stickys, images, or anything that you want the students to interact with it on top of the background. Also, you can either have your whole class on a jamboard or share this individually to students. For the jamboard above you need to follow the steps below to share them with your students.

If you are sharing this to let your students use it separately, follow these steps

  • Make sure the share setting is changed to anyone with Elkhart or Everyone can view the link, this is found under the blue share button on the top right.
  • Then go to the URL above and copy and paste it, then find the word Viewer. Replace that with the word Copy.

Watch my video on how to make a force copy

Another video that goes over how to copy a jamboard in more detail and with captions