SIM Social Skills Strategies

A significant number of youth struggle with social adjustment issues. Research shows that these problems are not only common but also persistent, often escalating from minor behavioral concerns to criminal activity. Such issues are typically resistant to change and are linked to poor psychological and emotional outcomes later in life. Given the prevalence of antisocial behavior in both schools and communities, it is essential to implement effective strategies that address the social development needs of young people. While many schools have introduced safety measures—such as metal detectors and on-site police officers—and launched anti-bullying campaigns to improve peer interactions, these efforts may not be enough. Considering the potentially severe consequences of social maladjustment and its strong correlation with future criminal behavior, more intensive, individualized interventions are often necessary.

• SLANT: A Starter Strategy for Class Participation - available for FREE download
• Socially Wise Program: Strong social skills can empower young people to succeed in a wide range of situations. However, many youth lack exposure to positive role models and may miss out on learning more advanced interpersonal skills. This program offers interactive instruction in eight essential social skills and includes a customizable strategy to help users develop their own.
• Speaking With Power:
  • Informing Others: Students are frequently tasked with delivering speeches or teaching their peers, but many struggle with knowing how to begin and end effectively. This program offers step-by-step, narrated instruction covering all the essential elements of crafting and presenting a clear, informative speech.
  • Persuading Others Program: Students build essential skills for effective persuasion by learning how to organize, prepare, and present their ideas convincingly.
  • The Narrative Strategy: This program offers self-paced, individualized instruction in oral storytelling strategies. Students learn how to craft compelling narratives and present them effectively, whether spoken aloud or written. The strategies guide them through the process of developing a story, organizing key elements, and delivering it in a way that captures and holds the audience’s attention.

While the surface features of the SLANT Strategy — Sit up, Lean forward, Ask questions, Nod your head, and Track the speaker — are immediately visible and easy to teach, the true power of SLANT lies beneath the acronym. SLANT instruction is deeply rooted in teaching students how to be strategic learners. It fosters a shift from passive engagement to active ownership of learning, helping students move to an empowered, proactive attitude, and it allows teacher to teach more effectively.

~ University Education Professor