Check-In Questions & Social Emotional Learning

Check-in questions for students are short prompts a teacher uses to learn how students are feeling, what they are learning and where they need support. Below are reflection questions, then ready-to-use sets by grade level, for emotional and daily check-ins and for staff, with guidance on privacy and consent.

I can get really excited about a good sketch note… particularly one drawn by someone else. Dr. Hayley Lewis is a psychologist who makes psychology accessible, often via her sketch notes. Recently she shared one on check-in questions on LinkedIn that 1) I thought was insightful and 2) made me immediately jump to checking in with kids. Although Dr. Lewis’ topic was end-of-year appraisal discussion in the workplace, the questions she posed are solid prompts to use when performing social emotional check-ins with students at any time throughout the year.

Depending on your regular schedule of conferencing (checking in) with your students, the wording in some of these may vary. I think it will be easy for you to adjust.

• What are 5 words that sum up the [week, quarter, semester, year]?
• Describe your ideal day (start to finish). What would a good day look like?
• What are the 3 biggest lessons you’ve learned this [week, quarter, semester, year]?
• How have I helped you [week, quarter, semester, year]? What would you appreciate from me next [week, quarter, semester, year]?
• What’s been your proudest moment this [week, quarter, semester, year]?
• How have I hindered you this [week, quarter, semester, year]? How can we work better together next [week, quarter, semester, year]?
• What’s 1 thing you might do differently if you could do it again?

How to Prioritize Check-In Questions

Once you’ve chosen your questions, prioritize them. What makes sense based on the last check-in you had with your learners? What information are you looking for to make changes in how you support your learners and in your practice? For me, some of the questions above would be regular; I’d ask them all the time. The questions with numbers are easy for kids to help organize and focus their responses. If you are checking in frequently about where kids might be stuck in their learning, these questions may be logical follow-ups.

Also, consider some alternatives. Five words might be five pictures, as might be the three biggest lessons. Or the three lessons might even be work samples, as might the proudest moment. If a collaborative environment or learners becoming resources for one another is something you’ve been working on, you might consider questions about who helped you and how. And the corollary to that question could be who were you successful in helping, and how could be another.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Let me pause here and ask a few questions about your current practice. What questions are you currently asking during your regular check-ins with students? Are you providing opportunities to respond to the questions in different modalities? Are there particular questions that generate more useful information than others? How do you or your students use the information to adjust teaching and learning? What is one question from the list above that you would like to try?

Prompting learners to reflect on accomplishments, as well as goals for the next week, quarter, or semester has value in developing them as self-directed learners. Teaching them to reflect on their actions and interactions helps support them in using and connecting their social emotional learning, developing them as people.

Check-In Questions for Students by Grade Level

The questions above work at any age once the wording is adjusted. The sets below are written for particular grade bands, so a teacher can choose a few and use them as they are. None requires a student to share anything personal.

Check-in questions for elementary students

• Which face or color matches how you feel right now?
• What is one thing you are looking forward to today?
• What was the easiest part of today’s work? What was the trickiest part?
• Who helped you today, and how?
• Is there anything you would like your teacher to know?

Check-in questions for middle school students

• On a scale of 1 to 5, how ready do you feel to learn today?
• Which assignment or class is taking up the most of your energy this week?
• What is one thing that went better than you expected recently?
• When you get stuck, what do you usually do first?

Check-in questions for high school students

• How are you balancing schoolwork, activities, work and sleep this week?
• Which goal are you working toward this quarter, and what is your next step?
• What part of this unit makes the most sense to you so far, and what does not yet?
• Is anything outside class getting in the way of your work that you would like help with?
• What is one decision you made recently that you are proud of?
• Who at school would you go to if you needed help, and do you know how to reach them?

Check-in questions for college students

• How manageable does your workload feel this week, compared with last week?
• Which course or project needs more of your time than you planned for?
• What study habit is working for you, and which one is not?
• Do you know where to find tutoring, advising or counseling on campus if you need it?
• What would make the next few weeks go better?

Emotional Check-In Questions for Students

Emotional check-in questions ask students to name a feeling or a level of energy without asking them to explain why. A good emotional check-in gives students words for what they feel and lets them answer briefly or not at all.

• Which word best describes how you feel right now: calm, excited, tired, worried, frustrated or something else?
• How full is your energy tank today: empty, half full or full?
• What is one thing that could help you feel more settled before we start?
• What helps you calm down when you feel stressed?

Daily and Weekly Check-In Questions

Daily check-in questions for students should take a minute or less, so they fit into the start of a class. Weekly check-ins can go deeper and look back over several days.

Daily:

• How are you arriving today, in one word?
• What do you need from this class today?

Weekly:

• What was your best moment of the week, in school or out?
• What did you learn this week that you could teach someone else?
• What is one thing you want to do differently next week?

Social Emotional Learning Questions for Students

Social emotional learning questions can be organized around the five competencies in the CASEL framework: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making (CASEL). One question per competency gives a balanced SEL check-in.

• Self-awareness: What is one strength you used today?
• Self-management: What did you do the last time you felt frustrated with a task?
• Social awareness: How could you tell how a classmate was feeling today?
• Relationship skills: How did your group share the work, and what would you change?
• Responsible decision-making: What choice did you weigh this week, and what helped you decide?

For another set of classroom check-in ideas, see How Are Your Students Feeling? Check-in and Find Out.

Check-In Questions for Teachers and Staff

SEL questions for teachers serve two purposes: helping teachers reflect on their own practice, and helping school leaders check in with staff. The questions in “Questions to Ask Yourself” above cover the first. For staff check-ins led by a principal, coach or colleague, the following questions keep the focus on support rather than evaluation.

• What is going well in your classes right now?
• Which part of your workload feels heaviest this month?
• Is there a student or class you would like another perspective on?
• What support or resource would make the biggest difference to you?

How to Run a Check-In Well

A check-in works when students trust that their answers are used to help them, not to judge them. Several practices support that trust.

• Keep it short and predictable. A routine that happens at the same point in each class, such as the opening, becomes familiar quickly. CASEL’s signature practices describe this kind of structured start as an inclusive welcome.
• Make every answer optional. Students should be able to pass, give a one-word answer or choose a number. No student should be pressed to explain a feeling or share family matters.
• Keep answers private where possible. Written slips, a private online form or a quiet word at the door protect students who do not want classmates to hear their answer. Sharing aloud should be reserved for low-stakes questions about learning.
• Act on what you learn. If several students report the same difficulty with a lesson, adjust the plan and tell them so. Students answer more honestly when they see their answers change something.
• Know the limits of the role. A check-in is a teaching routine, not a screening or counseling session. Teachers should know their school’s procedures for passing a concern to a counselor, psychologist or administrator.

Privacy, Parental Consent and Student Disclosures

Check-ins that ask about feelings can fall under federal and state rules on student surveys, so teachers should confirm their school’s policy before using them.

Federal law. Under the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), no student may be required, without prior written consent from a parent of a minor, to take a survey under a covered federal program that reveals information in protected areas, including mental or psychological problems of the student or the student’s family (U.S. Department of Education; 20 U.S.C. 1232h). Districts receiving covered funds must also notify parents and let them opt their children out of surveys with sensitive items.

State law. Some states go further. Texas Senate Bill 12 (2025) requires a district employee or contractor to obtain a parent’s signed written consent before conducting a “psychological or psychiatric examination or test,” which the law defines as a method designed to elicit information about an attitude, habit, trait, opinion, belief or feeling, including one presented as a survey, check-in or screening or embedded in an academic lesson (Texas Legislature, SB 12, enrolled). The requirement applies beginning with the 2025–26 school year. Teachers in Texas, and in any state with similar rules, should use emotional check-ins only as their district’s consent process allows; questions about learning, such as which part of a lesson is unclear, are a different matter from questions that ask how a student feels.

When a student discloses distress. A check-in occasionally brings out something serious, such as a student saying they feel unsafe or hopeless. The teacher’s job in that moment is to stay calm, thank the student for saying so, avoid promising to keep it secret, and follow the school’s procedure by referring the student to a counselor or administrator the same day. If a student is in immediate danger, emergency services should be called. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be reached by call or text at 988 or by chat online, and its conversations are free and confidential (988 Lifeline).

Read more from Kathy Dyer here. 

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