This research aims to understand how social emotional learning (SEL) manifests in the classroom in the most effective and frictionless way. Undergirding this research is a constructivist paradigm and existing literature on barriers to implementation, emotions in education, and teacher’s perspectives on SEL to answer two research questions: (1) ‘How does socioeconomic status of a school impact a teacher’s ability to implement targeted SEL skill training for students?’ and (2) ‘How do teachers perceive and experience challenges in implementing student SEL skill training, and are there differences by socioeconomic status?’ Seven teachers at a diverse (race, SES) school were interviewed to better understand how they perceived challenges in the ecosystem. Research found that teachers navigate a system of challenges and identity that can be summarized along four main theme areas, each with their own sub-themes: (1) Teachers’ perceptions of challenges within self, (2) Teachers’ perceptions of challenges in the system, (3) Teachers’ perceptions of the challenges in understanding the student context, and (4) Teachers’ perception of the challenges in understanding the students’ family and home context.