Keep Calm and Teach On
Welcome back! Today I am reflecting on things that I have seen in my field placement, which is a PreK classroom. Over the past month, I’ve seen children get overwhelmed or angry rather quickly as they move throughout their day. For example, one of the children in this PreK classroom will hit and scream if anyone gets close to a toy that he is using. Due to events like this, the teacher of this PreK classroom has recently created a calm down corner. The calm down corner consists of a colorful play box in which the children can sit or curl up with the many pillows and blankets inside. Beside the play box is a chart that allows the child to determine what emotion they are feeling. There are also toys such as a glitter ball, stretchy rubber snakes, stress balls, etc. that help the child relieve their negative emotions and refocus on regulating their emotions. After seeing how effective the calm down corner has been for these young children, I found myself wondering what more we, as teachers, can do to provide tools to help our students self-regulate their emotions.
What are effective techniques that teachers can teach their students that will help them self-regulate their emotions?
Social-Emotional Learning is Essential to Classroom Management
This article discusses the importance of teaching our students how to regulate their emotions. It also provides various tools for teachers to teach their students about how to express their emotions. For example, teachers can teach their students about I messages. I messages encourage positive communication by having the student tell another person “I feel… because… This allows the child to verbalize their emotions and teaches others to respect and empathize with those who may have other perspectives. Another example presented in the article is the use of a feelings thermometer. The teacher can place a printed thermometer numbered one to five on each student’s desk. The numbers show the students that feelings can be more or less intense. Students can use these thermometers to indicate to their classmates or the teacher when they are feeling overwhelmed and are about to “lose their cool.” This tool also does an excellent job allowing students to self-regulate their emotions and behavior. To gain insight on more tools to help students regulate their emotions, read the article linked above.
To learn more about the importance of I messages and how to use them, watch the Youtube video below.
YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
The We Helps Me: Poor Emotion-regulators Benefit from Relatedness
This article discusses how children benefit from being able to relate to another person when they are unable to regulate their emotions. During this process, the mind shifts from me to we. For example, when a child is upset, they tend to have negative thoughts about themselves or how they are different. When teachers encourage their students to think or talk about the things that they have in common with someone, they have an easier time regulating their emotions. It is easier for students to regulate their emotions when they can relate to someone else because it makes them realize that they are not alone and that other people have those same feelings. It is also beneficial for the people that they relate with to share their coping strategies for that specific emotion. To continue reading about the benefit of relatedness, read the article linked above.
Reflection
Below is a trailer for a movie that goes along with the theme of the article, Keep Calm and Teach On. The movie, Inside Out, is about the different emotions that we have inside of us and how we can control them. The young girl in the movie, Riley, can’t focus in her daily life when her emotions aren’t regulated. However, as she learns to regulate her emotions, she gains normalcy in her life again. As a future teacher, I plan to incorporate the lessons from this movie into my teaching because it’s essential for our students to be able to identify their emotions and have coping mechanisms for them when they arise.
YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
How many of you have ever felt overwhelmed in the amount of work that you need to get done? As teachers, I’m sure we all have. Therefore, we can be that person to relate to our students and share our coping techniques with them. It’s also important to take time out of the day to teach our students how to regulate their emotions because these tools will become lifelong resources for them. As important as it is to teach the academic content to our students, it’s also important to teach them how to regulate their emotions. If their basic needs aren’t met, they won’t be able to learn what you need to teach anyway. So take that time out of the day to teach your students to keep calm so you can teach on.