Toward an Emotionally Safe Classroom

Improving Academic Achievement in Middle School

Charles Schulz

• It’s not an easy life to be a child, especially when you’re out there on your own, unprotected by supervising adults.

TransitionCharles Schulz

High School Friends

Adolescence

Educational Implications from Brain Research

• Create a brain-compatible learning atmosphere:– Eliminate sense of threat– Respect the uniqueness of each learner– Engage learner’s emotions– Facilitate real-life/authentic learning– Provide specific, immediate feedback– Utilize patterns during instruction– Understand the limits of the brain’s attention– Promote active, relevant, choice-driven learning

Mary Pipher, Ph.D.

• There’s been a real loss of community between family and schools. Our culture is at war with families. There’s a distrust in all institutions; many of us don’t make a distinction between benevolent and less benevolent authority.

» The Shelter of Each Other, p.9

Mary Pipher, Ph.D.

• If kids don’t have a modicum of manners, an understanding of how to deal with conflict, communication skills, and ability to process their experiences and deal with stress, they can’t learn to do anything…how do you sit in class and learn when you’re worried about getting beaten up after school?

» The Shelter of Each Other, p. 31

New Haven SchoolsDee Speese-Linehan, Director of

Social Development

• Classes were in session and the halls almost empty. Dee first noticed the little boy, small but chunky, maybe a second grader, then two other boys, a bit older, walking near him. One of the two called out, “Hey Fatty! You stink up the soccer field! You suck at soccer!”

• The object of the taunt took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, then turned to face his attackers.

• “You’re right,” he said. “I’m not good at soccer. And you are really good- one of the best in the school. But you know what? I am really good at art. I can draw almost anything.”

• The air seemed to go out of the boy who had hurled the insult, and he said, “You’re not so bad. Want me to show you some moves after school?” Then the pair walked off in another direction, the little guy still in front of Dee. “Gimmee five!” she said to him, acknowledging he’d handled the situation well. Dee also found the second grader’s teacher, to let her know what a good job he (and she!) had done!

Mark Greenberg, PATHS

• Daniel, a first grader, no longer bothers other kids when he gets angry. Instead, he folds his arms and goes into his imaginary turtle shell to calm down. His teacher, seeing his signal, praises him. Daniel takes out his feeling cards and shows his teacher how he feels. They dialogue about Daniel’s problem and together devise an acceptable way to handle it.

Roy Araujo, PrincipalHill Central (K-8) New Haven

• In the summer of 2004, Roy took over as principle. The school had been experiencing serious problems. Student discipline and staff morale were at all-time lows. Roy had worked for five years as a trainer in the school district’s Social Development Department.

• Under his leadership, Hill Central’s climate changed dramatically soon after his first year as principal began. The school became a welcoming, friendly place, and referrals to the principal’s office dropped from hundreds during a typical school year to hardly any at all.

• “I use the social problem-solving method from the sixth-grade curriculum a lot,” says Aruajo, referring to a problem-solving process developed for New Haven’s SEL curriculum. “When children come to my office, I go through the steps. I explain that it’s not about punishment; it’s about correcting misbehavior and taking responsibility. I emphasize that we are a family at this school, just as children have a family at home. I tell the students they have the power to make it a good day or bad day. They have choices.”

Empathy

• “Look at both sides of the issue.”

• “Don’t jump to conclusions.”

• “Make sure you understand the other person’s perspective.”

• “Develop a relationship/Create a bond.”

• “Use active listening skills to diffuse anger or resolve tension.”

– Teachers in Collaboration and Consultation

(2003-2006) Dr. Larry Leverett, Superintendent, Greenwich, CT

• Each day our students arrive at the doors of classrooms across America with challenges that serve as barriers to their success as learners….Regardless of who they are, where they come from, or the extent of their poverty or wealth, the reality is that many lack the personal, social and emotional competencies to receive the maximum benefit of a rigorous standards-based instructional program.

Mary Pipher, Ph.D.

• Everything terrible is really something helpless that needs help from us. Unacknowledged emotions do NOT disappear; they fester. Ignoring dark emotions leads to addiction and violence. In fact, most of the truly rotten behavior in the world comes from running away from feelings.

» Writing to Change the World, p. 100

How has learning about EI helped you?

• “I’ve learned to do things by myself, more than I did before.”

• “I like to interact with other people, to find out about them.”

• “It’s not only about yourself, but looking at other people and seeing how they are reacting.”

• “We have to make a lot of choices in life and EI teaches us how to make good choices.”

• “Learning about different strengths lets you choose the stuff you are good at and work on the stuff you’re not so good at.”

EI teaches students how the brain works. Is this helpful?

• “EI helps kids know about how your mind controls your body in what you do.”

• “EI conversations make me use my brain.”

• “Learning about the brain makes EI real.”

• “The brain connects emotions and thinking.”

Empathy

• “Sometimes what you think you see is not what is really happening.”

• “You need to talk to the person and find out what they are talking about…so you don’t make a wrong judgment.”

• “You shouldn’t make assumptions before you check out what is happening.”

• “You need to think about how you are to other people.”

Value of EI Curriculum

• “We learn how emotions work and then they help you with situations in real life.”

• “EI helps you relax and deal with things better.”• “I learned what to do with emotions and how to

handle them, like what to do with anger.”• “I learned how to work better with people.”• “I have learned that I am not the only one having

problems!”

Final Student Comments

• “When I was in third grade, it would have been really nice to have this EI class because I didn’t know how to solve dilemmas in 3rd grade, and it would have been nice to know how to solve dilemmas in 3rd grade.”

• “We’ve learned that it takes a lot of work and support, but you can do anything!”