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Children's Mental Health Ontario
International Edubloggers Directory
The Learning Disabilities Association of Canada
Sep
12
Emotions affect a student’s learning
Filed Under "At-risk" students, Behaviour Management, Special Education
Those of you who have read my post about Nine things my students have taught me about classroom management and teaching will know that when I talk about classroom rules on the first day of class,I tell my students since they are in high school they are experts at knowing what behaviours make a classroom work well so that learning and teaching can go on. Then, I ask them to come up with a short list of rules for our class. Once that’s done, I have them create posters outlining the rules and put them up on the walls. The posters act like road signs on a highway reminding students how to behave.
I was delighted to learn that one of my students in my grade nine locally developed math class, a class for very weak math students, told another teacher that he liked my class because I thought he was smart. I had to smile because this is exactly what I hoped for when I told his class that they were experts at knowing what behaviours were conducive to learning and teaching.
This particular math class is for students who are really weak in math and often the kids think the class is for losers and don’t want to be in the class. It’s a self-esteem issue with them. They don’t want to be in what other students call the loser math class. I’m constantly challenged to find ways that boost my students’ self-esteem to the point where they will be open to learning and success. The negative emotions they bring to class really thwart learning.
No doubt about it. Emotions affect a students learning . The student who knocks on my door and asks me with tears in her eyes if she can talk to me about something, or the student who comes to me in a rage over something someone has done to him is not ready to learn . It doesn’t matter how great my lesson is, if a kid’s world is threatened there will be little learning going on. Given the emotional roller coaster that kids are on in their teens, emotions often get in the way of learning. That’s why it is so important for a student to have a good relationship with a adult at school. That’s why it’s so important for me to be sensitive to the emotional state of my students. I’ve found that a little empathy goes a long way and tomorrow will be another learning opportunity for my troubled student.
One way that I have found that I can be empathetic to my students is to respond to the journals I have them write. Sometimes I have students write journal entries every day, sometimes just on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I actually prefer to have them write everyday. Stuff happens everyday. It’s amazing what students will tell me in their journals. I’ve had wonderful two way conversations with students over the years who would never say anything in class but were willing to tell me about important things in their lives in their journals. I would simply read their journals and make comments. And yes, I even have my math students write journals. I think it’s important for students to be given the opportunity to reflect on their lives and tell someone what they feel.
Sometimes students have difficulty getting started when writing a journal or they worry about spelling, grammar or punctuation. When I see this happening, I get my students to write a timed journal. I give them a choice of topics and then tell them to write like crazy for five minutes not worrying about spelling, grammar, etc. After they have written for five minutes (I use a timer) I get them to count the number of words and record that number below the entry. Then I get them to create a bar graph for each journal entry. When they’ve completed five entries, I ask them to pick their favourite one and edit it and hand in a good copy to be marked. It’s amazing how the quantity and quality of their writing improves over time.
What I’ll do is share with you some of the journal topics I give my students. But since I don’t have them with me at home with me right now, I’ll bring the handout home and post the list of topics for you within the next couple of days. Maybe someone else can also share their favourite journal topics as well. The more choice kids have, the better.
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6 Responses to “Emotions affect a student’s learning”
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We’ve been using Lucy Caulkins type Writer’s Workshop in first and second grade which allows students to make choices about what they’re writing. It does improve their writing greatly and more importantly their attitude toward writing.
Mathew,
Thanks for the heads up about the Writer’s Workshop. I wasn’t familiar with the Lucy Caulkins Writer’s Workshop so I googled the name and found an explanation of it. It really sounds great. Later in September, I will be teaching an English class to ESL kids , and I think the workshop might be a good way to go. I’m always looking for proven strategies to use. Maybe someone else can tell us about their experience with the Lucy Caulkins Writer’s Workshop.
Mathew,
I wanted to say that your site has wonderful resources as well. I encourage people to check them out. You are very generous in sharing them. I think your strategy cards for reading are excellent, and I plan to post them on my word wall.
I think you will all find this to be an interesting and refreshing look at emotions, a podcast called, TheSecretLanguageOfFeelings.com - Check it out and leave a comment letting me know what you think.
Cal,
I did go to you site and listen to your podcast. Although you didn’t speak specifically to the way emotions can thwart learning, what you did say about being frustrated when your needs are not being met made sense. Extrapolating from what you said, one could say that students become frustrated and turn to unhealthy behaviour to try to get their needs met. Teaching students, especially those who are at risk of academic failure, ways to deal with negative emotions is very important.
Your advice was very helpful. I have many lower-level academic students in my class this year… several of which I know have been in neglect or abuse situations. You are so right in saying that emotions and outside problems interfere with learning. These kids are so hungry for attention that they will behave in any way that will get them noticed– in a positive or negative way. With this in mind, I make it a point to engage every student in a real conversation every day and to look for ways to bring their interests into the classroom. I love the idea of timed journal entries, though. If my students knew they only had to write for 5 minutes about any topic they desired to write about… and they only had to edit one per week… I think the students would open up more to the world of writing. Likewise, it would be a valuable tool for continuing to build relationships.