Emotions

Students identify and understand the emotions they experience, the sorts of situations that cause them, and how their emotions influence their actions. 

• Students monitor their emotions including their tendency to impact the way they interpret and respond to situations, opportunities, and challenges; (e.g., fear or insecurity could cause them to negatively interpret an offer of help) 
• Students recognize and guard against a tendency to exaggerate in their own minds the severity and duration of the consequences of mistakes, embarrassing moments, failures, rejections, and other negative events; and (e.g., “I can never face them again.” “They will hate me.” “Everyone thinks I’m stupid.”)
• Students who experience severe mental states that result in prolonged depression and /or the possibility of harming themselves or others know to seek help from trusted adults or mental health professionals.

Key Beliefs:

I will be a better student if I act on the following beliefs:

• I can monitor my emotions and how they influence the way they perceive and respond to situations. 
• Students recognize and guard against a tendency to exaggerate in their own minds the severity and duration of the consequences of mistakes, embarrassing moments, failures, rejections, and other negative events. 
• Students know to seek help from trusted adults or mental health professionals if they experience severe and prolonged depression or the inclination to harm themselves or others.

Application:

• Think about what you did yesterday at school and identify emotions (e.g., happy, surprised, sad, angry, proud, afraid) you experienced and express them in “feeling faces”, photographs or a sentence. 
• View a video clip or read a story and name the emotions felt by characters. Describe a time you felt the same way the story character felt. 
• Identify the emotions that are triggered when you: listen to music, talk to a friend, take a test, being scolded.  
• Record changes in your emotions throughout the day (e.g., before and after transitions, recess, lunch, etc.). 

Quotations:

• “Our emotions need to be as educated as our intellect. It is important to know how to feel, how to respond and how to let life in so that it can touch you.” – Anonymous
• “Don’t mix bad words with your bad mood. You’ll have many opportunities to change your mood, but you’ll never get the opportunity to replace the words you spoke.” – Anonymous
• “A big part of emotional intelligence is being able to feel an emotion without having to act on it.” –Anonymous
• “Positive people have negative thoughts, too. They just don’t allow those thoughts to grow too big. And they make sure to stop them from following them around all day.” – Karen Salmansohn
• “Feelings are much like waves, we can’t stop them from coming, but we can choose which one to surf.” – Jonathan Martensson
• “Change your thoughts, and you can change your world.” – Norman Vincent Peale
• “Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seed….you can grow flowers, or you can grow weeds.” –Anonymous
• “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else: you are the one who gets burned.” – Buddha
• “But feelings can’t be ignored, no matter how unjust or ungrateful they seem.” – Anne Frank
• “It’s not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us.” – Stephen Covey

Lessons:

Journaling or Class Discussion

• Think about the last 24 hours. What are all the emotions you felt? What are all the emotions you saw in other people? What did you and the others look like, say, and do when you felt that way?
• How do different emotions make ​me​ feel? What kinds of emotions do I​ ​ experience frequently?
• Out of all the emotions, which emotion do you feel the most frequently? Why do you think that is?
• What are comfortable and uncomfortable emotions? Why is it important to accept how we are feeling?
• Write about a time when you felt an uncomfortable emotion. What was it? What caused it? What did you do?

How Do You Feel Scenarios

• Which scenario would make you feel the most “comfortable” emotions? Why do you think that is?
  • Which scenario would make you feel the most “uncomfortable” emotions? Why do you think that is?
  • What can you do in a situation to remind your brain that all emotions are ok and to help you accept what you are feeling?

Scenarios:

• You are grocery shopping with your mom at the store shopping for food for the week. You’ve gotten all the items on your list so you head to the checkout together. When you get there, you realize there is a huge, long line. You’ll have to wait in line for at least 20 minutes. How do you feel?
• You and your best friend are on the same soccer team and you’re playing in the championship game. There’s one minute left and the score is tied. You REALLY want to make the winning goal! Suddenly, your best friend gets the ball, goes downfield, and scores the winning goal! How do you feel? 
• Today, your class is taking a big math test. You’ve been studying for the test a lot because your parents and your teacher keep telling you how important this test is. How do you feel when you walk into class that morning?
• You just got a brand-new bike for your birthday. Your little brother has been begging you to ride it, so you finally agree. When he gets on the bike, he is SO excited and has a big smile. Suddenly, he rides over a big rock and falls off the bike. He is ok, but your brand-new bike has a giant scratch on it. How do you feel? 
• You worked really hard on a book report project for class and your teacher just returned yours to you. You got an A+! You have your project in your hands as you step into your house, ready to show your project to your family. How do you feel?
• You have had a pet fish in your room for a few months. You’ve been feeding him every day, just like your mom said. But, this morning, when you came home from school, your mom tells you your fish has died. How do you feel? 
• Your teacher just announced that your class will be performing a play for the whole school. Everyone from your class will be on stage and everyone will have lines to speak in the play. How do you feel? 
• You usually eat lunch every day with your best friend. Today, when you walk into the lunchroom, your best friend is sitting with someone else and the table is full. You go over and ask to join their table. Your friend says “I’m going to sit here today and there’s no space. Sorry!” How do you feel? 
• You just got a brand new pair of shoes and you think they’re awesome! You can’t wait to show them off at school. You wear your new shoes to school on Monday. When you walk in, an older student looks at your shoes and makes a mean comment about them. How do you feel?
• You worked really hard this weekend to help your neighbor clean up their yard. Today, when you came home from school, you find an envelope with a letter from your neighbor thanking you for all your hard work. There’s also money inside for you to have! How do you feel? 
• You decided to bring your favorite pen to school so you could use it during writing time, but yesterday, when you sat down at your desk, you couldn’t find your pen anywhere. Then, when you came into school this morning, the student sitting next to you was using a pen that looked just like yours. You’re almost positive it is your favorite pen. How do you feel?
• Your teacher just told you that Friday is field day. You’re going to play lots of outdoor sports and games all day. You’ll be running around a lot. You might even get a special treat, like popsicles. How do you feel? 

Videos:

• Social Skills for Life – Managing Strong Emotions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y1SO4ATzNM
• How Do You Feel – A video for secondary school students on managing emotions and keeping stress in check. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqAZuOqBXgw