The RULER method for social emotional learning begins with recognizing emotions. Recognizing emotions simply means noticing the emotional territory we’re in. It doesn’t require us to name the emotion (that comes later), just notice.
How Will Recognizing Emotions Help My Students?
Recognition is the first step toward healthy expression and regulation. Ignored emotions become exaggerated, painful, and uncontrollable. Noticing a feeling, especially a negative one, can alleviate some of our emotional distress. When students notice they’re feeling a strong emotion they can:
- Reflect on what they need from themselves or others.
- Communicate their feelings.
- Ask for help if they need it.
How Can I Help My Students Recognize their Emotions?
In his book Permission to Feel, Marc Brackett provides a helpful tool for recognizing emotions: the mood meter. The mood meter allows you to identify your emotional territory without pinpointing an emotion. It describes emotions based on energy (high energy, low energy) and pleasantness (pleasant, unpleasant).
The above mood meter includes emotion words, but you can keep it simple by just identifying which quadrant you’re in:
This can be especially helpful for a student who is so overwhelmed by emotion that he can’t describe his feelings using words. In situations like this, have a mood meter handy so students can point out their location!
Inspired by the RULER method as described in Permission to Feel, I’ve created a series of units to take you and your students through the RULER method. If you’re interested you can preview the first unit on recognizing emotions.
What strategies to you have for helping students with difficult emotions? Have you ever used the mood meter?
