If you want to spend less time putting out behavioral fires in your classroom, look to social-emotional learning. Outbursts, shutdowns, and fights occur when students don’t have tools for helpful (and appropriate) emotional expression.
I recently read Marc Brackett’s Permission to Feel and was inspired to create classroom resources for his RULER acronym. In his book, Brackett points out what most of us already know–school is an emotionally fraught place for students and teachers, and we could all use some help.
Today I’m so excited to release my newest TpT product–social emotional activities to fit each letter in the RULER acronym. It’s on sale until Friday, so be sure to check it out! In the mean time, get to know the RULER acronym:
Recognize: Notice How You Feel The first step to emotional intelligence is emotional awareness, taking time to notice what you’re feeling. The mood meter is a useful tool for emotional recognition. It doesn’t require you to pinpoint the emotion, just notice the emotional territory you’re in.
Understand: Why Am I Feeling This Way? Now that you’ve noticed your feeling, try to figure out where it came from. When did the feeling begin? Is it a recurring feeling? Is it usually elicited by a certain activity, situation, or person?
Label: What is This Feeling Called? Now it’s time to pinpoint the emotion and name it in precise terms. Labeling an emotion helps you communicate it to others, which gives them the information they need to help. One of the best things we can do for students is extend their emotional vocabulary.
Express: What Do I DO with This Feeling? One way or another, we express our emotions. The question is–can we express them in a way that is helpful? Can we express ourselves in a way that makes us feel better and strengthens relationships (rather than harming them)?
Regulate: Can I Adjust or Ease this Feeling? Regulation isn’t about exercising absolute control over our emotions. Rather, it’s about keeping our emotions from exercising absolute control over us. We regulate when we adjust or ease overwhelming feelings.
I’m so excited about this acronym and the resources I’ve made to go with them. I’ll be blogging more about each letter in the RULER acronym and how to use them in your classroom. If you’d like to learn more right now, preview the bundle!
