Skills Guide Content
Goal: Emotional state recognition, and learning to improve baseline emotional stability
It’s important to know how you are feeling physically and mentally, and checking in on your emotional state is a skill that can be built and strengthened with practice.
Knowing your emotional baseline (am I anxious, nervous, tired, angry, bored?) and then improving it makes learning easier and will improve memory recall. If a student is hitting the same emotion at the same time of day, then you can strategize to improve something earlier in the day to change the outcome at the hard time of day (eat a better snack, work on a skill at a different time, take time to get energy out beforehand).
Activity from Planner
Mark the spot on the line that feels most like your energy right now.
Circle words you identify with in this moment:
Pressure — Anxious — Relaxed — Tired Fatigued — Exhausted — Content Happy — Joyful — At peace — Uneasy Distracted — Anticipation — Bored Overwhelmed — Well-paced
Extended Activity
Practice this re-charge.
What is your energy level right now? Do you feel like a hummingbird, sloth, grizzly bear, worker bee, or something else? Take time to think through how your body physically feels. Scan your body, posture, gut, breathing, head/neck/shoulders. Are you carrying pain or tightness? Are you breathing shallowly instead of taking clean, deep breaths? Are you holding tension in your back? Are you bouncing and fidgeting out of boredom or anxiety? Mark the spot below that feels most like your energy right now.
What about your mental energy? Is it early in the day, mid-day, or late at night? How awake are you? Is this a good time for focus, or are you winding down from a long day with lots going on around you?
Here are some words that might resonate right now. Circle any you identify with at this moment.
Pressure — Anxious — Relaxed — Tired — Fatigued — Exhausted — Content — Happy — Joyful — At peace — Uneasy — Distracted — Anticipation — Bored — Overwhelmed — Well-paced — Accomplished
- Check-in with yourself frequently – if you do a 30-second check-in a few times a day, you will start to notice patterns. If you are always tired and checked out for the same class, you can backtrack and figure out how to get your energy level up before sitting in the chair. Focus and concentration are directly affected by body and mind energy levels.
- Your toughest classes need your A-game. It would help to walk in with the right mental and physical state. Identify what your most challenging subjects are. What could you do before the class to help your focus and attention in the classroom?
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