• What new content are you learning as you become more familiar with this literacy?

            I am learning so much as I read and research emotional literacy. Before doing research I thought a lot about my own experience talking about emotions in my early childhood development classes. In these classes we talked about how important it is to get young children in tune with their emotions and teach them how to properly handle their emotions. In the child development labs when working directly with children we have to reflect on their emotions so they began to understand what emotions they were feeling at different times. For example if a child hit another child for taking away their toy I may say, “You are upset because he took your toy. When you hit him that hurts his body, you can say stop I was playing with that.” The children hear adults use those reflections everyday and they slowly start to learn how to handle emotions of fear, sadness, frustration, and more.

            The reason I mentioned what I learned in child development is because while I was learning affective reflections last year I had no idea it was a part of the multiple literacies. When I heard the word ‘literacy’ I immediately thought of reading, writing, and other content areas that make up language arts. Now I am aware of the importance it has and how it should be included in the classroom and considered a part of literacy. In addition, I dug deeper into the context of emotional literacy and found out why it is important and what exactly it entails.

            After reading a variety of articles, emotional literacy is defined and the ability to express, understand, interpret, and control one’s emotions in a healthy manner (Center on the Social and Emotional Foundation for Early Learning, 2009). In other words we want children to know and be able to identify emotions they are feelings and have a way to control or act on them in a way that does not hurt others or themselves; it gives students coping mechanisms.    

            There are a variety of ways in which adults and teachers can promote or teach emotional literacy to students. First off, adults must be aware that they are being watched and children will imitate them and their actions. Therefore, it is critical that adults are positively controlling their own emotions so children follow their lead. In addition, teachers must realize that all emotions are real and children need to be constantly made aware of them.

            There are countless reasons why children in school should be learning about their emotions. For starters those who are able to control their emotions and possess emotional literacy get into fewer fights and often to better academically. In addition, they get resist behavior that is destructive (Center on the Social and Emotional Foundation for Early Learning, 2009). The reasons for being emotionally literate also extend to future issues as well. These issues are discussed below.

• What surprises have you experienced during your exploration?

            I was surprised to see the impact emotional literacy has on the future of our world. One article I read talked about how being emotionally literacy actually helps with social issues such as drug abuse and violence. In addition, another article state many benefits such as reduction of crime, better understanding among individuals, better cooperation, reduction of prejudice, and more (Zimmerman, 1999). Just seeing these few benefits assures me that I will be including emotional literacy into my classroom. I believe emotional literacy should start young that way they have the skills and the language to carry it through their education. However, it is also a literacy that should be continuously learned on a daily basis because ultimately it is a life skill.

            The second most surprising thing I read from an article titled What is Emotional Literacy. It said, “A recent poll by USA Today showed that, when asked what they most wanted to change in their children's schools, a full 75% of all parents asked for emotional literacy - though not by name” (("What is emotional," ). It is interesting to think that even parents are aware of the importance this literacy has on their children. I would think the results of a poll like that would yield more answers pertaining to academics. As a side note: I think parents are also very important for becoming emotionally literate. The children are with their parents for the majority of the day so it is also important that they model positive ways to display their behavior for their kids to model.   

 Think about the students in your field placement.  If they were exploring this new literacy, what support would they need in order to become literate in this area?  Is this type of literacy already present in the curriculum at that grade level, or would this be a new learning area for the students?

            Many of the children in my field placement are emotionally literate. Since it is a Catholic school they stress that the students act like Jesus or live the model, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). However, this is not to say that emotional literacy practices and activities should be left out all together! I would support the children in my field placement by ensuring them that some situations they can handle on their own. In addition, I would teach them the language to handle those situations. I think this would help them to become more independent and less likely to come and “tattle” on their classmate to the teacher.

            The ways in which I have seen this literacy in the classroom is through discussions. When something bigger happens on the playground my teacher has discussions on how the issue could be resolved better in the future. During this time she does not call people out or yell at them, but asks the class their ideas. In addition, I think my teacher praises students who handle their emotions in positive ways, especially if it is something they have been working on. For example, some of the boys get anxious during carpet time. If they regulate that emotion by controlling their body and putting themselves in a ‘criss cross applesauce position’ my teacher will praise that.

• What makes this technology useful for teaching?

            The technology my group is using is called One True Media. One True Media is a movie maker in which photos, videos, and special effects can be added to make an entertaining clip. I think presenting information to students in this way would be new and exciting! I notice that when I teach a lesson the students are rather excited because my lessons are usually out of the ordinary. Therefore, I see firsthand that not doing things the same every day has great benefits. In addition I think presenting information in this way displays a new technology to them that maybe they have never seen before. It may give them the desire to learn how to use it themselves. As our world becomes more based on technology it is important that students are exposed to as many different areas of technology as the teacher can offer. I also know this technology is good for teaching because today’s students are visual learners. This technology gives them something not only to hear, but to watch as well. I went to a conference this weekend and the man speaking told the group that in 1996, 35% of students were visual learners and in 2005, 65% of students were visual learners. I can only imagine that that number is growing today!

• What do you find especially challenging and why?

            What I see that will be most difficult when teaching about emotional literacy and other concepts in my future classroom with this technology is the inability to stop the video. Unlike a PowerPoint, videos continue on unless the pause button is hit. However, I think it is harder to pause at a certain time that won’t interrupt the flow of the video. Therefore, it is critical that in future lessons I will have to make sure that everything I want the children to see is in the video or I may have to wait until it is over to discuss it.

• What else are you noticing as you work with this technology?

            I am noticing that this technology if used all the time will be very time consuming. It would definitely take a lot longer than making a PowerPoint or a handout. However, I think having videos in the class is important because they are different and exciting. Therefore, taking the time to make them every once in a while will be worth it for the students.  

References 

 Zimmerman, M. (1999). Emotional literacy education and self-knowledge. Retrieved from http://emotionalliteracyeducation.com/index.shtml

What is emotional literacy?. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.feel.org/emotional_literacy.php

Center on the Social and Emotional Foundation for Early Learning. (2009, April). Fostering emotional literacy in young children: Labeling emotions. Retrieved from