Emotional Intelligence in Secondary Classrooms

Hi readers, I hope you have all been staying healthy and keeping your heads up despite the crazy situation we are all in! I for one am starting to get increasingly bored as the days go along, so it is important for me that I keep my mind occupied and positive. This segues me into my blog topic for the week, emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence (EQ), in short, is our ability to control and recognize emotions, build relationships, and motivate ourselves. Most of us begin developing our EQ at an early age when we are first introduced to the concept of emotions, feelings, and our relationships with others. But as we grow and mature, these skills are put to the test and we keep developing through our experiences. As an aspiring secondary educator, EQ is important to keep in mind because the teen years can be some of the most stressful and dynamic times of a person’s life.

Some simple things that I feel teachers need to do to ensure that their students are developing their EQ include the following little tips and tricks

1. Establish a comfortable classroom environment: When students feel comfortable in your classroom, they are more likely to communicate honestly and express their emotions without fear of judgement or backlash. Learning the proper way to express and communicate their emotions- meaning without putting up barriers or acting out- is a great EQ booster that will help students manage their emotions throughout life.

2. Incorporate collaboration: Working with partners or within groups- especially with people they don’t typically socialize with- can help our students learn how to develop relationships, even if they are simply academic ones. Activities such as think-pair-share are great ways to help students develop the relationship skills of active listening, collaborating, and respectfully giving opinions.

3. Finally, we can implement fun ways to help our students motivate themselves: If we put systems in place such as small prizes or bonus points, students can learn to take pride in their work, and motivate themselves to do their best. Having goals and being motivated is an important aspect of EQ because it gives us something to aspire for.

While EQ is something we usually associate with being taught at an elementary level, that simply isn’t the case. As secondary educators, there are easy and useful ways that EQ can be incorporated into the classroom, like the ones I mentioned above. Helping our students be at their best emotionally can help them be the best students they can be!

Hope you enjoyed this week’s blog! Until next time, stay safe and healthy out there!