When I think of our most struggling and distracted students, I see how social pain and rejection often hijack their ability to be academically focused and successful. Optimal school performance requires positive emotional connections with those students that we want to prosper while feeling capable and competent.
When students and teachers feel this connection, we are all responding from the higher cortical regions of the brain, and our dopamine reward centers are activated by these feelings, these positive emotions. Our interactions with students are intimately connected with our own feelings and agendas. When our efforts in the classroom meet with frustration and opposition, we can inadvertently mimic our students' negative emotions.
Introducing and Customizing the Model
In this post, I'm proposing a classroom management model that I developed with the help of Judy Willis. This model for behavior and emotional engagement incentivizes students to self-assess and reflect, choosing options that are socially rewarding. The model resembles a video game, with students moving through levels and noting how they feel. They choose options at each level that motivate them to the next level, which lessens growing anxiety and anger. Many of our students don't have the social modeling from their environments to assess an alternate way of approaching a problem, especially in those moments when negative emotion is growing stronger.
Just as we discuss and model other procedures, we will initially need to teach students about this model. It will look different based upon students' grade level and age. Teachers and students must agree ahead of time about how they will communicate their growing frustration, ideally with a signal or gesture that indicates a need to choose an option at a specific level. Adjust this model to the growing and changing needs of your students and your personal teaching profile.
The first aspect of this behavior engagement model is to teach our students about their own neuro-anatomy. When we understand how the brain learns and feels -- with every word, thought, and experience -- we empower our students with the lifetime tools that will enhance their experience in and out of school.
As many teachers report that the most difficult parts of the day occur during transitions, we begin by creating a mutual goal for the students participating in this model, generating "forced academic and behavioral success." This goal must be clear, malleable, specific, and measurable:
John will work on the assigned project for 15 minutes without distracting his classmates by talking, gesturing, or interrupting their learning.
Alice will enter the classroom, gather her work or supplies, and be ready for instruction within three minutes.
Anthony will choose a signal and a Level 2 option within a five-minute period when feeling angry or frustrated.
Game On: Levels 1-7
Level 1
The student has reached the point of no return -- angry, closed off, disengaged, hopeless, and feeling the desire to fight, freeze, or flee. At this level, we need space and time to drain off the negative emotion. We emphasize process, effort, and attainable goals once the negative emotion has been cleared away.