Overview
Fostering a classroom community that values the whole child must incorporate opportunities for authentic student expression. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), self-awareness is a key social-emotional learning (SEL) competency and involves the ability to “understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values.” One way to support the development of students’ self-awareness is through instruction on an emotions scan.
An emotions scan is an opportunity for students to pause, notice, and name how they are feeling – a critical first step in understanding how to self-regulate (the ability to manage your behavior and reactions during challenging moments). The benefits of this are twofold: students continue to develop their self-awareness while teachers gain valuable insight into how students are doing on the inside. An emotions scan can occur at any time of class and at a frequency that meets both your students' needs and the reality of your schedule. If SEL is a newer concept to students, try introducing this activity once a week either at the start or end of class, and increase its frequency from there.
Step 1: Determine your format.
Select the best way for students to share their emotions, considering the current culture of your classroom, students’ level of comfort in sharing, and the various technology, tools, and/or procedures you already use in class. Typically, teacher-generated methods will take less in-class time than student-generated ones.
Teacher-Generated Formats: Present a slide deck with existing emotions (in the form of words or pictures) and have students annotate how they’re feeling. Place cards with words or pictures on the table and have students select what resonates with them.
Student-Generated Formats: Have students choose an emoji, meme, or song title that describes how they are feeling. Ask students to go around a circle and share one word that describes how they’re feeling, or prompt students to pick a color that represents their current feelings and explain what that means to them.
Regardless of your format, ensure it is age-appropriate. Younger students may benefit from pictures, colors, and even temperature descriptions, whereas older students can access a wider range of vocabulary and metaphors.
Step 2: Engage students in an emotions scan.
Once you’ve chosen your format, lead students through the emotions scan, giving them prompts at each step.
Stop and Scan: Instruct students to pause, take a deep breath, and observe their bodies and thoughts, encouraging them to notice their feelings in the process. Additional, mindfulness-based prompts like focusing on specific body parts or mental imagery can assist those who find it challenging.
Sample Script 1: “Take a moment to close or lower your eyes, put your hands on your desk or lap, and make sure both feet are on the floor. Focus for a moment on each part of your body – starting with your toes, then your knees, your stomach, shoulders, neck, nose, forehead, and top of your head.”
Sample Script 2: “Before we begin class, take a moment to consider how you’re feeling as you enter class today. Check in on your energy level, your mood, and how your body might be feeling.”
Identify and Name: Help students to find a word or pictures to represent their emotions. Word lists can aid this process, as can starting with basic emotions like “happy, sad, mad, or numb." Gradually introduce more nuanced emotional descriptors for increased precision.
Sample Script 1: “What feeling do you notice in your body? Does it feel more positive or negative? High or low energy? Do you have a name for it, or are you not quite sure? Does it feel more like… (share examples)?”
Sample Script 2: “After checking in with yourself, choose an emoji that best reflects your feelings. You could use smiling, angry, crying, or sleeping – or find an emoji that more accurately fits the unique way you feel right now.”
Share Out: Encourage students to share their emotions in whatever manner they find most comfortable. For example, this could be publicly through classroom chat, presentations, or privately via direct message or journaling. While providing options for comfort levels, aim for classroom-wide sharing to normalize diverse emotions and acknowledge the array of energies students bring to each lesson.
Sample Script 1: “Jot down that feeling on a sticky note, and place it on the corner of your desk with your name. I’ll come around to collect them so that I know how we’re feeling – both as a class and as individuals – and can support you all as needed.”
Sample Script 2: “Share an emoji in the class chat. As you do, scan through others’ emojis. Who in this class is feeling similarly, and who is feeling quite differently? Do any of our peers need support? Which of your friends might you want to follow-up with?”
Step 3: Acknowledge and accept students’ feelings.
Thank students for sharing and express that, however they are feeling, there is a place for them in your classroom and today’s lesson. Do not try to “fix” or change students’ emotions, as this may send a message that their feelings are bad or wrong. (Note: Please see the disclaimer below.) Instead, acknowledge that students are entering the lesson in different places and the class can support one another through understanding, patience, and working together.
(Optional) Step 4: Extend the learning.
You can also choose to extend this activity at targeted points during the year to reflect on the causes of students’ feelings and make connections to actions or affect. For example, periods around assessments, report cards/conferences, school breaks and holidays, and the end of the school year may be exceptionally helpful times for students to practice identifying how their emotions may be affecting their engagement.
While emotion scans may start at surface level, with regularity they will become a predictable moment for students to identify and affirm how they are arriving at class. This simple act builds self-awareness and supports students in making connections between how they feel and how they engage, respond to challenges, interact with others, and learn best as individuals.
Disclaimer: While sharing their emotions, it is possible that students could disclose concerning, harmful, or dangerous thoughts, ideas, or circumstances. Immediately follow all mandated and required safety protocols (i.e., mandatory reporting) if a student discloses they are being harmed, neglected, or abused, or pose a safety risk to themselves or others.
Strategy Resources
The CASEL Framework
Created by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), a nonprofit dedicated to... Learn More