Emotional Learning

I have known for forever that students love to learn with emotions- especially middle school kids.  Give them a subject that they can feel for and they are all over it.  The want to read about it, watch videos about it, write about it…and most of all, talk about it.

Some subjects that I teach that really grab the attention of my students include:

Slavery

The Holocaust

Civil Rights

Children Workers

Immigration into Elis Island

Students love the human story.  They are so easily hooked. So far, I have yet to see a classroom full of students get tired of learning, reading, writing, and talking about these emotionally charged ideas.

As I begin to approach the teaching of the Holocaust, you can actually sense student emotions becoming peaked.  Students start asking questions. Students rush to do their own research. Students hurriedly tell their peers about what they have found, looking for an emotional reaction. 

I love that I have this and get to be part of it.  When the students are this invested in learning, I certainly feed off of the energy. But- I want to be able to have this type of excitement to learn in my students ALL of the time.

I realize that if it were all this exciting to them, they would lose steam and interest.

But- I can dream!

Be Mindful.

Peace.

Mark Levine

#Mindfulliteracy

@LevineWrites