C. James Wong Professor College Preparatory Department San Jacinto - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

C. James Wong Professor College Preparatory Department San Jacinto College South Campus James.Wong@sjcd.edu

Why Bother?  2013: Campus Shooting at Lone Star College  2015: Campus Shooting at Umpqua Community College, OR  2016: Campus Carry Law in Effect in TX universities  2017: Campus Carry Law in Effect in TX community colleges  2018: Shooting Threat Closed Houston Community College Central Campus  2018: Campus Shooting at Santa Fe High School

Overview  Students with Difficulties in Emotional Management  Negative Emotions & Effects on Learning  Behaviors  Intervention Strategies  What Students Can Do to Self-Manage Emotions  What Instructors Can Do

Purpose of Intervention  Student success  Even though not every struggling student can transform to succeed in every course, educators should help them become citizens with decency and responsibilities.

Negative Emotions Students May Bring to or Experience in the Classroom

Negative Emotions Students May Bring to or Experience in the Classroom  Anger  Grief  Annoyance  Guilt  Anxiety  Fear  Apathy  Frustration  Boredom  Nervousness  Confusion  Overwhelm  Depression  Resentment  Disappointment  Sadness  Disgust  Worry

Effects of Negative Emotions on Learning Negative Emotions Negative Belief in Negative Self-Confidence Motivation/Attitude Negative Academic Negative Actions in Results Learning

Effects of Negative Emotions on Learning  Individual academic performance  Classroom disruptions  Campus violence  “Prevention is the best medicine” (Woolfolk, 1987)

Behaviors of Students with Difficulties in Emotional Management When they experience strong negative emotions,  Shout loudly in the classroom  Storm out of the classroom with anger  Leave and re-enter the classroom frequently  Make negative comments on learning tasks  Are dominated by their emotions  Cannot receive others’ suggestions/ideas  Have no interest in learning; use the phone in class  Lack attention and fail to perform learning tasks  Disrespect classmates and instructor

“Given the number of students, variety of emotions and their causes, teachers cannot be expected to manage all of these experiences effectively” (Trezise, 2017).

Why Intervention Is Necessary  Save “Just One More” student if possible  Minimize/Prevent disruptions in the classroom  Maintain a positive learning atmosphere  Teach students life-long emotional management skills  Prevent campus violence

Strategies for Students to Self-Manage Negative Emotions

1. Separate from External Stressor  Work on other different tasks  Use other source/medium of information  Be in a different place  Talk to other family members and friends or counselors, advisors, instructors, and classmates.

2. Positive affirmation  Self talk and write out positive statements  Record and play back positive statements on phone  Visualization of positive outcomes  Inspirational/Positive posters

3. Media  Positive/Inspirational music, video, books, etc.  Relaxing/soothing media to relieve stress  Avoid media that contain negative/violent contents or can aggravate the current negative emotion a student is experiencing

4. Reframe: Adopt Positive Perspectives  Not doing well on a quiz or the first test/essay is NOT the end of the world  The low scores reveal the need for improvements on study habits, methods, and skills  Change the way you think about a negative situation you don’t like and can’t change  Think of the positive side of this situation. It could lead to something positive

5. Exercise  Increase blood levels of endorphins that block pain and reduce stress  Relieve the “negative energy” built up in the body

6. Channel Negative Emotions to Positive Actions  The power of “I” can overcome whatever challenges  Start taking actions to study/practice/seek assistance  In addition to think positive, MUST take positive actions to improve a negative situation

7. Breathe Deeply  In a minor outburst, both the instructor and emotionally charged student could try to calm down first

8. Dispute Irrational/Negative Assumptions  Meeting with the instructor after class does not mean that you will be penalized  The meeting will address constructive actions instead  Failing the first quiz/test/essay does not mean you are not smart or you will fail the course

9. Emotional Awareness & Management  Be able to recognize self-emotion as it occurs  Be able to manage self-emotion at the moment

Strategies for Instructors to Manage Students’ Negative Emotions

1. Professional Development  After all, instructors are not trained social workers, counselors, or psychologist  Participate in training focused on emotional management and communication techniques  Communicating with students: firm but respectful

2. Get to Know Them  Case 1  Student’s father was taken to jail when student was at a young age. Student was raised in a single-parent family.  Emotional instability can be caused by psychological traumas.  Case 2  Student was involved in drugs and gangs and had head injury.  Emotional instability can be caused by physiological or medical issues.

2. Accommodations  Students have test anxiety and frustrations when falling behind  Go over the learning disability and accommodation statements on the course syllabus on the first day of class  Students need to take initiation visit the Disability Services Office on campus and be aware of the terms listed on the accommodation letter

3. Emotional Awareness & Management  Be able to recognize student’s emotion accurately as it occurs, especially anger  Be able to manage student’s emotion at the moment with skills  Choice: passing graded test/essay at the beginning of class or OR toward the end of class  End of class: instructor can still go over it in the next class  If student is in argumentative/self-defensive mode, having an argument will go nowhere

4. Have a Game Plan  Instructor’s body language in class  Instructor’s proximity to student in class  Talk to student outside the classroom  Ask student to leave the classroom  Pros  Cons  Meet with student during office hours  Meet with student and counselor/department chair  Campus counselor to the rescue  Campus Police: Last resort

5. Instructor Perceived as Stressor  Give students distance before they are calm or ready to communicate  Get other resources involved  Another instructor who knows the student  Retention Specialist  Counselor  Department Chair

6. Sensitivity  Be careful discussing sensitive topics  Be sensitive when we communicate with emotional students  Avoid certain topics as necessary

7. Campus Counselor  When a student has an emotional breakdown or outburst without violent acts, ask a counselor to come to the classroom

8. Campus Police  Last resort as violence breaks out in the classroom

9. Documentation & Reporting  Instructors are not trained mental health professionals  Document and report incidents  Goal: Prevention of Violence

Pair Work  Share a strategy that worked for your students with your neighbor & discuss  Pros  Cons

Let’s hear strategies that work:  Pros  Cons

Thank You!

References  Cowen, A. S., & Keltner, D. (2017). Self-report captures 27 distinct categories of emotion bridged by continuous gradients. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,114 (38). doi:10.1073/pnas.1702247114  Downing, S. (2017). On course: Strategies for creating success in college and in life . Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.  Hannon, E. (2016, February 23). University of Houston Faculty Devises Pointers on How to Avoid Getting Shot by Armed Students. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/02/23/university_of_houston_faculty_reacts_to_texas_ campus_carry_gun_law.html  Lawson, C. (2002, January 01). The Connections Between Emotions And Learning [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.cdl.org/articles/the-connections-between-emotions-and-learning/  Trezise, K. (2017). Emotions in classrooms: The need to understand how emotions affect learning and education. Npj Science of Learning . Retrieved from https://npjscilearncommunity.nature.com/users/53799-kelly-trezise/posts/18507-emotions-in- classrooms-the-need-to-understand-how-emotions-affect-learning-and-education  Woolfolk, A. (1987). Educational psychology (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall.  Wu, Y. (2012). Zao yu xue kun sheng: Xue kun sheng de jiao yu yu zhuan hua ji qiao (Working with students with learning difficulties: Educational and transformational strategies) . Beijing: Zhong guo qing gong ye chu ban she.