Water Levels & Student Emotions
Nothing rehydrates my emotional reservoir like a day spent in the great outdoors. Whether it’s hiking in the mountains or boating on the lake, I almost feel my psyche recharged and replenished with what I need to re-engage in the challenges of doing life.
However, one particular day lingers in my memory. I shudder to think how that day might have ended. I was kayaking on a river that I have traversed multiple times before. The day couldn’t have been more perfect. The water was at just the right level where you didn’t have to paddle very hard, but slow enough to still enjoy the scenery. As I admired the cliffs along the riverside, I noticed that a teenage boy behind me had tipped his canoe, and his shoes were quickly floating downstream. Since I have a compulsive need to help every teenager I come across, I turned my kayak backwards so I could grab his shoes as they passed. What I didn’t know was that I was angling toward the bend in the river where a fallen tree was partially submerged. Before I could even react, my kayak was flipped upside down and sent downstream, and I was trapped underwater by the force of the current. I could touch the rocks below me, but they were so slippery that I simply couldn’t gain purchase. I literally couldn’t find enough stable ground to push off toward the surface. I remember trying over and over while looking up through the crystal clear water to the sky above filled with puffy cumulus clouds, and thinking that this might be the last thing I would see before Heaven. With one final effort, I scooted my feet under the rocks to the mud below, and pushed up with all my might. Fresh air filled my lungs and relief filled my heart.
As educators, we want to believe that great lesson plans and the perfect seating chart will ensure that our students are able to reach that emergent layer above them with the sky as their limit. Sadly, so many things have happened in the microcosmic ecosystem of each student entering our classroom, that the challenge of engagement on a meaningful level seems daunting, at best. I wonder how many of our students have looked up toward a bright future filled with hopes and dreams, only to find the emotional surface they are standing on simply doesn’t provide the stability to push their way up and out of their own heads, let alone through their academic challenges. We, as teachers, must learn how to gauge the emotional water level of our students before we can stretch their minds.
“We, as teachers, must learn how to gauge the emotional water level of our students before we can stretch their minds.”
All too often for today’s students, anxiety and insecurity can be a bit like the slippery rocks at the bottom of the river. While it may seem like they don’t care, every student wants to fulfill their dreams and reach the surface above them, but feel as though they are drowning under too much emotional pressure. Other students feel so disconnected and lonely that their emotional water level has moved from below normal to a full drought. There simply isn’t enough moisture left inside to lead to any growth.
Before you panic and say, “I’m not a counselor or physician”, let’s acknowledge that as teachers we are a little bit of everything. We certainly shouldn’t attempt to diagnose an individual without the proper training and credentials, but every day we are called upon to “read” a student’s demeanor and level of engagement.
Where does that begin? It begins at the front door of your classroom, if not even earlier as the students are walking down the hallway. One of the requirements we have at our school is for each student to look the teacher in the eye and respond to our greeting. This practice provides a rich opportunity to gauge the current emotional water level of the student. Based on their response, you get a small window into where they are that day; drowning, dry, or just treading water. You can respond in a way that builds a bridge toward that student. Now that you have a student who knows you “see” them, you can begin to create a relationship that shows he/she is valued in your ecosystem.
Where does that begin? It begins at the front door of your classroom, if not even earlier as the students are walking down the hallway.
One of the most insightful practices I have used to gauge my student’s emotional water level is simply mixing up my bell ringer. Every few days I like to include a bell ringer that asks an open-ended question requiring a personal point of view in the response. This can even happen in a math class. For example, let’s say you have spent a good amount of time working on equations. What if, instead of making your bell ringer an equation, you asked a question? “How do you feel about your progress in learning how to work with equations so far? Does this motivate you to continue working, or are you discouraged?” Even better, ask them to write their answer in paragraph form. Not only have you established that you care about their opinion, but you have an inside look at how they feel about their progress. To take it a step further, what if you write them back? What if you thank them for their honesty and share that they have just helped you in planning for their success? Can you imagine the impact that could have on the student/teacher relationship? You have taken the time to measure your student’s water levels and adjusted accordingly. As an ecological mentor of those students entrusted to your care, you just turned your classroom ecosystem into a haven where students can thrive and flourish. Replenishing these water levels will result in growth that is full and lush.
