Imagine that one of your students comes into class upset about something. He walks in slowly with his head down, throws his backpack on the floor and slams his book on his desk. He lays his face down on his book and covers his head with his hands. There are only a few moments before class begins and you have an important lesson to cover today. What should you do in this situation?
In a case where a student is visibly upset like this, you have a couple of options. You can start class and hope that your student can forget about what’s bothering him. (You have an important lesson to cover, after all). Or, you could put yourself in the student’s position and try to understand what he is going through and how it will affect his learning on this particular day.
At this moment, you have a decision to make. You know which decision is correct, but which one do you actually do? Now is when your own emotional intelligence (EQ) becomes more important than your preparation for the important lesson you are about to teach.
Your EQ, also referred to as social-emotional learning or SEL, will determine your success–or failure–in understanding your student and helping him learn as best he can. This task becomes much easier when you have a high EQ and level of empathy–real empathy. After all, students can tell when you don’t genuinely care.
So, how can you improve empathy, understand your students better and help them reach their full potential? Our virtual training academy, ConoverU, has your answers. Here, you will learn about emotional intelligence (EQ), how you can improve your own EQ, and how to apply it to your everyday life so that it impacts you, your students and your classroom.
