What You Think Of Me: An ‘Emotional Intelligence’ Lesson Task

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What You Think Of Me: An ‘Emotional Intelligence’ Lesson Task

 

LEVEL: Intermediate to advanced
TIME: 15 Minutes

AIMS:
For Students: to practice giving opinions and justifications
For Teachers: to gain awareness of students’ perceptions

MATERIALS: Word List

RATIONALE:
Sometimes an effective means of getting students to take responsibility for their own behavior is to confront them with your own feelings about the teacher. Often, students don’t relate to the feelings of the teacher until they are forced to express their feelings or they are in a position to judge the teacher publicly.

The list of descriptors below are all attributes of teachers who are empathic and who exhibit high levels of self-efficacy.

PROCEDURE:
1. Ask students to think of one of their favorite teachers and to offer examples of why these teachers were so liked. Make a list of these suggested attributes on the board.

2. Hand out a copy of the descriptors below.

3. Ask students to tick off the items that they feel best represent you, the teacher.

4. Put students in pairs and ask them to brainstorm antonyms and opposite descriptors for these items. Ask students to then tick off the negative items that best represent you, the teacher.

5. Ask students to justify their answers by giving you, the teacher, examples from the past.

NOTE: The point of this task is NOT to make students feel guilty about their poor behavior, but sometimes this task may foster this feeling in students. If this happens, please do not belabor this point with the students.

DESCRIPTOR LIST

  • Accepting of individual differences
  • Adaptable to the needs of others
  • Affectionate
  • Altruistic (desire to make a personal contribution)
  • Analytical of behavior and motives
  • Appreciative
  • Balanced in feelings of self-worth and self-regard
  • Calm
  • Can give positive verbal and nonverbal feedback
  • Can predict how another will act
  • Can subordinate their own needs and feelings for another’s benefit
  • Can sympathize
  • Caring
  • Conscientious in attending to students’ needs
  • Do not need to be the center of attention
  • Encouraging
  • Friendly (smile frequently)
  • Highly intuitive and feeling
  • Honest
  • Humorous
  • Independent and creative
  • Inspiring
  • Make others centrally involved
  • Motivating
  • Not easily depressed under difficult circumstances
  • Not easily incited to express anger
  • Relaxed
  • Soft-spoken
  • Spontaneous
  • Sympathetic
  • Warm

Suggested Reading:

50 Ways to Improve Student Behavior: Simple Solutions to Complex Challenges Developing Emotional Intelligence: A Guide to Behavior Management and Conflict Resolution in Schools Teaching Emotional Intelligence: Strategies and Activities for Helping Students Make Effective Choices

Notes: The word list for this task was adapted from Back Off Cool Down, Try Again: Teaching Students How to Control Aggressive Behavior, Author(s): Rockwell, Sylvia, Council Exceptional Children (July 1995)

Classroom image compliments of and created by: Aikaterini Gatsiou, architect. Copyright (2007) by ELTzone, ELT Vista

 

 

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