Social Interactions
Students are involved in personal and social interactions all day long. Social behavior is tied to the health of the body and the brain. Social relationships are bound to emotion, you cannot separate learning and emotion. Excellent teaching embraces the intellectual, physical, social, and emotional child. Fostering positive connections between everyone in the classroom is paramount to success.
I've learned...
- Taking time to teach and reinforce social intelligence skills is well worth the time and effort. Help kids get a clear picture of the type of person they would like to be and identify the behaviors that will help them get there.
- Positive social interactions are tied to feelings of warmth and connectedness. Feeling valued or cared for releases neurotransmitters (endorphins and dopamine - the feel-good brain chemicals). These chemicals are strongly tied to lasting memories and help to create unity.
- Nourishing relationships benefit both health and learning. Toxic relationships slowly poison the body.
- Positive social experience = releases serotonin (a feel-good hormone that assists memory storage)
- Negative social experience = release of cortisol (not beneficial for learning)
- During a highly charged emotional situation, the amygdala signals a response to the hypothalamus to fight, fly, or freeze. The amygdala plays a role in storing long term memories that are colored with positive or negative emotions.
- Taking time to teach and reinforce social and emotional skills is well worth the time and effort. Help kids get a clear picture of the type of person they would like to be and identify the behaviors that will help them get there.
What can be done to promote unity and build positive relationships in classes? How can helping students understand the importance of building character strengths within themselves positively affect learning for everyone?
