Students benefit from expressing their feelings. Their ability to verbalize depends on their age and innate ability to express themselves. Young children, such as kindergartners and first graders, can write simple sentences about how they feel. Older elementary school students can write about happy or sad events they experienced. Middle school and high school students can write blogs or diaries about their lives. The teacher can read these privately or ask students to volunteer to share their work.
Emotionally-challenged students need to learn coping skills to be able to function in an academic setting, as well as in life as they grow older. One way to explore and model coping skills is to present vignettes in which the main character must make a choice to resolve the conflict. These stories can become more complicated for older students. For example, for young children, present a story about a child whose friend teased her. Ask the students how the character can express her feelings to her friend. Older children can explore more difficult issues, such as resisting peer pressure.
As children grow, they are faced with problems that they must solve on their own. The problems become more difficult as they get older. Smaller children face problems like sharing their favorite toy or keeping it at home, or deciding which friend to play with. Older children must tackle more complex tasks such as managing their time, developing study skills and choosing a college. Educators can teach problem-solving skills, such as making a list of pros and cons, or developing a study schedule.
Some students with emotional problems don't feel comfortable talking about their feelings, and these students may respond better to expressing their feelings through art. Ask the students to draw pictures depicting a traumatic event or to write a poem about a happy or sad occasion. Drawing the picture or writing a poem can help the students express their feelings in a less threatening way. The effect of expressing themselves through creative work can be just as valuable and therapeutic as talking about the problem.