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Technology Helps Teachers Prevent and Mitigate Bad Behavior in the Classroom - EdTech Magazine

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Technology Helps Teachers Prevent and Mitigate Bad Behavior in the Classroom - EdTech Magazine

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Technology Solutions That Drive Education

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While most teachers want to believe the best about their students, the reality is that skipping class, plagiarism and a host of other issues are behavioral challenges teachers grapple with daily.

It can be difficult for teachers to react in ways that will guide students back to proper classroom behavior without alienating them - which is a major concern according to a recent study from the Center for Promise.

"Because of heightened emotional intensity in adolescence and the punishments typically associated with 'getting in trouble,' disciplinary interventions represent pivotal opportunities for students to feel either included and respected or shut down and ignored by schools," the study authors write.

But innovations in education technology can equip teachers with the tools to help students stay on a good path and get the most out of their academics.
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Lock Student Screens During Tests to Prevent Cheating

One of the best ways to deal with student misbehavior is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

Take schools with one-to-one device programs. With each student using a tablet or notebook computer, it's impossible for teachers to keep watch over every screen at once during a quiz - creating an opportunity for students to open a web browser and look up the answers.

Companies are responding with tech solutions: As part of Google's announcement of the Acer Chromebook 10, the company introduced a new "locked mode," allowing teachers to l ock students' screens on managed Chromebooks.

'Tardy Kiosks' in Schools Help Track Student Attendance

Along with cheating, student attendance can be a big problem for teachers. According to a study from the National Center for Education Statistics, 38 percent of teachers say tardiness and class-cutting interfere with their teaching.

At Marion County Public Schools in central Florida, teachers were losing valuable teaching time to distractions from late and absent students, as well as an outdated attendance-logging system.

As a solution, administrators adopted "tardy kiosks," where late students can use their student ID numbers to check themselves into class.

"When students arrive late, they log in to any kiosk located in the attendance office, [and] within seconds, the device prints out a tardy pass, which includes the teacher's name and time the student logged in," Kristi Miller, an applications specialist at Marion County Public Schools, wrote for Education Dive. "As a result, district staff members are spending more time focusing on students and less time concerning themselves with inefficient attendance procedures."

Combat Classroom Distractions with Tech

Screen locks and tablets-turned-truant-officers can help manage some bad student behavior, but many students are distracted by outside technology that they bring into the classroom themselves.

In response, some schools have banned smartphones in the classroom. Other schools have opted to use cases that lock phones inside once students enter a classroom.

But one of the best ways to stop students becoming distracted by their devices is to have them use other devices in their work.

According to the Yale Center for Teaching and Learning, using " targeted electronic activities " can keep students engaged on the devices teachers want them to use, and keep them off the ones they do not.

In a study at Cleburne High School in Texas, administrators found this to be especially true. Holding classes on digital citizenship and incorporating appropriate devices in the classroom kept students from engaging in distracting activities.

"Teachers creating engaging lessons that add value to classroom technology - including Chromebooks - is the most effective way for students to not be distracted by outside influences," Instructional Technology Director Tim Grijalva told the Cleburne Times-Review.

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Technology Helps Teachers Prevent and Mitigate Bad Behavior in the Classroom

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While most teachers want to believe the best about their students, the reality is that skipping class, plagiarism and a host of other issues are behavioral challenges teachers grapple with daily. It can be difficult for teachers to react in ways that will guide students back to proper classroom behavior without alienating them - which is a major concern according to a recent study from the Center for Promise.

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Nancy Steineke

Traditionally, classroom management has pitted teachers against students: We are all Sheriff Will Kane in High Noon, left to face a ruthless band of outlaws alone. It is our job to take control, to make them pay attention. Yet, if we've heard a teacher's work discussed in this way-or even framed our own work in this way-we've also likely felt that something was deeply wrong. If we became educators because we care about children, then why are we so often at odds with them? If school is a place to learn and grow, then why do we spend so much time correcting and disciplining?

Years ago, I entered my first year of teaching with two goals: teach my content and control my class. Teaching content was the easy part. Being the lone sheriff was hard- really hard. It was a grim time for me and for my students. Some of us got along great, but for others it was a simmering semester of conflict.

As I grew into teaching, I became more adept at classroom management, but it wasn't until attending a program on cooperative learning that my epiphany occurred: The only person's behavior I can control is my own. Instead of trying to control my class, I had to nurture an atmosphere and design opportunities that would help my students choose positive behavior, rather than be coerced into it. Now I was no longer the lone sheriff; our class (not my class) became a community whose members looked out for one another. My students were working with me, not against me. Here are the keys that unlocked the door.

Model Positivity

If we want kids to make positive behavior choices, then we must model these positive behaviors consistently-not only when we have time or when we're having a good day. Yes, the five minutes before classes may be just enough time to grade a paper or revise the attendance list. But that's pocket change compared to the long-term investment made by welcoming each student by name and with a smile that sends the message, "You're important."

During class, teachers can work hard to notice successes versus slip-ups. And, at the end of the period, we can return to the door and say goodbye to each student with a wish to "Have a good day!" or-better yet-notice a positive contribution they made in class. As you get to know your students better, the more distinctive contributions you will notice, and the more your students will see that you take a genuine, sustained interest in them.

Get Acquainted

When students choose their own groups, they typically choose their friends because working with those we know is comfortable. But to create a classroom of inclusiveness, kindness, empathy, and diverse thinking, students must get to know and work with those outside their social circle. One way to break down social barriers among students is through ongoing interviews. Start by modeling these interview steps for the class with a willing student partner. Then instruct students to return to their own, randomly chosen partners for quick interviews.

1. Present a low-risk topic: pizza, favorite movie, pets. Once students understand the interview procedure, they will enjoy developing their own topics.

2. One partner acts as the interviewer while the other is the interviewee. The interviewee starts by sharing a personal connection or story related to the topic while the interviewer listens carefully.

3. Now the interviewer asks her partner an open-ended question based on something the partner said.

4. The interviewee answers the question with as much detail as possible so that he gives the interviewer enough material on which to base another question.

5. The line of questioning continues with the emphasis on the interviewer being a careful listener in order to learn as well as ask thoughtful follow-up questions. At no time should the interviewer turn the conversation back to herself.

6. Partners repeat this question and answer format for about two to three minutes. Then they switch roles and start a new interview on the topic.

7. As time concludes, prompt partners to thank each other for the interview.

Starting any collaborative academic task with interviewing enables students to practice the skills necessary for the upcoming discussion. Plus, students who get to know each other are much more interested in each other's ideas and also more willing to share their own.

Make It Social

Humans are social creatures. Teaming together is what has enabled our species to survive as long as it has, and adolescent brains are programmed to identify with and connect with their peers. Therefore, it makes sense for teachers to capitalize on the brain's desire for interaction by designing ways for students to work together. For best results, keep initial collaborative assignments short (10 minutes at most) and create work that can be completed with only one partner. Student pairs require less sophisticated social skills because they need to focus on only one conversation partner, and partner work is easy for teachers to monitor and facilitate as they scan and move about the room.

Source: From Reading and Writing Together: Collaborative Literacy in Action (p. 61), by N. Steineke, 2002, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Copyright 2002 by N. Steineke. Reprinted with permission.

Finally, when students engage each other in rich and diverse discussion, they are likely to enter flow-what researcher Steven Kotler calls "an optimal state of consciousness where we perform our best." Deeply engaged students will also exhibit far more impulse control, says researcher Martin West and colleagues in a 2014 study.

Reflect and Celebrate

As students collaborate successfully, it's important for them to analyze that success as well as refine skills that will result in ever more effective and enjoyable collaboration. Whenever students work together, groups should end by discussing this question: What were three things members in this group said or did that helped us enjoy our time together, learn the content, and keep everyone involved? In the beginning, keep students focused on behaviors that enhance the group versus those that detract.

As their collaboration experience grows, groups can also begin thinking about which skills might help them work together even better. For example, I found students routinely asking how they could better express friendliness and support to one another, so together we developed a T-chart that defined that skill (above).

The next time groups met, their goal was to see how many of the T-chart behaviors they could use and what new behaviors they could invent and add to the chart. Though using any new skill feels phony and stilted at first, with enough practice, friendliness and support eventually become integrated skills that students will use spontaneously when the need arises.

Ask for Help

Ironically, when I most needed classroom management advice that first year, I never thought to tap a readily accessible source: my students! While we teachers spend our lives toiling away, mostly isolated from other educators, students roam the building observing teachers day after day, year after year. If you ask your students how other teachers they've encountered-no need to bring up names-solved a problem, you'll likely find several viable solutions, considering that your students just now crowdsourced decades of teaching expertise.

After they've shared the teacher solutions, follow up with another question. "If you were me, how would you solve this problem?" Lots of times, just putting a problem out on the table for discussion diminishes its power, bringing a resolution closer. More importantly, you're demonstrating to students that you do not have all the answers and that you respect their thinking, experience, and insight.

Don't Take it Personally

Did you know that adolescent brains have difficulty correctly identifying the facial expressions and emotions of others? Although adults are accurately advised by their prefrontal cortexes, adolescents' developing brains rely much more on their limbic systems, which interpret events in an instinctive and far more emotional way, according to research from Deborah Yurgelun-Todd and others. That's why when an interpersonal classroom conflict occurs, students easily misinterpret the other's intent and then overreact in impulsive, highly emotional displays.

Understanding this physiology-influenced behavior should enable us to do a better job at not taking a student's impulsive behavior personally. Instead, because we have the advantage of getting to process the events with an adult brain, we need to step back, take a deep breath, and offer students what will enable them to grow and flourish: patience, listening, care, empathy, and honest dialogue.

Gaining Community

I crossed paths with a former student the other day in, of all places, the public library. As an English teacher, I can't tell you how gratifying that was. Though I didn't recognize him, he made a beeline to me, re-introduced himself, and then without hesitation stated, "For years, I've been hoping to run into you because I wanted to thank you. I always felt welcomed and included. I felt like I was part of the group and always looked forward to your class."

His memory wasn't a result of "sheriff-style" classroom management. It was a result of every student in that room recognizing how important it was for them to offer their friendship and support to every other student in that room, thus ensuring the success of all. When I let go of classroom control, something much more valuable filled its place: classroom community.

Nancy Steineke taught in public schools for more than 30 years and is now an education consultant and the author of eight professional books, including Texts and Lessons for Content-Area Writing.

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Nancy Steineke Traditionally, classroom management has pitted teachers against students: We are all Sheriff Will Kane in High Noon, left to face a ruthless band of outlaws alone. It is our job to take control, to make them pay attention.

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Realizing that "great ideas don't always fly with the high school population," as she put it, Diamond worked with a small student advisory board to create and implement initiatives. It was a turning point that allowed the school's character lessons to reflect student needs. "Everything we do now is run through the students; they are our vetting process," she said. After a popular and thoughtful senior died in the fall, students decided to commemorate his legacy by taking active steps to be empathetic. They called the kindness initiative "Parker's Promise," after their late classmate. A quote from his college essay-"The fine line between success and adversity can be changed by just a grin or a little eye twinkle"-became their unofficial rallying cry.

The student advisory board, renamed the Making Character Count Committee, got to work. Once a week, these students gather outside before the opening bell rings and greet everyone coming in with candy, music and a big smile. They hang posters with concrete messages on how to be kind: "Hold the door," or "Smile, it makes a difference." With Diamond's guidance, the students meet with some of the 25 different advisory groups and lead conversations with students on how to build empathy. They also do a "mix-it-up" exercise, borrowed from Borba's book, that moves students around in advisory groups to blend grade levels. And to get teacher buy-in, select students attend occasional faculty meetings to share what excites them about their project and how their classmates are responding.

Carrollwood Day is one of 70 schools around the country who have partnered with Harvard's Making Caring Common project to make compassion an expectation of their students. "It's less a curriculum than attending to little things," said Richard Weissbourd, who heads the university effort. Simple changes can have an outsized effect. Knowing the names of all the students in school, being generous with "hellos," and encouraging teachers to greet every student by name in class, for example, are low-burden but powerful exercises, he added.

Studies in social-emotional learning show that the most successful "kindness strategies" are short and focused, rooted in relationships, carried out repeatedly, and related to actual events in school, said Luba Feigenberg, who directs research for Making Caring Common project. Teachers need resources and support so that they can act as caring role models for their students, she added.

Two of the most fruitful exercises Carrollwood Day embraced, both borrowed from the Harvard project, were " Circle of Concern" and " Relationship Mapping." In the former, all students were asked to think about who they cared for most, those in their inner circle. Then they were challenged to widen that circle, to consider who was outside and might be welcomed in. The goal was to prompt students to think beyond themselves and their narrow group and to begin to care for others.

During the Relationship Mapping exercise, faculty studied the names of all the children in school and sorted them into two groups: students they were concerned about, and those with whom they had relationships. At the end, the exercise uncovered the most vulnerable students: those identified as potentially troubled and lacking a connection with an adult. At the end, these students were paired with a teacher to serve as a mentor. "This was eye-opening for teachers," Diamond said.

After all this, are students at Carrollwood Day any kinder? To be sure, not all kids there come to school beaming, or greet every stranger with a smile. "Some students don't see a purpose to it," said junior Jake Flansberg. But Diamond notices real change. The school spirit society used to whoop it up for sports teams only, but this year distributed chocolate kisses to all students during finals. Over the holidays, an advisory group delivered cards to everyone in school. "We don't have ways of measuring this. "Diamond said, "But we see evidence that it's working."

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How to Design a School That Prioritizes Kindness and Caring

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Realizing that "great ideas don't always fly with the high school population," as she put it, Diamond worked with a small student advisory board to create and implement initiatives. It was a turning point that allowed the school's character lessons to reflect student needs.

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Collaborative Classroom is a mission-driven nonprofit organization committed to ensuring that all students become readers, writers, and thinkers who learn from, care for, and respect one another.

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School and district leaders can build strong relationships among educators by focusing on three factors.

In a school or district, as in any organization, the leader is responsible for setting the tone, and one way leaders can nourish organizational harmony is to consider three spaces: the physical, the interpersonal, and the historical.

Only by balancing these three spaces will leaders cultivate the influence that permeates an entire organizational culture, and only by attending to these critical human needs will leaders experience the deep happiness that keeps them engaged and attentive for the long haul.

The Physical Space

We've all seen amazing work in transforming classrooms into flexible learning environments, but are we attending to the learning needs of adults with the same thoughtfulness? If adults are experiencing professional gatherings by sitting in rows, there's an immediate-and easily fixable-obstacle to promoting a sense of togetherness.

One way a leader can create opportunities for members of their team to know and influence each other is to move professional learning experiences into new physical spaces. At Hall Middle School in Larkspur, California, we've visited the ropes course at nearby Fort Miley for the past two years for professional development (PD) days. The mere act of gathering under the cypress trees overlooking the Pacific Ocean taps into something primal in our nature as humans.

The fun and fear of stepping out onto ropes and logs-some mere inches off the ground, others 30 feet up-is a powerful metaphor for what we ask our students to do every day. In the words of a participant: "Fun and definitely a great way to get to know my coworkers. Talking and interacting with them in a different setting where no one is wearing their teacher hat is priceless."

But the ropes course is not a necessity. Educators spend most of their days indoors-why not move a meeting outside, either for a walk-and-talk or a gathering under a shady tree? Or we can spend a PD day at a local park or open space, with hikes, scavenger hunts, and breakout sessions defined by topography rather than classroom number.

If we want to generate outside-the-box thinking, we need to step outside the box of our school.

The Interpersonal Space

Educational leaders are often seen-and often see themselves-as technicians, people that attend meetings, coordinate events, interact with community, hire and fire, and work with kids in trouble. All those things are true, but they aren't the whole job of a leader.

Steve Zuieback identifies those elements-structure, process, and patterns-as being "above the green line," or part of the system infrastructure of an organization. They're essential to an organization's functioning, but they don't create avenues by which organizations undergo and sustain transformation and change.

When an organization is purposeful about the "below the green line" realities of human infrastructure-relationships, information, and identity-it creates the conditions for meaningful connections between people centered around shared values and mutual purpose.

Teacher leader Scott Bedley of Eastwood Elementary School in Irvine, California, helped conceive and facilitate a staff cooking challenge for a PD experience. The outcomes were to create "a better understanding that in this profession we are all given ingredients that we have little control of, while being expected to make something incredible-which we do."

This activity, like the ropes course, had both concrete and metaphoric meaning, and pushed members to confront their fears and discomforts (about the dish not turning out perfectly, not looking or tasting better than their rivals' dish, etc.).

The Historical Space

Memory is an integral part of an organization's identity, the fire around which we gather. It is also imperfect-each of us has our own memory of something, how it came about, why it came about. A leader with an eye on the future will help the organization make careful note of its past to ensure there is clarity and consensus on the what, when, and why; otherwise, the staff will have a random assortment of perspectives and memories that diverge in critical ways.

Leaders focused on productivity understand the critical importance of helping their schools establish their historical narrative as a collective, collaborative, and ongoing endeavor.

Grant Althouse, the new principal at Kent Middle School in Marin County, California, led his faculty through a protocol designed to help an organization gain a clear sense of its history. As he shares: "This was a powerful exercise for me as a new principal at the school to learn about, understand, and acknowledge the rich history of our organization, prior to envisioning our future. I think it was also a positive experience for our faculty to reflect about our school, connect with each other, and frame our current areas of focus around lessons learned in the past."

A school can have all the best structures in place-flexible bell schedules with built-in collaboration time, interdisciplinary programs, standards-based rubrics, and feedback models-but without a sense of unity and trust among teachers, staff and leaders will struggle to bring to fruition the best ideas and scale them across the entire school or district. When a leader doesn't invest time and energy in cultivating genuine relationships and trust, they'll find that their good ideas fall on deaf ears.

More important than the influence leaders earn is the fabric of influence they help the members of their organization weave among themselves. For the most part those members will be part of the system much longer; their institutional-and interpersonal-memories will determine the trajectory of the organization.

People cannot influence each other, however, if they don't know each other, and if they don't share cherished memories and joyful moments that leaders can make possible through these spaces.

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Cultivating a Strong Staff Culture | Edutopia

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School and district leaders can build strong relationships among educators by focusing on three factors. In a school or district, as in any organization, the leader is responsible for setting the tone, and one way leaders can nourish organizational harmony is to consider three spaces: the physical, the interpersonal, and the historical.

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Social and Emotional Learning

How to incorporate creative expression and movement in the classroom while building social and emotional learning skills.

Finding opportunities to integrate creative expression and movement throughout the school day is a priority in the development of the whole child. Leveraging creative expression and movement to build core social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies, however, is a relatively new concept.

Creative expression can be achieved through a variety of modalities and provides opportunities to identify, process, and express emotions. Movement can be integrated into the school day in ways that are appropriate for almost any grade level, and movement forms neural connections that help us better understand our own emotions and build empathy for others.

Encouraging Creative Expression

Being creative is an inherently vulnerable process. In order to authentically build SEL competencies through creative expression, teachers need to strive to create a safe space, provide time, and open doors for validation.

Creating a safe and supportive classroom environment: Through a consensual conversation about class norms, teachers work to continually develop a space where students feel comfortable sharing emotions and know that their feelings will be respected, setting the stage for creative expression.

Providing time: Set up daily opportunities to build SEL skills to make emotion identification, expression, and management a daily practice. When a person prioritizes physical health, they don't eat healthy or exercise for one day; rather, they develop an ongoing routine. Strengthening social and emotional well-being is no different.

Opening the doors for validation:Give students time to share and acknowledge each other's emotions. Help students develop affirming statements they use with one another, such as, "I see you, I hear you, and now I better understand you." This will help build empathy and foster a positive classroom culture. Writing and drawing can be nice additions here, as both are outlets that help us identify and process emotions and experiences. Some teachers also use journaling as an emotion management strategy.

Classroom Activities to Bring Creative Expression to Life

There are a number of ways that creative expression and movement can be incorporated to teach and build SEL skills.

Human tableaux. This involves students creating an image that's frozen in time, similar to a snapshot. For this exercise, students work in groups to create images in response to particular prompts. One student in the group is the director and the others are actors. The director places students into a still image that answers the prompt from their perspective. Prompts could include: "What will success look like for you this school year?" and "What is a current challenge you're facing?"You can even use this exercise to have students describe what they did over a school break.

One word, plus movement: Open the school day by asking each student to share one word that describes how they're currently feeling and pair it with a movement. Take this a step further by having all classmates mirror the movement back to show validation. Or have students try on different emotions by using their faces and bodies to depict what happiness, anger, stress, pride, surprise, sadness, etc. might look and feel like.

Gratitude practice: Ask students to close their eyes and think about something they're grateful for. Then tell them to think of a movement they could do that describes how that gratitude makes them feel. Then have them open their eyes and give them time to share their movements with one another. You can do this exercise with other emotions as well-optimism, worry, frustration, joy.

Leveraging technology helps to provide this safe and structured time and guide students through experiential, creative exercises. Here are two videos that walk students through creative exercises:

Incorporating creative expression and movement in the classroom might seem intimidating at first. Providing students with a structured space to engage in creative expression can help them feel more comfortable. And presenting them with clear models and examples that describe what these activities will look like can also encourage them to actively participate.

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Social and Emotional Learning How to incorporate creative expression and movement in the classroom while building social and emotional learning skills. Finding opportunities to integrate creative expression and movement throughout the school day is a priority in the development of the whole child.

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A teacher at a Title I school shares classroom and school-wide strategies to improve students' reading trajectories.

©Shutterstock/Syda Productions

For an elementary school teacher who works with economically disadvantaged students, it can be discouraging to hear phrases like "significant achievement gap" or "30-million-word gap" in discussions of the reading and vocabulary development of our students. But research does bear those phrases out: There are clear trends of underachievement in academics for students of low socioeconomic status (SES).

I've taught in a Title I school in Northern Virginia for six years, with experience in fourth through sixth grades, and year after year, I work with students who are reading drastically below grade level. There are many things that affect my students that I can't control, but research has shown that strong, intentional, and explicit instruction can positively impact the reading trajectories of all students, especially those with economic disadvantages.

Low SES status alone is not a strong predictor of reading achievement, but when combined with other factors-such as a non-literacy-rich home environment, poor classroom instruction, or being an English language learner-the chances of reading difficulties increase. This is often referred to as "double disadvantage": The poorest students often attend schools with the fewest resources.

Teachers in these schools have been found to use less complex vocabulary with their students, hold them to lower expectations, and provide less explicit instruction. Without clear instruction and high expectations, how can students succeed?

The Backbone of Literacy Instruction

Teachers have the day-to-day responsibility of fostering a love of reading, providing meaningful instruction, and thus improving student outcomes. In fact, teacher instruction is one of the most important factors attributed to student success. By holding students to high expectations, asking challenging questions, involving students in their learning, and explicitly modeling good reading habits, teachers can help all students improve their reading outcomes. It isn't only what teachers teach, but how they teach that ultimately matters.

Intentional and explicit planning is the backbone of literacy instruction. Teachers should be intentional with book choice, questions and prompts, student partnerships, and classroom environment. For example, when choosing a book, a teacher might consider whether it will catch students' interest and whether it has relatable characters and experiences for their students, while also allowing for their teaching point. Being intentional with book choice can help increase student engagement.

When planning stopping points, we can give students opportunities to talk with a reading partner before a whole group share. Doing this multiple times throughout a lesson will allow all voices to be heard. After the reading and writing block, it's a good idea to have students come back together to reflect on their learning-this allows the teacher to see how students took the learning objective and applied it to their reading.

Increasing Student Access to Books

School-wide programs should be put in place to give students more access to books and parents more knowledge about how we are teaching their children. Community literacy nights are a way to provide meaningful resources to parents and students. While it may be challenging to engage families in literacy nights, hosting such events in common community centers such as apartment club houses or the public library can increase participation.

Schools can incentivize attendance by providing food and holding raffles for books or practical needs such as gift cards or coupons from local grocery stores or department stores.

Summer reading programs are another way to support home literacy for students. The public librarian could come to the school to advertise and get students excited for summer reading-it might even be possible to sign them up for library cards while they're at school. Another option is setting up a Recycled Reading program, in which students trade in their own already-read books for another to keep.

By providing students with access to new books, these programs can help foster a love of reading.

The obstacles to student learning can seem endless. Poverty is often considered one of these obstacles, but it doesn't need to be. Even when poverty is combined with other risk factors, effective interventions put in place by schools and teachers can positively impact a student's reading trajectory.

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Improving Reading Outcomes for Economically Disadvantaged Students | Edutopia

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A teacher at a Title I school shares classroom and school-wide strategies to improve students' reading trajectories. ©Shutterstock/Syda Productions For an elementary school teacher who works with economically disadvantaged students, it can be discouraging to hear phrases like "significant achievement gap" or "30-million-word gap" in discussions of the reading and vocabulary development of our students.

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Social and Emotional Learning

A special education teacher has developed worksheets to help all students identify and manage their stressors.

In the last few years, I've noticed an increase in stress, anxiety, and depression in high school students. The causes range from intense pressure to perform academically to social media expectations and influence to home and environmental issues. The common thread, no matter the cause, is students' inability to cope with the stressors they experience.

As an educator, my goal is to help students build the resilience and self-awareness they need to be successful in life. After years of working with students with emotional disturbance, I've developed self-awareness and coping skills activities that help all students identify feelings and stressors, while also providing them a way to discover positive, self-regulatory coping skills.

A 4-Step Process for Building Resilience

Step 1: Teach students to identify their stressors. It's important that students learn to identify how they feel and why they feel that way. I have each student identify the things that make them stressed, upset, and sad using a worksheet I've developed.

Afterward, students verbally share stressors with each other to start building a community of trust where they feel safe and heard. I often share my own stressors with students to set the tone of the activity as one that is inclusive and judgment free.

Step 2: Identify what students normally do when presented with stressors. During this step, I tell students to write down their instinctive and initial reaction to each stressor without stopping to think about whether it's good or bad, or breaks some sort of school or societal rule. Once again, I have a worksheet for them to use.

Total honesty is needed during this step in order for each student to start developing self-awareness. Again, I share my instinctive reaction to a stressor as an example.

Students then use a third worksheet to rate their reactions on a Likert scale, where 1 = Worst Reaction and 5 = Best Reaction. I define and discuss each Likert point with my students so they have a clear picture of how to rate their reactions.

Each student shares one of their Likert ratings with peers, along with an explanation for their rating. Using the Likert scale teaches students to objectively look at and evaluate their actions.

Step 3: Brainstorm alternative ways to respond to stressors. During this step, I introduce the idea of coping skills-conscious efforts to minimize stress or conflict in a positive and constructive way. Once students identify their feelings and stressors, it's important that they learn how to channel their emotions.

I once worked with a student with emotional disturbance who had a tendency to run out of the class and hide on school grounds whenever she was mad or frustrated. We developed a coping skill protocol where she had to tell me how she felt ("I'm really mad because..."), and then she had to ask me if she could step outside the classroom for five minutes to collect herself. By the end of year, she didn't need to step outside because the habitual practice of identifying her feelings and utilizing a constructive coping strategy allowed her to better regulate her emotional reactions.

Not all coping skills have to be so structured or prescriptive. I had another student who used running as an outlet for negative feelings. Whenever he felt mad or upset at home, he would go for a run and return-in the words of his mother-"as a new man."

It's important to make sure every student understands what coping skills are, as well as the idea that strategies are unique and individualized. Students then compile a list of five coping strategies that could work for them, and I have the class make a coping skills poster that I put on the wall. Having a huge list of various coping strategies is a great visual reminder of positive reactions to stressors and gives students ideas they might not have thought of on their own.

Students next revisit their original reaction to a stressor and use the final worksheet to replace it with a more positive coping skill. This step is very powerful because it shows students how to take charge of their reactions instead of being controlled by situations and their emotions. They're empowered to take responsibility for their actions and practice self-regulation skills instead of blaming outside factors. Students discuss why this new way of coping is more beneficial than their old response and how it could change the outcome of a situation.

Step 4: Practical application and maintenance of coping skills. I build time into each class period for an exercise I call the 5 Minute Fix. For five minutes, students can share how they've used their coping skills in real-life situations. They can ask for feedback and advice from peers or provide suggestions to those who are struggling. Most importantly, the community is strengthened by these daily check-ins. Allocating five minutes doesn't interfere with my academic lessons, and the benefit to students is significant and impactful.

I'll also check in with students informally and keep an eye on those I think need more support. The most important idea I convey during this maintenance period is that coping skills are fluid and flexible. If one skill doesn't work or a student wants to try something new, I always encourage them to do so. It's important they don't get caught up in thinking they can only use certain skills since that can become a new source of stress.

Coping skills are a powerful way for all students to build resilience, self-awareness, and self-regulatory skills as they face the stressors of life. Learning how to positively cope empowers them to be self-reflective and take responsibility for their actions. Most importantly, these skills are ones that will benefit them long after they leave my classroom.

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A 4-Step Process for Building Student Resilience | Edutopia

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Social and Emotional Learning A special education teacher has developed worksheets to help all students identify and manage their stressors. In the last few years, I've noticed an increase in stress, anxiety, and depression in high school students. The causes range from intense pressure to perform academically to social media expectations and influence to home and environmental issues.

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The Purpose

At its core, the purpose of the flash lesson is to work with as many teachers as possible. Each lesson is:

Catered to both the teacher and his or her students

An invitation for the teacher to become a student again

A reminder that administrators were once teachers, too

The Invitation

For teachers who don't yet trust and respect me, an invitation won't be extended -- and that's OK. Teachers are, by nature, protective of their practice and their space. In this way, even before I enter a teacher's room, I must establish the requisite rapport to garner the invitation. From there, the teacher picks the class, the day, and the time. Then she gives me a sense of what she's doing, has just finished, or will be doing soon. Finally, I show up and get to work.

The Rules

The spirit of the flash lesson is, like a bolt of lightning, unpredictable. I tell the teacher as little as possible about what I have planned because I want him to be completely vulnerable and, quite frankly, a student in his own class. When I have a question, I call on the teacher first. When I need a volunteer, he is my first participant.

The Lesson

My first volunteer, Sarah, is a third-year, middle school language arts teacher with whom I've become close. She's bright, funny, and incredibly driven. In her room is an in-class support teacher, Ryan, who doubles as a high school social studies teacher.

After showing the final scene from Dead Poets Society, during which Mr. Keating's students stand on their desks and say, "Captain, my Captain" in a show of protest over their teacher's dismissal, I asked the class, and the teachers, if they had any idea what I had planned.

"You're going to make us stand on our desks?" suggested one precocious seventh- grade student.

"Exactly," I said.

And we were off.

Meant to create controlled discomfort and to elicit honest, impromptu responses, this flash lesson focused on public speaking during which participants, while standing on their desks, complete phrases, prompts, or statements that I created.

The first participant was Ryan, who responded to this prompt: "The most important person. . . ever." When he finished his response, which centered on his relationship with his father, the reverent silence was broken by his students' raucous applause.

By the end of the period, most of the kids had requested to participate twice, we had stumbled upon several valuable public speaking strategies, and we had laughed the whole time.

But it was the first response, by a teacher, that made my first flash lesson a success because, while I love our students, this kind of exercise is actually designed for our teachers.

The Aftermath

Ultimately, I had no idea if anyone would invite me in. Moreover, I didn't know if the lessons would work once I was invited. What I learned, however, is that only the former matters. Like an educational grandparent, if I show up and the lesson bombs, I get to leave and let the teacher move on without me. But the fact that teachers are willing to give up control of their rooms -- to an administrator -- without so much as a hint about what will happen when I get there, well, that's how I know the flashes are working.

Since that first lesson, I have gone on to teach lessons on thermochemistry, evolution, World War II, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. For all but one, I admit to having only a Google-search-based knowledge of the content, yet teachers keep inviting me in.

Too often, administrators leave the classroom and only return with a laptop and a framework. For many of us, leaving the classroom is really only a physical phenomenon because we never really leave. I confess that my flash lessons are motivated, in small part, by my own envy of so many amazing teachers who work in my district. But what I couldn't have counted on was the camaraderie, rapport, and trust that the lessons would create between administrators and teachers.

I will never understand why some administrators struggle to build rapport with teachers. Most administrators were once teachers, and, in some way, we always will be. Ultimately, we need to remind ourselves of that immutable fact, to be as human as possible, and to look for, rather than to abandon, our own "flashes."

If you're an administrator, how do you stay involved with your teachers and their students? Please share your own strategies and experiences in the comments section of this post.

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Building Staff Rapport With Flash Lessons | Edutopia

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At its core, the purpose of the flash lesson is to work with as many teachers as possible. Each lesson is: Catered to both the teacher and his or her students An invitation for the teacher to become a student again A reminder that administrators were once teachers, too For teachers who don't yet trust and respect me, an invitation won't be extended -- and that's OK.

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On morning meetings: “Before any learning can take place, the students really need to feel safe, feel like they’re seen, and feel like they’re cared about.”

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On morning meetings: “Before any learning can take place, the students really need to feel safe, feel like they’re seen, and feel like they’re cared about.” https://t.co/nKvDEsgMvs

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On morning meetings: “Before any learning can take place, the students really need to feel safe, feel like they’re seen, and feel like they’re cared about.” pic.twitter.com/nKvDEsgMvs
— edutopia (@edutopia) November 11, 2018

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On morning meetings: “Before any learning can take place, the students really need to feel safe, feel like they’re seen, and feel like they’re cared about.” https://t.co/nKvDEsgMvs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
On morning meetings: “Before any learning can take place, the students really need to feel safe, feel like they’re seen, and feel like they’re cared about.” https://t.co/nKvDEsgMvs

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On morning meetings: “Before any learning can take place, the students really need to feel safe, feel like they’re seen, and feel like they’re cared about.”

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October 2018 | Volume 76 | Number 2
The Promise of Social-Emotional Learning Pages 22-28

Michele Borba

In today's interconnected world, empathy gives students the edge they need to lead meaningful, productive lives, providing what I call the "empathy advantage." Once seen as a "soft" skill, empathy helps us understand and feel with others. That's why Forbes urges companies to adopt empathy and perspective-taking principles, and the Harvard Business Review named empathy as one of the "essential ingredients for leadership success and excellent performance" (Goleman, 2014).

Empathy-or the ability to understand others' feelings and needs-is also the foundation of a safe, caring, and inclusive learning climate. Students with high levels of empathy display more classroom engagement, higher academic achievement, and better communication skills (Jones et al., 2014). Empathy reduces aggression, boosts prosocial behaviors (Eisenberg, Eggum, & DiGiunta, 2010) and may be our best antidote to bullying and racism (Santos et al., 2011).

Planting Seeds of Empathy

Rather than a one-dimensional trait, empathy comprises nine teachable competencies that I identified while writing UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World (2016). Each competency is suitable for students from kindergarten through high school (as well as adults) and can be taught. Together, they can serve as a principal's guide for empathy education.

Educating for empathy is not about using a toolkit or a one-off program; it requires ongoing, embedded work guided by strong school leaders who are empathetic themselves (see " Principles of Effective Empathy Education"). This work must be based on an understanding of the nine competencies, strategies and practices that cultivate them, and students' needs. Gauging success won't come from a grade or score, but from a student's response. Look for smiles, engagement, joy, and even tears: lessons in empathy can be life-altering.

So what are optimum ways to help teachers understand and embed these competencies into their daily practice? Let's look at how empathetic schools are approaching this work.

1. Emotional Literacy

Before students can empathize, they must be able to read emotions. Students who can recognize feelings are better adjusted emotionally and are more popular, outgoing, and sensitive (Goleman, 1995). They also score higher academically and are more resilient (Gottman & DeClaire, 1997). But researchers warn that today's digitally focused world is reducing students' abilities to recognize human emotions and jeopardizing their empathetic capacities (Uhls et al., 2014).

Empathy thrives in environments that prioritize face-to-face connections, so a key step for school leaders is to help teachers create classrooms that nurture meaningful interaction and engagement. Look to see if furniture is arranged to encourage communication, with desks positioned in a semi-circle to allow each student to see every peer, or in small clusters, enabling students to work closely with one another. Notice also if students have opportunities to share ideas and discuss lessons. Watch to see if teachers are with students and building caring relationships, or if they're sitting behind a desk disengaged.

Then note if students are learning to read and identify emotions. First graders in some classrooms I've observed have a morning ritual of pointing to how they feel on a chart of facial expressions reflecting various emotions. A music teacher has students identify their feelings before and after each recital. A science teacher regularly assigns students to spend 30 minutes alone in nature without their smartphones, log their feelings, and even reflect on how briefly unplugging increases their emotional awareness.

Also, look for practices that teachers can use to help students identify how others feel. Middle school students can do daily "emotion check-ins" by observing a partner, asking how they are feeling ("Are you frustrated?"), and offering support if needed ("I'm here for you"). Paired sharing, discussions, and class meetings are other ways to increase students' sensitivity to emotional cues, nurture caring connections, and learn emotional literacy.

2. Moral Identity

A child's inner value system, or moral identity, can inspire empathy, shape character, and motivate compassion. A key step is helping students define themselves as people who value others. Kids are more likely to learn moral identity when adults model, instruct, and expect them to care about others (Oliner, 1992). That poses a problem in our culture, with its increasing void in moral role models, but educators can play a central role in helping students develop strong ethical compasses.

I've seen this being done in countless ways. Teachers have students create class mantras such as "We help each other." High schools require seniors to write graduation essays on who they are and what they stand for. Third graders memorize weekly kindness quotes, and then choose one for their personal mantra. "Finding your mantra helps you discover what you stand for," a teen once told me.

For a quick assessment to see how you and your staff are modeling moral identity, ask: "What do we stand for? How are we expected to behave?" It is important to watch your behavior in front of students. As one group of 6th graders reminded me, a teacher's actions, not a motivational poster on a wall, matter most.

3. Perspective Taking

Perspective taking is the cognitive side of empathy and is crucial for today's students. Whether it's connecting students across the globe through technology, debating an issue from various sides, or seeing the American Revolution from the British point of view, perspective taking can stretch students' horizons and lead them to question assumptions. Research also shows that the most memorable lessons are often based on this third empathy competency (Heath & Heath, 2008).

Stepping into another's shoes (literally or cognitively) helps kids understand others. I once visited the classroom of an English teacher whose test for Romeo and Juliet uses paper shoe cutouts depicting each character. Students step onto each cutout and explain the plot through the character's views and feelings.

We tend to empathize with those who are "like us" in social-economic terms. Teens in a North Carolina school told me their science teacher widens their awareness by encouraging them to participate in a 24-hour hunger strike (with parental approval) to understand poverty. Many of these students now volunteer at a food bank because they know what hunger feels like.

Restorative discipline practices help students who've hurt or upset their peers develop empathy for their victims. In a Kansas middle school, I observed two boys who'd been suspended from class for a heated debate in which each accused the other of "messing with my stuff." They were individually required to complete a "think sheet" that had them describe the conflict from the other boy's view. Asking kids: "How would you feel if that happened to you?" can do wonders to stretch perspectives.

4. Moral Imagination

Educators intuitively know that books can transport students to other worlds, but now science proves it. Reading literary fiction like Wonder or The Grapes of Wrath can enhance empathy and help us to feel with the characters (Mar, Oatley, & Peterson, 2009). Emotionally charged films and images can also prompt empathetic feelings and even encourage charitable giving (Barraza et al., 2015).

Kindergarteners might watch Dumbo, use puppets to depict the elephants and crows making fun of him, then talk about how they'd feel if they were Dumbo. An art teacher might use riveting paintings to help students grasp different artists' perspectives.

Books can also help kids explore lives and beliefs different from their own. " A Long Walk to Water moved me," one middle schooler told me, referring to Linda Sue Park's novel. "I learned Sudanese kids are like me, but lack opportunities. I talked my class into raising money to get them a well."

5. Self-Regulation

Self-regulation allows kids to keep their emotions in check and recognize others' feelings, empathize, and then calmly think of how to help. It also boosts academic performance: Managing emotions is a better predictor of academic achievement than IQ (Lehrer, 2009).

If they are too distressed, kids shut down their empathetic instincts because they can't think clearly enough to help. Regulating feelings starts by teaching children how to recognize their stress triggers and signs before they're in overload. That's why calm-down corners, mood rooms, and stress boxes (which contain sensory objects like stress balls or fidget spinners) are popping up in schools from coast to coast.

I've watched 1st graders practice belly breathing and high schoolers do yoga to stay cool. Many educators embrace mindfulness meditation because it is proven to reduce stress and nurture empathy. Visitacion Valley School in San Francisco introduced a twice-daily, 15-minute ritual in which students choose to sit quietly or meditate. As a result of this practice, suspensions decreased by 79 percent, while attendance rates and test scores have improved (McFadden, Sandler, & Fieldstadt, 2015). Quiet time has been an effective strategy in this middle school because each student chooses what works for him or her and practices the self-regulation technique until it becomes a habit.

An unprecedented rise in youth depression and anxiety make teaching this fifth competency all the more urgent.

6. Practicing Kindness

Being kind is what helps children tune in to other people's feelings and needs, trust more, and become more "we" oriented and less "me" oriented. Each kind act nudges kids to notice others ("I see how you feel"), care ("I'm concerned about you"), empathize ("I feel with you"), and help and comfort them ("Let me ease your pain"). Practicing kindness can also change children's self-image and behavior. If a child sees herself as kind, she is more likely to act kindly.

Kindness is strengthened by seeing, hearing, and practicing kindness. I've seen kindergarteners give one another morning greetings with smiles, handshakes, and eye contact. In Bremerton, Washington, "Kindness Ambassadors" meet their peers at the school entrance with friendly greetings. Students at Pleasant Prairie Elementary in Wisconsin give each other high fives during passing periods. Encourage simple kindness routines like these with your students.

Kindness also jump-starts a cascade of beneficial effects not only for the receiver, but for the giver. One Minnesota educator encouraged students to do two kind things each day and discovered the kids actually seemed to become kinder. A psychology teacher had students chart their kind acts for six weeks. The kids realized they were happier, probably because they noticed how much recipients appreciated their caring deeds. Aesop said it best: "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." A leader's job is to ensure that students take those words to heart, especially in today's increasingly uncivil environment.

7. Collaboration

Empathy is never a solitary act: It's only when we let go of our self-centeredness and feel with others that our hearts open. Working together on common goals can help students make that crucial shift from "me" to "we." These cooperative experiences sensitize students to those who may be different or have conflicting interests. This competency also broadens students' social spheres, preparing them for a diverse world.

Teamwork projects can strengthen students' abilities to encourage others, resolve conflicts, and disagree respectfully-important aspects of empathy.

Many collaborative practices support empathy education and academic growth. Cooperative learning enhances achievement and boosts empathy skills like listening for feelings and perspective taking (Dean et al., 2012). Conflict resolution helps students work together to solve problems. Jigsaw-type learning activities can reduce racial conflict, help kids learn to care about each other, and improve test performance (Walker & Crogan, 1998).

8. Moral Courage

Moral courage is the inner strength that motivates children to act on their empathetic urges and help others despite the potential consequences. Demonstrating moral courage is not always easy, but children who do so stick their necks out for justice and compassion. They are upstanders-the empathetic elite-who stand up for others because they know deep down it's the right thing to do. Acting courageously increases students' resilience, creativity, confidence, willpower, and school engagement-and is teachable.

Mobilizing moral courage may be our best hope to stop cruelty and violence in schools. When kids intervene, it stops bullying more than half the time and within 10 seconds (Hawkins, Pepler, & Craig, 2001). Train your staff to teach upstander strategies so students learn how to safely assist bullied peers or those treated unfairly. Then create opportunities for kids to practice those strategies so they become habits. I've watched students role-play upstander skills, teach them to younger kids, and present them to peers in assemblies. Strategies like debate, engaging class discussions, Socratic dialogue, and civic discourse also help students find their voice and practice speaking out.

Lessons that help kids recognize that even ordinary people like themselves can do extraordinary things are invaluable. They can be found in history, through the stories of figures like Gandhi or Nelson Mandela; in fiction, through characters like Dorothy Gale or Harry Potter; or in real life, through examples of heroism from veterans, first responders, or whistle blowers. Keep a box of news articles about heroes and encourage students to find more, then lead discussions about how courage helps us do extraordinary things. Kids need heroes to inspire their courage.

9. Growing Changemakers

Encouraging students to help others can activate empathy and help them see themselves as changemakers: individuals who make positive changes and inspire others to follow. Giving-not receiving-is what makes kids happier, healthier, less stressed, and feel better about themselves (Luks & Payne, 2001). Every student, regardless of zip code, has the potential to make the world a better place, if we provide the right experiences.

School service projects, whether bringing toys to a community shelter or delivering books to a senior home, can help children see the world through others' eyes. And they can be valuable learning experiences. A Seattle 2nd grade teacher's yearly science, math, and service project is to assign each student one square foot in the school's garden. They graph their plot, plant their vegetable of choice, and tend it; but the peak moment is when they hand-deliver their harvest to a local soup kitchen. "The look on their faces makes it all worthwhile," she said. "They realize they can make a difference."

This ninth competency helps children understand they can improve their world by taking action. And they do so not for trophies or to look good on résumés, but because they are driven by the passion of their hearts. These are the graduates we need, and it starts with empathy.

Educating for Humanity

Above all the benefits described, empathy makes our students better people. It is what will help them live one essential truth: We are all humans who share the same fears and concerns, and we deserve to be treated with dignity. School leaders have important work to do. What will be your next step in making empathy education a reality for your students?

› Do you agree that we are facing a crisis of empathy in schools? What examples can you cite from your own school?

› Do any of Borba's nine competencies for empathy seem particularly lacking in your school or district? What practical steps could you or your school take to boost students' skills in these areas?

› In what ways do you and your colleagues model empathy in your school? In what ways could you improve your efforts?

References

Barraza, J. A., Alexander, V., Beavin, L. E., Terris, E. T., & Zak, P. J. (2015). The heart of the story: Peripheral physiology during narrative exposure predicts charitable giving. Biological Psychology,105, 138-143.

Borba, M. (2016). UnSelfie: Why empathetic kids succeed in our all-about-me world. New York: Touchstone.

Dean, C. B., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement, 2nd edition. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Eisenberg, N., Eggum, N. D., & Di Giunta, L. (2010). Empathy-related responding: Associations with prosocial behavior, aggression, and intergroup relations. Social Issues and Policy Review, 4(1), 143-180.

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. NY: Bantam Books.

Goleman, D. (Summer 2014). What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review OnPoint, 24-33.

Gottman, J., & DeClaire, J. (1997). The heart of parenting: How to raise an emotionally intelligent child. NY: Simon & Schuster.

Hawkins, D. L., Pepler, D. J., & Craig, W. M. (2001). Naturalistic observations of peer interventions in bullying. Social Development, 10(4), 512-527.

Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2008). Made to stick: Why some ideas survive and others die. NY: Random House.

Jones, S. M., Weissbourd, R., Bouffard, S., Kahn, J., & Ross, T. (2014). How to build empathy and strengthen your school community. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Konrath, S. (2010, May 29). Empathy: College students don't have as much as they used to, study finds. Personality and Social Psychology Review. Retrieved from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100528081434.htm

Lehrer, J. (2009, May 18). Don't! The secret of self-control. The New Yorker. Retrieved from www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/05/18/dont-2

Luks, A., & Payne, P. (2001). The healing power of doing good. NY: iUniverse.

Mar, R. A., Oatley, K., & Peterson, J. B. (2009). Exploring the link between reading fiction and empathy: Ruling out individual differences and examining outcomes. Communications, 34(4), 407-428.

McFadden, C., Sandler, T., & Fieldstadt, E. (2015, January 1). San Francisco schools transformed by the power of meditation. NBC News. Retrieved from www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/san-francisco-schools-transformed-power-meditation-n276301

Oliner, S. (1992). The altruistic personality: Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe. New York: Touchstone.

Santos, R. G., Chartier, M. G., Whalen, J. C., Chateau, D., & Boyd, L. (2011). Effectiveness of school-based violence prevention for children and youth: Cluster randomized field trial of the Roots of Empathy program with replication and three-year follow up. Healthcare Quarterly, 14, 80-91.

Uhls, Y. T., Michikyan, M., Morris, J., Garcia, D., Small, G. W., Zgourou, E., Greenfield, P. M. (2014). Five days at outdoor education camp without screens improves preteen skills with nonverbal emotion cues. Computers in Human Behavior, 39, 387-392.

Walker, I., & Crogan, M. (1998). Academic performance, prejudice, and the jigsaw classroom: New pieces to the puzzle. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 8(6), 381-393.

Endnote

Resources for teaching upstander strategies.

Michele Borba is an educational psychologist, former teacher, and international speaker to educators and parents. She is the bestselling author of 24 books, including UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World. Follow her on Twitter.

KEYWORDS

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October 2018 | Volume 76 | Number 2 The Promise of Social-Emotional Learning Pages 22-28 Michele Borba In today's interconnected world, empathy gives students the edge they need to lead meaningful, productive lives, providing what I call the "empathy advantage." Once seen as a "soft" skill, empathy helps us understand and feel with others.