Handling BIG Emotions with B.E.S.T.

Handling BIG Emotions. This is such an important topic for our learners!

Strong negative emotions can cause extra stress on the brain and body. They also put a big damper on learning. Whether you teach in the classroom or at home, teaching kids how to handle their big emotions is crucial to a healthy school year. This year, teach them to do it with B.E.S.T.

This freebie is from my Social Emotional Learning Visuals Pack.

 

Handling BIG Emotions with B.E.S.T.

Everyone has big emotions sometimes. It’s what you do with them that makes a difference. B.E.S.T. can help!

B.E.S.T. Stands for:

Breathe slowly. – Calm down by breathing deeply. This can help your body relax, which helps you think more clearly and logically about the situation.

Evaluate what’s going on. – Think about what’s happening.

Say what the problem is and name your feelings about it. – Doing this out loud can be super helpful. If learners struggle to name their feelings, you may need to back up and work on this first.

Think of what you need to do and what will work. Try it out. – Once learners have calmed down, thought about the situation, and named the problem/their feelings, help them think of the logical next step. Give them space to try it to see if it helps to alleviate the problem.

It is helpful to teach B.E.S.T. step-by-step. Practice by role playing. Model how you use it. Talk about your feelings. Practice naming specific feelings such as “disappointed” instead of “sad.”

Grab a copy of these visuals by clicking on the teal download image below.

More Social Emotional Learning Resources:

• Checking for Understanding Visuals
• Social Emotional Learning Book List
• Social Emotional Learning Visuals Pack
• Social Problem Solving Posters

 

 

Enjoy teaching!
~Becky