Exploring the Mood Meter

By Cara Hames
Head of Lower School

As we settle into the new school year, I’d love to share a little more of what makes our Lower School special. Throughout the year, I’ll highlight photographs and artifacts that offer glimpses into the work happening in our classrooms and the many small ways our teachers bring learning to life. 

For our first installment, I thought the Mood Meter was a perfect place to begin. The Mood Meter is a RULER tool that helps children recognize and name their emotions by considering how pleasant they feel and how much energy they have. 

Our black-box theater now features a Broadway-inspired Mood Meter, created by one of our drama teachers using images of actors to represent different emotions. But it’s more than a colorful addition to the wall. Our drama teachers are exploring ways to bring this Mood Meter into their lessons, using it to help students recognize and name their own emotions, understand those of others, and explore how feelings shape the characters and stories they bring to life on stage.

I love this for so many reasons.

Mainly, it's a wonderful example of the creativity our teachers bring to their work. Rather than simply using a familiar classroom tool, this is customized, connected to the subject and the learning environment to make it meaningful for our students.

But it's also a reminder of something important about the beginning of the school year: before we can fully dive into learning, we need to make space for the whole child.

Children arrive at school with all sorts of feelings. They may be excited, nervous, tired, frustrated, or anywhere in between. Helping them recognize and name those feelings is an important part of learning to navigate them, connect with others, and engage in all aspects of daily life in a classroom.

And that work doesn't happen only in drama. Throughout the Lower School, our teachers are finding thoughtful ways to help children develop an understanding of themselves and one another.

Sometimes, the smallest details tell us the most about what matters.