Emotional Literacy Museum

Emotional Literacy Museum

The Emotional Literacy Museum is a self-directed learning experience teaching about the physiology of emotions, emotional regulation, and emotional literacy.

Emotional Literacy is recognizing, naming, and understanding feelings.  Feelings have “rules,” and by learning the basic “moves” emotions can make, their causes and effects, and the ways they combine, people have a much easier time managing feelings.  At a basic level, simply naming a feeling sooths the limbic brain’s activity related to the feeling – as if that part of the brain says, “Ok!  Now you understand me.”

The training package includes a complete Emotional Literacy Museum and courseware for a ½-day interactive training; CD with Powerpoint® slides and speaker notes, a handout, and masters for reproducing items needed for the Museum; all materials for the stations listed below.

Objectives
•    Increased knowledge about emotions and how to learn about them.
•    More useful attitude toward emotions as something valuable and interesting.
•    Stronger skills in recognizing and managing feelings.

Primary outcome:  participants leave with an expanded awareness about emotions as useful, neurobiological responses to the environment.  In other words, they leave saying “emotions are real – and they have value.”

Application
The Emotional Literacy Museum is designed as self-guided learning process.  These instructions describe a half-day workshop based on the Museum.  The workshop is effective for groups ranging from 8-24 participants; a larger group can be accommodated with two sets of the Museum stations.  The curriculum has been field-tested with a wide variety of audiences in business, education, health, and government.  It has worked well with participants from over a dozen different countries, and in all job levels.

The components are highly versatile, so in addition to the stand-alone workshop this package can be used as a:
•    brief interactive session (30-60 minutes).
•    breaktime activity during a related training or conference.
•    lunch-and-learn experience.
•    interactive learning component to another event such as open house or learning day.
In addition, the Museum can be segmented into a series of activities to intersperse within other training.

Museum Stations
There are many components in the Museum.  Depending on space available and your application, you may choose to use only some of the exercises.  Each is identified as a “station” – like an exhibit in a real museum.

1. Feeling Cards - Sort cards into groups according to the emotion shown on the picture.
2. Tipples’ Faces - Copy facial expressions by looking in a mirror.
3. Magnetic Faces - Create an image of an emotional expression.
4. Feeling Photos - Identify the emotions conveyed in four photos.
5. Inside/Outside - Depict feelings experienced vs feelings exhibited, discuss.
6. Biodots - Experiment with a Biodot stress monitor.
7. Emotionometer - Complete a worksheet showing the gradations, or varying intensities, of an emotion.
8. Emotion Flower - Partners, identify and explain the emotions.
9. Moon Faces - Identify the physical “symptoms” of various emotions.

These stations are available at additional cost:

• Heart-Mind-Body - Take blood pressure, read a news article, then take blood pressure again, included two blood pressure cuffs. $165.
• Musical Feelings - Listen to music and express the feelings conveyed through sculpture, mp3 player and speakers provided. $145.
• emWave- Use the HeartMath emWave to create an optimal state in which heart, mind and emotions are operating in sync and balance. $265.