[Couple weeks back, in our Educators Laddership Circle, several of us had an idea to make an "emotion odometer" to cultivate greater emotional literacy and self-awareness with students. Inspired by the ideas, I tried it out, and what an inspiring experiment it was!]

Last week, I made a mood-o-meter with my students. It made for a super satisfying class!

The mood-o-meter chart was put up in the class and every child got a post-it sticker to write out their name and stick it in the quadrant that corresponds with their current mood. It was essential to assure the children that it is completely okay to feel what they are feeling, as every colour is as beautiful as the other. This enabled them to be open and truthful with their feelings.

They were told, "All colours are beautiful. Similarly, all emotions and feelings are as well. It’s okay to be a red, blue, yellow or green, but whatever you are, you MUST be honest about your feelings and your moods."



The red quadrant denotes an unpleasantness with high energy levels. This quadrant includes emotions such as anger, agitation, irritation etc. Such a mood can be channelized into competitive activities, such as debates.

The yellow quadrant denotes pleasantness with high energy levels. This quadrant includes emotions such as excitement, enthusiasm, feeling ecstatic, etc; hence, activities here can be creativity and brainstorming.

The blue quadrant denotes an unpleasantness with low energy levels. This quadrant includes emotions such as hopelessness, stress, anxiety, fear, apprehension etc. Such emotions would need activities involving detailed analysis such as creative thinking and reading.

The green quadrant denotes pleasantness with positive energy levels. This quadrant will include emotions such as comfort, calmness, ease etc. Activities involving self-reflection, meditation and collaboration would be good here.

Kids were enjoying closing their eyes checking their breath and mood.

We had a kid who put in red; they were angry with their mum for not allowing them to play with their friends. A sweet little girl put her name in blue quadrant, because her favourite teacher left school six days ago, and their class does not have a teacher. As she was sharing, she was in tears.

Some kids wanted to put their names in two quadrants.

It was a pleasure to listen to second graders sharing their deep feelings in such a way; as they shared, other kids listened. It was a wow moment for me!