1. Brainstorming based on the title of the text and the image.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ITS RELATION WITH TEACHING.

1. Read the following text.

The Benefits of Emotional Intelligence

By Paula Durlofsky, PhD 
Last updated: 8 Jul 2018

TRUE COGNATE

FALSE COGNATE

Did you ever think back on some of the important decisions you made in your life and
wonder “What was I thinking?” or “Did I really do that and why?” Not using your
emotional intelligence may be to blame for those bad decisions and actions.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the ability to identify, use, understand, and manage
emotions in an effective and positive way. A high EQ helps individuals to communicate
better, reduce their anxiety and stress, defuse conflicts, improve relationships, empathize
with others, and effectively overcome life’s challenges.
 Our emotional intelligence affects the quality of our lives because it influences our
behavior and relationships. EQ is synonymous with self-awareness because it enables us to
live our lives with intention, purpose, and autonomy.

Many of us move through life making important decisions based on our current
circumstances. We may perceive them as being beyond our ability to change, thus limiting
our options and solutions. Taking time to reflect and examining why we decide to do what
we do enables us to lead lives determined by our conscious intentions rather than
circumstances alone.

Developing EQ can greatly influence our success. Our personal situations and intelligence
are factors as well; however, EQ can profoundly affect our choices by creating options we
may not have otherwise imagined or considered to be possibilities.

Below are some ways in which you can cultivate and increase your EQ:

 Self-awareness.
This is the ability to label, recognize, and understand your own emotions. Self-awareness
requires us to tune in to our feelings and not avoid our negative emotions such as anxiety,
fear and sadness. Recognizing our own emotional states and how they affect our thoughts,
behaviors, and decisions is the key to cultivating self-awareness.
 Emotional regulation.
Emotional regulation has to do with our ability to control strong emotions by not acting on
raw feelings in an impulsive or destructive manner. Developing the ability to sit with
unpleasant feelings and to give ourselves the time and space to decide how we may
alleviate or reduce negative feelings cultivates self-confidence. Emotional regulation also
helps us develop the ability to consider various solutions to a particular situation or
problem. Not reacting solely from an emotionally charged state results in better decision-
making outcomes.
 Empathy.
When we empathize with others, we develop deeper, more intimate relationships. Empathy
is the ability to recognize how and why people feel the way they do. Empathy allows us to
 anticipate how our actions and behaviors influence other people as well as our own.
Developing empathy skills enhances our experiences, relationships, and general
understanding of ourselves, other people and the world around us.
 Social skills.
This is a very broad term. In general, having strong social skills means having the ability to
communicate in a clear, concise, and courteous manner. In a nutshell, good social skills are
the summation of all of the components of EQ: self-awareness, emotional regulation, and
empathy.
 2. Underline or circle the true and false cognates you find in the reading.
 3. Answer the following questions based on the reading.

A. Why is emotional intelligence relevant when working with education?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, use, understand and manage emotions
effectively and positively. High emotional intelligence helps people to communicate better,
reduce their anxiety and stress, defuse conflicts, improve relationships, empathize with
others and effectively overcome life's challenges. All these aspects help the school
environment to develop optimally and to provide a better interaction between learners and
educators to solve all kinds of problems.

B. How can emotional intelligence influence peer´s relationships?

Our emotional intelligence affects the quality of our lives because it influences our
behavior and relationships. Emotional intelligence is synonymous with self-awareness
because it allows us to live our lives with intention, purpose, and autonomy. For this
reason, it can influence our relationship with colleagues or friends since it basically controls
the way we behave.

C. Is it important to have strong social skills when working with students? Why?

Yes, because we need to have strong social skills to understand and establish healthy
relationships with students. This also helps the teaching and learning process to develop in
a spontaneous way and to be emphatic in explaining what we want to explain. In the field
of education, it is important to understand the needs and point of view of the students and
for this it is required to have a good emotional intelligence.

D. What characteristics should a good teacher have in relation to emotional

intelligence?

The most important characteristics that a teacher should have in relation to emotional
intelligence are self-awareness, emotional regulation, empathy and social skills. This in
order to know themselves and to be able to solve situations in an adequate way.

E. How can you cultivate your emotional intelligence? Do you think that your
performance within your classes can increase if you have high emotional intelligence?

Being in constant growth, open to new ideas and being willing to learn from others allows
us to develop our Emotional Intelligence and social skills. All of the above allows us to
trust ourselves and make the best decision for ourselves. My performance can improve
because I can better control my emotions and the way I act and perceive things and thus
have a better performance in what I do.

F. What will happen in the institution you work, if there exist trouble among co-
workers that are working with a curriculum project? How can you contribute to solve
that situation?

I would talk to them to make them see reason, to solve their problems peacefully and with a
lot of tolerance. I would emphasize the importance of empathy to recognize how and why
people feel the way they do, and I would help them develop their social skills in order to
communicate clearly, concisely and courteously.

G. Which of the ways mentioned before can you use to improve your emotional
intelligence? Explain which aspect of your life can you improve or do you want to
improve?
Emotional regulation, to control my emotions when I am in situations of great stress or
pressure and I let my emotions take over me, which makes me say or do things that I later
regret.

H. Do an infographic based on the reading.

This is canva´s link: https://www.canva.com/