Students need automatic basic skills. Each time a student stops to wonder how to form a letter, how to spell a word, or what 7 x 6 equals, a slice comes out of the pie. Some people may ask why we need to think about emotion when we're talking about thinking and learning. Yet we know from our own experiences, as well as from medical research and common sense, that emotion has the power to open or to close pathways, windows, and doorways to learning. The experience of humiliation, frustration, or frequent failure builds negative emotional habits.
Fear can make kids show off or play the class clown.
Fear can shut down minds, so they aren't able to learn. Fear of embarrassment in front of other kids is a powerful enough force to turn kids away from taking a chance on trying to learn something new. Memories of shame or humiliation are strong enough to keep kids from taking a chance on a new idea. Many kids are scared of certain subjects, such as math, science, reading, or creative writing. Such negative emotions cut off access to reason, certain kinds of memory, and original thinking.