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It took me awhile to realize that learning does not occur until the emotions are touched and that emotional states can block learning. Having realized those things made me more conscious of the emotional state of my students as they arrive for the day (and throughout the day) and increased, in my I-fcn, my response to mollifying or utlizing their emotional state (depending on its nature). Like one groping in the dark, working with, through, and around emotions, is something that is in the I-fcn of my teaching. One thing that seems to be important, especially since I work with such young children, is teaching and training about emotions/feelings. Over time, it has become apparent that they need words to express these states and the capacity to be an observer of themselves in their emotional states. Many avenues merge to help children transcend their emotions including role playing, conversation, books, and physical gestures (like throwing it out the door.) It just seems pivotal to help children recognize the temperal nature of emotions, that emotional states can be transcended (focus on an incoming sensory input like smell, sound, etc.) and that emotions are a feeling to which there is a choice of one's response to the emotional state. Perhaps this teaching about emotions is simply strengthening of the I-fcn in working with the unconscious and its communications.