Chapter 2 The role of students needs

What does the following phrase mean, and what you think about it? “…emotions trump learning.”

This means to me that there is no way we can learn anything if we are having feelings that distract us. Children bring their whole world to the classroom - if they ate today, the neighbor next door, the dead mouse on the front porch, whatever - and if they can't sort through it all, and come out on top, there is no way you can help them to understand subtraction. We must teach them coping skills, ways to understand the world around them, and how to feel comfortable in it. Emotions will always win the fight if put up against learning.