Find a way to get their mind off of it. I have a very emotional student who gets angry quickly and will throw screaming temper tantrums. If I see it coming on, I remove the student from the situation and ask him to be my helper or we start working on another activity. You can also talk with him and let him get some of it off his chest. If you can't, you could also recommend that the counselor talk with him, since they're trained to handle those kinds of situations.

I wonder if the student could maybe carry a picture or something that would help him to feel close to his dad while at school. I had a student like that one year and against others opinion I allowed the student to call their mom for a while in the morning so they would know the mom was safe and only a phone call away. I only did it a couple weeks, but it worked. You could also allow the student to do an activity they enjoy to maybe take their mind off the dad.

We have a lot of these cases in our school, especially since I am teaching elementary students. What I do to help my students cope with these situations is called a "restorative" circle. A restorative circle consists of gathering every person or party involved including the mom, the dad(if possible), the counselor, the student, and the teacher who would act as the speaker and mediator. Everyone would literally create a circle facing each other and discuss their experience relating to the issue and how they feel about the situation. The teacher or mediator designee leads the discussion and poses the questions for each participant to respond to. There needs to be a talking piece such as a pen, ball, or anything tangible item to ensure talking turns are being taken. These circles can become very emotional and deep, so make sure you set expectations and keep the environment calm. The purpose of the restorative circle is restore the harm done to a person. There are books and research to support the practice and it does work for me most of the time.

I think it would help to give the student a safe space he can go to when he is feeling sad. It could be a quiet area with a bean bag chair, books, a mirror, etc. so he can get himself together and then return to learning. I would make sure he knows you are there if he needs to talk, but not make a big deal over how he is acting. The rest of the class still needs to learn and he will come back to the lesson when he is feeling better. Hopefully, over time, he will have less and less episodes. In the meantime, track how often and how long it occurs and discuss it with his parents.

I think that it could help with having a cool down corner. One of my CT's provided a safe space for students to go to in the classroom that has fidget toys that students would go to if they felt overwhelmed. I think maybe this could hepl your second grade student!

Students can misbehave to avoid people or difficult work. Determine if the student is crying to get out of work. Does he think the subject is difficult and trying to avoid it. When he starts crying make sure he is not hurt and then resume teaching. Do not instigate the crying by consoling him too much. Once the student sees that you are continuing with your lesson and not paying hem attention he may stop crying. If no, call the office so they can contact the parents.