The ultimate goal of education is to provide individuals with the emotional and academic skills necessary for academic and workplace success, as well as to develop informed and responsible community members (Elias, Arnold, & Hussey, 2003). Recent years have seen an explosion of deep interest, debate, and even controversy regarding concepts related to what is known as emotional intelligence (EI). Unfortunately, the controversy over defining emotional intelligence, recognizing differences in its conceptual and empirical base, and determining the appropriateness of what it looks like in practice has kept emotional intelligence from its rightful integrative place, with respect to educating youth (McLaughlin, 2008). While there are multiple ways to define EI and while research is ongoing, the common thread throughout the various definitions of EI is an emphasis that focuses on fostering healthy emotional growth. To cultivate the importance of emotional intelligence in an actual school setting, the authors take their cue from the theoretical framework of "understanding by design" (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005), Goleman's (2006) research on emotional intelligence, and the practical and motivational insights provided by Covey (2004). Together, these sources foster an integrated pedagogical approach in fostering emotional literacy in classroom practice. Although teaching emotional intelligence may be viewed by some as yet another thing to be taught within an already overcrowded school curricula, the reality is that EI cannot be ignored, because it enters into the very qualitative nature of schooling--the relational aspects among people in the school setting--and is clearly linked to living a full life (Qualter et al., 2007).