This week Room 10 has had the pleasure of several classroom visits. The Prince of Wales community is working together to build common language that will support the development of healthy social skills and respect for each and every community member. We continue to talk about expected/unexpected behavior in group settings such as schools .theatres, libraries, zoos, museums and extra curricular events. We use mindfulness as a way to drop in on ourselves and examine WHY we are doing unexpected things in groups situations. Are we hungry/thirsty? Are we overtired? Did we have a quarrel with a family member before school? Are we anxious about something? When we can figure out what is driving our need for extra attention we can ask for that attention in a positive way and get a positive response. When we seek negative attention through unexpected behaviors such as making silly noises, interrupting others, invading personal space and bothering people around us, we will upset others. You then end up getting the kind of attention you don't really enjoy.
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This week we have been discussing expected and unexpected group behavior. We are working out how to be social detectives and read the people around us to see how we impact them. Are most people glad that we are here? We are looking at mindful practices that help us be in the moment, and focus on what needs to be done right here right now. We revisited the I WANT VERSES WE NEED. I want statements are useful at home and when you are doing your own thing. When you spend time at school you are in a groups situation that function best with a We need focus. When you do things that sprawl or lie down when your class is gathered at the carpet you are using an I want thought pattern, If you switch to the We need thought pattern it will be easy to see that there is not enough room for 20+ people to lie down. You will probably even see that other people might feel like laying down too, but are choosing to sit up and conserve space to be fair and considerate. This makes group situations pleasant and comfortable. It can be tough to follow rules at school after a break. Sitting at the carpet, listening to others, waiting for a long time before it is our turn to speak. eating at specific times, lining up to do pretty much anything, listening way more than talking and many, many more things that feel forced upon us can make back to school seem dreadful! Today in our social skill meeting we tried to examine why it is harder for some of us than others. We talked about those two words that adults don't like hearing, "I'M BORED!!" Why is handling boredom a life skill? I get bored when I am stuck in traffic. I get bored waiting in line. I even get bored when a friend is talking about their work and I am waiting to share MY news. What would happen if I acted bored when my friend was talking? What if I had a melt down every time the line up at Safeway was long? People do act badly. How do we feel when we witness that? Who do you want to be? Being able to regulate our emotions is a valuable tool to have when times are tough, boring or upsetting. Taking deep breaths is great because you can do it anywhere and anytime without drawing too much attention. I am reposting some breathing videos for the newcomers to this blog. Check them out! Glassman is an unthinkable character from the Social Thinking Superflex Program. Glassman gets into our brain and makes us have HUGE reactions to small problems such as transitioning from one thing to another. Glassman will shatter at the word NO. Glassman wants what he wants RIGHT NOW!!! We can use strategies to defeat Glassman. We can use "positive self talk" You can think about the problem solving scale to see what size the problem really is. If it is a tiny problem then just let it go. You can take some deep breaths as breathing deeply always helps calm your brain. Here are some examples of different sized problems: Tiny size problems: a fly buzzing in your face, my shoe coming untied Medium sized problems: forgetting my homework, getting teased, someone is not doing what the teacher said Bigger sized problems: breaking an ankle, a dog attack, an earthquake Have you ever had a Glassman Moment? Such as when the teacher said centre time was over, or that you had too put a book away when you were really enjoying it? What strategy did you use to turn it around? Today is National Teddy Bear Day! Teddy Rabbit by Kathy Stinson is a great Teddy Bear read!!!9/9/2015 It is not easy to accept NO! We will work on this social skill all year. A strategy to help your child prepare to accept no can be used. For example, if you are going to give your child a NO, give them a heads up. You could say, " Susan, I am going to tell you something that you do not want to hear. I want you to take deep breaths and be ready. You may have a yes for this situation later but right now you are going to hear a NO. You then give your child the undesired response ( It is time to stop watching TV as we have to get groceries. I hope you can accept that this is going to happen whether you fuss or not. If you handle this well, there will be time to watch TV before bed.) It won't always go smoothly, but often the little heads up can ease the situation. This also works well for transitioning from one situation to another. For example, "John...in ten minutes we are going to clean up and brush our teeth before bed. I hope you can accept this information nicely as it will not change the outcome if you fuss. It will just make us both grumpy. After you have finished getting ready for bed we can read a story together. Why don't you pick the book after you brush and I will read it to you. Now enjoy the ten minutes of play time you have left." Today we read "The OK book" and discussed what we were OK at doing and why it is super cool to be just OK at doing something. We have our whole lives ahead to find out what we are really good at! Let's try a bunch of stuff to see what kinds of things we want to get great at doing. And a fun art style to copy!! Tip the OK over and it becomes a cool stick figure. We created some drawings of things we were OK at. Take a look at them just outside Room 10. Feel free to draw one and I can hang it up with the others.
We also read "I Have Feelings." and looked at a feelings flip chart. We all have all feelings. They are neither good nor bad. What we do to express feelings can be challenging. This year we will explore all sorts of tools to help express feelings in a way that supports healthy relationships. Remember to: ASK DON'T GRAB and RESPECT PERSONAL SPACE Read BODY LANGUAGE and don't touch other people without and invitation. Hope you all had a great long weekend! This week we talked about personal space and making friends. Did you know that everyone has a different amount of personal space? Some people need a whole bunch and some people need just a little. When we are sharing a space such as a classroom or a community space we need to respect others and be sure to keep our hands to ourselves. We read "Personal Space Camp" to some of our students, written by Julia Cook. One of our students was quite surprised to learn how upset people can get when their personal space is invaded, even in a friendly way. I also read "How To Behave And Why" written by Munro Leaf, and then talked about what behavior is and how it affects those around us. I will be reading this book and sharing this discussion with all of our grade one classes. Our social skill lessons this week revolve around "ask-don't grab!" You can reinforce this message at home by ensuring your child asks for certain items rather than just grabbing them. As well, children can be encouraged to ask for a hug, high five, tickle and such from friends, rather than just grabbing someone, to reinforce that everyone has different personal space bubbles. We also talked about Finders Keepers ad we all agreed at the end of the discussion, that it was definitely NOT ok to keep something that you find. If it is not yours, it is someone else's.!! Mrs. Pulfer, our school secretary is the perfect person to return any found items. Welcome back to school. It is just wonderful to see the enthusiasm and excitement on everyone's faces! |
AuthorI am Lauren Purkiss, teacher at Prince of Wales School. I work out of Room 10 as Lead teacher for the Bridges Program as well as a Learning Leader for the school population. I have three children of my own, two boys ages 24 and 21, as well as my daughter, 16. My passion is to support our reluctant learners and their families. My door is always open. Come for a visit anytime. Archives
June 2018
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