This week, we spent a lot of time talking about flexible thinking and rigid thinking. We used popsicle sticks to represent rigid thoughts and pipe cleaners to represent flexible thoughts. We talked about how rigid thoughts lead to big reactions because we are not able to problem solve. Flexible thoughts lead to staying calm. In most of the groups, we made a list of things that flexible thinkers do and say and things that rigid thinkers to and say. I've added it at the bottom for your review. *It is important to note that flexible thinking doesn't mean that you like what is happening or your circumstances. I told the children that it is okay to feel bummed or disappointed. The important thing is to be flexible so you can stay calm (matching the reaction to the problem).*
We read the book Ish which is a fabulous book about a boy who loves to draw. He is not able to get his drawings just right and that frustrates him, so he crumbles them up and eventually, quits drawing (this hit my perfectionists pretty hard). With the help of his sister, Ramon learns to appreciate the -ish of his drawings--they are vase-ish and tree-ish. He learns to write poetry-ish and appreciate the process, not just the product. We spent two days reading, summarizing and talking about this book and the lessons it teaches. Most of my groups were able to draw -ish pictures of themselves. It was fun to see some of the kids letting go of a little bit of control. Later in the week, we read a book called Crankenstein. This book is about a child who is cranky and responds to things he doesn't like by turning into "Crankenstein" (a monster). Towards the end of the story, he meets another child acting like Crankenstein and they both laugh at how silly the other looks and is acting. It's a light way to point out some of the big and rigid reactions that are easy to fall into. We again used the pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks to illustrate some of the choices the characters were making.
Our joke this week was courtesy of Morgan: "What is a scarecrow's favorite fruit? Straw-berries!"
Our word of the week was "pleased" which the children wrote under "happy" in their social skills notebooks.
Have a wonderful weekend, and thank you again for your help in fulfilling our chromebook grant!
Rigid Say "NO" Argues Yells Won't ask for or receive help Says "I can't" | Flexible Says "Okay" Says "I'll try" Tries new things Problem solves Stays calm |