December 15, 2016

Hello Families and Staff!
This has been a busy month of social thinking!  Superflex visited Mrs. Whalen's room and we continued our discussion on BIG problem versus little problem.  We defined different sized problems.  A "glitch" is such a small problem, that it's not really a problem at all. For example, breaking a pencil or running out of juice. A BIG problem would involve an injury or something that would require us to call 911 (e.g. fire, accident, etc.). Most of the problems we encounter throughout our day are small problems.  We agreed that medium problems are those that we may need an adult to support us with (e.g. bullying, falling and getting hurt, etc.). The class worked with partners to read a problem, decide the size, and decide the expected reaction.  We agreed that our reaction size should match the size of the problem.  SO, if I have a small problem, I should have a small reaction. If I have a BIG reaction to a small problem, I am acting like Glassman, one of the Unthinkables. Overall, the students did a great job!  They realized that most problems they have daily are just small problems. Here is the anchor we have been using to chart where our problems fall.



Brain Eater has also been a target this month. The kids decided that sometimes they are getting distracted in class and that they might be acting like Brain Eater.  Brain Eater is the Unthinkable that gets us distracted!  We may be thinking about our favorite things or people (internal distractor) or objects in the room (external distractor).  Either way, our brains get "out of the group."  Here are some anchor charts we have made about Brain Eater...

          

We are currently reading the book Superflex Takes on Brain Eater and will be learning some strategies to defeat him!  We can do it!  You may have already seen a "distractor shield" come home which can be placed on any objects that distract us (with parent permission).  Mrs. Meinecke often needs to cover the chocolate in the house with a distractor shield.  😉

November 13, 2016

Hello Families!
We have been busy this month learning all about Rock Brain and how to defeat him! We have listened to social situations and had to decide what would be Rock Brain reactions and what would be flexible reactions.  The kids did a great job with this! We also have been working hard on creating an anchor chart with all the strategies we can use to defeat Rock Brain!  A picture of our Anchor Chart is below. Some of the strategies we discussed include:

1.  Stop and think, "Am I getting stuck?"
2.  Remember: I can't always get my way
3.  Think, "What is expected?"
3.  Use self talk, "It is okay to change my plan"
4.  Act like Rex Flexinator, our new Thinkable who is the opposite of Rock Brain!
5.  Use your words and a kind tone of voice
6.  Think, "What thoughts will my friends or teachers have?"
7.  Walk away and calm down

We will keep revisiting these strategies throughout the year. We will role play some situations in order to help students practice using these strategies and using the language or tone of voice we have talked about.  We can do it!

October 9, 2016

Hello Families! 
During the first week of October, Superflex visited classrooms! In Mrs. Whalen's class, our target was to learn how to defeat the Unthinkable, Glassman.  Glassman has BIG reactions to small problems.

To further discuss this, we read the story called Soda Pop Head, by Julia Cook. In this story, a young man gets very upset over small problems.  He "blows his cap" just like a soda pop. We even did an experiment and shook a soda each time a student shared something that makes them angry.  We saw how the pressure builds up and POP, the soda explodes! In this book, the main character, Lester, learns some excellent strategies for how to control his "fizz" or anger. Students created an anchor chart with many strategies they could use at school and at home to control their fizz. Some examples included: breathing deeply, counting to 10, taking a break, doing the "push, pull, dangle" on your chair, thinking about the size of the problem - does your reaction match the size?, etc. This was an excellent book to help us learn about the emotion anger and how we can control it. We can defeat Glassman! 

Hello Families!!
I am so excited to share this blog with you!  There are so many concepts that we cover in Superflex lunch group and this is one way that I can share these with you.  In September we worked very hard on understanding the terms "expected" and "unexpected."  We discussed how everyone struggles at times to do something that might be unexpected.  This is okay, but we need to try to learn strategies for these unexpected moments.  These are important concepts to understand as we move into learning about our Unthinkables and Thinkables. We also began talking about Rock Brain!  When we act like the Unthinkable, Rock Brain, we are getting "stuck" on what we want to do rather than what we are expected to be doing. We may also get "stuck" thinking about things we love rather than listening in class to our teacher's words.  We watched some video clips in lunch group showing other's getting stuck on what they wanted. We also developed an an anchor chart with strategies for how to defeat Rock Brain!  We will be adding to it in upcoming weeks. At home you can discuss "moments" where you may have gotten "stuck" and what you did to get "unstuck."  Our goal is to act more like Rex Flexinator, the Thinkable who is the opposite of Rock Brain! We can do it friends!

For more information about Superflex please visit, Michelle Garcia-Winner's website .