11-11-11

Friday, November 11, 2011

Hi, Folks,



Meet Superflex. For those of you who are not familiar with this caped crusader of flexible thinking, he is part of Michelle Garcia Winner’s wonderful social thinking curriculum. He helps us  think about expected behaviors and solve social problems. It’s not easy; Superflex is in constant battle with the Unthinkables. The Unthinkables are a group of villians who meddle with our minds, preventing us from being effective problem solvers and often causing us to engage in unexpected behavior.



Here’s the rogues gallery:     



Seen any of these shifty characters around?

It takes a lot of practice to spot them when they start meddling with our brains.  I mean, it’s easy to call out a friend for displaying a Glassman-like tantrum, but quite difficult to notice when the Unthinkables have invaded our home turf. Self reflection is tough, and often near impossible to do in the heat of the moment. But have no fear, these thugs have been caught on camera. The cool thing about catching them on film, is that we can watch it later and see the unexpected behavior that resulted. The kids are getting better and better at recognizing these behaviors in themselves and generating strategies. Sometimes its hard to watch ourselves succumbing to the evil powers of the Unthinkables, so we invent scenarios based on real events in the class and act them out.

Here is an example of a skit we acted out on Thursday. This is based on a true story, but the names have been changed (to characters from our new fairy tale) to protect the innocent:

Coyote, Adobe Pig and Tumbleweed Pig are playing blocks. Adobe Pig has 5 long, rectangular blocks. He goes to the bathroom, but doesn’t tell anyone, and leaves his blocks in the class. Coyote uses the blocks in his structure.  When Adobe Pig returns, he sees that Coyote has his blocks and he really, really wants them back.

Warning: There are Unthinkables in the room...

What Adobe Pig may think: “I really, really want those blocks and he stole them from me!”

What Adobe Pig may do: Scream, “Hey! You took my blocks!!!! Give them to me NOW!!!” grabs the blocks from Coyote, and points his finger right in his face.

What Coyote may think: “Wow. He’s really scaring me. That is so unexpected!”

What Coyote may do: Grab the blocks and shout back, then cover his ears and cry.

What Tumbleweed Pig may think: “Wow. He’s really scaring me. Why is he yelling at my friend?”

What Tumbleweed Pig may do: Cover his ears and whimper.

We discovered SO many Unthinkables in the when we watched the video of this skit:  Rock Brain (“Those blocks are MINE. He stole them”), Glassman (screaming is a huge upset reaction),  Space Invader (pointing finger in face), Worry Wall and Grump Grumpaniny (this huge reaction worries the other children and puts them in grumpy moods).

On Monday, we will come up with some SUPERFLEX strategies to defeat these Unthinkables and solve the problem in a way that feels good to everyone.

Meet Superflex and the Unthinkables on Friday, December 2nd, when you come in for conferences:

9:00 Perkins
10:00 Vigilante
11:00 Reilly
12:00 Stettner-Auerbach
1:00 Hurtado
As always, if you need to switch times contact the other family and let me know that you have switched.

Have a great weekend!

Amanda and Erin