April

April's SEL theme is flexibility, defined for students as a thinking skill that helps us adjust to new situations, learn from our mistakes, and handle a change in routine. Students are presented with scenarios or problems (e.g. friends wanting to play different games at recess, not getting the state you wanted for a class project, rainy weather on field day) and asked to think about how being flexible could solve the problem.

What Research Says 

Cognitive flexibility, or flexible thinking, is a core executive function that dictates our ability to change our behavior to different contexts or environmental stimuli. Executive functions encompass a range of cognitive skills that help us to organize our thoughts and behaviors to get things done. As children develop, so too do their executive functioning skills. Some children, particularly those with ADHD and other learning challenges, can struggle with executive functioning issues which can make skills like flexible thinking more difficult (Child Mind Institute, n.d.).

Flexible thinking is integral to helping kids manage setbacks, changes, and challenging emotions. Flexibility is associated with increased resilience, problem-solving, and social communication skills. A skill that requires cognitive processing from mechanisms in the areas of the brain responsible for judgement and critical thinking, flexible thinking can be difficult or nearly impossible for kids to access if they are too dysregulated by their emotional state. Last month, students at Mitchell focused on learning about coping strategies to use when big feelings have them overwhelmed: strategies like deep breathing, exercise, or meditation calm the nervous system so children can again access the "thinking" parts of their brain. Enter flexible thinking: this is where we can encourage kids to practice and utilize ways of thinking flexibly to help them bounce back from challenges or changes in plan. 

Psychologist and NYU school of medicine professor Rachel Goldman defines psychological flexibility as "staying in the present moment and being open to experiencing whatever thoughts or feelings may arise, and then tak[ing] action that is aligned with our values . . . If we take that moment to pause, we can then properly assess a situation, remind ourselves to be present, what is in our control, and then make a decision based off of what we truly believe in, and not the current emotion we may be feeling (which may lead to reactive, impulsive, or rigid behaviors)" (Cherry, 2023). 

When children struggle with flexibility, it can be important to consider why. Some children are more temperamentally flexible and adaptable, while others are wired to be more sensitive and inflexible. Children who struggle more with emotional regulation can have difficulty with flexibility, as can children with particular sensitivity to sensory input. Children with a tendency to feel overwhelmed by sensory sensations may seek a feeling of control by adopting fixed ideas about how things should go and can have more trouble when plans change. For most kids, practicing flexible thinking means becoming more comfortable with discomfort, and learning that disappointment will not mean the end of the world. 

Psychological flexibility-based intervention is shown to be significantly associated with a decrease in stress and an increase in overall emotional, social, and psychological well-being measures (Wersebe et al., 2018). Empirical evidence demonstrates that psychological flexibility is beneficial for a range of clinical disorders including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorders, and with people suffering from chronic physical diseases. Intervention that targets increasing flexibility is further linked with improved self-management and coping, reduced distress and perceived stigma, and enhanced quality of life (Ramaci et al., 2019).

Teachers will be on the lookout for kids showing flexibility. . . when teachers see flexible thinking, they can snap a pic to showcase students on the SEL bulletin board!

Throughout the month of April, students can focus on being flexible by:

To support the theme of coping strategies at home, please feel free to explore the following discussion questions and links!

• Think of a time something didn't turn out how you wanted. Were you able to use flexible thinking? Why or why not? If you were, how did it help? If not, how could you have been more flexible?

• Would you rather spend time with people who are flexible thinkers or who aren't flexible in their thinking? Why?

• Are there any skills or strategies you use to help you think flexibly?

• Has there ever been a time you needed to think flexibly and things turned out better than you thought?

Flexibility Challenges!