Tools/Skills Learned

We use the Zones of Regulation to help us identify our feelings and regulate our emotions.  Each class came up with a unique list of strategies that help each student return to the Green Zone.  For example, some students find it helpful to listen to music, drink water, draw, have alone time, or talk to a friend.

We read a comic book called Captain Compassion that talked about the importance of and how to stand up to bullies.  This is called Upstander Power!  Each class also made their own agreements about how they would use their Upstander Power and stand up to bullying

Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Grade learned about the importance of and practiced Attention and Self-Control.

3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade learned about the importance of and practiced Organizing and Time Management.  

The five questions for Organizing are: 1) Who is responsible for this task? 2) What is the task? 3) When is it due? 4) When can I work on it? 5) Where can I work on the task?

The four steps for Time Management are: 1) Make a list of everything I have to do 2) How much time is each task going to take 3) Rank your list by most mentally difficult, to least mentally difficult 4) Make a schedule of when you'll get each task done

We discussed the how self-care is doing helpful things for yourself, and how important self-care is to our mental health.  We also connected mental health to how we act.  Having good mental health can help us be happy, healthy, and lets us do awesome things!  Having bad mental health can lead us to frequently being in the Blue Zone, having low energy, and low self-esteem.

Each class made a list of examples of things that we do for self-care, things that bring us joy, things that put us in the Green Zone!

We discussed what cyber bullying is, and how it might impact people.  Cyber bullying can come in the form of insults, threats, taunts, and other forms of being mean on different technology platforms.  For example, cyber bullying can occur on video games, social media, texting, phone calls, emails, and other forms of technology.

We use the Level of Zones to reflect on how our actions impact other people.  Level 1/2 actions make other people feel good and in the GREEN Zone.  Level 3/4 actions make other people feel uncomfortable, nervous, or upset and in the YELLOW or BLUE Zone.  Level 5 actions make other people feel terrified, angry, or mad and in the RED Zone.

We discussed the difference between bullying and teasing.  We decided that bullying is when someone is being mean, on purpose, and repeatedly.  We decided that teasing is when someone is joking around, but ends up hurting someones feelings.  We also talked about how it feels to be bullied or teased, as well as how we feel about the person who is bullying or teasing.  We decided that it doesn't feel good, and that we don't feel good about the person bullying or teasing.  In conclusion, if we want to have a more welcoming school community, we need to reduce the amount of bullying and teasing.

We discussed what does it look like and sound like when you're paying attention and focusing on the task at hand.  We did some thinking about what are some possible outcomes from paying attention versus not paying attention.  It can be hard to sustain focus and attention during the long school day.  But if we practice, we'll get better at it!

We talked about the importance of being flexible.  Sometimes you need a back up plan.  There are times when we can't do what we want to do, and thinking of other options can help us stay flexible.  If you want to play with a toy, but someone else is using it, your back up plan can be to play with a different toy.  If you want to keep playing but it's time to go back to class, your back up plan can be that you can play more when you get home.   We read A Little Spot of Flexible Thinking!

We discussed and defined discrimination as bullying, teasing, treating unfairly, judging, or hating someone because of their identity.  We also defined identity as things that make us who we are.  For example, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, body type, who you love, what you love, language, appearance, gender, and more.

We discussed that the most impactful way to use Upstander Power is with an assertive voice.  We defined an assertive voice as being direct, straight to the point, clear so everyone can hear you, confident and serious, calm, and honest.  We also had an opportunity for students to practice using their assertive voice with their Upstander Power.

We discussed how thinking about a happy thought can help us become calm and relaxed.  We practiced visualizing these thoughts, as well as imagining what we might be feeling, touching, seeing, hearing, or tasting to help make the thought stronger.  Students reported that after the visualization activity that they felt calm and relaxed!