upstairs brain to downstairs brain

9/23/19

I met last Thursday morning, 9/19/19, with your child about BIG feelings we all experience: anxiety, anger, disappointment, sadness, etc. We described these BIG feeling moments as Upstairs Brain moments. You do not THINK when you are in your Upstairs Brain. To move a BIG feeling, we can take many deep breaths. Deep breathing moves an Upstairs Brain to Downstairs Brain where we can think and make our best decisions. Downstairs Brain is where we need to be to learn. In our small group fun, we will discuss strategies for how to move and breathe and self-regulate these BIG feeling times. We reminded ourselves that everybody feels BIG feelings from time to time. It's okay, we just have to know what to do so (1) no one gets hurt (2) nothing gets broken.

We also practiced being a "humble warrior" while breathing! I am curious if your child remembers how to do it? https://vitamindb.blogspot.com/search?q=humble+warrior

10/1/19

We met last Thursday morning, 9/26, and today! We added "Moving Like the Sun" to our toolbox of strategies on Thursday:

Mrs. Broam demos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sv46QThYxc

Moving with the Sun Poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLPjlHpTvXc

Today we practiced balloon breathing and the Shining Star Quiet Time.

Here's Balloon Breathing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR3AzORSgRA

Shining Star Quiet Time: http://vitamindb.blogspot.com/2019/10/shine-on-tuesday.html

Tally up how many Upstairs Brain moments your child experiences this week and let me know! Let me know if you see them implement any strategies too?! Thank you for sharing your child with me.

10/10, 10/22, and 10/28

We wrapped our fun today, Monday, 10/28! Other strategies for self-calm we've explored include more yoga poses/opportunities for movement and also being still and quiet, ie. Magic Carpet Ride and taking deep breaths. Our breathing toolbox is posted: https://sites.google.com/site/mrsbroam/home/breathing

Today we dived into the Lexington One Power Skills:

We believe students also need to learn important life and work skills. We call these important skills “power skills.”

Accountability — the obligation of being completely responsible for one’s action(s) and result(s)

Collaboration — the action of working alongside people with varied worldviews, cultural backgrounds and perspectives productively to accomplish a common outcome

Communication — the ability to both give and receive verbal and nonverbal information in a way that clearly conveys the intended message; seeking clarification when needed

Critical thinking — the ability to identify an issue or problem and break it down into its parts; employing the skills of analysis and evaluation to solve authentic, complex problems; evaluating information for accuracy and bias

Integrity — a personal quality of fairness; adherence to moral and ethical principles

Interpersonal skills — the ability to get along with others, to effectively apply the social norms that advance industry or civic contribution

Perseverance — being resilient, choosing to bounce back - in spite of difficulties - to accomplish challenging skills, tasks, assignments

Willingness to take risks — a mindset to embrace unfamiliar experiences and moments of ambiguity or uncertainty with thoughtfulness and courage, including the willingness to explore new learning experiences with an open mind

I have enjoyed working with your child. I will continue to support Self-Regulation skills during our classroom counseling lessons. Our lessons are posted: https://sites.google.com/site/mrsbroam/home/classroomcounseling/classroomcounseling2019-2020.

These are the comments group members shared on what was the best part of participating in this small group experience: moving like a candlestick, cooperating with others, trying an "L" Handstand, checking out the Power Skills

Self-Regulation is a journey, and I appreciate the opportunity to share tools with your child that may be helpful in learning to calm and find balance when UPstairs Brain experiences occur. Please let me know if you have any questions!