expressing emotions through body llanguage (lectures)

Expressing Emotions Through Body Language
Date: Monday, November 18 @ 14:15:39 PST
Topic: Choose Yourself - Self-Management
I asked my participants, all adults, to discuss their thoughts on nonverbal communication
as well as participate in a quick game of charades.
I first asked the participants to give a list of ways people share their emotions without
talking. There were several ideas mentioned in this conversation and they included things
like body language, tone, facial expression, sounds, affection, and gestures. We then
proceeded in a game of charades to help display what some of these ideas would look like
when put in practice. During the game, each person acted out several words like "happy",
"indifferent", "weird", "angry", "frightened", "helpful", or "surprised". The result was a
hilirious and rousing time of charades that I've ever experienced!
Next, I asked them to think of any other mediums in which we usually communicate.
Technology was the main focus of this discussion. Email, online chatting, letters, and
memos seemed to be the most popular avenues of passing along information. This was a
key point because they've noticed how these forms of communication have taken over, or
perhaps even replaced, the all-familiar one-on-one conversation between two people.
They further acknowledged that there are definitely advantages as well as disadvantages
to these mediums, but more importantly is the fact that we are witnessing a change in
how people choose to relate to each other. (Thinking about my own personal experience,
this is true. There have been difficulties at home between family members, and a specific
issue that's related to this discussion is that one member chooses to share his/her feelings
mostly through email (even though we live in the same home). It makes for a very
awkward and uncomfortable living environment. I rather talk about our concerns face to
face.)
I asked the participants how much of their communication was nonverbal in any given
day. The three of them all said somewhere around 50/50.
I also asked them to give me some examples of when they might be saying one thing but
there body is telling another (or something opposite). One example they mentioned was
the job interview. They would be saying things confidently about themselves and their
skills and knowledge, but their body would be expressing something more like anxiety

and fear. Another example was the use of sarcasm. This example helped clarify the
difference between what someone says and how they say it (i.e., tone).
After the lesson I thought about it's implications regarding the classroom environment. I
concluded that it is important for teachers to know their students well and to take time to
observe how they express feelings nonverbally, especially since they may be shy and lack
the vocabulary to describe exactly how they feel. On the filp side, teachers must also do a
good job of expressing their feelings in the classroom because, even when teachers say
nothing about themselves, their body language will indicate their feelings to the students.
For I believe that the teacher's posture and demeanor has a direct impact to the students'
perfomance in the classroom.
Lesson 14 Emotional Symbolism - Page 57
Date: Monday, November 18 @ 14:20:39 PST
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
I had a girl scout troop of 10 girls do a collage about emotions they felt inside. We used
pictures to identify their emotions.
They could also cut the poster board into a shape that represented their feelings, such as a
heart, world, star etc. They would later prioritze their emotions.
I worked on the collages with the girls and continually tried to convey to them this was
about emotions inside them and not what type of gum they love. This was extremely
insightful because I had the girls prioritize what was the most important feelings for
them. I discovered that girls this age often are confused about their emotions themselves.
The unfortunate discovery was that one of the girls parent was getting divorced and
nobody knew until the collage was completed.
This lesson was most effective and we were very supportive to this particular child
without downplaying the other girls emotions. I would recommend this activity to
another teacher, but be able to deal with the possibility of big issues. I was not prepared
for this but I felt I handled it well.
Recognizing the importance of feelings with the
Date: Monday, November 18 @ 14:12:50 PST
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness

In my third grade class I used the idea of Lesson 28, The "Me" Picture Activity to
discusse different feelings:happiness, sadness, excitement, loss, disappointment.
After our class discussion, the students responded to open-ended questions about their
feelings. They completed phrases and drew illustrations to share their thoughts. "I look
forward to " I worry about " I feel happy when " The results were very honest and
eye-opening. These young eight and nine year olds worry about their fathers coming
home, the health of their loved ones, and getting good grades.
The more time I give in class for students to discuss feelings and emotions, the more I
realize it is an area which needs attention and concern
Setting the Stage for Self-Science
Date: Thursday, October 31 @ 11:09:37 PST
Topic: Self-Science Curriculum
I wanted to introduce my 2nd Grade class to the process of Self-Science. We discussed
what Self-Science might be and what we might gain from it.
The children came to the conclusion that studying ourselves will help them to understand
their feelings and actions which in turn will help them to respect and understand others.
Writen by Vicky V:
This class has 33 students ranging in age from six to eight years old. The school is a
Catholic School located in the suburbs of Oakland. I worked with three groups of eleven
children.
After they had decided they wanted to learn about themselves, in each group there was no
one who was opposed, we got in a circle and played the Bumpety-Bump game. The “It”
person stood in the middle of the circle and pointed to a person. That person had to say
the names of the person on either side of them before the “It” person said, “Bumpety
bump one two three”. Play continued for about four minutes. From there we sat and
talked about what we were feeling while the game was happening.
The questions I asked were;
How did it feel when someone re- member your name?
how did it feel when someone didn’t remember your name?
how did it feel to be it and point to people?

How did it feel to be picked?
How did it feel to not be picked?
The children were free with their responses and very insightful. When one’s name was
remembered it made them feel happy, excellent, great, weird, good and one child
expressed it as pretty.
The feelings they had when their names weren’t remembered were sad, confused, and
happy because the person who was it got to come out.
When children were pointed at the response was excited, good, bad, scary- because I
didn’t know the answer, nervous- because people might laugh at me if I get it wrong.
The “It” person felt nervous, dizzy, excited, and happy- because they could pick any one
they wanted to. The people not picked felt left out, sad, that it wasn’t fun, and terrible
because they were ready with their answer.
In general the children were enthusiastic and enjoyed the activity. They were open to
discussion and very cooperative. The students got to see that all people don’t feel the
same way in the same situation. A real concern that they all expressed was that people
needed to get their name correct. They didn’t want people calling them by nicknames.
They really wanted to talk about that. I told them we would do another experiment later
that is all about Nicknames.
I was really surprised at how well this class was able to identify what they were feeling. I
have noticed that they even the quieter students want a chance to express themselves.
When I do this again I will have some students observe the players focus a little more on
behaviors. I also want to make time for large group discussion as an entire class.
The Trust Thermometer- Basic Instructions From Self-Science
Date: Wednesday, October 30 @ 17:19:18 PST
Topic: Self-Science Curriculum
The Trust Thermometer is like a rating scale - it provides a quick check of individuals
and the group then leads to discussion.
Discussion can focus on several areas from the way students chose to participate in the
activity, to why some people are more trusting, to specific questions about how to
increase trust in this group.

This activity will help shift from the somewhat abstract definition of trust to a more
personal reflection. Later activities will explore trust in more depth. This is a subject
matter where going to fast will usually backfire - build trust in the group over time. .
Objectives Begin to examine trust in your life. Exploration of how trust is enhanced or
diminished at school. Create a fun mechanism to discuss a challenging topic. .
Experiment Have the group line up against one wall. For each situation, individuals take
a few steps away from the wall. Zero steps (staying on the wall) means you feel no trust
in the situation, three or four large steps indicates total or unconditional trust. After you
have read a few examples, invite students to give new situations
Example situations:
1). Your best friend asks to borrow $5.
2). You are at lunch in the cafeteria.
3). Your best friend wants to blindfold you and take you someplace.
4). A club from school wants to blindfold you and take you someplace.
5). Some friends ask you who you want to ask on a date.
6). Your teachers want you to go to a math/music/chess or similar competition.
7). Your coach wants you to try out for a sport
Discussion
* What happened for you in this activity? What were some of your thoughts, feelings,
and actions?
* In what ways was this activity an accurate depiction of your level of trust?
* What are the effects of competition at our school? How does competition affect trust?
* What is it that your best friend does, or allows you to do, that makes you so
comfortable with him/her?
Journal
People often talk about being trustworthy for others, what does it mean to be trustworthy
for yourself?
Teaching Self Science: The Role of the Facilitator
Date: Wednesday, October 30 @ 15:16:17 PST
Topic: Self-Science Curriculum

The main difference between teaching a traditional subject and teaching Self-Science is
your role in the classroom.
The traditional classroom teaching role often approaches that of a manager (i.e., the
teacher is primarily concerned with controlling and directing students). In Self-Science,
you must certainly maintain order and set limits, but think of yourself as a "facilitator," a
person who leads and pulls and tugs and demonstrates how to negotiate and keep the
process going.
Traditional curricula center around what you teach and how you teach it. In Self-Science,
the focus is almost reversed. How you teach is in itself a demonstration of using the
scientific method to study self. You might say that how you teach is what you are
teaching in Self-Science. In such a curriculum, who you are and what you personally
demonstrate is a great part of what you are teaching - the Rosenthal effect ("You get what
you expect") certainly operates here.
Teaching a Self-Science class can be an exciting journey in your own development. Start
by extending your own self-image and seeing yourself as a role model and group leader;
these are parts of your teaching repertoire.
A Self-Science teacher's role exceeds simply creating a safe environment. Preparing to
teach Self-Science requires more self-reflection than preparing for teaching most
subjects. Children learn from the style of the teacher. Who you are and what you
personally demonstrate is a great part of what you are teaching. Students are remarkably
perceptive. They observe, both consciously and unconsciously, and experiment with
behaviors that they see. As a facilitator, you are a part of the Self-Science group. Your
honest emotionality, your care with other's emotions, your word choices, your follow-
through on commitments are all integral to the child's learning. While we all make
mistakes, children have little tolerance for hypocrisy - so whatever you ask of them, ask
more of yourself.
The more you can let children in on what you are doing or attempting to do, the safer the
group will feel. Teachers can model trust by expressing their feelings openly, labeling
actions clearly but not labeling children, giving feedback and reassurance so there are no
hidden surprises. Teachers build trust by participating in experiments as a member of the

group.
Providing a role model is not a magical process. It simply means being yourself, while
perhaps changing the emphasis to focus on your own choices about thoughts, feelings,
and actions.
Addressing Name Calling with Kindergartners
Date: Wednesday, October 30 @ 13:30:38 PST
Topic: Choose Yourself - Self-Management
We wanted to teach the children how to deal with a situation where their feelings are
being hurt, in a constructive manner, on their own.
We conducted this experiment with a group of 14 Kindergartners. Ages 5-6.
Materials: None.
Part I: Set the Scene
We were having a problem with name calling in the classroom, and we wanted to help
the children learn how to handle it without always running to an adult to solve the
problem. So, the teacher had all of the children meet in a circle and she expressed
concern about all of the incidents of name-calling and hurt feelings in general that had
occurred lately. She then had the children volunteer how they felt when someone called
them a name. Everybody agreed that they feel "sad" and sometimes "mad" when that
happens to them.
Then, they were asked to brainstorm about what they should do if someone was makeing
a bad choice and hurting their feelings. One of the first answers was to "Tell the teacher."
The teacher told them that that was one way to solve the problem, but asked if there
might be another solution. They talked for a while longer and came up with a plan of
action.
The child being hurt would first tell the child making the bad decision how that made
them feel, and ask them to stop. If the child making the bad decision continued, then the
hurt child should go find a teacher or an adult and have them intervene.
Part II: Role-Play
The teacher then explained that we were all going to practice our new plan, so she asked
for a volunteer. She was going to be the one making the bad decision, and the volunteer

acted like they were the one being hurt. This went on for about three rounds, and the kids
absolutely loved being able to take on the two roles.
Part III: Closure
We closed by having the children say the steps in our new plan of action, and then had
them resume their activities.
Conclusion:
I think that all in all, it turned out very well. Not only were the children better equipped to
handle some of their own problems, they were also encouraged to vent how they were
feeling. We did this a few weeks ago and it seems to really be working. I would definitely
recommend this for the early childhood level.
Self-Portraits as a tool for self-reflection
Date: Wednesday, October 30 @ 13:22:04 PST
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
I introduced children to the concept of non-verbal communication through art. We
focused on the self-portrait as a non-verbal description of ourselves.
I did this lesson with a group of K-1 students in a suburban classroom. I had three classes
of approximately 19 children each. Ages ranging from 4-6 years old.
Materials: crayons and white drawing paper
(12 x 18)
Part 1: Student Objectives
The students will create drawings of themselves.
Students should include a place or activity which describes themselves.
Students can include personal details such a friend, a favorite toy, or a pet.
Discuss their drawings their classmates.
Part II : Student Exploration (5-10 minutes)
We gathered for a class conversation. I made sure everyone was comfortable. I
introduced myself and what we will be doing together. We discussed four self-portraits
by famous artists. I asked the children lots of questions and received many interesting
observations.
What is a portrait?

How does this painting make you feel?
What is a self-portrait?
What does the painting tell you about the person?
Is this person happy or sad?
What are they doing?
How old is the person?
What are they wearing?
What have you learned about the person in the painting?
Is this a painting of a man or a woman?
Part III: Activity (20-30 minutes)
I showed the students 2 examples which I created so they can see what I am requesting of
them.
I instructed the students to draw a self-portrait in crayons and to be sure they used the
entire page starting at the top of the paper. I used the metaphor of a chocolate chip cookie
for the size of their face. A child's body is approximately 5-7 times the size of his/her
head. I asked them to include an activity they like to do or something they can imagine
doing. We talked about all the details that might include.
Part III : Sharing our drawings (10-15 minutes)
After everyone completed their drawings we gathered again as a group to share our
drawings. They had the option to pass if they did not want to talk with the class about
their art. Most children chose to share their work. I gave each child positive feedback, by
commenting on something unique about their self-portrait.
Watch Your Words: Negative Self-Talk
Date: Wednesday, October 30 @ 13:17:19 PST
Topic: Choose Yourself - Self-Management
I adapted Lesson 7 "Watch Your Words", which is a lesson that explores "killer
statements" or "put-downs" that children make to one another, to a lesson plan for adults
that would explore their negative self-talk; the "killer statements" that adults make to
themselves.
This lesson was conducted with 5 female students all in their 20's and 30's.

In order for each student to be able to identify easily their own negative self-statements, I
asked each participant to write down on an index card an example of a negative self-
statement they regularly say to themselves. After this, I asked those students who were
willing to share their negative self-statement to do so. Almost everyone was very open
and very candid about their statements. All shared their statement except for one of the
students.
I then asked a couple of questions of the group to start the conversation, such as "Why do
people say these mean things to themselves?" and "What would happen if people stopped
saying negative things to themselves?".
We had a very good discussion about how people develop these habits and how much
happier we all might be if we took these negative statements out of our lives.
I then asked everyone to take a second index card and write down a positive statement
that could replace the negative one. I then asked them to put this positive statement in a
location that would force them to run into it several times a day, such as their wallet. The
idea behind this is that if we see the positive self-statement frequently enough, we will
eventually replace the negative one. We then took the index card with our negative self-
statement and ripped it up.
This was definitely a growing experience for teacher and student alike. At one point, one
of the students said that we all need to realize that we are our own worst critics and, even
though you may be judging yourself very critically, everyone else is busy with their own
self-criticism, so why don't we all just give ourselves a break?
Clarifying Values with Self-Science Value Short Cards
Date: Wednesday, October 30 @ 13:13:53 PST
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
Using the Value Sort Experiment on page 87 of "Self Science," I encouraged my "class"
to examine their own values, to understand how and why others prioritize values
differently, and to possibly reassess their values based on what they learn from others.
What made this "class" especially interesting was the demographic. The "class" consisted
of family: my husband, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, and mother-in-law and father-in-
law. The ages of the class ranged from 38 through 74. In addition, this is a group

generally not predisposed toward group introspective conversations (which is why I
chose the Value Sort experiment rather than one of the other more "touchy-feely" ones).
I followed the guidelines for the experiment reasonably closely, but allowed for unlimited
discussion between the participants. First, participants prioritized their own values. Next,
they shared with the group why they prioritized the values the way they did. Finally,
participants tried to come to consensus and create a single prioritized list of values.
The dynamic of the group made the results very interesting. Despite the differences in
age, there were striking similarities in values. For example, "family" was ranked first by
everyone, with "popularity" close to last. However, because of the differences in age and
life circumstances, some values were interpreted very differently. For example, my
father-in-law remembers vividly the economic benefits of WWII, so doesn't feel that
"peace" is so important a value as my brother-in-law, who has never seen a war.
Similarly, while "riches" were valued low by my brother-in-law, my mother-in-law, who
is retired and concerned about her financial survival, valued "riches" much more highly.
Another interesting result was how the pictures on the value sort cards influenced
participants' answers. While my sister-in-law considered "riches" to include "rich in
friends" and "rich in love", others saw the picture of the treasure chest on the card and
interpreted the value literally as financial wealth. If I were to do this experiment again, I'd
create cards without pictures so that each of the values could be interpreted without
influence by the participants.
Overall, the experiment was wildly successful. The experiment lasted for over an hour,
with side-discussions lasting even longer. The discussions helped the participants to talk
about personal values in a non-threatening way and helped us to better understand our
similarities and differences.
Discussing the source of Emotions with First Graders
Date: Wednesday, October 30 @ 13:11:40 PST
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
We wanted to talk about different emotions we feel, and how they change. We also
wanted to explore what causes these emotions.
This lesson was conducted with a first grade class of nineteen students. The class is

comprised of five and six year olds, the majority of whom come from middle to upper
class families.
We introduced the word 'emotion', and defined it as "the way we feel in a given
situation". We named emotions we feel on a regular basis such as happiness, anger, fear,
and sadness.
Materials:
Pumpkin books (four small squares of paper, ech with a pumkin outline, and part of a
phrase about emotions), pens, and crayons.
This experiment was modified to fit our class theme of the week which was pumpkins.
Instead of having students act out emotions, they dictated them , and were able to draw
the faces on jack-o-lanterns that they felt fit the given emotion.
Part I:
The students assembled in a large circle. The topic of emotions was brought up and the
students were asked to define the word emotion. Several students were called upon to
answer. The answers were discussed and revised to come up with a class definition of
emotion: "The way we feel in a given situation".
Part II:
The phrase "I feel _______ when I ________ was modeled for the students, using
different examples of emotions. For instance: "I feel glad when I am with my family" or
"I feel sad when I fight with my friends".
Part III:
The students took turns around the circle, and shared their emotion statements for glad,
sad, scared, and mad.
Part IV:
The students illustrated jack-o-lantern faces to match the text on the pumpkin books. The
first page's text said: "I feel glad when I _______". Once the students had drawn their
'glad' jack-o-lantern faces, they dictated the rest of the emotion phrase to an adult who
wrote it in their book. This process continued for the mad, sad, and scared pages.
Part V:
We closed the lesson by having the students walk around and look at each other's

pumpkin books. Then we returned to the circle and discussed how emotions can be felt in
different circumstances for everyone.
Evoking Emotions Through Objects - Bumpety-Bump Experiment
Date: Wednesday, October 30 @ 13:09:41 PST
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
I chose the first experiment in the Self Science book in order to introduce the concept of
emotional awareness. Because I am planning to continue with Self Science activities
throughout the year, I thought that "Bumpety-Bump" would be a good ice breaker and
introductory experiment. I wanted to look at the power of objects in evoking emotions as
well as their effect on children's current emotions.
I did the first experiment, "Bumpety Bump" with nine 5th graders at Trinity School. I
brought them into the Great Hall of the school (a spacious multi-purpose room) and had
them sit in a circle facing each other. I modified the experiment by bringing in a bag full
of knick-knacks and objects from my home. I asked the students to pick something from
my bag of 'goodies' that reminded them of something in the past. I then asked them, one-
by-one, to share with their peers what the object reminded them of and what strong
feeling (if any) they remembered having. I began by sharing my personal event and the
students followed. Next, after all the students had finished sharing their memory, I asked
them how they felt today on a scale of 1-10 and asked them to pick a word that best
descibed their current feeling.
I found that the kids were very open, especially after I began by sharing my personal
stories. They enjoyed looking though the bag of objects that I had brought and oftentimes
could not pick one because the objects brought back 'so many memories'. Children
remembered past field trips and moments of happiness, deaths of pets and their
mourning, and silly/embarassing events that happened to them. I found that the objects
immediately brought back many emotions and the children had no problem remembering
how they felt.
When asked to describe how they felt on that day, the children appeared to have a harder
time. They hesistated when I asked them to rate themselves and came up with more
common feelings like happy, tired. They appeared to be more uncomfortable and many

students copied previous answers.
After everyone shared their feelings, I asked them a few of the discussion questions on
page 34 to reflect on what we had just done. I asked them: "Did anyone relate to a feeling
that any of your classmates just mentioned? Do you often feel this way? Did your past
memory affect the way you are feeling today? Can we control our emotions?"
The children definitely could related to the feelings shared with the group. They were
very enthusiastic telling their friends that they had felt that exact same feeling in different
situations. We discussed how we oftentimes do have control over our emotions: if you
think of happy thoughts, it can make you feel better. And vice versa. Most students
remembered happy memories, and likewise felt happy on that day.One girl who had
remembered her dog who had passed away said: "remembering by old dog makes me sad
now".
I thoroughly enjoyed this lesson. I definitely saw that being comfortable with the group is
key, and peer pressure has a lot to do with the answers provided. If I were to do this
lesson again, I would set aside more time as my class period was only 30 minutes. I do
not want to feel pressured or have a limited time constraint so that the children can have
more of a chance to speak. I would recommend Bumpety Bump as a great way to
introduce emotional intelligence. It can be played over and over in a variety of different
ways and can be personalized and expanded as needed.
Working on Trust with the Nickname Experiment
Date: Monday, October 28 @ 14:22:22 PST
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
Lesson 5: Confidences. The nickname experiment
Bianca Colon
I wanted to look at how students trusted and interacted with one another in a small group.
It reintroduced the concept of trust and the ability to confide in others. We discussed what
trust means to each person and why it is important. We talked about the importance of
confiding in other’s and what fears they might have.
We made a list of words on the bored about what trust is and if it was important in
confiding other people. All students agreed that to feel comfortable in confiding in

someone you must have some level of trust. When asked how important trust is there
answers varied. Some felt it depended on the friend, the situation, and what they might be
sharing. I asked why they might not want to share for what reason would they feel
uncomfortable in confiding in someone.
They didn’t want to be talked about or pitied, they wanted to know that they were cared
about, being listened too, and respected. Trust was defined by the students as “having
someone’s back no matter what” or “being able to tell someone your secrets and know
that they won’t tell”. They felt it is important to be able to confide in each other and feel
comfortable that their “secrets” would be kept as secrets.
I chose a total of five students, three were general education students, and two were in the
special education immersion program. These students come in contact with one another
everyday and I thought it would be nice for them to interact on a social level. Most of the
time general Ed students have special Ed students in their classroom but often it is
difficult to develop a friendship because of different levels in communication and social
needs. I thought it might be nice to interact on a different level.
I asked the students if they would be interested in playing a game for ten or fifteen
minutes, where we would have some fun and learn something abo9ut each other. I
explained that it was for one of my classes at school and even I would participate. The
five students I chose all agreed. I explained that we would play a game and learn to
confide and to trust new people.
I also explained that what we talked about was not to leave the room or be shared with
anyone else. I explained the nickname game to them, that we would each write down two
nicknames, one we liked and one we disliked. We would then take turns in reading out
our nickname and I would go first.
I stared by sharing the nickname that I disliked when I was younger. We each went
around taking turns sharing our disliked nicknames and reason why. Most of the reasons
were that they had been being teased, or it was a name their parents called them and it
was embarrassing. The students were having good time, listening to each other and
laughing together about some of the other student’s history of their nicknames.
One student was called Sugar Bear by his mother, which embarrassed him a lot. He could

never tell her he didn’t like it, but he felt that he wasn’t a kid anymore he was a man and
this name did not fit. Of course I could only smile at this 13-year-olds declaration of man
hood and rejection of his nickname. The experiment was going well. Students were
talking openly to each other and I found that they began to reveal more than just
nicknames, and we began to learn about each other.
The last student refused to read his nickname, he did not want to take his turn. He felt that
people were going to laugh at him and tease him about his nickname. This is when one of
the student’s said “what can be more embarrassing than Sugar Bear, come on dude,
share.” The student still refused to share with the other students, which made the other
students mad. They felt betrayed in a way because they had revealed something personal
about themselves, and let their guarded down only for it not to be returned.
I talked again about what trust was and we looked on the board again. We talked about
why some students may feel upset, he had listened to their names, laughed at their stories,
and even teased at times. The students felt we all needed to participate and if he wasn’t
going to then he shouldn’t be able to listen. They were mad and the experiment took a
shift.
After about ten minutes of talking, he finally revealed his nickname EZ (easy) which
came from the initials of his first and last name. The other students seemed disappointed,
I think after his initial reaction they expected for the name to be something else. Even one
replied with a “that’s it?” A few commented on why he didn’t want to share when they
felt that it wasn’t a bad nickname. One of the students called him by his nickname and
that’s when things really hit the fan. He got very upset and began shouting at people in
the room. I tried to calm him down but it became a shouting match between the students
and him. I sent the rest of the students off to class and I asked him to stay so we could
talk about what happened and why he got so upset.
He said that he really liked the nickname but it was what his last teacher had called him
and it made him miss her. He felt that if he told this to the other students that they would
laugh at him and he didn’t want to do that. I asked him if he remembered me talking
about the game and what the rules were, and if he felt uncomfortable he should have
talked to me. I asked if he could understand why they other students might be upset that

they had shared something personal and they have the same worries about confidentiality.
He said he understood and was glad that he had finally told the group.
I wasn’t able to talk to students as group on how they liked the game, but I was able to
ask them individually what they liked and disliked about the game. Most had the same
reaction that they felt that they learned something new about people, even people who
they thought they knew really well. They realized that there are some things that we don’t
tell each other because they think it is embarrassing and that other’s will betray their
confidence. When asked if they trusted the group with what they shared some felt that it
wasn’t a big deal if they told other people, that they didn’t feel that they told a secret that
could come back to hurt them.
I felt that the lesson, “experiment”, went well. I feel that the students were open to
participate in an activity, which revealed a part of themselves to others. I chose students
who knew each other, but not well. I think it is important to go outside of our own social
circles to learn how to trust others and learn to be trusted by other people. I would
definitely do this lesson again. Although I had a student who did not want to participate
in the beginning, he let his own guard down and became open to others. I think next time
I would like to work with a larger group or with several groups of 5, so that I could get
different reactions from different sets of students. I enjoyed this lesson and discovering
another side to my students, as well as allowing them to see another side of me.
Addressing Killer-Statements with First Graders
Date: Monday, October 28 @ 14:09:23 PST
Topic: Choose Yourself - Self-Management
My first graders and I had a dicussion on what it means to have respect for others. We
also dicuss positive and negative behaviors/ words and how we feel when these words or
behaviors are used towards us or in our classroom.
I did this activtiy with 20 first graders. I had them sit in a cirlce. I open the dicussion by
asking them what does the word respect mean?
I then ask them if they could tell me some positive words or behviors they have used or
heared before. As they told me their resonses, I wrote them on a big piece of paper. I ask
them to tell me negative words or behaviors they have used or heared before. I ask them

how they felt when some one is mean to them? Or how they felt when they where mean
to some one else. I also ask them how they felt when they where nice to someone? Or
how they felt when some one is nice to them. Again, I wrote all their responses on the
paper.
After I was done asking questions, we sat and talked about how important it is to treat
one another with kindeness and respect I pointed out when we work as a family, it will
make comming to school a safe and fun place to be.
I ended the lesson, by asking them to see if they could really try to show resecept for
peolpe in the classroom and outside our class. If they can do this for one week, they will
recieve an award.I have made up rewards for them. I really felt the disccusion was
succesful, their responese were so funny and sincere. I recommend teachers to do this!
Naming Feelings: Adapted for First Grade
Date: Wednesday, October 09 @ 10:12:54 PDT
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
This lesson is based on Lesson 11 in the 2nd Ed. of Self- Science. Because the classroom
in which I work does not lend itself to pulling a small group of students to do Self-
Science lessons, I have adapted this lesson to apply to a full classroom of students (24
first graders at St. Joseph's Elementary School in Atherton, Ca). Also, I changed and
expanded the existing lesson to make it a more kinesthetic experience for children at this
grade level.
1. I began the morning by doing some dramatic reading of situations from Aliki's book
titled "Feelings." I asked the students to guess what I could be feeling from my words,
tone, etc Next, I acted out some feelings without using words or sounds and asked the
students to guess what I could be feeling. They REALLY got into this. They thought it
was great that their teacher was standing in the front of the classroom yelling about
somebody stealing her crayons and then fake crying about a pet mouse that died. We
could have done this for a long time they had such great names for a variety of feelings.
2. I modified the "Feeling Continuum" on p.52 in Self-Science. Instead of writing the
words on the board, I drew faces that exhibited each of the emotions on pieces of paper
and wrote the name of the emotion below them. I strung them to a long piece of rope and

attached the rope to opposite ends of the classroom. I then discussed each of the feelings
with the students and encouraged them to name synonyms or similar feelings. Next, I
asked the students to stand by the "feeling" that they were currently experiencing. I
continued by asking different questions and having them relocate (How do you feel on
your birthday? How do you feel when you forget to bring your homework to school?
etc.). They had a lot of fun with this, and moving around is always good for children of
this age! I tried to really encourage them not to just stand by the feeling that their friends
were standing by, and for the most part they were successful in doing this. I think that if
this were to be done at a time in the day when the students were already pretty hyped-up
that this could get out of control!
3. After they returned to their desks I had them think of feeling words which I wrote on
lined pieces of cardstock and slipped into a pocket chart I hung over the white board.
Then I handed out pieces of contruction paper with two large squares. The square on the
left had the words under it, "I like it when I feel _______" and the one on the right, "I do
not like it when I feel ________." The students thought of feeling words to write on the
lines and then illustrated them in the squares. Most of them used words we had put in the
pocket chart. They could come to the front and "borrow" pocket chart words to copy,
since spelling and far-point copying is difficult for many of them. (It probably would
have been a good idea to have written out some words that I would guess they would
have came up with beforehand because writing as they were talking took up too much
time. I could tell I needed to wrap it up pretty quickly, as I was loosing some of their
attention.) The illustrations were fantastic and REALLY telling about some of the
students. Only a couple of them drew only faces to illustrate their feelings. Most of them
were very creative and drew entire scences to illustrate feeling "surprised", "embarassed",
etc I was impressed at their ability to relate feeling words to situations and events in
their lives and even illustrate body language that clearly portayed the related feeling. I
gave them the opportunity to write their names on the back if they wanted to, but said that
since feelings can be really personal that they did not have to. Some did, some didn't. I
bound all of the pages and made it into a book that we keep in the classroom a lot of the
kids like to read books we make as a class if they finish activities early or have free time.

4. Later that afternoon we had math stations. (The children rotate through 3 stations in
groups of 8). One of the stations was making a "Class Feelings Tally Chart." We had
rows of questions (How do you feel when you wake up in the morning? How do you feel
when your brother or sister gets a special gift?) that could all be interpreted in a variety of
ways (and were!). We had columns with small copies of the faces used in the continuum.
Then we tallied (5 people feel "happy" in the morning, 7 people feel "bored" when they
are waiting for their turn at something, etc.). This ended up being a nice way to
incorporate feelings at the same time as doing math! I asked the students to also come up
with some of their own questions to add to the chart. It was really interesting to see how
each student interpreted a question. We had some great discussions Sometimes you can
feel jealous when your brother gets a special gift and you don't. Sometimes you feel
excited when he does because you know that he will share it with you and you are happy
for him. Etc
5. We could have done feeling activities all day! The students showed that they are each
wealths of information about feelings and are able to verbalize and explain them quite
clearly, especially the more casually we discuss them together. This will be great to
continue with later in the year when we do more about feelings (in a religion unit).
Identifying feeling with third graders
Date: Monday, October 07 @ 12:56:24 PDT
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
Six third grade studnets were chosen to participate in the experiment.
There are three groups of children categorized for comprehension and reading. I chose a
boy and girl from each group at random. We sat in a semi-circle at the back of the room.
Materials:
-a dictionary for each student
-six feelings already marked in dictionary with a marker
-a folded place card with a feeling printed on the front
-six color markers
-a circle drawn on the inside of the place card
When the children sat down at the table, I asked each of them how they felt. Three of

them said fine and three of them said good. They were all happy they were chosen for the
experiment.
Questions:
What is a feeling? No one could answer.
Name some feelings? Happy, sad, angry were a few responses.
I looked up the word feeling and read them the definition. I stressed the importance to
look up words they did not know or understand. For instance how they were feeling - or
their feelings towards others. I used the school dictionary for children. It gave example
sentences they could relate to because they would giggle.
Description of feeling according to Scotts, Forgman Beginning Dictionary:
1.sense of touch. By feeling we tell what is hard from what is soft.
2.sensation; condition or being aware: She had no feeling in her leg.
3.emotion. Joy, sorrow, fear, and anger are feelings. The loss of the ball game stirred up
much feeling
4.feelings, tender or sensitive side of one’s nature: You hurt my feelings when you yelled
at me.
I put a tent card in front of each student with a feeling written on it. I told them they were
going to represent that feeling. The cards were happy, love, hate, angry, afraid, and sad.
Sad started when I handed him the dictionary to look up the feeling word sad. Each child
looked up their word and read it for the group.
In turn, after each student read the definition I asked them if they ever felt the feeling and
to give an example. Many feelings were related to their friends or animals.
For instance:
I felt sad when my friend moved away.
I felt angry when so and so scratched me.
I love my parents. Why dogs and cats can hate each other out of fear of being hurt.
They are happy when they do well in school. They are afraid on certain rides at an
amusement park. There were other examples related to the same examples given in the
dictionary.
They each modeled their feeling with a tone of voice and an expression on their face.

They were having fun doing the experiment and did not want to change from a happy
face to a feeling they were not feeling at the moment.
On the backside of their tent cards they found circles. I asked them to draw a face of their
feeling.
The angry face had a jagged smile and steam coming out of the ears.
The afraid-face had teeny eyes an open small round mouth and ears that were pointed
upward – not much emphasis on nose or hair.
The sad-face had an upside-down smile and small circle tears in a line down the cheeks
of black eyes.
The happy face was the happy face you see on the game – two dots and an upward curved
mouth. – no ears or nose
The love face had heart shape eyes and a yellow glow for a smile and yellow hair.
The hate face had big oval red cheeks, slanted upward eyebrows, evil eyes and a very
little body. All was colored black except the cheeks.
Questions:
Was it easy or hard to express their feelings? They said it was hard because they did not
want others to know if they were not happy.
Was it important for their teacher or parents to know how they felt?
We discussed some of the reasons if one is not happy how do we change feelings if
others can help.
Time ran out and I could not conclude with more reasons on why it is important to share
the feeling.
Conclusions:
Regardless of level A, B, or C comprehension category or gender, all the students
expressed all the feelings in a very natural non-threatened reply. The tones in their voices
and expressions on their faces were extremely animated. To add to this lesson in the
future I would have each student write a sentences on one feeling they shared with a
friend on the playground, to their teacher, to a parent and something they recently put in
their journals. On a daily basis, I would have the students included in their journals how
they were feeling each day and what they could do to change it or how to remember the

good feeling and how to have more of them.
Knowing who we are through our feelings is a very important tool when making friends,
having a better quality of life, and for personal enrichment
Privacy Blocks Experiment: Looking at Intimacy with 12 year olds
Date: Monday, October 07 @ 12:51:51 PDT
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
Six Situations are read to 12 year old children. As each situation is read, they write down
who they would share this information with. if anyone at all.
They have 4 options: they would tell only themselves(meaning nobody), they would tell
friends, family, or everyone.
The six situations were:
1-you hit a car with your bicycle and do not stop
2-you cheat on a test and you pass it
3-you know your best friend shop lifted a $10 item
4-your best friend told you a secret
5-you like someone that everyone hates
6-you knew you had only 6 months to live
I handed each student piece of paper with only their gender written on it. I read the 6
statements and they privately wrote their answers.
I discovered that this group of middle class chidren feel they have someone thay they can
confide in, someone that they can talk to.Yet, they wont tell on a friend who has shop
lifted: the hope is that this friend will work it out themself and confess.
They all seem to be trusted with keeping a secret, except for 1.I was surprised to have
total of 20 for the " self" answers and thought that this age group would be more open
with friends.This confirms the thought that as parents and educators we must be good
listeners and make ourselves available to chidren.
Emotional Music in 1st Grade
Date: Monday, October 07 @ 12:47:43 PDT
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
I completed Self Science Lesson 15, Evoking Emotions in a 1st Grade Music Class.

There are 20 students in the class, their ages were 6-7. I asked the students to bring their
favorite music after discussing music in our daily lives.
The class started with a discussion of our current emotions. Most of the children were
happy and/or excited to get started.
I played a song and then while the song was playing I asked the children to find the beat
with their bodies and then after the song had played about 3-4 minutes we all sat down.
The student that brought the music would tell the class why they brought the music and
then they would tell us what emotions they felt when they listened to their music. After
the person that had brought the music shared I let some other children tell me their
emotions.
Most children had brought upbeat music and happy was the most common emotional
response initially. After a couple of the songs the children's emotional lingo started to
expand and they started to report that they felt energetic, crazy, silly, happy and excited.
The fourth song had the fastest driving beat of all and the children were harder to control
afterward. The emotions had escallated at this time to wild. The fifth song was slower yet
most children still felt happy, excited and silly. The next song was my song and I had
chosen a sad song about a man loosing his love. It was harder for the children to tell me
their emotional state. This song appeared to conflict them because it had a very pretty
melody but it was sad. Some children told me that they felt sad, one child felt "slowing".
We discussed some of the possible emotions for "slowing" together and decided that it
meant calmed instead. One child expressed that he felt wierd.
Not very many of the emotions shared were negative emotions. Initially there was no
reason for it and on the saddest song the music still sounded nice. I was amazed at the
number of emotions that were named as this is the beginning of first grade and I was not
expecting such a grasp of emotional terms.
The question of why they brought the music was mostly answered because they liked it
or they liked to dance to it.
We finished the class with a review of the emotions that the music gave us. We then did a
check of the emotional level we were at and most children were still feeling crazy and
some were now tired.

I asked the children to listen to the music they hear in their daily lives this week and
decide how the music makes them feel when they hear it.
In conclusion 1st grade is an excellent age to start exploring the emotions that music can
evoke. This lesson helped some of the children to hear more words that described
emotions than they may have before. Most of the emotions in this lesson were positive
probably because of the music chosen. Boys and girls had equal emotional responses to
the music.
If I were to do the lesson again I would bring in more of the music and choose more
different types of music to get a better range of emotions. I would have chosen less dance
music as it caused a lot of excitement which caused some concern in the main room
teacher and made it harder for me to get straight responses.
Mars Lander Experiment: Connecting Self-Science to Literature
Date: Sunday, September 22 @ 17:24:18 PDT
Topic: Choose Yourself - Self-Management
In Chapters 36-43, Stanley and Zero attempt to survive in the desert, miles away from
civilization. The Mars Lander Experiment is a fictional way to help you think about what
you might do if you were in their position.
From Self Science Lesson 52: Reasonable Choices (pp. 128-130), Section: Developing
Accountability
MATERIALS: -Consult Self Science text prior to conducting the experiment. -Make
copies of Mars Lander: Individual Worksheet and Mars Lander: Nasa Response STEPS:
-Make sure students are seated in groups or tables of about 4 students each.
-Connect Mars Lander Experiment back to the novel Holes, by Louis Sacher. In Chapters
36-43, Stanley and Zero attempt to survive in the desert, miles away from civilization.
The Mars Lander Experiment is a fictional way to help you think about what you might
do if you were in their position.
-Hand out individual worksheets and read over the assignment with the students. They
are to rank the items on the list in order of necessity for survival, from 1 (most necessary)
to 15 (least important). Give them about 5 minutes to complete this worksheet.
-When they have finished, they need to consult with their group and come up with a

group ranking in addition to their individual ranking. Give them about 5 minutes for this
step.
-Ask them how they came to decisions individually vs. as a group. It may work better to
have them reflect on this in a written manner (e.g. journal entries), rather than verbally at
this age, as their metacognitive skills are not terribly developed yet.
Other questions: -Did you score better alone or in a group? Why? -Did it help to talk over
possibilities with other people? how?
-What did you do when as a team you couldn't agree on an answer?
-Was your behavior in the group similar or different to the way you usually act in groups?
How?
-What was helpful behavior on the part of group members?
-Then you can pass out a copy of NASA's rankings and discuss them in small groups,
then bringing discussion back to the bigger group.
-Close by tying the experiment back to Holes or "real life." How do the two connect?
Building Self-Responsibility with The Robot Experiment
Date: Thursday, August 15 @ 14:20:47 PDT
Topic: Choose Yourself - Self-Management
By Jennifer Brown
“Learning to accept responsibility for one’s self is a life long task… A major impediment
to accepting responsibility for self is the tendency to blame someone else for a given
action. This cycle of blaming others and becoming a victim can be avoided by having
each person accept responsibility for his/her own behavior.” Pg. 102 Self Science
Lesson 38 can be found in the “developing accountability” section of the Self Science
text, on page 102. Goal 7, Accepting Responsibility.
The main idea in this lesson is to have students think about and answer the question,
“under what circumstances are you completely accountable for your actions? Who makes
choices? How much freedom do you have in your own life to choose for yourself. What
conscious choices do you make that hold you accountable for you actions?”
I select this experiment because of the differences in motivation I experienced almost
daily in my students last semester. The students who always did their work, handed it in

on time, typed, double spaced and spell-checked also complained of parental pressure in
journal entries, yet usually followed up such entries with disclaimers such as, “but I know
this pressure is good for me, otherwise I would be a bum who just does nothing.” I want
to look at the ideas of free will, versus specific, in no uncertain terms directions from
teachers and parents that students are made to follow. I wonder how constant reiteration
of directions hinders free will in their lives, as well as looking at the price tag, if you will
of being told what to do, and not having to face the responsibility of being accountable
for their actions. I was curious how this compared to having free will and the addition of
accountability along with it.
The ROBOT EXPERIMENT requests that students become “robots” and the teacher is
their “master.” (Skinner) The students receive mundane “orders” from the teacher such
as, “move your right arm, walk forward, move one step to the left…etc.” Then, when
they become tired of the assignment, the teacher asks them in a journal or on a separate
sheet of paper to answer the following questions…
1. Do you ever feel like a robot? When?
Kelly, an eleven year old: “Yes. I feel like a robot when my mom tells me to clean up my
room all the time or when I can’t express myself. When I’m interrupted I feel like a
robot, or when I have to wait my turn to say something at the dinner table. I also feel like
a robot at school when I have no choices from my teacher, or if I want to answer a
question and I’m interrupted by another student who just blurts out the answer.”
Michael, a seven year old:” Yes, I feel like a robot when my mom nags me to do
something. I also feel like a robot at school when my friends make me do stuff, like run
across the field. They tell me I have to do it, even if I don’t want to. They can make me
do a lot of stuff, sometimes even if I yell at them and tell them I don’t want to. They still
make me.”
2. Who are your masters?
Kelly: My mom, my dad, my brother and my teacher.
Michael: My mom, my dad and my friends.
3. What do you like and/or dislike about being a robot?
Kelly: I liked that I didn’t have to think for myself, so I wouldn’t mess up on the

experiment. You just told me what to do and I followed you. What I didn’t like is that it
was boring just to follow your commands. If I had to do it for longer, I’d be bored.
Michael: I liked just doing what you said. It was easy and I didn’t have to think for
myself. I didn’t mind it.
Another part of the assignment is to ask if the students felt trapped when they were robots
and how much power they felt to un trap themselves. Since I just had Kelly and Michael,
rather than a whole class of students, I decided to change the question to:
“What can your parents, teachers and friends do to make you feel less like a robot? What
can you do to make yourself feel less like a robot?”
I asked Michael how he felt he could stand up for himself with his friends at school who
“make him do lot’s of things”. He said he didn’t know. I asked him what he thought
would happen if he said, “I’m not a robot, you can’t just tell me what to do. I’m not going
to follow your orders because I don’t have to and I don’t want to.” He said he didn’t
know.
In Conclusion: What I learned from this experiment, is that neither Kelly or Michael,
despite being really successful academically and socially in school, have a certain idea or
ways of implementing ideas for “freeing themselves from feeling like robots.” They
know it sometimes makes them feels bad or trapped, not to be able to think for
themselves and to be nagged or “pressured” by friends to do something. However, they
havent been taught specific strategies for “un-trapping” themselves, or standing up for
themselves by the school system or their parents.
Children are often more comfortable being told what to do and acting like robots because
then they won’t “fail” or have to be accountable for their actions. Therefore, I see it as up
to parents and teachers to pay specific attention to the need for students to be removed
from their “comfort zone” and to be taught these strategies for “un -trapping themselves”.
This includes teaching students how to think for themselves, and to teach them the
consequences of their free choices. This also includes teacher modeling taking
responsibility for themselves, parental involvement in modeling intrinsic motivation,
making students suffer consequences for their actions, owning their own feelings and
choices, etc.

Making choices by using free will is a life skill often neglected by teachers and parents
because they want their children to feel safe and happy, and no parent or a teacher wants
to watch a group fail when working together, or to have a student fail at a task. As a
parent or teacher, your role is to “help” the child. However, by offering pencils, paper, by
bringing student’s their lunch when they forget it at home, by doing too much for the
students as a parent and a teacher, the students don’t learn to motivate themselves.
Therefore, they feel helpless when trying to decide for themselves, or to “un trap”
themselves from feeling like robots.”
Questions:
What are some strategies you’ll implement in your classroom next fall to encourage
parents and yourself to motivate students intrinsically, and not have them act and feel like
robots? How will you take students out of their “Robotic Comfort Zones” and encourage
their own independent thinking? What do you think ‘doing too much for a student’
means? How will you implement consequences into your classroom rules to encourage
student accountability next year?
Super Simple Ultra Positive
Date: Friday, August 02 @ 15:37:16 PDT
Topic: Choose Yourself - Self-Management
Here at the "Many Rivers" program at Hall Elementary School in Portland, Maine we
display a colorful sign that says "YOWIE".
We teach the kids that each letter describes a unique form of respect: Y= respect for
yourself, O=for others, w=for the work you create, I=for the ideas you learn from
teachers and peers and E=for the classroom and natural environment.
A creative teacher can create all sorts of lessons re. the HOW of each letter, such as the
ennacting of skits that illustrate each kind. Through the year we need only refer to
"yowie" when some excellent example or related problem arises. It is our only
"discipline" code.
Identifying Feelings Related to Conflict
Date: Friday, July 05 @ 11:55:41 PDT
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness

This activity is useful after teaching conflict resolution skills. It helps students to realize
which feelings are more positive and feel better.
Begin by reviewing past lessons on conflict resolution. (Talk It Out by Barbara Porro is a
great source) Use puppets or role play ways that people often try to resolve conflict:
yelling and saying unkind things; resorting to use of physical force or talking it out.
Brainstorm the ways people feel when conflict is resolved by yelling, saying hurtful
things or using physical force
Brainstorm the ways people feel when talking it out and coming to a solution both can
live with. Write these also on chart paper using a different marker
Act out as a class one or two of the feelings using motions, sounds and facial expressions
and worlds to show these feelings.
Play "Stump the Stars." One student leaves the room briefly or goes to a part of the room
where s/he can not see the others.
The group chooses a feeling to act out and welcomes back the student outside. Using a
agreed upon single, have the class act out the feel using as much movement, facial
expressions, and noise as needed. At an appropriate time, give the signal for the class to
stop. As the student if they can identify the feeling.
Things That Represent Me: Building Emotional Literacy and Safety with
Elementary
Date: Thursday, August 01 @ 16:02:47 PDT
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
This lesson is a variation of Lesson 14: Emotional Symbolism.
We wanted to share feelings by having the students bring in one photo and one item that
represent themselves.
This lesson is for a group of elementary school students in an inner-city classroom. Ages
range from 6-7.
We introduced the idea of feelings and how certain images or things can speak to their
feelings.
Required items:
Each student is asked to bring in one photo and one item that are special to them.

Activity:
All students sit in a circle on the floor and put their items in front of them. Names are
picked from a bowl. When a name is called, that student shows their photo and item and
talks about how they felt in that photo and how they feel about their item. The other
students can ask two "feeling" questions (suggestions will be written on the board).
Example questions:
1) How did you feel when that photo was taken?
2) How did you feel when you received that item?
3) How would you feel if someone took it away?
4) What makes you most happy or sad about the photo or item?
At the end of the activity, once all students have had a chance to talk about their photos
and item, the teacher will share how wonderful it was to have all kinds of feelings shared
together. The teacher will reiterate that talking about feelings can be very positive,
whether they are good or bad feelings.
Evoking Emotions
Date: Friday, July 05 @ 11:42:17 PDT
Topic: Know Yourself - Self-Awareness
Introduction: I chose this lesson because it was Friday , 11:00 before lunch, and after a
testing session. I had 9 fifth graders. I thought the music would wake them up and that
they would see the value in being more aware of emotions.
These kids had a strong background in Conflict Management, Cooling off, and with "I