TACTics Journal

October 15, 1999

Connections

By Kathy Suerken

 

It always brings me such joy to share in people's good decisions and never more so than when they are created by those connected to all of us through TOC For Education.  On behalf of the TOCFE family, I extend congratulations and best wishes to Cheryl (Baugh) and Bob Edwards, married October 15.  Cheryl will maintain her  baughca@aol.com  screen name for transition and

add a new one in her married name by next TACTics.  From now on, our TOCFE, USA director is known as Cheryl Edwards!

 

Elementary/ Secondary TACTICS

AN INTRODUCTION TO CLOUDS

By Judy Holder, teacher, Shining Eyes and Busy Minds School, Enfield, London

 

Target population:            Ages 4-7, depending on the children!

Lesson time:                        35 minutes, but there is scope for extending or for cutting.

 

OBJECTIVES

1.     To help the children develop their awareness of a range of feelings, and the facial expressions that go with them, in themselves and in others.

2.     To give the children a chance to think about the connection between conflict and sad or angry feelings.

3.     To introduce the idea of weather as a metaphor for our own internal feelings: sunshine, lightening, rain, storm, clouds.

4.     To introduce the idea that a cloud is a tool for thinking about problems.

5.     To learn key TOC conceptual vocabulary: want, need, common goal, win-win

6.     To develop a conflict cloud based on a simple story.

 

YOU WILL NEED

1.     A cloud big enough for the group to sit around (on the floor, sadly for my poor back).  The one I have used consists of a large blue plastic mat with rounded edges.

 

        We can construct a conflict cloud outline on top of this mat by using:

             two small green rectangular (WANTS) mats; just big enough for one child to sit or stand on

             two beige (NEEDS) mats; the same size as the green ones

             a round bright yellow (COMMON OBJECTIVE) mat with a smiley face on it

             a photograph of big lightening bolts to put between the want mat

                (CONFLICT ARROW)

 

The colours are an easy way to mark the differences between the different elements of the cloud.  The bright smiley face provides a basic non-verbal way for young children to grasp what we might mean by a common objective.  Having need mats, that are close in colour to the common objective and contrasting want mats, is also an easy way to emphasise without complicated words that when we only know what we want we are a long way from

        the smiley face, but when we know our needs we get closer to it.

 

2.     A simple song repertoire, and the willingness to do a bit of singing.  If you don't know a tune for the song you can always borrow any simple well known tune that fits the words- the simpler the tune the better, a sense of

        pitch develops quite late in most children!

 

3.     An umbrella.

 

4.     A copy of HOT HIPPO by Mwenye Hadithi and Adrienne Kennaway, (1992)

        LONDON, Hodder. ISBN 0-340-41391-3

 

5.     Four largish photographs, pictures, or cartoons to show:

             a hippo in the water,

             water with no hippo in it,

             water with happy looking fish in it,

             a hot looking hippo, the sun, or some other way of representing "too hot" (it might help to have an "X" somewhere on this representation, though I did without).

 

6.     A sheet that says "I promise not to eat the fish."

        A sheet that says, "You must open your mouth, and lift up your tail."

 

SESSION OUTLINE

1.     Sing: "If you're happy and you know it..."

        Instead of clapping your hands, sing about some facial expression or bodily

        reaction, e.g. give a smile, grin like mad, chuckle and laugh.  Do the action

        as you sing.  Get contributions from the children.  “X” can you think of some

other way we could show we were happy?" Choose another feeling to sing about: angry, cross, furious, sad, scared..  Get contributions from the children.

 

2.     Sing:

        “I want to be happy

        But I can't be happy

        Till I make you happy, too.

        Ice cream makes me happy

        Does it make you happy?

        Clap if it makes you happy, too.”

 

        You can vary the action for showing that you are happy: if it does not make

        the child happy, they don't do the action.  You can suggest a variety of things

        that make you happy, or that don't make you happy.  Get the children to

suggest different things that make them happy/unhappy for singing about. Draw their attention to the fact that some things make some of us happy but not others.

 

3.     Say, "I didn't feel happy this morning"

        Sing:

        “I had a fight this morning.  (3 times)

        I had a terrible day.

        I had a fight with my brother,

        A fight with my brother,

        A fight with my brother,

        It wasn't a very nice day.

        I made up with my brother.  (3 times)

        And it was a sunshiny day.”

 

        Ask the children whom they have had fights with, then sing about them.

        Ask them for other words we can use instead of "fight".

 

4.     Say, "When I have a fight with someone, I feel as if there is a great big storm  me, with thunder and lightening."

        Sing

        “I hear thunder (2 times)

        Hark, don't you? (2 times)

        Pitter patter raindrops (2 times)

        I'm wet through

        So are you.”

 

Say," I don't like feeling all wet and horrible.  Is there a way for me to go out in the rain without getting wet?"  They will probably give lots of ideas, but someone is likely to think of an umbrella.  Produce the umbrella.  Say, “This is a tool that helps me to go out in the rain without getting wet."

 

        Sing,

        “I'm singing in the rain,

        I'm singing in the rain.

        What a glorious feeling,

        I'm happy again!

        I know the storm won't last long.

        My umbrella's along

        I'm singing and dancing in the rain.”

 

Depending on the age, number, and sophistication of the children, they may enjoy putting  actions to the words, huddling under the umbrella, or doing a dance.

 

5.     Say, "The umbrella is a tool for keeping dry when there is bad weather.  I have a tool to show you.  It is a special tool.  It's a tool for thinking and solving problems-like when we fight with each other.  It's called a cloud.  Here it is."  Unfold the blue cloud mat and put it on the floor.

 

6.     Say, “But, before I can show you how it works we need a problem to solve. 

        This story is about two creatures that don't agree.  They both want different

        things.  Let's find out about their problem.”

 

7.     Read Hot Hippo.  The story tells in direct accessible language and pictures about the hippo who wants to get into the cool water, because he is too hot, and Ngai, the god of everything and everywhere, who does not want the hippo in the water, because s/he needs to keep her/his fishes safe from being eaten.  Stop before the end.

 

        Ask the questions: "What did Hippo want?" and "What did Ngai want?"

When you have an acceptable answer, give a child hippo's want mat, get them to place the mat appropriately on the cloud, and get them to put a picture of a hippo in the water on the mat, as a reminder.

       

Repeat for Ngai's want.  Do the needs the same way.  Ask, "Is there something they both wanted?"  When you have an acceptable answer, produce the smiling face mat, and ask a child to help you place it appropriately, saying, "And this shows us what they both wanted."

 

8.     Ask why Ngai thought there would be a problem if hippo got into the

water.  (He thought hippo would eat the fish!)  Then ask if they can think of any way of solving the problem so that both Ngai and Hippo could be happy.  The way this develops will depend very heavily on the specifics of the group.  I got to "Assumption" with some surprisingly young children!

 

9.     Read to the end of the story, and ask the children if hippo and Ngai were both happy at the end.  Ask what Ngai did to get to the happy ending.  Ask what hippo did to get to the happy ending. (Hippo promises not to eat the fish.  Ngai makes him agree to go in the water at night, and to open his mouth, and lift his tail so that Ngai can check for stolen fish).

 

Help a volunteer put the sheets with printing in the appropriate place on the cloud.  (Somewhere between the want and the need mats!)  It is easy to show that Hippo and Ngai both get what they need and hippo gets what he wants. Ngai, the powerful god of everything and everywhere, is prepared to let hippo get what he wants, because Ngai has another way to make sure the fish are safe.

 

10.  Revise by asking children to volunteer to be Ngai and the hippo.  Ngai

        stands on the mat and says "I wanted..."  Hippo stands on the mat and says "I

        wanted..."  Next, volunteers can stand on the need mat and say what they

        needed.  Finally, volunteers can put the printed solutions in the correct

        places.  (This can be a good way of beginning a follow up session, revising

        what was done last time before going on.) 

 

        I try to finish with some sort of game ....more about this on request.

 

Flying Pigs

TWO STORIES IN ONE

By Jim Trimble, Seattle, Washington, USA

 

Jackie came home with a story I had to share with you.  She was having a horrible time with one of her classes and came home almost in tears.  We talked for a bit and she finally decided that she would give the students one more chance to shape up or she would lower the boom.  She created a cloud that explained how their terrible behavior was making her life hell.  She did all the prep steps and then took it to the class for communicating.  She explained that she was upset and that she was going to use a tool to work through the problem.  She explained that she was upset and was going to use a tool to work through the problem.  As Jackie started drawing the cloud on the board ,several of the students piped up and said, "Oh, you mean the cloud.  We saw this in Mr. McCracken's class."  Then others added that they had seen it in Mrs. Pearson's and in Mrs. McFarland's classes, too!

 

How many training sessions have you gone to and never used the new knowledge presented?  TOC is different.  These teachers were trained just before  school started and were able to immediately put the tools to work in their classrooms.

 

Epilog: Jackie finished the cloud with the students and, as you can probably guess, it worked.  The students solved the behavior problem and even created an environment that is better than Jackie could have hoped for.

 

I saw Bruce McCracken, one of the teachers from Stevens who was trained in TACT this summer, and he made the comment of how much he appreciated learning the "tools.”  TOCFE on the move!

 

Editor's Note:

The Stevens teachers who were trained earned credits from the local university. As part of the university requirements, they had to do homework.  For this requirement each teacher created lesson plans using each of the tools.

 

Poogi Pool

Rami QUIZ NO. 5

Is the following connection from a NBR written properly?

If [The student doesn’t know the material for the test.] and (in a banana) if [The student doesn’t learn in class or at home.] then [There is a high chance that the

student fails the test.]

 

An Answer to Rami's quiz:  No, it should read:  If ( the student doesn't learn in class or at home.) and (The student doesn't know the material for the test.) then (There is a high chance that the student fails the test.)— Mary Ellen Bourbeau

 

Rami’s Answer:  The answer is "No.”  When entities are tied together in a banana, it means that there is no causal connection between them.  In other words, a change in one entity will not effect the other at all.  Let's check the example: one entity is 'The student doesn't know the material for the test.'; the other is 'The student doesn't learn in class or at home.'  If they are in a banana it means that changing one will not impact the other.  As we can see, if the student learns in class or at home it will impact the other entity- he will know the

material better.

 

The connection should read as follows: If (the student doesn't learn in class or at home) then (the student doesn't know the material for the test).  If (the student doesn't learn in class or at home) then (there is a high chance that the student fails the test).  The Banana is used to connect two or more entities that each one of them is necessary to make the other cause the result.  For example: I (the student doesn't know the material for the test) and if (the student can't understand the materials from the questions in the test) and If ( the student can't copy from others during the test) then (there is a high chance that the student fails the test).

 

Each one of the entities connected in a banana is necessary for the others to cause the result.  If the student can copy during the test from others, then the fact that he doesn't know the material will not cause him to fail the test.  If the student can understand the material from the questions in the test then the fact that he doesn't know the material is not sufficient to cause him to fail the test.

Editor’s Notes

By Kay Buckner-Seal

Hi, TOCFE family! Cheryl has not only changed her last name, but now she’s living in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  How’s that for the good life!  Therefore, snail mail must now be sent to:    

Cheryl A. Edwards

2253 S. Hill Island Rd.

Cedarville, MI 49719  USA

 

If you’d like, you can also send snail mail to me:

Kay Buckner-Seal

10230 Dartmouth

Oak Park, MI 48237  USA

 

Send hyperlink mail to:  baughca @aol.com  and/or  bucknek@resa.net

 

Many can be touched by our shared experiences.  This is to say that contributions from all are appreciated!