Class Meetings
Class meeting is a time to focus on humanities, how we can be better human beings. We find ways to solve problems, grow as a community, and learn how to make a difference. Some times we solve problems before they happen other times we deal with them as they arise. We will share some of what we are learning on here as the year goes.
The Brain and emotions
In class we discussed “flipping our lid” during class meeting to help the students understand why they get upset sometimes as well as help them come up with strategies to bring the lid back down. The goal is to help them learn how to self monitor their own behavior and not let “issues” distract them from their own learning or the learning of others.
There are different parts of our brain that do different things. Our brain stem, which is near the base of our skull, keeps us awake or asleep, makes sure we can breathe, and keeps our heart beating. We can think of this as our wrist. This part of our brain is very important to our survival.
Next, when hold up our hand and fold the thumb across our palm, we could essential create what our limbic area of our brain looks like. This part of our brain holds our emotions and memories. It also contains our amygdala, which is essentially our safety radar. The cortex covers this part of the brain.
If you fold your fingers over your thumb, you create the cortex of your brain. The cortex is where you do the thinking and planning. It also has many parts. But we won’t focus on all of them.
Imagined your fingernails being the prefrontal part of your brain. This part of your brain processes information about how we relate to others (understanding other people’s feelings, ability to calm ourselves, ability to make choices, ability to read and sense other people’s feeling and emotions). If this part of our brain stops working we have a hard time understanding others and we often will make bad choices that we later regret.
When we are upset about something the prefrontal cortex shuts down and no longer works with the rest of the brain. Its almost like it pulls away from the brain. This is where the term “flipping our lid” comes from. Fingers go straight up away from thumb and have no way of talking to each other.
It is important that the students realize that it is perfectly normal and okay to be upset about something. It is how our brains work. However, we need to find ways to calm ourselves so that we don’t start making bad choice or say something that we will later regret.
One of the ways we discussed today was to take a break. Move away from the person that is causing you to be upset and take a short break to calm yourself down. If one person has “flipped their lid” it is very easy for some one else to get their “lid flipped” too because we have mirror neurons that causes us to want to mimic what we see. Therefore, moving away from that person will help both people involved.
We are going to look more into how we can become self regulators and find ways to help us stay on task even when we life isn’t going our way. I hope that this explanation help you understand your child if they come home and talk about “flipping their lid”.
There are different parts of our brain that do different things. Our brain stem, which is near the base of our skull, keeps us awake or asleep, makes sure we can breathe, and keeps our heart beating. We can think of this as our wrist. This part of our brain is very important to our survival.
Next, when hold up our hand and fold the thumb across our palm, we could essential create what our limbic area of our brain looks like. This part of our brain holds our emotions and memories. It also contains our amygdala, which is essentially our safety radar. The cortex covers this part of the brain.
If you fold your fingers over your thumb, you create the cortex of your brain. The cortex is where you do the thinking and planning. It also has many parts. But we won’t focus on all of them.
Imagined your fingernails being the prefrontal part of your brain. This part of your brain processes information about how we relate to others (understanding other people’s feelings, ability to calm ourselves, ability to make choices, ability to read and sense other people’s feeling and emotions). If this part of our brain stops working we have a hard time understanding others and we often will make bad choices that we later regret.
When we are upset about something the prefrontal cortex shuts down and no longer works with the rest of the brain. Its almost like it pulls away from the brain. This is where the term “flipping our lid” comes from. Fingers go straight up away from thumb and have no way of talking to each other.
It is important that the students realize that it is perfectly normal and okay to be upset about something. It is how our brains work. However, we need to find ways to calm ourselves so that we don’t start making bad choice or say something that we will later regret.
One of the ways we discussed today was to take a break. Move away from the person that is causing you to be upset and take a short break to calm yourself down. If one person has “flipped their lid” it is very easy for some one else to get their “lid flipped” too because we have mirror neurons that causes us to want to mimic what we see. Therefore, moving away from that person will help both people involved.
We are going to look more into how we can become self regulators and find ways to help us stay on task even when we life isn’t going our way. I hope that this explanation help you understand your child if they come home and talk about “flipping their lid”.