Category: Feelings

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Fun Freebie :: Impulse Control Log

Sad Teenage Girl

My first few weeks as a social worker, one of the issues I was most nervous about working with was self-injury. Even though a few of the college courses touched briefly mentioned some interventions for clients that self-harm, I felt completely ill-equipped!

So, I attended a few workshops and also did some of my own research to find strategies to help clients overcome the depression, negative self-image, and distorted thoughts that accompany self-injury. One of the strategies I found that was used almost universally at treatment programs across the country were Impulse Control Logs. The purpose of these tools is to help clients notice and understand the connections between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. After they understand some of the thoughts or feelings that trigger their destructive behavior, you can work together to help change those thoughts into healthier, more realistic ones!

Here’s a cute Impulse Control Log (in PDF Format) I made and you can have it for free! Several of the clients I’ve worked with have mentioned it’s been really helpful for them, so hopefully it’ll work well for your clients too!

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Enjoy!

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New(ish) Product :: Anger and Coping Skills Bingo Game

One of the lessons I find myself teaching constantly is about coping skills. Whether I was working with kids who had difficulty managing stress or kids who got into trouble frequently for fighting with others or arguing with teachers, the common thread was that these kids didn’t have the tools to deal with frustrating or stress-invoking situations. I also found that many of these kids needed lessons to be really interactive or fun for them to really invest in learning how to manage their stress or anger.

This was my solution! It is designed to help students learn many different coping strategies in a fun, interactive way. The strategies they learn can help them handle stress and anger in safe, appropriate ways. This game is great for those groups or students who tend to resist “traditional” coping skills lessons. There are 2 versions included, a shorter one and a longer one depending on the attention span of your students!

Several times, my kids have actually come to my room and specifically requested to play this game. It’s pretty crazy, actually! The download includes several different ways to deal with anger or stress and provides everything you need for students to create their own bingo cards and play the game!:

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If you’re looking for more activities to help kids deal with anger, check out my Dealing with Anger Activity Pack.

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Student Funnies :: Act Like a Human?

animals

I recently found a game on Pinterest that involves rolling 2 dice – 1 with an emotion word on it, and the other with an animal. Students then get to take turns acting out a sad cat, excited mouse, nervous monkey, etc. I decided to try it in a class yesterday and this was the result. The other teacher in the room and I couldn’t stop laughing…luckily the student didn’t really understand what was so hilarious about it!

Me: And what animal will we act like when our dice rolls this?

Student: A cat!

Me: What about this?

Student: An elephant!

Me: And what will we act like when the dice rolls this?

Student: A human, but there’s no way I can act like a human!

Could be the truest thing I heard all year considering the licking and barking I witnessed earlier this week. Anyone else sometimes feel like they’re working in a zoo rather than a school!?