*Second grade has phonics homework tonight.

*Tomorrow is our mass.  The kids are very well prepared!  :)

*Permission slips - Next week we are going to St. John the Evangelist on Tuesday for a Catholic Schools week prayer service and the Weidner Center on Friday.  Please remember to return permission slips.

*100th Day of School - Today is the 90th day!  We are exactly halfway done with the year!  We will celebrate the 100th day of school on Wednesday, February 4th.  The students will be creating 100 day projects again this year.  I did send home a note today about the 100th day, but I see two of them on the floor.  If you need another copy, please let me know.

*Social Learning Groups - Info from Mrs. Friday -

Social Learning Session #5
 This week we will continue to look two new strategies for helping us move from a Yellow or Red
Zone back down towards the Green Zone.
The first is a calming strategy that involved deep breathing. Attached you will find worksheets
that explain two breathing techniques:
 Lazy 8 Breathing
 Six Sides of Breathing
These two ways of changing your breathing help children slow their inhalations and exhalations to
help create a calmer physiologic state. (These specific techniques typically work more effectively
than just asking the child to “take a deep breath and relax.”)
The thinking strategy for this week is called Inner Coach vs. Inner Critic:
 Inner Coach – used to describe positive thoughts or positive self-talk
 Inner Critic – used to label negative, self-defeating thoughts or negative self-talk
 Inner Critic – used to label negative, self-defeating thoughts or negative self-talk
We will discuss how everyone uses self-talk (things we think in our head but don’t necessarily think
aloud). Sometimes that self-talk takes a negative tone, which we call our “Inner Critic”. Replacing it
with more positive self-talk called the “Inner Coach” will help cheer us on and help us through
difficult circumstances. For example, when faced with a task a student thinks is hard, the Inner
Critic might say “You won’t be able to do this so don’t even try,” creating a self-defeating attitude
and sending the student up into the Yellow Zone with feelings of anxiety and frustration. When a
student changes their self-talk to what the Inner Coach might say, “You can do this; just try your
best and remember you can ask the teacher if you need help;” their emotional state can go back
down into the Green Zone (more relaxed and able to focus on the task).
We will explain that a student’s brain is in control of who they listen to and allow to have the power.
Questions for generalizing this at home:
 How can using the Inner Coach as a tool help you?
 As circumstances arise when you see your child could benefit from using their inner
coach, ask them what their inner coach can say to them to help them out.
 If you hear your child making negative, self-defeating statements, gently point out to
your child that it sounds like they are giving too much power to their Inner Critic. Then
ask them to think about their Inner Coach.

Please don’t hesitate to contact Mary-Beth Friday with any questions, comments or concerns at the
Communication Pathways office: 920-632-4488 or by email: marybeth@communicationpathways.com