Gasp!

In a second grade class yesterday, we were discussing using positive self-talk to calm down strong feelings of anxiety. We had learned the difference in negative thinking, which makes us even more nervous, and positive thinking, which gives us hope and a fighting spirit. Well, one of the scenarios we thought about was what to tell ourselves when we're nervous about presenting a science project in front of our class, specifically getting a volcano to erupt. We noted that thinking thoughts such as "This isn't going to work, and my friends will laugh at me" would make us feel more worried and that we probably wouldn't give the experiment our best shot. I asked the children to come up with some helpful, hopeful self-talk to use in this situation, and I got several good responses. Students said such things as "I worked hard on this, and it'll be fine"; "If it doesn't work, my friends will understand"; "I can handle this", etc. but when a small dark-haired boy sitting on the front row offered a suggestion, I cackled with glee. With widened eyes and enthusiasm in his voice, the child said, "When the volcano erupts, my friends will GASP!" What an unexpected word, and what positive thinking this expressive little guy used! Later, his teacher explained that gasp had been a recent vocabulary word, and she was thrilled that her smart little student had used it in everyday conversation. Oh the joys of watching children learn!