Background
This is an emotion meter story that was created with Pavel, a student who LOVES washing machines, most of all Admiral washers. He has low vision and experiences attentional difficulties. To improve his self-regulation, I used his interest and expertise in washing machine cycles to help create this emotion meter. He pretended to be the washing machine and we made a meter that compared his attentional levels to the cycles in the washing machine. It was really important to use enactment with the development of the written emotion meter in order to help him integrate the concepts. I found it interesting that he could stay so very still when he was doing the enactment of the “lid lock” and the “soak” cycles, although if I ASKED him to “be still,” it seems almost impossible. After we had created the attached document, his teacher posted it on his desk and he did frequent check-ins during the day to give him practice in knowing his own state of attention. We didn’t ask him to change it, just to become more mindful and aware of his attentional state.
Text:
My brain is an Admiral Washer
By Pavel January 17, 2018, Thursday
- Sensing-Lock—getting ready to learn
- Fill—getting new ideas
- Soak—feeling calm and enjoying new ideas
- Wash—trying out the new ideas
- Rinse—mixing with other ideas, curious
- First spin—getting really excited or really mad
- Final rinse—calming down
- Final spin—getting ready to move on
- Cycle complete/ unlock—taking a break
Reflecting on Instruction: My Brain Is an Admiral Washer
