Teachers! The purpose of this page:

To help students reframe unhelpful thinking styles.

WHY: 

It's important for students to understand that thoughts are not facts. If you get stuck on an unhelpful and harmful thought about yourself or a situation, you can challenge it. 

Learning intentions

How to use this page: 

Introduce the concept of shark vs dolphin thinking. When you hear students saying a shark thought gently challenge them: is there a dolphin way to look at it, or is that thought helping you? Once a term practice one of the activities below.

Key words:

Shark thoughts bite you, they are not helpful.

Dolphin thoughts are realistically optimistic thoughts, they ARE helpful.

 1 - 2 Complete the shark vs dolphin thinking worksheet. 

                Act out the different ways of responding.

Print and identify what shark thoughts usually come up in your head

Have you got a particularly pesky shark thought?! Here is a trick. Take the power away from it by giving it a name.

E.g. I am not enough (internally you say: shhhhhh Frank! or shhhhh Gertrude... insert any name you like!)

Remember you can compete against shark thoughts by creating the start of a resilient thought. Think of a shark thought you currently have, now complete these sentences:

That thought is not true because...

Another way of thinking about this is...

The most likely outcome to all of this is....

NB There is a video lesson for K-2 and 3-6 about wellbeing where the concept of shark thinking is introduced.

Print and share K - 6 

Take the power out of your shark thought by giving it a silly name. get creative and draw an interesting shark! 

Listen to: Cheeky Chat with Alice where she shares with kids what her pesky shark thought is called! (5 minutes)

Print out a copy of the above steps for making a positive reappraisal. See if students can remember all 4. Pairs can test each other.

Next read the above scenarios out and ask students to use a positive reappraisal strategy. You could extend this into role play. E .g play, freeze, rewind and replay scene. First step should be students acting out not using a positive reappraisal and jumping to conclusions. Then they should replay using one of the strategies above.

In pairs:

For each scenario come up with a shark thought response and then a dolphin thought response. 

Then choose a strategy to help you overcome the challenge.

Role play it out! 

Scenario 1: The rest of the class has completed their work, but you still have loads more to do.

Shark thought:

Dolphin thought:

Which strategy might help?

Do some shoulder breathing and then focus on one step at a time

Say some kind words to yourself

Take a brain break and move your body, come back to it fresh

Speak to someone you trust, tell them how you feel

Use a character strength to help

Do a round of finger or square breathing

Something different?

   Scenario 2: You make a mistake on your work.

  Shark thought:

  Dolphin thought:

Remind yourself, mistakes help you learn - try again

Take a big deep anchor breath. Can you fix it? Who can help?

Splash your face with water, have a sip of it too, come back and start again

Look at the growth mindset tree and go through each brach reminding yourself of the steps involved in learning

Choose a positive affirmation and tell it to yourself 

Come up with your own!

Scenario 3: Your friends are being unkind and saying "it's only a joke" 

Shark thought:

Dolphin thought:

Speak up, make it to the point. Let them know they have crossed a boundary

Find your problem solver flow chart, work out what you can do next

Name your feelings. Use an I feel... when you... sentence

If you can't solve it on your own, find a friend or adult who can help

Call on courage and stand up for yourself

Walk away, write a list of 4 people you can turn to

Walk away, find someone who makes you laugh and feel safe around

Other?

Scenario 4: You arrive at school already feeling sad and overwhelmed after a morning filled with stress and arguments with your parents/siblings etc.

Shark thought:

Dolphin thought:

Do a round of finger breathing or anchor breathing to centre and calm yourself.

Think about one thing you are looking forward to that day

Make a plan to get some positive emotions today, what can you do that will bring you joy?

Think about your positive affirmations. What can you tell yourself right now?

Think about the guard dog catastrophe scale, how big is this problem? Therefore how big should my reaction be right now?

Colour code the guard dog catastrophe scale worksheet to work out where the problem lies

What else could you do?

Scenario 5: It feels like your friends are leaving you out and laughing a lot without you.

Shark thought:

Dolphin thought:

Work through the making a good decision flow chart, so you are super ready to make a good decision!

Make a generous assumption, what is the best way to look at this situation?

Is there another friend you could go and spend time with right now?

Do a round of open heart breathing reminding yourself that you are loved

Get curious: Is this a threat? A challenge or an opportunity? What can YOU get from this?!

Think of the traffic light, breathe first, think and then act in a helpful way?

Any other ideas?

Can you come up with your own scenario that usually brings on shark thinking? Now come up with a strategy to help. Act it out!

Once a week, as a class come up with the top 4 problems occurring in the classroom or playground. Brainstorm strategies and use role play to show case alternative and helpful ways to overcome each problem. 

In pairs practice reframing and positively reappraising (thinking like a dolphin) each scenario.