Something a Little Different

Every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday I do an After School Group with about 7-10 of the kids I work with/counsel/therapize/parent (jk - but not really). I usually use my phone to keep time and Monday as the little busy bees were working away one of them asked me to see the picture of the baby on my phone - which was my nephew- of course I said "NO GET BACK TO WORK!" {insert evil laugh}. Fast forward to them finally getting back on topic - I decided to snap a picture of what we were working on thinking maybe I'd use it for my 365 Monday. Then, I changed my mind because of Shoot & Edit's theme, not wanting to do two posts, and a stop sign doesn't exactly say "goodnight".

So, following The Paper Mama's lead from last week. I was going to use this ishot as my Touch Up Tuesday photo, but I didn't get this posted in time! I'm still going to leave the link if you want to check it out! The photo actually turned out pretty good SOOiP (Straight Out of iPhone). I guess it was the harsh flourescent lighting that did the trick!

Edit: I took it into Lightroom denoised, brightened, cropped, and sharpened just a smidge.

Then, in CS5 I ran PTM's Rainbow Bright action and played with the levels until it turned out like this:

For more touch ups check out:


and for something different (Simplicity's theme this week)
(1) I don't usually edit iPhone pictures and (2) I don't often write about work/clinical stuff here....or anywhere (except in my journal and that usually goes something like Dear God, please help me to not murder this kid/parent/principal/dcfs worker!)

Here goes:

As many life lessons and skills I help kids and parents develop each week, I rarely take my own advice (if you've been reading I'm SURE I've said that before)! Taking the picture, I guess, really made ME "Stop & Think". There are many things that I'm trying to "stop" and do these days and especially in this new year...smell the roses, be thankful, pray, be closer to my family and friends, etc.

Wesley and I were talking about work over dinner Friday night. He was frustrated and I was really upset about one of my (recently) former clients. Sometimes, I have a hard time accepting that these kids have hard lives and that leads them to make bad choices with or without my help. Both of our situations were similar in that choices were made that, if thought through, could have been changed to something more positive.

That, in a small way, influenced the group I did with the wee ones this week. Most of the time I feel like if someone can just get to them when they are young enough maybe, just MAYBE something with stick! So, if you have impulsive kids or are just interested keep reading - if not check out the edit of the second iphoto below and come back later for more 365 Project photos!

Supplies:
Stop sign coloring page
crayons
scissors
   optional: popsicle sticks, glue, laminating paper

• I explained to the kids that each of them would get their own stop sign to color in ANY creative way they would like. While they colored, they were asked to think/discuss positive/good consequences and negative/bad consequences. (we talk about consequences a lot so most of them knew - but most of the time I define the words and have them repeat them back to me.)
• When they were done coloring (or when I said "times up"), I asked the group for volunteers - two at a time.
• The volunteers acted out a scene (or told a story) in which a choice was being made that would result in a negative consequence (For example: James ran after his soccer ball that rolled into the street without looking both ways.) During the scene the audience was to hold up their STOP signs when the character needed to stop and think. One child answers the question "What could the consequences be?" and another answers "What could James do differently?"

These kids absolutley love role play. Especially, when they get to make "pretend" bad choices. Also, giving them something in their hands they get to make and keep at the end of the day keeps their attention fairly well for the 30-40 minutes needed to get the point across! They can also cut their stop signs out and post them somewhere in their homes to remind them to Stop & Think.

If you're a parent and wanted to go a few extra steps to use this at home. The stop sign could be laminated and glued to a popsicle stick. You can make up stories, use books, or even act out scenes with your child and allow them to use the stop sign when they hear or see a bad choice being made.

Well, that was something different and I am not completely comfortable FLOW of this post, but I'm just going to go with it for now! Check back later for 25 & 26 of my 365 after I chase Ari down for the sweater he just stole from my pile of laundry on the floor!