 Children need these critical thinking skills to make
better choices and responsible decisions.
 When they have these skills they have fewer problems.
 They understand other people's points of view and
they stop and think before they act.
 Without them, children have no impulse control and
lack the fundamental social skills to function easily
with their peers.
 Emotions are powerful and children who are unaware
of this power can fail to see the consequences of their
actions.
 They are unable to communicate their feelings
appropriately or handle themselves in difficult
situations.
 When this occurs, they can make decisions that can
ruin their lives.
Wise Ways 1
Wizard Brain vs. Lizard Brain
In order to stop and think,
thinking skills must be learned to
engage the section of the brain
where problems are assessed and
analyzed before responding.
Otherwise, the reptilian or "lizard"
part of the brain – the section
housing emotions and the fight or
flight response – takes over,
triggering impulsive, non-thinking
responses.
The Brain
Wise Ways 2
Constellation of Support
Awareness of people and what
resources to go to for help involves
knowing how to evaluate the type of
help you need and identifying the
best place to get it. This includes
learning how to recognize people
who will help you succeed, and
understanding why people close to
you may not be able to give you the
support you need.
Who is your constellation of
support?
Mom
Anya
Joanna
Dad
Friend 1
Friend 2
Wise Ways 3
 Red Flag Warnings
Thinking skills involve
recognizing internal (what you
feel inside) and external (what
you see or do) red flags. The
red flags warn of something
about to happen, and
awareness of these warning
signals gives you time to stop
and think.
 RED FLAG WARNING
 INTERNAL (what you physically feel INSIDE) when
something is going to happen):
 EXTERNAL (things you do or see, or things you see other
people do, signaling that something is going to happen):
Wise Ways 4
 Exit the Emotional Elevator
Think of emotions as an elevator in
a ten-story elevator – the higher up
the elevator rises, the more intense
the emotion and the probability of
Lizard Brain responses. A number of
strategies help keep emotions low or
off the elevator, including control
self-talk, stop talking, leave the
situation, redirect the emotions,
deep breathing and relaxation
methods, and recognizing and
changing Lizard Brain response
patterns.
10 ecstatic
9 overjoyed
8 jubilant
7 thrilled
6 satisfied
5 playful
4 cheerful
3 excited
2 joyful
1 happy
Exit the Emotional Elevator
 The way you express yourself is your
choice
 There are many ways to get your point across and
get others to listen
 You must decide if the way you express your emotions
gets you what you want without creating problems
Skills you can use to
Exit the Emotions Elevator
 Control Self-talk
 Involves learning to talk to yourself in such a way that
you are able to calm yourself down and think clearly



“I need to handle this”
“I can’t let this bother me”
“I don’t want to get in trouble”
•Negative Self – talk
• thoughts that are likely to increase your
frustration and anger and cause you to be out of
control
 Stop Talking and Leave the Situation
 Sometimes you need to leave a situation and the
conversation in order to maintain control of your
emotions and lower your emotional elevator
 Shows that you are in control of your actions
 You are able to recognize that you may say or do
something that can cause bigger problems
This does not mean that you do not
go back later to solve the problem or
address the situation
Redirect your Emotions
 Redirecting negative energy into something
physical
 Doing something for others
 Helps you transfer negative energy to something
else until you regain control
 Still need to address the problem
• Relaxation Techniques
• Mediation
• Self - talk
 ALWAYS BE LOWER ON THE EMOTIONS
ELEVATOR THAN THE PERSON OR PERSONS
YOU ARE DEALING WITH
 DO NOT TRY TO SOLVE A PROBLEM WITH A PERSON
WHO IS VERY ANGRY, VERY FRIGHTENED OR VERY
EXCITED
Wise Ways 5
 Separate Fact from Opinion
The root of many problems is the
inability to separate fact from
opinion. A fact is what you know
to be true, an opinion is what you
think is true. Used in conjunction
with Wise Ways 1-4, the process
of separating fact from opinion is
easier to understand and do.
Fact vs. Opinion
 Fact – something you can prove is true
 Opinion – something you think is true but can’t prove
 Confusing fact & opinion is also the foundation for
gossip
 Opinion words: everything, never, always, all, nothing
Wise Ways 6
 Ask Questions
Having access to the right
information requires the
ability to recognize what
questions to ask, and knowing
how to ask them. This involves
integrating Wise Ways 1-5 into
the question asking process.
She looked at
him, turned
and ran.
Wise Ways 7
 Identify Your Choices (IDC)
People who use their Lizard Brain
respond one way, believing they
only have no choices. This creates a
feeling that their lives are
controlled by fate, luck, chance or
powerful others. Wizard Brain
thinkers recognize that they have
more than one choice, and use
thinking skills to assess and
analyze all their choices so they
make the best choice possible.
Identify All Choices (IDC)
Lizard Brain – one choice
Wizard Brain – additional
choices are considered
 When you jump to conclusions, you
cause problems for yourself and others
because you don’t Stop and Think that
there may be other ways to deal with
the problem
 The more choices you come up with,
the more likely you are to think of a
solution that helps resolve the problem
Wise Ways 8
 Consider Consequences
Consequences Now and Later (CNL),
Consequences Affecting Others
(CAO). Wizard Brain thinkers are
aware of the consequences of their
choices. They use thinking skills 1-7 to
help them assess and analyze the
consequences of their choices now,
the consequence later (CNL), and the
consequence affecting others (CAO).
 Consequences Now & Later (CNL)
 Teens need to think about the consequences of a choice
BEFORE they make their decision
 They need to learn to think about the future as well as
the present
 Consequences Affecting Others (CAO)
 Looks at the need for rules and the consequences of not
following them
IDC, CNL and CAO are thinking
skills that buffer the Lizard
Brain’s impulsive response to a
problem
Wise Ways 9
 Set Goals and Form an Action Plan
Wise Ways 1-8 help build a
foundation to understand the
importance of setting goals and
making plans to reach them. Within
this framework, it is easy to build
connections among and between
the Wise Ways, creating awareness
of the importance of goals, and why
successful achievement must be
accompanied by a plan to reach
them.
What’s My Goal?
 Uses the skills for Separating Fact from Opinion,
Asking Question, Gathering Information, Identifying
your Choices and setting a Goal to form an Action Plan
 All action plans start with two words: HOW TO..
 This skill does not solve the problem, but it does
make what you want and what you need to do
more clear
Wise Ways 10
 Using "I" Messages, taking other
people's Point of View (POV), using
Positive Body Messages, and using
Assertive Statements.
 Communication involves using all the
10 Wise Ways, not at the same time,
or in the order learned, but
integrated throughout conversations
and different methods used to send
and share information.
 Effective communication involves understanding other
people's points of view recognizing how using
thinking skills helps to deliver information and
messages clearly.
 In order to communicate effectively use:
 Non Verbal Communication

Sending positive body messages
 Verbal Communication



Using “I” Messages
Recognizing differences without making judgements
Sending double messages (mixed messages)
Summary Activity
It is important to practice your 10 Wise Ways in
order to strengthen your thinking skills.
The connection between the thalamus and the
prefrontal cortex will disappear if not used,
unlike the stronger bonds between the
WW2
thalamus and
the limbic system.
WW3
WW1
WW4
Prefrontal
Cortex (Wizard
Brain)
Thalamus
(Relay Center)
WW5
WW6
WW7
Limbic System
(Lizard Brain)
WW8
WW9
WW10
Lizard Brain
Wizard Brain
(Poor Choices)
(Good Choices)
Act Without Thinking
Stop and Think
CHOICE
Weak or no Support Constellation
Ignore Internal Warnings
Ignore External Warnings
“10” on Emotions Elevator
Impulsive
React to Opinions
Ruled by Emotions
No Information
Don’t Question
Don’t Examine Your Choices
No CAO/CNL
No Clear Goals
Display Negative Body Language
Use “You” messages
Behave Aggressively/Passively
PROBLEMS
Strong Support Constellation
Know Internal Red Flags
See External Red Flags
Exit Emotions Elevator
Control Self- Talk
Stop Talking and Leave the Situation
Relaxation Control
Get the Facts
Ask Questions
Identify Choices
Consider CAO/CNL
Set Goals
Display Positive Body Language
Use “I” messages
Behave Assertively
LIFE
SUCCESS