Today started off in the office we headed off for our community outing, Laser Tag.  The day started with a surprise LUNCH Points Raffle.  Interestingly, JW had a certificate in his hand but wasn't attending until we rehearsed it a few times.  AC responded right away.  However, both wound up participating.  This session, it's the teens who have taken more interest in LUNCH Points, overall.  Other times it's reversed.  As we prepared to watch some short animations, it created an opportunity to review how to check and not block others' view when selecting a seat.  We've also been working on simple social skills, such as not standing right up against the door while someone else is in the restroom.  MM had a chance to ask others to move their seat rather than crawling under the table to get past.  ND appeared very tired (9:35am) and was reminded that he couldn't earn tickets when his head was on the table.  Several of the group members earned tickets for quickly and accurately summarizing the videos they saw.  Little opportunities for helping them with social language occurred, for example when SW said, "Can I please have the pen there, please?"  He was prompted via positive practice to restate and did so successfully.  We had the group describe the last animation they saw by summarizing in 30 seconds (DG did it successfully), 15 seconds (MM and SW did it successfully), and then within 10 seconds (EJ, AC did so more succesfully, SG and AJ had more difficulty summarizing).  We also worked on what happens when someone tries to answer a question by interrupting or responds too quickly.  AJ found the exercise humorous, where, as SW asked for a pen, I responded by quickly handing it to him before he was done, by saying "Now, that's service!"  So, that was the first 75 minutes of group today.  Time to head off for Laser Tag.

Catching the bus was uneventful, except that ND became upset when asked to sit rather than stand on the bus.  This was uncharacteristic for him.  Once we figured out that he wanted to sit next to SG and accommodated him, things improved.  At Laser Tag, all of the kids were heavily rewarded for "playing together" or just "hanging out" while we waited the short time before the first game began.  This was a great example of social modeling working successfully.  First EJ and AC were rewarded, then SG and DG.  AJ finally noticed that everyone else getting tickets and spontaneously searched for someone to play with, picking JW, who was also rewarded for walking and keeping his arms down.  The two games passed quickly and it was impressive to see how they formed teams and strategies and as they played.

We finished up Laser Tag around 12:15pm and headed over to In-'n-Out for lunch.  NR was anxious about her food and had a chance to practice asking for things in a calm and polite manner.  A truck passed, producing someone loud, but typical, noises and those who were able to state they were not afraid of the truck noise were rewarded.  Additionally, JW, ND, and SG all earned tickets for having conversations during lunch, as did SG for spontaneously opening a door as someone passed through and NR for waiting patiently for a water cup from one of the In 'n Out workers.

An example of how many group members need to work on pragmatics were inadvertently demonstrated when I mentioned there would be a surprise visitor coming next Friday.  One of the kids asked if it was Kobe Bryant, and I off-handedly replied, "Sure, and President Obama is coming too."  To my surprise, several of them began asking if this was true.  Such behavior unfortunately will make them ripe targets for merciless teasing or even bullying at school.

Shortly after 1:00pm we waited to catch the bus to return to the office.  JW was rewarded for standing next to other kids and also for eye contact while interacting with one of the counselors.  AJ spoke in an excessive insulting manner to SW and SW was rewarded for not reacting.  Unfortunately AJ escalated by kicking him and was physically removed from the others for a brief period until he could demonstrate that he had regained control.  AC and EJ became engrossed in discussing park rides, but also switched when asked by a counselor by their weekend, maintaining this conversation for about five minutes.  The bus didn't arrive until nearly 1:20pm and we made it back with just a short amount of time to spare.  Full day!

Los Encinos State Park

Today was our visit to Los Encinos State Park where (most of them) were videotaped as typical students on a tour, given by Jennifer, the Park Interpretive Specialist.  She's really great with the kids, very patient, prompts them to make eye contact, helps them with asking relevant questions.  I view it as good practice for taking them on a tour, going to a museum, or similar cultural activities.

Afterwards, she offered the group food to feed the ducks and geese.  It was interesting that some of the group members insisted that we pay for it, because it said "25 cents" on the box.  Those same members had trouble with the idea that she was giving it to them.  It strikes me as an honorable intention on their park... somehow gone wrong, since it creates an opportunity for them to receive something gratis, thank the person, and again, "move on" (I'm a big fan of "moving on" over little things).

One of the group members isolated himself from others and began to play with his Pokmon pedometer.  He appeared startled when one of the counselors approached him, saying "Hi ___ come and join the others," he responded by walking away.  This sometimes happens with kids who are having trouble figuring out what to say to others or become preoccupied by a gadget.  It is also why we request that your kids not bring toys or other objects with them, since they often use it as a vehicle for disconnecting from others.

I had a chance to flex my frisbee skills (which have clearly improved over the course of groups!) and worked with several kids on throwing accurately.  This primary involved MM, ND, EJ, and SG and they seemed to have a good time of it.

While still at the park AJ, at one point, said he was surrounded by "idiots."  Carli, one of the counselors, immediately gave blue raffle tickets to all of those who did not react to his comment, and did not say anything to AJ.  Moments later, they became involved in a discussion about aliens, which AJ seemed to be taking a bit too seriously.  However, both AJ and NR worked on problem solving and received raffle tickets for their efforts.  AC had problems with body boundaries, appearing to inadvertently push JW over a bit so he could sit down.  When JW did not react, he received a blue ticket and AC spontaneously apologized to him.

We went to Octopus, Japanese food, for lunch and it was well-organized, with most kids enjoying what they ordered.  Lunch there usually takes a long time, so we are constantly looking out for who is engaged in conversation versus who is isolating.  We also had a chance to practice appropriate requesting from the wait staff.  Fortunately, most of them were engaged in conversations throughout, plus they either enjoyed their meals or found portions of them that they could eat.  We headed back to the office briefly for a little "down time" where we viewed videos of them that would be shown to the parents.

Today we a continuation of what we worked on last Friday -- conversational skills and social pragmatics.  Typically the kids who more closely match our internalizer profile need assistance with the former (conversational turns, facial expressions, voice volume clarity, and intonation), while those with more externalizer characteristics benefit from the latter (behavioral inhibition, controlling reactions to peers' behavior).

One of the group members was selected to run a "vote" to determine what restaurant we would be going to on Wednesday, when we visit Los Encinos again, this time with video taping for their public service announcement for the California State Parks system.  Jennifer, who has been our interpretive specialist guide for the past four year, will be conducting it.  Your child will be on camera only if you have signed a release for them to participate.  This is not included in our standard release that all parents signed as part of registering their child for the group.

The group also decided they wanted to try Maria's Kitchen today for lunch.  One of the things I like about this little exercise is that is involves listening, cooperation, accepting a choice that was not one of their first, and just "moving on."  We also discussed the upcoming "surprise raffle" for LUNCH Points, which I told them would be for this upcoming Wednesday or Friday.  Yes, by telling them when the "surprise" is, I'm sending a mixed message -- on purpose.  Those kids who figured it out earned raffle tickets for doing so.  We reviewed LUNCH Points again and all of your kids reviewed their original choices for their main target behavior.  This is important!  Your job is to log in and give them a certificate or two in between groups.  If you select their main target behavior, they receive an additional bonus, which shows up on the certificate.  It only takes a couple of minutes to complete the LUNCH Point certificate.  If your printer is broken, you can request a receipt, which we will accept or you can use the "Vacation" form.  If you have questions, email me.  I am also reviewing this during each of the Tuesday night Teleconferences.  If you did not respond to our original invitation, contact Stacy and she will re-send it to you.  We cannot post this because it is confidential and only for families of group members.  Telemeetings will continue until the first Tuesday in August.

We had an early snack today.... they just seemed hungry!  Also, we brought it back to the office for them to eat, which gives them a different way to practice neatness, manners, and transitioning.  We did more interviews, which we will publish at a future date plus we watched a YouTube video called "Unwelcoming Lunch Groups." It's by a female teen who has apparently produced quite a few of these... some more humorous than others, but she tries to tell a story and it helps me highlight certain conversational principles.



We talked some more about conversations and practiced what makes for interesting speaking.  I know I haven't been mentioning specific kids as much, and I'm sorry about that.  We're doing so many things with them, that it's almost hard to keep track on an individual basis that I can convert to writing.

After lunch, SG and JW finished up their avatar interview.  Also, I took 5 group members into my office along with Sophie, who had been present throughout the day to have them practice making her say "yes" and "no" by offering her a treat.  We're trying to create a "library" of her responses to use in a different project.

Wednesday, we're spending the morning at the state park, then head off to Octopus.  As always, contact me with any questions or comments.

We had a full group today and everyone seems to be starting off in a calm, organized, and natural manner.  I am sorry that the LUNCH Points program has been delayed -- there was some additional programming necessary to complete it.  It will be up and running by the weekend.  If you haven’t already signed up to receive automatic blogs of groups, go to www.lunchgroups.com, select blogs, and enter your email address.

Today is our first in-office parent meeting, where I will reviewed how kids are doing, plus the general kinds of techniques we are using with them.  Next Wednesday will be our first parent dinner, to be held at John O’Groats (check the calendar).
After the initial time today, some of the kids played on the Wii while the rest of the group went into the other room to do an avatar project.  One child was the “interviewer” and the other chose an avatar character to become the “interviewee.”  I consider this to be one of the most powerful activities we do to help with basic conversational skills.  Conversation isn’t just a single skill.  You have to think of what you are going to say, say it clearly and with sufficient voice volume for your audience to hear you, adjust the level of informality/formality to fit your listener’s level and the kind of setting you are in, and say it in a straight-forward manner, while avoiding excessive talking.



The first project took the longest because the two students involved (AJ and SW) were having trouble formulating responses “on the spot.”  We took a break a little later today, around 10:45am, because we would be having lunch slightly later, due to the parent meeting between 1-2pm.  After the break, we returned and completed two more projects prior to heading back over to Gelsons for lunch.  This is rare, but it was most convenient given what was planned for today.

Below are three examples of projects involving a total of six group members. They were been edited to emphasize conversational fluidity, clarity, and reciprocal flow.  This is a form of video modeling, also known as “feed-forward,” where student hear themselves engaged in more age-appropriate and engaging conversation.

Afterwards, it was off to lunch back over at Gelsons today.  We had lunch a bit later than usual, around 12:30pm to have lunch and the Blue and Hero ticket raffles that followed, coincide with the parent meeting.  No problems occurred and, judging by the kids’ reactions and behavior following the parent meeting, everyone seemed satisfied with their raffle prize choices.

During the parent meeting, we review the kids’ progress in general, I spoke about specific students and their behavior.  Of note, and this may be a first.... WE HAD 100% PARENT ATTENDANCE TODAY!  Wow.  We reviewed how the web site is organized and where to find information to maximize progress during the program.

The behaviors selected by the kids was reviewed and approved by parents, so this will go live over the weekend.  We also reviewed the events next week, including the request from the California State Parks to video-tape the group members as “students” taking a tour at Los Encinos.  This will shown to school districts and others who may wish to view and learn about the tours and history at the park (it was nearly closed down in 2008).

We're in full swing now!  Today was more of an "office" day.  That meant your kids came in, worked as a single group evaluating their third scene of their animation from Monday, then revised and enhanced it.  During such activities, I take special care to ensure that each of them adds dialogue, sound effects, participates in reciprocal conversation, or is involved in  other elements.  Also, it's a wonderful opportunity to help kids who tend to "shout out" responses when others are called upon have multiple opportunities to practice inhibiting and waiting.

We also targeted specific group members, generally following our modeling in externalizers and internalizers (more about that at the upcoming parent meeting).  That meant we look for fuller sentences, more emotional expressiveness and higher levels of interaction for some while helping others minimize perceived "slights" from others, accidents, and inhibit impulsive responses.

Lunch was a special event at Tony Romas and we let the kids get dessert, provided they stayed calm and didn't make a big deal out of it.  One child was offered fruit as an alternative.  Just as the kids were leaving, some adults at the next table stopped me to comment.  Here is the video of their statements (edited for brevity only).



Not much else to report.  The kids seem pretty comfortable with each other and we're in the process of figuring out what specific behaviors to target for each child.

Today was clearly action-packed. The kids and teens were excited about going on our first community outing for laser tag at Ultra Zone.  However, before we did that, we continued work on our first animation project, which has been going very smoothly.  Meeting in the front room, the group members have been actively involved in creating a three scene animation, which they will see in final form on Wednesday and do a little post-production editing.  They also split into two groups, older and younger to "brain-storm," then came back together to share their ideas.  It worked surprisingly well. 
 
After the animation is finished, it will go up on YouTube under our channel, "Lunchgroups."  Don't worry, as per our policy, no identifying information ever goes up.  The credits will consist of their "nicknames" only.

We left the office around 10:30am and headed over to Gelsons for a snack.  Our bus came shortly after 11am and we headed into Sherman Oaks to Ultra Zone.  The group members were well-behaved on the bus and several conversations ensued.  At Ultra Zone, they played two rounds of Laser Tag.  All of the kids participated except one, who was reluctant to play.  We explained that he did not have to play and he walked around with the Game Master and also with a counselor during both games, looking and seeming more comfortable as time passed.  Perhaps he'll play next time, but either way, giving him a chance to observe the other kids having fun and playing seemed more productive that trying to "coax" him into it.

We had also promised the group that they could play in the arcade, but this didn't work out.  The first game started a little late and that ran us right into our second scheduled time.  Because Ultra Zone typically deals with larger camps at this time of day, we needed to go along with what they had set up.  The kids all handled this disappointment quite well and we told them we'd make certain they had a chance to use the arcade next time.

Lunch occurred at The Habit, just a few doors away.  We were able to get five tables side-by-side, no easy feat during lunch time, but luck was on our side.  Everyone seemed to find something they wanted.  By now, it was nearly 1:20pm.  We just missed a bus to head back and everyone waited in a patient and orderly manner.  By the time our bus arrived, about 1:35pm, everyone poured themselves into their seats.  Four group members fell asleep during the ride, an indication of a full day.
This coming Friday will be a parent meeting from 1pm-2pm during which time your kids will eat outdoors and participate in their first raffle.  There is NO TELEMEETING THIS WEEK ON TUES.  THIS IS A SCHEDULING ERROR.


The LUNCH Points program goes live tomorrow.  Be sure to watch the video (see the message on the home page at www.lunchgroups.com.  If you have any questions, be sure to be in touch.

Bruce

Hard to believe this is only the 2nd meeting.  So well-behaved.... who are these kids?  Sophie showed up today and clearly was a hit with the kids.  In fact, she came along to the local Rancho Los Encinos Park, near Balboa and Ventura.  We brought frisbees, horseshoes, badminton, some kind of superball, and a velcro target catch game.  We purchased duck and geese food for the group; they shared bags of food in three's, which worked out well.

However, before going we began an animation project.  First the group brain-stormed about story ideas, which took a little while.  Once we moved them away from explosions, aliens, and other interesting but complicated ideas, they settled upon two people trying to figure out what they wished to have for lunch (no, I didn't suggest adding the name).  They put together the better part of a couple of scenes, then we headed out after a short stop at Gelsons to pick up snacks to take with us.

Also, we'll be returning to the park in about a week in a half for a park ranger-led tour of the historic adobe structures.  "Jennifer" first began giving tours to our group three years ago -- in fact we were her very first tour.  Now she has asked if the kids who come would be interested in being filmed as part of a documentary to be shown to schools in an attempt to increase interest and attendance (the park was slated for closure back in 2008 and fortunately survived the "chopping block.")  I told her we would be interested, but of course, this requires a separate release beyond what you have already signed.  I should be receiving information from the park soon and will forward it on to you.  Don't worry, whether or not you sign the release, your child will still be able to participate.  We're going to break them up into two groups, those who will be followed by the videographer during the tour and those who will not appear on film.  I'll let you know more as I learn about it.

After a little over an hour at the park, we headed out and had lunch at The Stand, just west of Balboa.  It was nice because we were able latch onto tables that were at least partially shaded (you are putting sunscreen on your kids, right?), and judging by the lunchtime crowd, this is a pretty popular place to eat.  It was enjoyable seeing them conversing and, even now, we're starting to see kids express a preference for sitting next to select peers.  Sometimes we'll help facilitate this and other time we'll ask them to stay where they are.  After lunch, it was a 15 minute walk back to the office, where they continued working on the animation.  Frankly, I didn't plan to spend this much time on it today, but they seemed really interested in working on it and it's a great activity for promoting cooperation, listening, pragmatic language, and handling things if another group member's idea is used.  I try to go around and solicit equally from everyone.  Sometimes it's a story element, other times dialogue, a sound effect, or in this case, an action the character might do.

Soon it was time to call it a day.  I'm always amazed how quickly five hours can pass.  On Monday, we'll have  our first community outing, Laser Tag at Ultra Zone.

Have a great weekend!

Bruce

Welcome to our first summer 2010 meeting for kids, tweens, and teens (hence t(w)eens)!


First sessions entail a certain degree of organizing, and today's session was no different.  It's interesting, and difficult to convey what it looks like as a group of kids start to interact with one another.  

We started off today with introductions, then looked at some examples of the new software we'll be using in group.  Each of the group members chose nicknames for themselves.

DG - "Sly"
AC - "Goliath"
EJ - "Recycled"
SW - "Phoenix"
JW - "Fly"
ND - "Inferno"
MM - "Miley"
NR - "Jesse"

We talked about some of the kinds of places we go out to eat.  Some examples include Tony Romas, Numero Uno, Baja Fresh, Octopus, Chipotle, Uncle Chen's, CPK, Gelson for take out, BBQ and picnics.  We've gone to Hamburger Hamlet and to In N' Out Burger.  We also talked about things that the group would like to earn, such as gift cards to Target, Best Buy, Game Stop, plus iTunes Gift cards.  The group reviewed the kinds of community outings we go on.  We talked about mini-golf plus the arcade; the zoo, something I thought the group would be interested in, didn't hold much interest.  However, going to City Walk was of interest.  At the park the group members said they like to feed ducks and geese, being near the water, throwing Frisbees, and badminton.


This morning, we loosely divided the group into two.  The older group members and a couple of younger ones remained in the main room, working on an animation.  The younger group members played games, then negotiated with one another to see what else they would do, supervised by two counselors, out in the entry area.  Below is the comic they made.  Next blog, I will post the narrated movie.




Lunch occurred at Numero Uno and went very smoothly.  A few opportunities to work on manners (ND, NR), why ordering pasta and French Fries isn't a good combination (DG), and trying new foods (ND).  The others mostly talked with one another.  Upon returning to the office around 1pm, some were pretty tired, until videos of Sophie (who will be here on Friday) were shown along with some short animations, which we summarized and discussed briefly.  Group ended uneventfully after the raffle system was explained.  The majority of the kids had a good time, although parts were probably a bit boring.


Friday we'll head over to the park for a bit and start a new animation project.  This coming Monday is our first community outing, for Laser Tag.  Be sure to drop off your kids at GELSONS, not anywhere else for all activities.

Dear Parents,

Well, tonight was the last night and it was action packed in more ways than none. We had most of the group members present, but we were missing a fair number (four didn’t show). Those who did come had a chance to participate in one last LUNCH points certificate raffle and a gift certificate was given away. Also, they teamed up to play Bananagrams on the floor and it was amazing how quiet it was as they were all trying to make crossword style words from the letters.  JH and JC seemed to enjoy having conversations together. EM appeared to enjoy herself and was conversing with CJ and SW. AC and ND round up sitting at their own table and engaged in animated conversations throughout the entire meal at Numero Uno.

After they played Bananagrams, the group was given a choice of three different restaurants to go to tonight.  The majority of them wanted to go to Numero Uno’s so that’s where we headed off. Rather than sitting at one large table, they sat at two different adjoining booths with some of the kids as mentioned sitting in pairs by themselves. It worked out very nicely. The majority of them filled out parent certificates of appreciation and some of the kids who initially said they didn’t want to when told they didn’t have to changed their minds and decided to (if your child did not complete one, please don’t be bothered by this. We treat it very much as an optional exercise and my preference that they not be pressured into doing it, but that it be something that is a choice for them). We gave prizes also for the Bananagrams and everybody got an assortment of colored gelled pens and cool looking pencils. But the main point of our last session is as many of the kids said is for it to in fact be the last session. One of the interesting things that happened is some of the kids (MH, CJ, and EM) spontaneously wrote notes or drew pictures to me that were very nice to receive.

So all in all, it was a fitting end to the school year. Other than the very beginning of group, nobody had any significant interfering behaviors and they did what the group is designed to help them do, they visited and talked to one another and just acted like kids. Thank you all for intense but wonderful year of spending time with your kids.

Hi Parents,

So one more group to go. Tonight was laser tag and we had thirteen out of our fifteen kids. Everything went pretty smoothly. We did have one episode of one of the kids striking another child. He hit him in the upper lip.  Obviously, this is something that is completely unacceptable. I spoke with each of the parents involved and will be following up. This is always something that is hard because I don’t want to deny the opportunity for any child to attend group.  But most importantly, I have to think about what feels comfortable for the group as a whole. We have been fortunate in that such events have been extremely rare throughout the history of our groups.  When these kinds of things happen, it’s usually with children who either have more limited language or have in general, more difficulty controlling their emotions. Fortunately, the child who was struck handled it in an extremely mature manner.  He and I had an opportunity to talk as we walked from Laser Tag to In 'n Out Burger. Other than this serious situation, the evening went smoothly and looked to be enjoyable for the kids.

Parents were really great, getting their kids there on time and picking them up on time. At laser tag, the kids really seemed to enjoy being on teams and the level of friendly competition was evident. They also were getting better at strategies in general and knowing what to do with their “down time” between games. They played two games of laser tag and then we gave them arcade tokens where they played for about fifteen minutes before we headed off to dinner.

Going to someplace like In 'n Out Burger is always an interesting challenge. On the one hand, it’s nice to see them socialize informally at a place that is more likely where they are going to go with friends than to some of the restaurants that we travel to. At the same time, we have less privacy, there are more “strangers,” which means we have to really monitor our supervision and pay extra attention when the kids go to use the restroom.

By the way, just a reminder on our policy on that: When a child goes into the restroom (if it’s a male) I immediately go in for just a moment and usually wash my hands (I wind up with really clean hands throughout the course of the evening) just to check and see if there are any other adults in there. If another adult happens to be in the restroom, I remain either in the restroom or right outside until the child has departed. If there are no other people in the restroom, I wait nearby and then watch to see if anyone enters and then I go back in to wash my hands again. Just thought you’d like to know that because I think that how your children are monitored and supervised when they are in public places is important information for you.

Having your kids going to a fast-food type restaurant is nice because it gives them a chance to order where there’s a bit of pressure, it’s a little too noisy, they have to say it correctly.  We try to take correct their order if we hear something being said that we think isn’t what the child meant to say so we give them a chance on the spot to correct it.  Tonight that happened with two kids who managed to slip in orders that weren’t exactly what they had hoped or planned to get. So their food was delayed for about 5-10 minutes. Having said that, it went extremely smoothly.

There was one apparently homeless person who lingered near the kids (we moved a couple of kids to create a safe amount of space).  What was surprising to me was how little attention any of the kids appeared to pay to this person. It made me nervous because it was an individual who seemed to be interested in hanging around the kids, although nothing happened.  I wish, as a group, they would show more awareness and even a little bit of trepidation in such situations. Just something to be aware of and watch out for.

The socializing between the kids was great.  When the manager asked if the kids wanted hats, I assumed that they didn’t. (But how wrong was I?) Nearly all of the kids wanted to have one of those paper hats and they appeared to enjoy wearing them. As they walked around cleaning, couple of them told me that they were acting like janitors but I suggested that they were probably management material.

So now we have one more meeting. It will be at the office and that will conclude the program for this school year. Thanks to everyone.