Care for Magical Creatures, Monday, Period Four

[toteshammered.livejournal.com]

Today, the Danger Shop was once again set up to look like the ocean.

At least this time they were on a proper ship, and not a rowboat.

"Today," Thor began, gesturing for the students to follow him to where they'd have a good view of the ocean before them, "I'd like to talk to you about the Kraken." Those who were especially observant might notice something that appeared to be an island off in the distance.

"The Kraken is a large, many-limbed creature that lives in the oceans here in Midgard. It is especially fond of human flesh, which would lead many to avoid it, except for one very important fact: the fishing near where a Kraken makes its home is exceptionally good. Good enough that some fishermen felt it worth the risk."

As he spoke, they drew closer to the island, or what looked to be an island, because when they got close enough, it was readily apparent that it was definitely not. "It also likes to rest in the water with the top of its head just breaking the surface, creating the illusion of an island that can often draw unwary sailors." They continued to move even closer, and the gentle waves that rocked the boat became increasingly more choppy and violent. "When it senses a ship, it moves its tentacles in such a manner as to create a whirlpool that will prevent it from leaving." He was shouting now, as the ship began to be tossed around in said whirlpool. "Once the Kraken has had enough of toying with its prey, it will reach up and crush the ship with its tentacles, consuming all who inhabit it."

... Uh, was that a tentacle reaching up over the side of the ship?

Teamwork, Monday, Period 2

[psychoticbiotic.livejournal.com]

The students met in a standard classroom today, and there was something written on the whiteboard as they walked in:

Compromise nounAn agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions.

"Compromising," Jack said, gesturing at the board, "is what teamwork is about. Unless you're in charge and an ass, you aren't going to get everything you want all the time. You need to be able to figure out what you're willing to give up to get what you want. If you don't, you're not gonna get anything done at all."

She drew two circles on the board, one inside the other. "So this," she said, tapping the inside one, "is your inflexible area. This is the stuff you won't give up on. The outside circle is your flexible area. It's the crap that you could bend on, even if you'd rather not. When you're compromising, you can make a list of what's in both circles and then talk them through with your team to figure out what's the best choice for the most people."

"Your assignment for today is to do a circle like this to figure out where we're going for lunch. My treat, as long as we all agree on a compromise by the end of class. No compromise, no free food."

She tapped the inner circle. "So what's the stuff you absolutely won't compromise on about lunch?"

Anger Management and Emotional Control | Monday | Period 1

[justonecondition]

Today, the classroom was set up like a typical dining room, with one round table for everyone to sit at. There were bagels and other brunch-type foods on the table, and the cuisines represented were pretty diverse, considering. There was even hagelslag.

"Spending time with family can be stressful," Bruce announced from his place at the table, "which I'm sure many of you already know. Tempers tend to flare high at family gatherings, or at the very least, in the car afterwards on the way home. As a result, the holidays aren't always the most fun time of the year for everyone, and I thought we could talk about how to overcome the difficulties presented by excursions home. Since being confined to someone's house or apartment generally rules out anger management strategies like onsen trips and retail 'therapy,' the techniquies I want to talk about today are smaller, and leaning more in the direction of the second half of the class title, emotional control, rather than actually not being angry."

He clapped his hands together. "We've talked about taking deep breaths and counting to ten, and I think we were all somewhat skeptical of that approach," Bruce began. "However, it's certainly something to keep in your back pocket just in case. Stress balls might also be useful - I still have mine from the other week - or generally making sure you have something in your hand when you feel your temper rising. That can serve two purposes: squeezing something can allow you to reduce some of the tension and adrenaline in your body, and it can also prevent you from actually punching anyone."

He said that with a slight hint of humor in his tone, but not enough to be considered disrespectful if anyone in the room did have that kind of temper problem.

"Something else you can do is, of course, to exit a conversation for a while," he continued. "Excusing yourself to go to the bathroom or get some fresh air in the middle of a meal may be considered taboo in some cultures, but it's definitely not as bad as starting to shout across the table, so keep that in mind." He'd offended more than a few people by doing just that, but it was better than a Hulk-out, right?

"When you're around food, which is often the case around the holidays, emotional eating is an old standby for a reason," Bruce went on. "It's like the stress balls in that it keeps your mouth full so you don't yell, and on top of that, if the food's good, it might actually cheer up your mood. Plus, filling up releases endorphins that can calm you down, like seratonin, which we've talked about earlier. As a sidebar, you might have heard that turkey contains a 'natural sedative' called tryptophan, which is and isn't true -- turkey does contain tryptophan, but it's unlikely to make you all that sleepy. Still, filling up on any kind of food should make you somewhat tired."

He cleared his throat. "And finally, there's always visualization. If someone is asking you a lot of annoying questions and making your holiday a living hell, you can feel free to picture yourself in any scenario that works for you. We'll actually be talking a bit more about that next week, but be aware that that's an option for you if it's what you need to get you through a family dinner."

With that, Bruce clapped his hands together once before walking over to the board and picking up a marker. "Lastly, if none of that works, here's my number," he said before writing it down on the board. "If you need anything during the holiday weekend and want to talk to me, feel free to interrupt my unexceptional Thursday night. I promise I won't be annoyed, and I'll try not to make it awkward."