Edutopia – Sarah Gonser
“To help her students understand what happens in their brains when they get angry, Ryden made a puppet using a mitten, googly eyes, and pompoms. The puppet is a tangible way to show her students what happens when their prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for thinking and executive function—goes offline when kids get angry and their amygdala—the part of the brain responsible for responding to threats and danger—takes over and begins making decisions for them. She realized this visual tool could be an important part of her practice after watching Daniel J. Siegel, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, use his hand to demonstrate what happens in the brain when we get angry.” (more)