1. Mrs. Jones told the boys and girls that they were going to learn how to subtract numbers today. Jane wasn’t happy because math was hard for her. She had just learned how to do addition after a long time. Now Mrs. Jones was going to give them something new to learn!

2. Jane said to herself, “I won’t know how to do this. It will be too hard. Mrs. Jones is mean! She always gives us too much work!” Mrs. Jones explained how to subtract numbers. Then she did a problem on the board. Finally, Mrs. Jones said, “Now it is your turn to try a subtraction problem.

3. Jane wrote down the problem and tried to figure it out, but she could not get the answer. She thought, “Everyone else will get the answer but me. I know Mrs. Jones will call on me and I won’t have the answer. Mrs. Jones did call on Jane. Jane was so upset that she yelled at Mrs. Jones. She said, “You are so mean! You always give us work that is too hard. You are a bad teacher!”

4. Mrs. Jones said, “Jane you must be really frustrated. Why don’t you go to our calm down station in the back of the room and we will talk about this later.” Jane went to the back of the room and sat in the calm down rocker. When the boys and girls lined up for library Mrs. Jones came back to talk with Jane.

5. Mrs. Jones said, “I’m sorry that math is hard for you Jane. I know you get upset when you don’t understand the lesson. But, we need to think of ways to help you. When you are upset, instead of saying mean things and yelling you need to let me know that you need help. They talked about ways Jane could let Mrs. Jones know when something was hard for her. Mrs. Jones gave Jane a special pencil she could put on her desk to let Mrs. Jones know she needed help.

6. “Jane, I also think you keep telling yourself that you can’t understand math. Is that right?”, said Mrs. Jones. Jane answered “Yes”. “Well, if we always tell ourselves that we can’t do something, then we believe what we tell ourselves. Instead, we need to tell ourselves that we can do it. Mrs. Jones helped Jane think of a positive thought she could say to herself that would help her feel better about math. I can’t do this! It is too hard!

7. In the next math class, Jane practiced her positive thought. “I WILL TRY MY BEST. I WILL STAY CALM. I WILL ASK MY TEACHER TO EXPLAIN WHAT I DON’T UNDERSTAND.” Jane felt better about herself, her teacher, and math. I WILL TRY MY BEST! I WILL STAY CALM! I WILL ASK FOR HELP IF I NEED IT!

8. You need to draw a picture in each section. You will be asked to talk about your pictures. Instead of swearing, using unkind words, or talking back to an adult, what can you do that will be okay behavior at school? How did Jane feel about learning math? How did Mrs. Jones feel when Jane yelled at her? What did Jane learn to do when she became upset with her math problems?