Here is a way to play the matrix with middle school students.

As kids develop they become increasingly interested in their peers. In matrix lingo we say,”relationships are really important to them”. Having a matrix “check in” meeting is a great way to bring learners together and promote flexible thinking and behavior.

Each learner takes a turn coming to the board (they love this!) and “goes around the matrix” noticing  (and writing) who or what is important to them and how it feels when they are making their toward or important moves. They also notice what shows up inside of them that gets in the way as well as how their away moves feel (moving away from the things that bother them). They then will write out their toward moves which can be what they have done or plan to do to keep moving in the direction of important people and things. Everybody gets lots of credit and kudos for coming up and sorting on the board. They can then go on with the rest of their day or week and notice how they are doing in terms of getting where they want to go. We keep it simple and use just a few words. Usually I will check in first but once you get it going the kids are more interested in each other.

The fish and hook on the away side can be used after a few meetings to talk about the sticky stuff that shows up inside of us that gets us stuck (see the earlier post on “How to Defuse a Zinger”). They can notice what is hooking them and what they do when the hook shows up (either the fish bites on the hook and gets stuck or they can choose to keep moving toward who/what is important). I also throw in a stress scale where the rate their stress levels (o-100). This way they can notice if stress is showing up for them what they are doing to “take it with them” and/or take care of themselves.

Very often some nice, prosocial behaviors show up.