In Acceptance and Commitment Training everything we come across in the world of languaging is grist for the mill and an opportunity for practice. Educators and learners use language all the time to influence both themselves and those around them.
The goal of course is enhancing psychological flexibility or the ability to stay present, open and moving toward what is important in whatever context we find ourselves in. 
Among the many experiences life continuously presents is with is something I call the “zinger”. In learning circles, zingers usually present as some form of verbal insult or put down. Kids love to lob them at each other as well as at their teachers.  A zinger usually comes at us from someone we are relating to who is struggling with their suffering and subtly or not so subtly inviting us to join them. In the language of the Matrix, it is a move away from suffering which gets in the way of vital living. Knowing how to defuse a zinger comes in handy and keeps us and learners from getting stuck and “taking the bait”.
A zinger is most often in search of a hook (unwanted tension or mental stuff that stays with us or “hooks” us so we pay less attention to our five senses experiencing). When we are hooked we have less choice.  Zingers and hooks fit together nicely and are made for each other. Young people are experts at throwing out zingers and hooking each other and unwitting adults. Many a teacher has had their attempts at instruction derailed by a well placed zinger. It is an invitation to a dance which if accepted leads to less flexibility and more suffering. Zingers come in mild (“Whatever”,”This is stupid”), moderate (“That’s a crummy shirt you’re wearing”,”This is a waste of time”) and severe (some version of “Go jump in a lake”, insulting somebody’s mother, etc.) forms. All forms coincide with some level of unpleasantness showing up in the mental experiencing of the receiver. Trying to get way form the unpleasantness of a zinger typically get us stuck.
Handling zingers is a skill that, like bike riding, can be practiced and learned. When a zinger is lobbed at you(and before you say or do anything else), notice the hook (unwanted thought, feeling or image) inside along with any five senses experiencing you are having. Next notice what you do with your hands, feet or mouth and whether that gives you more choices or less choices. Moves which give us more choices usually involve taking the zinger with us and being a little curious about it. Rather than trying to get away from it we can choose to “receive it”. A zinger will then be defused or neutralized since we will be putting less energy into getting away from it leaving more energy to direct toward where we really want to go (the important or toward stuff).
The more you practice with zingers the better you get at taking them with you. Practicing in groups is a lot of fun. Here is a basic routine for zinger training which you can add to or change depending on your circumstances:
  1. Set up the basic Matrix (see Matrix on the Fly post).
  2. Identify some common zingers (most learners are great at this).
  3. Place them on the whiteboard, wall, smartboard, etc. according to whether they feel like toward or away moves. Let the group do the sorting. You can have them notice their five sense and mental experiencing of the zingers, e.g. “when I hear those words my face gets flushed and I feel angry”. Write that stuff down too.
  4. See what they come up with in terms of toward moves that they can do to keep moving while taking zingers with them. 
Zinger on the Fly
Student (to teacher): “This class is ________ (boring, stupid, ridulous, etc.)
Teacher: (noticing the mental tension inside him or her that shows up when those words rattle around inside) “Hey, so you’re noticing the thought that “this class is stupid”. Thanks for sharing. Where is that thought taking you? Where would it go on the matrix?”
Simply introducing the idea of “playing with zingers” can inject some psychological flexibility into a less than flexible learner. The more curious and playful you are with zingers, the more you model psychological flexibility for your learners and the more choices you have in terms of what you do next.