Spring is here!

Well, today is the first day of Spring! I sure wish the weather would cooperate! We have been plugging away in Counselor over the last few weeks. Since I last wrote we talked about Careers for two weeks and are finishing up with Empathy.

In K-5 we discussed the six career paths and the types of jobs that fall into them. The 6 career paths are Fixing & Building, Business, Nature, Creative, Health & Helping. After we learned them all we started thinking about what we might like to be and how our hobbies and interests might help us decide. In Kindergarten we read Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Suess and the kids made some adorable Hot Air Balloons saying what they wanted to be when they grow up. We put Ms. Windmiller's class up on my bulletin board but I ran out of room so Mrs. Creasy's class just got to take theirs home. They turned out so cute and the kids got to practice writing which is always good!

  

In first grade we read When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic (yes Weird Al) and the kids loved it! It helps let the children know that there are so many possibilities out there and it is great to explore all of those options and that they don't need to know exactly what they want to be when they are in first grade! They got to play some games on the ipad that went along with the book at the end of class:)

In second grade the kids were thrilled because I assigned them homework....oh wait, that can't be right;) I should say that they were thrilled because I gave them homework to assign to their parents! You're welcome;) When they brought it back we sat in a circle and the kids got to share what one parent does for a living and teach us about what career path that was in and why. They LOVED it and parents, you did a great job too! We forgot to take pictures:(

We then moved on to talking about Empathy and learned that it really is just a fancy word for understanding and caring about other people's feelings. We had Elmo and Mark Ruffalo help us understand in K-1. The kids in Mrs. Redig's class also enjoyed working on a coloring page that accompanied the book. In Kindergarten and 1st grade we played a game called Catch the Kindness in which we threw a ball to a friend and told them one nice thing about them and so on and so on.

We also read the book by Maria Dismondy, The Potato Chip Champ and discussed how the two main characters showed empathy. We read the story aloud together and the students got to be detectives and let me know when they saw Empathy! If you are interested in having your child do the same for you I will include the youtube video of the author reading the book below.

2nd grade read the same book but we played a game in small groups in which the children drew cards that had different scenarios on them, if the scenario was one in which Empathy was shown they moved forward, if not backwards. They had so much fun and they really understood Empathy after they played.

When we get back from Spring Break we are talking about Team Work and then we are pretty much done with Counselor K-2 and Mrs. Lenz's 5th grade. I will be with them for one class period at the end of the school year to go over summer safety. So they will be heading back to Mrs. Sherman in Media Center. I will be with 3-5 (Stewart's 5th graders) for the remainder of the year minus that one week switch. Hope everyone has a safe and relaxing Spring Break!

Lots of Catching up!

Oh my goodness! This year is getting away from me. I have really gotten behind in keeping you informed. We have been doing a lot of learning in between snow days (or snow weeks). When I last posted the third through fifth graders had just finished up talking about Diversity and Bullying. I have since moved back to working with K-2 students along with the second section of fifth grade (Mrs. Lenz's class). We started off with a bang in Kindergarten (or should I say, with a booger). You are probably wondering what in the world I am talking about. Well we began talking about personal awareness and in Kindergarten we have a lot of nose pickers! We try to deal with this issue early (you are welcome parents) so we can break yucky habits. We read I'm a Booger, Treat Me with Respect by Julia Cook and learned why nose picking is not a good thing. We learned how to make a booger ghost with a kleenex (insert giggles here) and we played pin the booger ghost on the nose. Needless to say, it was a favorite among the kiddos!

In first grade we journeyed to Personal Space Camp and learned that our personal space is the amount of space a person needs to feel comfortable. We all have comfort bubbles (usually about a hula hoops distance) and if we are not careful we might pop someone else's bubble! We learned that there is invited space like when someone offers you a hug or high five when it is ok to enter their bubble. This was a week of Julia Cook (one of my favorite authors for counseling resources as she is a former school counselor). We read her story, Personal Space Camp and acted out many of the scenarios in class. The kids received personal space camp graduation certificates that they decorated at the end of class.

In second grade we read My Mouth is a Volcano (also by Julia Cook) and discovered there are appropriate and inappropriate ways and times to interrupt someone. Most times, what we have to say can wait until someone else is finished but occasionally there are emergencies that need attention right away. We practiced in small groups finding appropriate times to interrupt friends who are talking in polite ways. The kids also made a new book cover for the book we read. They turned out so cute!!!

In fifth grade we talked about study skills and watched a video to learn some helpful tips which we then put to the test by taking a self-assessment and leaning what we can do better when it comes to our own study habits. 

Then came the snow that kept us out of school for a week! I hope you did lots of snuggling and staying warm! I know that is what we did in my family. My husband even got a few days off with us which was nice!

enjoying some snow cuddles with my daughter

When we finally made it back to school we began talking about Goal Setting. In Kindergarten we read The Little Engine that Could and discussed the importance of determination/ never giving up. We talked about something that we were dedicated to and the kids drew pictures and we made a train and displayed it in the hallway. It was so stinking cute! Hopefully you saw it during parent teacher conferences. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it before taking it down! In first and second grade we read Loretta Ace Pinky Scout and talked about how we each are already good at many things but there are some things we still need to work at. We talked about the importance of long and short term goals and in the end we made badges for some of the things we had already become "experts" at. We had a badge ceremony where the kids shared the goals they had already accomplished.

In fifth grade we watched an interview with an Olympic bobsledder. He talked about his journey to become an olympic athlete and the goals he set and obstacles that came up. We then made a goal map, laying out our long term goal with short term goals in between. The kids also included obstacles they might face and how they would deal with them. They turned out really nice. This project took two class periods.

After we finished up talking about goals we had a character building lesson K-2. We read the book How Full is Your Bucket for Kids and learned that we all have imaginary buckets above our heads. When we do nice things for others we put a drop in their bucket and in our own because it makes them feel good and it makes us feel good. When we put others down we dip from their buckets and make them feel bad. We discussed ways we can be bucket fillers or dippers and played Bucket Filler Bingo. In Ms. Cooksey's class we also made bucket filler art.

We followed that week up with a lesson on Courage. The students K-2 read the book Cloudette, a story about a tiny cloud who wanted to do something big and important but she wasn't sure just what to do or how she would do it. It wasn't until a storm came in and blew Cloudette far from home until she discovered that with a little courage she really could do something special. Although Cloudette was small, she was able to accomplish something very big. In Kindergarten we discussed things that we do that take courage and we drew them in a rain drop under each of our clouds and made a class poster. In first and second grade the students drew (in a much bigger cloud) a time when they had to show courage. We shared as a large group.

Currently the students and I are talking about Honesty. In Kindergarten we watched a video in which students find themselves in different scenarios involving honesty. The ideas of cheating, lying, and just not sharing information when asked were presented and the "Truth Fairy" helped us decide honest solutions. When the video was over we sat in a circle and took turns being the truth fairy and solving problems with honesty. We didn't take any pictures:( In 1st grade the students and I discussed stealing. We read the book Ricky Sticky Fingers by Julia Cook and learned that stealing is when you take something that doesn't belong to you without asking. It doesn't matter how big or small something is, if we take it without permission and it does not belong to us, that is dishonest and it is stealing. We played the honesty game in which students role played scenarios and had to decide the honest solution to their problem. 

In second grade we read Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big and talked about how sometimes a little lie can grow into a big lie. We played the honesty game and the kids worked on a handout in which they drew a picture of a time when a tiny lie grew and grew.

Tomorrow we begin talking about careers. The students always look forward to this topic! Fifth grade didn't meet this week because yesterday was yet another snow day! I will look forward to seeing them Friday. Hopefully I can keep up better this time! I know that was a long post! Have a great week. I should mention that it is literacy week. I hope everyone is reading!!!