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!!!

The kids and I have been plugging away since we came back from winter break and I think we are looking forward to our three day weekend coming up! It is hard getting back into the swing of things sometimes! We are doing it though. So in the last post you saw my little sunflower cuties. We talked about self-esteem before winter break and unfortunately because of the two snow days when we returned only half the classes got those lessons! In third grade we read the adorable book Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon and talked about ways in which we were all special and unique. The kids made sunflowers and wrote something unique about them on each petal. They were all quite proud as they should be! (check out the photos from the last post)

In fourth grade we read the beautiful book, Wings about Ikarus Jackson, a new kid in town with an impressive set of wings. The other kids didn't find them so impressive though and treated him badly because he was different. We talked about how our differences make us special and unique and there is no one exactly like us in the world. The kids decorated their own set of wings showing their interests and hobbies.

Fifth grade didn't meet that week due to snow:(

The next topic we covered in Counselor was bullying. In third grade we read The Juice Box Bully and talked about how awesome our school would be if we all promised to take care of ourselves, eachother and our classroom like the kids in the book did. We agreed to not be bystanders if we see others getting bullied. We can do this by not participating in activities that involve teasing, by standing up for others if they do not have the courage to stand up for themselves and by making a choice to include everyone and make everyone feel welcome. The kids made flowers for a classroom kindness garden. The flowers were adorned with anti-bullying messages and pictures.

 

 

In fourth grade we read the book Just Kidding and talked about how humor is a great thing but sometimes it can cross a line and become bullying. Teasing can be an example of this. We learned the teasing dos and don'ts and played a game in which the students paired up and one person read a tease card to the other and the person getting teased had to use humor to diffuse the situation. The only rule was that what you said back to the teaser couldn't be mean. So for example the teaser might call someone "four eyes" and then that person could say, "You are right, wearing glasses is like having an extra set of eyes. Thanks for noticing." You can imagine the fun the children had with this game;)

 

In fifth grade the kids watched a video called Real Kids, What I Learned about Bullying. They heard stories from both kids who were bullied and kids who had been bullies themselves. The video addresses why some kids bully and how one can seek help if he is being bullied. The kids always have such wonderful discussion on this topic. They enjoyed working on a bullying crossword puzzle and watched a music video created by a high school in which the whole school participated to send a powerful message. They loved it and we decided we need to do something like that here! I will include the video below!

 

This week we have moved on to talking about Diversity. In all classes we noticed ways we were the same and ways we were different and talked about the importance of having all kinds of people in this world. The kids always have really great discussions on this topic as well. We talked about how even though we know differences are a good thing and they are what make us special and unique, too often people are still treated poorly or unfairly because of thier differences. We talked about how often the treatment stems from uncomfortable feelings because we don't understand something. We discussed appropriate ways to ask people about their differences to show that we are interested rather than making them feel as though their difference is a negative thing.

 

In third grade we read Spaghetti in a Hotdog Bun and made magic glasses that when worn help you to understand how others are feeling in any given situation. I gave the students different scenarios and they told me how the different people might have felt in each situation. The glasses were a hit!

 

 

In fourth grade we watched the movie version of the Dr. Seuss book, The Sneetches. The kids all noticed immediately how this story illustrated what we had been talking about right away. There were star bellied sneetches and plain bellied sneetches and the star bellied sneetches didn't allow the plain bellies to participate in thier activities etc. You can check it out on Youtube if you are curious. We discussed how students can be like sneetches sometimes.

 

 

 

In fifth grade we read The Boy Who Grew Flowers as was mentioned in an earlier post when Mrs. Lenz's class had this lesson.

 

Phew, I am all caught up! I have one more class with each 3-5 group and then I switch back to K-2. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

SNEAK PEEK!!

I will write about what we are doing this week and right after break when we come back but the kids are so stinking cute I can't help but give you a sneak peek! Here are some photos from the past couple of days to hold you over until the New Year!

Mrs. Lampe's Sunflowers

Ms. Weber's Cuties

Ms. Chostner's Class Hard at Work

Mrs. Swopes Kiddos

Kindness is like a boomerang! Have you ever thought about that? That is what we have been talking about in Counselor this week. The kids and I have been having WONDERFUL conversations about acts of kindness and how important it is to think of others and what they might be needing or wanting. We talked about how when you do something kind for another person, many times that kindness comes back around and is shown to you. We talked about the motivation to do kind things for others and how hopefully we are motivated by wanting to help where help is needed or wanting others to feel good when we feel good or have someone to talk to when they might not be feeling so great. We discussed that when we do a kind deed hoping for something in return we miss the point a little bit. The kids watched the clip below to illustrate how kindness comes back around like a boomerang.

Kindness Boomerang

We also read the book The Giving Tree by Shell Silverstein and talked about how at first glance/read we might think the little boy in the story is quite selfish, always taking from the tree and never giving anything in return. When we talked about it a little more though, we realized the tree never expected anything in return and if we looked really closely, the only time the tree was sad was when the boy wasn't around. He always came back and therefore he gave her his friendship, his loyalty, his time (not all of it) and his love. Some of the best things we can give might not be seen at first glance but hopefully they will be felt. The kids made apples with a kind deed they could do  that wouldn't cost any money between now and January 6 when we come back from break. We added the apples to the Giving Tree bulletin board outside my office.

When everyone finished they had a chance to practice throwing our "kindness boomerang" to illustrate the concept of our kindness being thrown out into the world and coming back to us. Fun was had by all:)

I hope everyone has a safe and fun winter break! See you in 2014!

Time is really flying by and I am having trouble keeping up with the blog! The schedule gets really hectic around school this time of year and with only three weeks between Thanksgiving Break and Winter Break, we are all feeling the craziness! This will be a post to fill you in on what you have missed and what we have coming.

Since the last post the kids and I have started talking about safety. We learned that at school we prepare for all kinds of situations so that we always know how to be safe. We practice for bad weather, fire, intruders etc. We talked about how we hope these things never happen, and they don't happen very often but when they do we can feel more comfortable because we have practiced and know just what we should be doing. In 3rd grade we watched a game show type video where the kids played along on white boards answering safety questions and keeping score. In 4th grade we watched a video called If You Feel Danger and the kids completed a handout in which they had to think about a time when they made unsafe choices and then identify what they should have done instead. In 5th grade students watched the Out of the Danger Zone video Mrs. Lenz's class watched a couple of months ago.

This year I have implemented a Positive Behavior Incentive program the kids refer to as the "Happy Cup/ Sad Cup." Ask them about it, they can tell you what it is all about. All of my current 3-5th grade classes earned their first positive behaviors reward at the same time so we celebrated last week by watching a "non-counselor movie" as they put it;) They were all thrilled and encouraged to start earning positive behavior points toward their next incentive.

This week we are having our Abuse Prevention lessons much like we had for K-2 earlier in the year. Parents should have received a pink note from me after they viewed the material and we had our discussion. Please contact me if you have any questions. There is one class left to watch the video and have the lesson (Miss Tedrow's 4th grade) and they will have it tomorrow.

After we finish up Abuse Prevention we are  moving into Kindness and Self-Esteem.

I will try to add some photos of our busy times here at school but I know that lately I have been so busy I forget to take pictures during class! I think I have a few though:)

Happy Holidays!

3rd grade playing along

3rd grade game show

4th grade safety activity

 4th grade safety activity



 

I Got behind! Parent Teacher conferences were last week and that is usually about the time I start getting behind! I apologize for the delay in blog posts! I have now switched to working with 3rd through 5th graders and we began by talking about Friendship last week. In third grade we took a Friendship Voyage on the smart board learning important lessons about making and keeping friends. In fourth we learned How to Lose All Your Friends and discussed the qualities we look for in friends and what qualities we should posess as friends. The kids had fun with a friendship word find competition as well! In Ms. Stewart's fifth grade class we talked about how sometimes we might be friends with people who make us uncomfortable. We read the book Sorry! and learned the difference between sincere and insincere apologies. We discussed the difficulties that come along with wanting to feel "cool" and making good choices. I only took 1 picture that week! Here, Ms. Tedrow's class works on thier friendship word find.

This week we have moved on to talking about feelings. In 3rd grade we are discussing worries and how we can sometimes make them worse when we dwell on them. We are reading Is a Worry Worrying You and the kids are designing their worry monsters and thinking of creative ways to get rid of their worries. In 4th grade we talked about how most of the time when we are worried about something it is because of a problem. We discussed how some problems are "Rock Problems" and some problems are "Clay" problems. Things like not getting your homework done, or having a poor attitude or fighting with a friend are clay problems. You are in control of them, you have the power to change them etc. One's parents getting a divorce or what teacher you have or where you live are examples of rock problems. No matter how much we think about them, worry about them or wish they were different we do not have the power to change or control those problems. Instead we must find ways of coping with them and leave our worries behind. We read Wilma Jean the Worry Machine and learned how to take control of our worries. In fifth grade we talked about anger. We read the book Soda Pop Head and learned that anger is usually a secondary emotion and underneath it often is a fear or a worry. We learned some ways we can keep our cool and not blow our tops when we get angry. The children wrote about taking a "mental vacation" and thinking about a relaxing environment/ daydream to get them through angry moments.

Great books to use for worry and anger!

 

3rd graders drawing what their "worry monsters" would look like and how they would get rid of them

 

5th graders making a list of "mental vacation spots" and drawing their favorite one