Classroom Guidance 10/19/09 - 11-25-09

Kindergarten:

We are learning to recognize when we have strong feelings. We learned that we need to be careful with out choices and other people when we have strong feelings like frustration and anger. We learned ways to calm down, stay in control and make wiser choices when we are upset. We also are talking about ways we can be helpful. Who should we care about? And ...How can we show we care about others.

1st Grade:

We have been learning ways to identify our feelings and recognize how others are feeling. We are also learning how to predict how other people might feel in various situations. We have learned how much our actions and behavior impact how others feel. We have studied about the things we do everyday that make us look either friendly or unfriendly.

2nd Grade:

We have been learning strategies to deal with bullying. We have learned about intentions...thinking about if something was an accident or done on purpose. We are also learning about how to tell if something is fair or not


3rd Grade:

We are also learning how to predict how other people might feel in various situations. We have learned how much our actions and behavior impact how others feel. We have been practicing friendship skills like making ourselves look friendly, how to introduce ourselves to new friends, things we can do that help us keep friends, things we might do that get in the way of friendships, and how to handle rejection. We are also learning ways to calm down and make smart choices when we get angry.

Classroom Guidance 10/6/09 - 10/19/09

Kindergarten: In kindergarten we are learning more about our feelings and why they are so important.

1st Grade: We are learning how to identify our own and others feelings, and how to deal appropriately with them.

2nd Grade: We are learning about respect and the power of the words we say.

3rd Grade: We are learning about appropriate ways to express concerns and the importance of practicing active listening

Classroom Guidance 9/23 - 10/5 2009

Kindergarten:

We are talking about feelings and why they are important. We are learning that noticing and thinking about the feelings of others helps us have more friends and get along better.

1st Grade:

We are learning how our actions and choices impact other people.

2nd Grade:

We are talking about how to be a person you can be proud of.

3rd Grade:

We are learning about dealing with conflicting feelings. We are also discussing what makes people become leaders, and how students can become leaders here at school.

Classroom Guidance 9/8 - 9/17

Kindergarten:

We are learning how helpful we can be with our hands. We learned that our hands are not for hurting. We promised not to use our hands or our words to hurt other people.

1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade:

We are learning and practicing strategies to effectively handle people who bug us.

Classroom Guidance 8/24/09 - 9/3/09

I have already met with every classroom in these first few weeks. In my lesson we are working on empathy and perspective taking. Empathy requires identifying other people’s feelings. Perspective taking involves realizing people can see the same situation differently. Children begin to see how their words and actions impact other people. This lays the groundwork for developing the important social skills that we will be working on this year. We learned clues to watch for so we can see how other people are feeling. We talked about ways we can make our school a caring school.

Over the summer I received this notice from the state:

Congratulations! I am very pleased to inform you that your

Gold Star Renewal portfolio was approved by the review team!

We commend you for the tremendous amount of work you have done to reach this honor over the last several years. Your school exhibits the highest level of school counseling professionalism in Indiana by meeting or exceeding the Indiana School Counseling Program Standards.

The Gold Star designation is also recognized nationally through the American School Counselor Association’s highest award – the RAMP Award for Recognized ASCA Model Programs.

That's great news for all our students.

Second Step Classroom Guidance Lessons

This year I am excited to be adding Second Step Lessons to our guidance curriculum. These lessons will enhance what we have already been doing, and provide even more of a solid foundation for our students in the lifeskills that they need to be successful in school and life.

I have a DVD for parents to borrow (if interested) that gives a good overview of the program.
If you'd like to borrow it just stop in or call. Or click here for more information:

http://www.cfchildren.org/programs/ssp/overview/