Social-Emotional Learning News
News on SEL Activities, Wellness, Events, & Training #5
Week of November 1st, 2021
It's COLLEGE WEEK!! or we could say we are Looking Toward Our Future!
It's sort of fitting that College Week comes after our Homecoming and Red Ribbon Week. We celebrated our school, our teams and organizations, we crowned a Queen and King, and learned to take care of ourselves by making good decisions regarding drugs and our health. It's great that now, we look forward toward our future, which for many will include college or another form of post secondary training.
This newsletter and website have ideas, videos, journal prompts, activities, and mindfulness exercises to encourage you and your students to have a healthy and hopeful look to the future. We recently had an amazing assembly at CMS that touched on suicide. One preventative action that can help is to focus on future goals, reducing stress and anxiety, and holding on to hope. I encourage you all to be positive cheerleaders for all students' futures and for each other.
Below you will find HEY! Day information for November so you can plan ahead! Remember to wear green on Wednesdays!
Find out more on the Cougar CARES Website!
Take Care and Read on!
Laura
3 SEL Signature Practices CISD PD
Thursday, Nov 4, 2021, 03:00 PM
CHS
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
HEY! Week Has Turned Into HEY! Day!! EVERY WEDNESDAY!!
Hey!
Keep up the positivity by having HEY! Day every Wednesday!
You all have created some amazing energy over the past few weeks! We will continue to have a District-wide focus each Wednesday with some options for your campus and classroom. Remember to WEAR GREEN on Wednesdays to promote friendliness!
SEE BELOW FOR ALL OF NOVEMBER'S HEY! DAYS!!
For your social media photos - tag @Crosby ISD and use the hashtags #HEY #HeyDay
Or you can also send photos over to either Ms. Richard or Mr. Birkinbine via email.
HEY! It's College Week!!
HEY! DAY November 3rd!
CHS is going all out for College Week and we want to encourage everyone to participate in HEY Day on Wednesday the 3rd as we celebrate with the Seniors and wear Green! You can also Focus on the Future during College Week!
Great activities for all students on HEY! Day! During College Week!
Write a Headline or a Letter to Your Future Self - All students can imagine what their future can be and write what they think would be written about them in the future! What does your headline say in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years? Students can write a Headline, illustrate it and post it up on the wall in the hallway! I'd love to get photos of that!
Kid President Video about the Future - Here
Bars and Melody (from Britain's Got Talent) music video "Hopeful" - HERE
"High Hopes" Kids Bop music video - HERE
HEY! Let's Serve Others!
HEY! Day November 10th!
Celebrate the World Kindness Day a little early!! (It's Nov. 13th)
Want to feel better? Have a more positive attitude? One sure way to improve your mindset, attitude and emotional state is by helping other people.
On HEY! Day on Nov. 10th, encourage your students to go out of their way to find people to help, do something "extra" for someone, and have them share how they feel.
The objective of World Kindness Day is to spread kindness with small gestures. The main tradition of the day is to be kind and to try and encourage kindness to prevail over hatred. Whether it’s helping out someone with chores, taking the time out to ask how someone is doing, or complimenting someone, the name of the game is kindness, and we all have it in us.
Great activities for all students on HEY! Day World Kindness Day!
Acts of Service BINGO cards - HERE - Play a game of BINGO with your class! Have a class
competition on your campus to see who can accomplish the most Acts of Service!
Kid President video about giving back - HERE
This is a great video on how an attitude of helpfulness can change you for the better! HERE
Video on World Kindness Day - HERE
#HEYDay #WorldKindnessDay #ActsOfKindness
HEY!! Have an Attitude of Gratitude!
HEY! Day November 17th!
On HEY! Day, Nov. 17th, let's write a note of thanks to others today! Have your class write a note to the librarian, the custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, helpers, parents, teachers - whomever they want to to say a kind word of Thanks!
Great activities for all students on HEY! Day Day of Gratitude
Make a big poster of Gratitude and have everyone write on it to say thank you to others -
"What I'm Grateful For".
Mindfulness Thoughts or Writing Prompts - Use these to prompt your students to reflect grateful thoughts about things we don't always think about. Have them sit quietly with their thoughts, journal write, or share out loud:
Who is a person from your past who made you a better person?
What is a modern convenience that makes your life easier?
What’s a past challenge you got through that made you stronger or wiser?
Who is a person who makes you laugh?
Great activities about being Grateful - HERE
Gratitude BINGO - HERE - This is another BINGO game that can be a great motivator to get
students thinking about gratitude and demonstrating it all week! Have a competition with
your class, your campus or share with families to do over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Why being Grateful is important short video - HERE
Kid President 25 Reasons to be Grateful video - HERE
Gratitude music playlist - HERE
Congratulations to Our Administrators, Counselors and Educators on Earning Their Certificate in Restorative Discipline Practices for Community Building Circles!!
What are Restorative Discipline Practices?
Mindfulness for Educators
Check Out This Great Mindfulness App for Educators!
This is a new app for me to check out and I am liking what it is all about. Smiling Mind is produced by a non-profit company in Australia and all of its content is completely FREE! There is no yearly subscription to get to more or better content. The company says that they started out providing activities and practices for students, but have expanded to adults for work and home. The app also has a focus on secondary students! (I do not always find this with many companies) The website has research on mindfulness and other information.
Benefits of using Smiling Mind:
Improved sleep quality
Reduction in psychological distress and tension
Enhanced ability to describe and accept emotions
Improved mindfulness
Enhanced wellbeing
Enhanced ability to manage emotions
Improved concentration
Improved school and classroom behavior
Check it out with me this week!
Check out Smiling Mind for the Work Place (Educators) - HERE
Check out Smiling Mind App information - HERE
Secondary Student Modules - HERE
Reduce Stress and Be More Present - That's What Mindfulness is All About!
Check out the Mindfulness strategies and practices on the Cougar CARES website.
These activities are geared to helping calm your brain and reduce stress.
These are great for your students as well!
https://sites.google.com/crosbyisd.org/cougarcaresresourcecenter/home?authuser=0
3 SEL Signature Practices PD on November 4th!!
3 SEL Signature Practices - #1 Inclusive Welcome
Check out the Cougar CARES page on the 3 SEL Signature Practices and listen to a brief video on how to start using the Inclusive Welcome strategy! Website Page - HERE
Brief video on using the 3 SEL Signature Practices Playbook - HERE
3 SEL Signature Practices Inclusive Welcome Playbook - HERE
Here is the 3 SEL Signature Practices Inclusive Welcome Padlet with great ideas to use!
Please add in your own ideas and share with everyone what works for you!
Project RESTORE Trauma Informed Instruction
This "Lunch and Learn" was about the overview of the Project RESTORE training modules from TEA that help you know more about identifying and instructing students who have experienced trauma or chronic stress, which can benefit us all!
Check out the overview and the online modules at
https://www.texasprojectrestore.org/
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xKT6chuInwea2D4YoMaixriKtj7KH4DxfdtvA0J9jv4/copy#slide=id.p
Laura RĂchard
Please let me know and be sure and check the Cougar CARES website! It is updated at least weekly!
Email: lrichard@crosbyisd.org
Website: https://sites.google.com/crosbyisd.org/cougarcaresresourcecenter/home
Phone: 281-328-9200
Twitter: @lrich_99