Counseling Corner
Jennifer Lee, School Counselor
February 2019
Classroom Guidance Update
As an integral part of our school's comprehensive school counseling program, I will be delivering Classroom counseling lessons to your child two or three times a quarter. This is a way for me to teach the whole school and get to know our students better. I love Classroom Guidance! Your child may come home and share that they had a special friend in their classroom ;) As the school counselor, I will be teaching lessons on personal/social, career and academic development. I developed a Teacher Needs' Assessment and then teachers get to decide the most important topics for classroom guidance.
Kindergarten- 2nd Grade-STEPS to SUCCESS special
K-2 students will be starting to learn about EMOTION MANAGEMENT this month. In this unit, students are taught proactive strategies to help prevent strong feelings from turning into negative behaviors. Students with the skills to manage strong emotions, such as anger, anxiety, embarrassment, fear, and jealousy are more likely to:
*Get along with peers and make good choices
*Cope with strong emotions and express them in socially acceptable ways
*Be successful in school
They will be learning the CALMING DOWN STEPS
1. STOP
2. Name your feeling
3. Calm down--Belly breathe, count to 10, positive self talk.
Mrs. Piltzer will be playing a fun song with the students to help them learn these skills.
3rd Grade
In this lesson we will first tackle the question of "What is Bullying?" Bullying is about behavior, not a person. Bullying is defined as unfair and one-sided. It is done with intent (on purpose). It has a pattern (repeated over time), and there is an imbalance of power. It happens when someone keeps hurting, frightening, threatening, or leaving someone out on purpose
Students are introduced to the "Three Rs of Bullying" (Recognize, Refuse, Report) This lesson will focus on recognizing bullying and what a person feels like when he or she is in a bullying situation. I will be using a book series over the next 3 lessons. The first book is called "Weird" which is told through the perspective of the person being targeted in a bullying situation. The stories are told through the eyes of the target, aggressor, or a bystander. Each picture book tells the same story, however it is being told through a different perspective. At the end of the lesson children will help identify positive thoughts as a strategy to help the feelings of being bullied. We created a classroom poster of positive thoughts that students can read throughout the day.
4th Grade--This month we will be discussing the topic of gossip and rumors. In this lesson we will define what gossip is, discuss how it creates conflict and the affect it can have on everyone involved, and identify ways that they can be positive change agents to stop gossip from happening. Your child will be hearing the story Mr. Peabody's Apples, written by Madonna. Please ask your child about the "Kind Words" Contract that he or she signed promising to spread kindness and not gossip.
5th Grade--I will be visiting each classroom over the next couple of months to begin to help them prepare for middle school. This month we will talk about changes in the past, present, and future. Students will take a survey about their feelings towards middle school. We will discuss all of the various feelings that are natural when we begin a new transition. We will also be spending "A Day in the Life of a Middle Schooler". Students were shown a schedule that could be similar to the schedule they will be following next year. We used a blank map of a middle school and "walked" through our day. Throughout this lesson we discussed time management, organization, and the type of obstacles that could get in our way while walking from class to class.
Parents of 5th Graders
5th Grade MIDDLE SCHOOL INFORMATION!!!!
Please read the letter that will be coming home with students the week of 2/25. I will begin the registration process for 5th grade during the week of March 11th :)
Please have a discussion about the elective courses that your child would like to sign up for!
You may review the elective course options available to your child at this website: www.wcpss.net/rising6th
If you need a paper copy of the elective form, please email me! jlee5@wcpss.net
Middle School Open House Dates
Moore Square MS- February 25th 8:00-9:00am
Pine Hollow MS- April 11th
West Lake MS- March 7th 6:30pm-8:00pm
March 21st at Walnut Creek 6:30-7:30pm
West Millbrook MS-April 11th
Student Tours: 9:45am-11:10am
Parent Information Session: 5:45pm-7:20pm
Parent Community Event: My Child, Your Child & Social Media
Parent Community Event: My Child, Your Child & Social Media
Thursday, Apr 18, 2019, 06:30 PM
Sycamore Creek Elementary School, Leesville Road, Raleigh, NC, USA
Small Groups
Small group counseling is offered to students to support and enhance the development of personal and social skills and to support and promote academic success. Small groups allow children to develop coping skills, a sense of belonging, and to realize that they are not alone in their concerns. Small groups are based on data and referrals from teachers, parents, and/or the child themselves.
Groups this month:
All About Me (4th and 5th) The focus of this group is on building self esteem/concept. It will allow students the opportunity to share feelings and learn some skills that will help them to have confidence in themselves and to continue to build a growth mindset.
Attendance Check-In (K-2)-Selected students will be in our check-in group to help reduce the their unexcused absences and encourage being at school on time each day. Each identified student will have a calendar sticker chart to record their daily arrival for the third quarter.
Groups typically run for 4-6 weeks and meet once a week for a 30-40 minute period. Groups will meet during lunch time to minimize time away from core instruction.
Special Announcements
National School Counseling Week
Since it was National School Counseling Week earlier this month, I thought I would help answer your burning question of "What exactly do you DO as the School Counselor???" Many of you may not have had a school counselor when you were in school. For those of you who did, there is a good possibility that school counselors have very different functions now than they did 10 or 20 years ago!
I'm not one to toot my own horn but I think it's important to advocate for how school counselors can PARTNER with parents and educators to help children find success and remove barriers. This will help explain why I LOVE my job so much! I am honored to work with parents, students & educators.
Elementary School Counselors Implement the Counseling Program by Providing:
School Guidance Curriculum
- Academic support, including organizational, study and test-taking skills
- Goal setting and decision-making
- Career awareness, exploration and planning
- Education on understanding self and others
- Peer relationships, coping strategies and effective social skills
- Communication, problem-solving and conflict resolution
- Multicultural/diversity awareness
Academic planning
- Goal setting/decision- making
- Education on understanding of self, including strengths and weaknesses
- Transition plans
Responsive Services
- Individual and small-group counseling
- Individual/family/school crisis intervention
- Conflict resolution
- Consultation/collaboration
- Referrals
System Support
- Professional development
- Consultation, collaboration and teaming
- Program management and operation
School counselors are actively engaged in helping students examine their abilities, strengths, interests and talents; working in a partnership with parents as they encounter the challenges of raising children in today's world; focusing on positive ways to enhance students' social/personal, educational and career development; and working with teachers and other educators to provide an educational system where students can realize their potential and set healthy, realistic and optimistic aspirations for themselves. Professional school counselors are certified, experienced educators with a master's degree in guidance and counseling. The combination of their training and experience makes them an integral part of the total educational program.
I LOVE BEING A SCHOOL COUNSELOR!
WE are looking for BACKPACKS!
We are collecting GENTLY used or NEW backpacks for students who may be in need of one. If you have an extra, gently used backpack that is still in good condition please send it in to Mrs. Lee. Please make sure there aren't names written inside or anywhere on the gently used backpack. Thank you so much for helping us!!!!
Contact Info
For as long as I can remember I wanted to work with children. I graduated from SUNY Cortland in NY with a Bachelor’s Degree in Childhood Education and was a first and second grade teacher for almost 9 years. While teaching, I realized my true passion was to become a school counselor. In 2014, I received my Master’s Degree in School Counseling from NC State. When I am not working with children I enjoy traveling to NY to see family, spending time with my husband and friends, going to the beach, and cheering on my favorite sports team...the SYRACUSE ORANGEMEN!!
Email: jconnors@wcpss.net
Website: http://bcessupportservices.weebly.com/
Location: 9801 Brier Creek Parkway, Raleigh, NC, United States
Phone: 919-484-4747 -- 20118
Twitter: @bcessupport