NFMS School Counselor's Corner
Lisa Mooney 8th * Megan Severino 7th * Amy Jacques 6th
Ms. Mooney, 8th Grade School Counselor
IN 8th GRADE?
ORANGE
8th grade orange team students are hard at work too. In Mr. Conway’s language arts class they are currently presenting timelines of the science fiction books that they read. His class is reading “The Giver” book and will be engaging in a Socratic seminar about it. Mrs. Lowry’s science class is working on forces in gravity and friction. Then they will move on to learning about genetics. Students are learning about the American Revolution including “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine and the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson. Students in Mrs. Bertando’s math class are working on linear equations and functions. The Algebra class will be working on linear regression and systems of equations.
PURPLE
On the 8 purple team students are continuing to work on group journeys by reading book club books in Mrs. McNamara’s language arts class such as “The Boy that Harnessed the Wind.” In Ms. Kochis’s math class they have finished learning about transformations and are starting to learn about expressions and equations. The statistics unit and scatterplots trend lines are being learned in Algebra class. Then they will learn about systems of linear equations. In Mrs. Wilson’s science class students’ are learning about Newton’s Laws, doing a lab on friction, and moving into bridges. Mrs. Coffey’s social studies class is working on a timeline that represents the causes of the American Revolution in a gallery walk through. For Core 21 class in social studies they will be working on a Bill of Rights infomercial.
IMPORTANT 8th GRADE DATES FOR HIGH SCHOOL TRANSITION
- High school counselors will be coming over to explain the program of studies book and answer high school questions for the 8 purple team on 1/11 and on 1/12 for the 8 orange team.
- Our Program of Studies night will now take place on 1/13 at 6:30 in the high school cafeteria. All 8th grade parents and students are welcome. The 1/12 date was cancelled due to weather.
- The 8 orange team will be exploring high school elective classes on 1/25.
- The 8 purple team will have a tour of the elective classes on 1/26.
- In the spring 8th graders will be given a tour of the high school, meet some high school teachers, and have a tour of high school clubs.
A shout out to NFMS's Band
in 7th grade?
Happy New Year!
As we enter into the second half of the school year, we will be continuing to work with the seventh graders to become more familiar with utilizing Naviance. In the fall, students updated their Student Success Plans (SSPs), which included a question that asks them what job or career they think they might be interested in pursuing as an adult. During the winter, we will turn our focus to career exploration. Students will have the opportunity to take the Career Key Interest Inventory, where they will be able to make connections between their interests and career options. In middle school, we are not asking students to make career decisions, but rather, we are encouraging them to start to explore and research careers of interest to them. This way, students will have the opportunity to gain a better understanding about tasks/activities associated with their careers of interest, education/training necessary to reach certain careers, as well as potential wages/earnings. In February, students will have the chance to use Naviance to begin their exploration.
6th Grade Dream Board
NFMS Dream Board is growing!
A science and math enthusiast!
In addition, as a counseling department, we have created a College and Career Dream Board in the cafeteria. When Ed Gerety visited in the fall, he spoke about the benefits of developing a Dream Board, which is a place where students can identify a goal (usually accompanied by a picture or pictures). By creating a visual, the hope is that it will be viewed regularly and act as a motivational tool to help encourage students to reach their goal. We have invited all middle school students to create a Dream Board, where they identify their college and/or career goal for the future. We will be displaying them in the cafeteria, and students do not need to put any identifying information on their boards. Please encourage your child to participate!
College and Career Fun with one of our 6th Grade Students and Mrs. Jacques, the 6th grade school counselor.
WITH MRS. JACQUES AND WHAT DOES SHE HAVE AVAILABLE TO HELP HER 6th GRADE STUDENTS?
6th Grade students have been invited to join Mrs. Jacques, School Counselor’s Corner Google classroom. Each 6th grade team has it’s own school counselor Goggle classroom where students can get resources, tips and ideas on all the topics that are covered when Mrs. Jacques does developmental guidance lessons. This classroom serves as a reminder and support to what Mrs. Jacques feels are useful when learning how to become a student and a citizen.
Currently there is a newsletter that reviews the first developmental guidance unit about being an organized student. The newsletter has a fun video clip about becoming a middle school student, a review survey and some tips on how to ask for help at home. The classroom also provides resources for learning how to break down large assignments, how to take notes and they can take a survey to let Mrs. Jacques know of their ability and needs in this area.
The School Counselor’s Corner is a place where Mrs. Jacques likes to add resources on how to become an upstander and good citizen in our NFMS community and beyond. Just reminders to our students that our actions count. Students will find announcements here for other activities they can participate in. None of the items in the classroom are mandatory to participate in, it is just a place students can go to for practical and meaningful resources and another way they can communicate with their counselor.