US COUNSELING & ADVISORY NEWSLETTER

4th December, 2020

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GRATITUDE & GOALS

Dear Students,

WELCOME TO TRIMESTER TWO


We ended Trimester One with a Sharing Assembly during our Advisory time where our Student Council members addressed us on the importance of community in the midst of diversity, as well as entertained us with a Thanksgiving Kahoot. In the Spirit of Thanksgiving, our Peer Counselors also shared with us what they were grateful for and ended with Michael Jackson's Song - "Heal The World" - very apt for our times. Cheers to our Senior Sofia Freire for her beautiful rendition of this song. The whole auditorium was touched and felt the power of that moment.


We cannot take these moments for granted because in other parts of the world students cannot be in each others physical presence as we are able to now, and we all know that this makes a world of a difference for us. We are happier when we are together and this FACT is experienced everyday and was especially felt during our Sharing Assembly. So we are grateful because we are able to go to school, we are grateful because we are able to stare in each other’s eyes, we are grateful because we are alive.


So as we begin Trimester Two let's set some goals to be better, to do better and to become a better version of ourselves. I leave you with the profound message that was shared with us during the Sharing Assembly by the Student Council delivered by our Senior, Ryan Ricks. Go over it and let it set the tone for the rest of this Trimester and beyond.


Tessa John-Guerra

US Guidance Counselor

Message from the ASM US Student Council

Presented by Ryan Ricks - Student Council Member

Presented by Ryan Ricks - Student Council Member

Presented by Ryan Ricks - Student Council Member
As an international school, we need to do better. Discrimination in any sort shouldn’t be commonplace in our community, whether that be homophobia, sexism, racism, or anything else. While everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and political ideologies none of us, whatsoever, are entitled to pass judgements or discriminate against our peers and discrimination of any sort will not be tolerated by Student Council or Administration. One thing I will say, is that in our school and in our own community discrimination isn’t always the blatant things we do, it’s the whispers in the hallways and the subtle things we say, it’s as simple as defacing a mural, and as a community we have all become so complacent to this. We have to stop being tolerant of these things. Often because we believe that no matter what we say or do nothing will change but if we could all understand that we are all in the same environment and open our hearts and attempt to understand one another maybe we wouldn’t need to have discussions like this. We as a community need to do better. We have to be better.

ASM US PEER COUNSELORS MODEL AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

See Below
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"And that is the most important part, the concept of empathy, what allows us to continue on, especially in these times of crisis. Empathy is what enables us to be the shoulder that you can cry on, and we, as the Peer Counselor Community of ASM are ready to provide that shoulder...…now go out there and heal the world, make the world a better place." - Daniil Surikov
ASM PEER COUNSELORS
"Singing this song was a kind reminder of what a wonderful world we have and how fortunate I am to live the life I live. It was also a good reminder that it’s important we start taking care of not only the world but each other, to be kind and empathetic to all."

"Singing this song was a kind reminder of what a wonderful world we have and how fortunate I am to live the life I live. It was also a good reminder that it’s important we start taking care of not only the world but each other, to be kind and empathetic to all."

"Singing this song was a kind reminder of what a wonderful world we have and how fortunate I am to live the life I live. It was also a good reminder that it’s important we start taking care of not only the world but each other, to be kind and empathetic to all."
- Sofia B Freire

Senior

Singer

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It's only the first advisory of Trimester 2 in the year 2020 and our juniors had to engage in meaningful conversations and sometimes even answer some really tough questions......

......instead of small talk it was BIG TALK!
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This lesson "BIG TALK" was taken from the CBK Advisory Curriculum

Students gather in small groups to discuss what meaningful conversations mean to them. This is done through the use of Y charts with “Meaningful” written on one side and “Conversations” on the other.

Below is the work done by Ms. Susi Francey's Grade 11 Advisory

Working in their small groups, students come up with and write on the chart as many words as come to mind when they can think of “meaningful” and “conversations.”

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"Students were reflective during the process and came up with some interesting ideas about what it means to have a deep and meaningful conversation and most importantly who we should have these types of conversations with."

- Susi Francey - Grade 11 Advisor

Upper School English Teacher

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"11:40 am. Advisory. Your advisor asks you, apparently out of the blue, to define "meaningful" and "conversation". That is "big talk", isn't it? But ASM students are always ready to face challenges and look at the smart definitions we ended up with!!!!"

"11:40 am. Advisory. Your advisor asks you, apparently out of the blue, to define "meaningful" and "conversation". That is "big talk", isn't it? But ASM students are always ready to face challenges and look at the smart definitions we ended up with!!!!"

"11:40 am. Advisory. Your advisor asks you, apparently out of the blue, to define "meaningful" and "conversation". That is "big talk", isn't it? But ASM students are always ready to face challenges and look at the smart definitions we ended up with!!!!"

- Blandine Dailloux - Grade 11 Advisor

US FL Dept Chair/IB Examiner/WSL/MSA VTM

Mr. Dillon's class came up with these focus questions below in order to have a meaningful conversation.

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"Exploring Big Talk ideas naturally brings about open, honest and insightful discussions that forges bonds and builds community."

- Mr. Terrence Dillon - Grade 11 Advisor

US IB and Social Studies Teacher

Click Here to find out the history of this exercise

Click on the BLUE button above to see the video!

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According to Education World, there are six key secrets to successful goal setting:

  1. Write clear and measurable goals.
  2. Create a specific action plan for each goal.
  3. Read your goals daily and visualize yourself accomplishing them.
  4. Reflect on your progress to see if you are on target.
  5. Revise your action plans if needed.
  6. Celebrate your accomplishments.

The Importance of Goal Setting to Succeed

Why Should You Set Goals! - Top 5 Reasons
Set your goals using this graphic organizer.

Click above for your own copy of a digital "Goal Setting" graphic organizer. You will be prompted to click on "make a copy" that you can rename every time you want to use this method to set different goals. You can add to it, change it up, print it.

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CAREER SPOTLIGHT

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In this edition we are looking at careers in the Health Sciences. Please take some time to watch the videos below.
12 Jobs For Health Science Majors
Health Sciences | Career Pathways: An Exploration of STEM [Clip]
CLICK to learn more about CAREERS IN HEALTH SCIENCES!!!

THIS VIDEO IS A BIT LONGER BUT VERY POWERFUL. Click on the blue button above to watch the video. This video shows a collection of stories of real people working in the various disciplines of Healthcare Science.

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Goal Setting & Mental Health

Take this long weekend to listen to this audio over and over again. This is a very SHORT and POWERFUL explanation on GOAL SETTING AND HOW IT CAN ENHANCE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH. Click the blue button above or the play button below to listen to this audio.

Mindspace Mayo

Goal-Setting by Mindspace Mayo
WE ARE GRATEFUL!!!

WE ARE GRATEFUL!!!

WE ARE GRATEFUL!!!

Thanks for coming to the end of our third Upper School Counseling & Advisory Newsletter. Please send us your feedback and ideas here on topics to cover in future editions.


Did you miss the other Newsletters?


1. Click here to catch up on the 1st Newsletter.

2. Click here to catch up on the 2nd Newsletter.

3. Click here to catch up on the 4th Newsletter.

4. Click here to catch up on the 5th Newsletter.

5. Click here to catch up on the 6th Newsletter.

6. Click here to catch up on the 7th Newsletter.

7. Click here to catch up on the 8th Newsletter.

8. Click here to catch up on the 9th Newsletter.

9. Click here to catch up on the 10th Newsletter.

10. Click here to catch up on the 11th Newsletter.

11. Click here to catch the Grade 10 Career Guidance Supplementary Newsletter

12.. Click here to catch the Are You Ready Supplementary Newsletter

American School of Madrid, Calle América, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Spain tessajohn@asmadrid.es 34 917401902 asmadrid.org