Crow's Corner
News from your Counselor
GUM DAY/SPIRIT DAY
I have placed smiley face stickers in everyone’s mailbox for the gum day fundraiser on Tuesday. Students will give their teachers $1 and you will hand them a sticker. We are NOT providing the gum for students.
Please remind students they cannot have gum during P.E. or in the Café. Students should only be chewing gum if they have a sticker!
I will collect the money from you at some point that day!
If you have leftover stickers, please put them in my mailbox.
Zones
This week during our counseling lesson, Mallorie and I will be teaching our students about the Zones of Regulation. This will be our introduction to the Zones, but as we have been working with students, we have noticed many of you have already been talking about the Zones. We want to thank you and applaud you for this!
For kindergarten and first grade lessons we will be using the Incredible Flexible You curriculum. Mallorie and I will begin reading the book Thinking Thoughts and Feeling Feelings. This curriculum will help us with introducing our younger students to understanding the feelings they have and provide a base of understanding before moving into the Zones of Regulation curriculum. Many topics and activities mirror the Zones, but are presented in an better way for early learners.
Our second through fifth grade students will be getting an introduction to the Zones. We will be watching video clips and discussing which Zone the characters are in. The students will then get the opportunity to identify which feelings fit into which Zones.
We strongly encourage you to use the Zones in your classroom. Mallorie and I hope it will become a common language within our school because we know it will have a positive impact on our students. Here are some tips for using the Zones in your classroom.
1. Make a poster with each Zone and the feelings associated with it.
2. Have the students check in each morning and identify which Zone they are in. This will help you to get to know your students and identify strategies to help them get to the Green Zone.
Thanks again for already beginning the coversations using Zones with your students! Working together to make this a common way of thinking and expressing ourselves will be a huge benefit to our school and community!
SMALL GROUPS
REMINDER!!!!
Now that we have a few weeks of a new school year under our belts, I wanted to get your feedback about students you think would benefit from a counseling group. As you are pondering, let me put in a plug for group counseling and give you some examples of what kinds of groups I offer…
Why is group counseling a great option for students in school???
First, it is often difficult to provide effective support for a student because of the time constraints of the school day. Academics have to come first, but for many students, the stress produced by other aspects of their lives leaves them in a less productive state in the classroom, decreasing the likelihood of academic success. Even 30 min every other week can help provide a student with tools to help them be more successful.
Second, students receive feedback from other students. Getting different perspectives, especially from their peers, is often really helpful (often even more powerful than adult intervention at times) in promoting positive growth and change.
Also, it allows modeling to occur. By seeing how others handle similar problems, a student can rapidly add new coping methods to his or her behaviors. This is beneficial in that it can give students a variety of perspectives on what behaviors seem to work and when.
And lastly, the group dynamic can help improve social skills. Since so much of our daily interaction is with other people, many students learn to improve their social skills in the group even if it is not the intended purpose of the group. Effective communication (with others and self) is always a highlight in any group I facilitate. Students learn more clear, effective, and positive ways to communicate with others and we talk about how they can apply these skills into other areas of their lives.
I need your help! I am excited to begin group work with students and need your help flagging kiddos you think might need some extra skill building in some way. Your feedback helps me identify those students who need a little positive direction and the benefits of a smaller community feeling.
If you think that a student may be a good candidate for a group, please let me know! My groups will occur every other week until the end of the semester. It would help me if you list available times of the day (including student’s lunch time) next to the name of the student. Once I begin to discover students’ needs, I will then begin to determine the focus of the groups. See below for the types of groups I facilitate. I am open to other suggestions if you feel that his/her needs are beyond the scope of this list. Please note, I will NOT necessarily label the groups the way they are listed below for students who choose to participate. The labels for this purpose simply help us identify student need. I will always get student and parent approval prior to student participation.
Friendship/social group
Organizational group
Anger management group
Divorce group
New student to SE group
Thanks for being willing to work together so we can provide an effective academic experience for every student here at SE. Please contact me with questions or concerns. I am eager to help!!
Student Council
REMINDER
Third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers-
This year we are running Student Council differently from last year. Each class in third-fifth grade will have 2 representatives, 1 boy and 1 girl. This will be a big responsibility and honor for the students chosen, but we want to make sure they are up for the challenge and understand what is expected of them.
Before finding out which students are interested in Student Council, please relay the following information:
We will meet the first Wednesday of every month at 8:00 a.m. They must be able to get a ride to school at this time.
They will help give tours to new families who come to Starside.
Students should be comfortable talking in front of their peers and talking to adults.
STUCO will participate in a variety of activities at SE including selling Ghosty Goodies and Valentine Grams, the SE Garage Sale, and the Food Drive. These activities may require other before or after school commitments.
Most importantly, they are LEADERS at SE. We will expect them to follow the Character Traits and 7 Habits at ALL times.
If students do not meet the expectations and requirements of STUCO they can be removed at any time.
Please reassure students that if they are on Comet Guard during the week of a meeting we will make it work. They can attend the meeting until it is time to report to Comet Guard.
Based on the information given, please find out which students are interested and then do a closed ballot for voting. Please DO NOT announce the winners until Ms. Heier and Ms. Crow have looked over the list!