Daniels MS 7th grade
A review of our Year 2017-2018
Who am I? Student Perspectives
This was a question that was asked by all of our 7th graders this school year. It is common at this phase of adolescence for students to begin to question their beliefs, friends, interests, likes and dislikes. Parents have begun to see more verbal interaction in many cases (not always when or how you want). You may have also seen more physical contact, social awareness and concern and in some cases even more questioning of ideology and disobedience. Boys tend to become more aggressive, playful, forgetful and less organized. Girls become more talkative, physically conscious, aware of social groups, and their moods can change, quickly. Please know this is all normal behavior. Some of you have been blessed and you've seen none of this. Others have seen an absolutely different child.
Students will progress in and out of behaviors at this stage and often return to "normal", once they are through the puberty years! Yes, there is hope!
What did we cover?
What a busy year we had. There were many initiatives from the state and county curriculum for school counselors to address in addition to many social/emotional needs and obviously academics. We started the year getting to know the new curriculum. We identified learning styles and reviewed coping skills. We took assessments to help narrow what the focus of our counseling time together would be spent on. the assessment asked questions such as:
1. What Personal concerns I need help with (i.e. fitting in, getting involved, making friends, improving communication with others, expressing feelings and thoughts and if needed getting help with bullying, anger, depression, stress, grief and resolving conflict).
2. What School concerns I need help with (i.e. organization, time management, study skills, test anxiety and test taking skills, academic and career planning and learning styles)
3. A checklist of agree/ disagree/neutral statements pertaining to how they feel about talking to the counselor, school interests, and their comfort in speaking to a safe adult.
We used these results to tailor the time spent in class speaking to students and individual conversations. We also covered topics like the show, "13 Reasons Why", Juuling, and How to Be Safe Online (parent presentation with Martin Middle school), 8th grade registration, testing and EOG's.
Special topics-Signs of Suicide and Human Trafficking
According to state laws and mandates, all schools in Wake County introduce and implement our Signs of Suicide (S.O.S) curriculum and Human Trafficking curriculum. At Daniels, this information is covered with students through homeroom by a member of the Student Services team (counselors, Social Worker, School Psychologist). We feel this puts the people who are trained and qualified in the classroom to introduce the material and subject matter to students in a manner that is age appropriate. It also allows us to assess students who are in need of additional attention immediately. This is something we take very serious, the physical, emotional and mental health of all students!
For more information regarding Human Trafficking and how to help your student, go to:
https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/videos/general-awareness
We are hopeful that more help is on the way with the potential passing of funds in the legislative budget for more school counselors and school psychologists. My caseload this school year was 410:1 and the ASCA (American School Counselors Association) recommendation is 250:1(www.schoolcounselor.org). We saw 37 students who expressed concern or were identified as at risk on their assessments for S.O.S. or human trafficking alone. I am happy to report that all of those seen are currently safe and have been given community or personal resources to ensure they remain healthy.
Students made this to celebrate National School Counselors week! Loved it!
My seats at the Duke game this year, Yep 4th row from the floor!!
The incredible team in Student Services!
But on the Real!
Yep, no doubt about it. I love my Blue Devils. And this year was SOOOOO disappointing. Not only did we not win the National Championship (I had a room reserved already in San Antonio), we didn't win the ACC, heck we didn't even win the Tobacco Road Rivalry! I was so hurt! To make things even worse, I lost a bet that my Blue Devils would beat Carolina and win the ACC and had to pay up to 2 of my favorite students, Mason and Caroline. I feel like the entire 7th grade minus my friend, Luke, was with them?!?!
It was one of the most humiliating moments of my life. (Picture below) I think Mason was pretty happy, he smiled for 6 hours straight!
This has been one of the best groups of students I've ever worked with and I love seeing the growth, maturity and excitement they bring every day. It is what makes this such a hard decision, but I've accepted another position at a different middle school in Wake County. I will start there in August but my heart will be with these students! I thank you all for the kind words, thoughts and gifts over the last 3 years. They are truly appreciated.
Until we meet again.........
Email: chatcher-ii@wcpss.net
Phone: 919-881-4860 23341
Twitter: @blueJacketsSC