Maryville School Counseling
September 2017
September Guidance
I have several activities that I will work through with the students to get them to understand the importance of positive attendance habits. These include:
CLOSING THE GAP: In this activity, I ask for 3 volunteers. Each volunteer begins at the starting point. We explain that students who have good habits move ahead and students will poor habits fall behind. As I give several examples, the students will take steps forward or backward depending on the character they have been assigned. At the end of the activity, these three students will be spread out across the room, demonstrating how your absences can affect your growth and movement towards school.
The second activity is called WASHING THE ELEPHANT. A volunteer will stand outside the classroom. I will then demonstrate with words and actions how to wash an elephant. A student from the class will then show me with out words. The student will also demonstrate for the student that was outside. Then the student who was outside has to explain what they are doing themselves. This activity showcases that when you are not at school, you are missing valuable information and even if you are taught a similar lesson it is not the same as being in class and hearing it first hand.
The final activity we have is a question and answer to determine which students have good attendance habits and which ones need some work.
The goal of these activities is to reinforce positive attendance habits and to have students understand some of the terminology they hear on a a regular basis concerning attendance.
Last year a similar guidance lesson was done in November. It was surprising how many students, even older students did not understand the different between "excused" and "unexcused" absences, or that you were required to turn in a note when you missed school. Hopefully teaching this earlier in the year will help combat some of Maryville's attendance problems.
ABRI Data
Three of these referrals occurred on the bus (one was a head start student.) Two additional referrals were earned on the playground when two students got into a physical altercation.
In September thus far, one referral was earned in the classroom.
Grade
Location
Problem
Additionally, the leadership team meets and reviews disciplinary data to determine how the student body feels we should address problems at Maryville. Anyone that is able and willing to join any of those meetings can attend. Leadership meets at 1 PM on Thursday in Mrs. Barron's office.
AWESOME RESOURCE
My favorite articles from the latest addition include:
- A literary activity where students pick a book from the library that has a character on the cover that looks like them.
- Back to School finds (Grants, Contests, Freebies)
- How to Encourage a Love of Reading in your Classroom
- Websites and Activities to promote movement in your classroom (broken down by grade level appropriateness)
- Unique Morning Meeting ideas (There is a really cool lesson called the Compliment Train that I thought was great)
- AND the best part. . .cheesy kid jokes are the end!
Red Ribbon Week
In the past we have done a scavenger hunt, estimation jar, dress up days and classroom guidance related to drug awareness. If you are sick of any of those ideas and activities, or have more you'd like to add on, please let me know. We are open to suggestions.
Fund for the Arts NeXt Team
Following my graduation from the NeXt team in June 2016, I was asked to joint he board at Fund for the Arts. At the end of last school year, I wrote my own project proposal with the help of Essie and Kacie. We were informed two weeks ago that they Fund accepted our project proposal! During the 2017-2018 school year, we will have a group of 8-10 NeXt members working on creating an Arts Week at Maryville. They will be in charge of planning and implementing the week. They will schedule performers, speakers, presentations and more. It will be an entire week devoted to all avenues of the Arts at Maryville!
It should be an amazing experience and I look forward to sharing more information with you as I begin meeting with our team.
ADDITIONALLY. . . .
The first is a Bullitt County Community Foundation Grant. I am working on writing a grant to provide us with funds to give to the NeXt Team to bring in more presenters and presentations.
I am also working on a grant to provide us with a visit from the Children's Museum of Louisville. Currently there is NOT a physical Children's Museum of Louisville, but there is a group who is working to open up a Children's Museum. Part of that process includes a mobile museum that they take to schools. I went through a brief stage of thinking I was going to open up my own Children's Museum in Louisville and discovered this group. They have two presentations that they currently take to schools and fairs, including the History of Kentucky for younger grades (K-2) and the Transformation of a City (for grades 3-5). I am working on a grant to bring their presentations to all grade levels during the winter.
You can find out more on the Children's Museum and their steps to form a live museum at https://www.facebook.com/louisvillechildrensmuseum/.
The final grant is a Target Field Trip Grant for our fifth graders to visit the Junior Achievement Biz Town as a cumulative activity at the end of College and Career Readiness Week.
If you have any questions or concerns about any of these grants, or about writing your own, please let me know!
September and October Events
September 12: PLCs/RTIs
September 14: Detention (Borgelt)
September 18: Bully Blocker Skill #2 begins
September 18: Stage One Field Trip, grades 1-3 (leave at 9, return around 11:30 AM)
September 19: ABRI Meeting
September 20: High Attendance Day
September 21: Fund for the Arts NeXt Board meeting at 3 PM
September 22: Fall Festival
September 26: PBIS Meeting at Central Office 2-4 PM
September 28-29th: PBIS Leadership Conference in Chicago, IL
September 28: Detention (Buxton)