Spring Newsletter
School Counselor Corner
What a great year!
The experience that our students have had during sixth grade will help to prepare them for their next step into seventh grade. During May and June, I have been working to meet in small groups with each of the sixth graders to have them reflect on their progress throughout this school year, and to think about what they hope to accomplish as they move forward. I am hopeful that these meetings will allow the sixth graders to identify their strengths and challenges from this year, as well as start to think about changes they want to make to be successful academically, socially and personally as they transition to seventh grade. Additionally, these groups have allowed the students to collaborate with their peers and ask questions in order to help prepare them for this next step.
Summer Learning
By the the end of the school year, there will be information on the middle school website (www.newfairfieldschools.org) about summer work, with regard to reading and math; however, here are some other ideas for your child to help keep their minds engaged:
- Form a book club with friends, where you choose one book to read, and then get together to catch up about summer adventures and discuss the book.
- Keep a scrapbook about activities you participate in during the summer (ex. camp, vacation, outings with friends, etc.) that includes pictures and descriptions or stories about your experiences. You could also create a family newspaper or magazine based on your summer adventures.
- Visit a museum and write about your experiences and what new information you learned.
- Prepare a meal for your family, where you have to review the recipe, help make the grocery list and shop to find the best deals in the store.
- Shadow a family member at work for a day to see what it would be like to be in that career.
- Volunteer your time and get involved in a community organization that focuses on a cause that is important to you.
- Create a board game that you can then play with family and/or friends.
- Participate in the NFMS Summer Enrichment Program - Information
(ideas from: www.edutopica.org, www.scholastic.com, www.education.com)
Screen Free Time
- Tips for parents/guardians to limit screen time
- Ideas for staying active during the summer
- Keeping active and healthy during the summer
Throughout middle school, the use of social media tends to increase among our students. With more available time during the summer, I would like to provide you with some helpful information regarding use of social media and some of the most popular apps and games.
T.E.A.M Class
Bullying
During the bullying unit, we start by defining bullying (What is Bullying?) and talking about the different roles involved in a bullying situation, such as the victim, the bully or bullies, bystanders and upstanders. Within the classes, we discuss the power that bystanders and upstanders have in these scenarios, and we talk about how students can move from being a bystander to an upstander (see list of ideas - Ways to Become an Upstander and Becoming an Upstander). Additionally, throughout this unit, we have the students work in pairs or groups to discuss mean behavior and bullying scenarios, where they are asked to brainstorm and determine the best way to handle the situations presented to them. These discussions are important so that students can talk about strategies with their peers as to how they would handle instances where they or someone they know are experiencing bullying. This way, when a situation presents itself, they will have a toolbox of ideas about what to do. Here is an useful link that includes strategies mentioned in class - How to Deal with Bullies.
Online Awareness
Another topic discussed during the T.E.A.M class was Online Awareness. Our main focus was helping students to comprehend how to make good choices when using technology. We start off the lesson by talking about the qualities of a Digital Citizen (Etiquette for Kids in the Digital Age), so that students have an understanding about the behaviors that they should be displaying when online. We also spend time discussing the idea of a Digital Footprint (What is a Digital Footprint?), where students can make the connection that the information/pictures that they are posting now are permanent and can have an impact on them later in their lives. In middle school, many students like to post pictures and videos that they have taken on their social media accounts, so we review with them a thought process that they should go through prior to posting (Think before posting). We also spend time talking to the students about cyberbullying (and relate it to our previous discussion about bullying). Here is a helpful guide to cyberbullying for parents - Prevent Cyberbullying. Additionally, during this topic, we talk about use of social media and steps the students can take to protect their privacy, such as setting their apps to private and only allowing family and close friends to view pictures/videos, as well as not giving away personal information online. Please see the resources listed above in this newsletter, regarding use of social media, for more information about settings and privacy. We end the unit with an Online Awareness Poster Project, where they students work together to create an informational poster to help promote positive use of technology.
Important Dates in June:
Monday, June 18-Thursday, June 21 - 6th Grade Field Trips to the New England Air Museum (date depends on your student's homeroom teacher)
Friday, June 22 - Talent Show (In School)
Friday, June 29 - Last Day of School - Enjoy your summer!!