Pasta 4 Pennies

February 6-24th we collected change for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Pasta 4 Pennies is a great way to get students involved and help make a difference in the lives of children suffering from Leukemia. No matter how much or how little a student was able to contribute, every penny certainly added up!!! The class that won the pasta party from Olive Garden collected over $400 with the school total of $3,907.94!!! What an amazing amount of money raised in 3 short weeks. Our school really does ROCK!!

Learning about good blood cells during the Pasta 4 Pennies Assembly

Bad blood cells at the assembly

Captain Chemo saving the day!

National School Counseling Wk. Recap

With the end of February upon us, I thought it would be a great time to wrap-up some of the exciting things that have happened at my school; including, National School Counseling Week! National School Counseling Week was February 6-10th and each day we did a different activity to promote the school counseling program. On Monday, student received stickers that said "My School Counselor Helps Me Succeed!" and an Acts of Kindness Bingo Board to complete during the week. On Tuesday, the school counselors were on the morning show and read "Roses are pink, your feet really stink" by Diane deGroat. It is a book on friendship and the importance of saying nice things to others. Wednesday was college logo day! Students and faculty got to wear a college logo from their favorite school. Teachers also shared with students information about their college experience. On Thursday, students had the opportunity to complete an activity sheet called "One thing I like about _____ is...." and give it to a classmate. Every student in the building was able to receive a nice 'note' from someone in their class! Friday was career dress up day where students got to dress up as the career they would like to have one day. Overall, National School Counseling Week was a huge success thanks to everyones participation. Click here for a copy of the activities that were completed during the week.

Kindergarten students during College Logo Day!

A second grade class sharing their careers with each other during Career Dress Up Day!

So many students & staff participated in Acts of Kindness Bingo!

National School Counseling Week was the same week as the Pasta 4 Pennies kick-off!

3rd grade Career Awareness

A few weeks ago (before I began STAR testing!) I did a unit on Career Awareness. I always try to do it after we have Career Day to allow students to gain a sense of different careers before we start talking about them in classroom guidance. For third grade this year, we created Career Sundaes from the book Counselors' Pages and explored the website http://www.bridges.com/. To create the Career Sundae, students identified a job they might like to have when they were finished with school and wrote it on the dish, they identified the education needed for that job and put it on the whipped cream, 3 duties/responsibilities were listed on the ice cream scoops, 3 things that you need to do well to do the job were listed on the hot fudge, and 3 tools needed for the job were listed on the strawberries. This was a wonderful, hands on activity that allowed students to think about their future and more importantly make the connection between how what they are doing now in school is linked to their future career. Bridges.com/Paws in Jobland is a wonderful website that allows students to gain information on different jobs/careers, career clusters, and play an interactive game/quiz to determine what jobs they might like based on their interests and skills.

A sample of Career Sundaes made by 3rd graders



A snapshot of the places to explore in Jobland



                                                

"Baking Up" School Success with 2nd graders

In 2nd grade this week, my co-counselor Cassandra has focused on school success. To do this, she used an activity from the Puzzle Pieces book (LOVE Diane Senn!) called, Baking Up School Success. During this interactive lesson, students identified the skills/ingredients needed to be successful in school (listening, participating, using time wisely, following classroom procedure, completing assignments, etc.). As a reflection to ensure comprehension from the lesson, students had the opportunity to draw/write the skills/ingredients they need to have to be successful in school. Students also shared the ingredient(s) they need to work on/stock up in their pantry, to be more successful in school.

K & 1 Academic Success

Kindergarten

Howard B. Wigglebottom revisits kindergarten while teaching listening skills in Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen. Students read the animated book while identifying the importance of being a good listener at school. While reviewing the different components of being a good listener, student complete an animated activity and sing songs to help them remember all the ways they need to listen and how to listen with their whole body. Students love when Howard visits their class!

1st grade

To review the importance of listening and how it helps them be successful at school, students hear the story Listen Buddy and discuss how they use their whole body to listen and why it's important to be a good listener. Students then complete an interactive coloring activity where they are instructed to color different parts of the bunny different colors. They have to use their listening skills to know what to color i.e. color the bunnies nose pink, color the bunnies tail green, etc. Students then compare their bunny to the counselors to see if they match!

5th grade Internet Safety

A special thank you to Ms. Fowler, Internet Safety Education Coordinator from the State Office of the Attorney General for taking the time to come to our school to facilitate a parent night and speak to our 5th graders about Internet Safety. It is very apparent that your heart is with education, everyone really found the information you shared to be so valuable! Thank you for the pencils, brochures, and parent/child internet safety contracts- they will be of great value when parents talk with their children about appropriate use of the internet.

Self Esteem with Adolescent Girls

I recently had the opportunity to be the guest speaker for a Girl Power Group at B Balanced LLC. The Girl Power Group was lead by B Balanced owner Brittany Todd (ACE, RYT). During the group, girls participate in fitness, nutrition, and self-esteem building exercises. Recently they focused on goal setting and she requested that I speak with the girls about self-esteem. When planning my hour and a half presentation/discussion, I naturally thought about the Self Esteem Toolkit by Dove and particularly the video that was created about body image and the media. I adapted the toolkit for my presentation and before ending the session with an open discussion, included from the School Counselor Blog "It's what's on the inside that counts" activity. At the end of the discussion, Brittany had the girls complete an interactive quiz about food and nutrition then concluded the 3 hour group with an hour of Zumba with the girls. I had a wonderful time collaborating with a passionate health and wellness professional that shares my vision of supporting young women in developing physical and emotional health.