Red Ribbon Week

  During the next 2 weeks, Hatton and Northwood schools will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week.  This week is in honor of a DEA officer that was kidnapped and murdered while on duty.  Our goal for this week is to teach students, parents, and community about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.  We also want to support the bullying prevention programs at our schools, so that is a part of these weeks.
   You may notice red ribbons tied around trees in both communities.  This is to remind us to be drug free.  Students have also put drug free slogans on grocery bags.  They will be available at the grocery stores in both communities.
   FCCLA members are sponsoring Red Ribbon Week in both schools and will be giving educational presentations to students in grades k-8.  Students will be signing a drug free pledge.  On Friday, both schools will be celebrating with a BYOB (Bring Your Own Banana) Party.

Parent -Teacher Conferences

We are just finishing our first night of parent teacher conferences.  Students were excited (some nervous) for their parents to meet their teachers and talk about their progress.  It is so nice to see so many parents come in and be a part of their child's education.  Even though we communicate now with computers, phones, and texts; it is still nice to be able to talk with parents face to face.  It's important for parents to be open and honest with their child's teachers and really work together to make their child's school experience a good one.  A wise parent once told me;  " I always make sure to ask about three things when I go to my children's conferences:  How are their grades? Do they have friends?  and  How is their behavior?" Sounds like a good plan.

Back to School

        We will be starting school tomorrow and teachers and staff are busy getting the school ready for students.  One of the most exciting things we're starting this year is a program on bullying prevention.  We have adopted the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program at both Hatton and Northwood schools.  We have established a core committee at each school and have trained staff to use the process.  This fall, teachers will start using the policies of the program in individual class meetings. All staff members have also been trained in  how to conduct individual interventions when bullying occurs.  Last spring, students at both schools conducted a bullying questionaire so we could see what problems that are occuring in our building, but also to be able to compare it with survey in the future.  That way, we will be able to see if this new program is having a positive affect.
    This program is a research based, highly recommended program that is being used in many schools this fall.  Here is a link to find out more about it:     http://wch.uhs.wisc.edu/13-Eval/Tools/Resources/Model%20Programs/Olweus%20Bully.pdf

  If you have any questions about this program or would like to see that results of our surveys, please contact  me at the school.

     I will be starting classroom guidance right away and be in the classrooms as soon as possible.  If you would like your child to see me or have any concerns, please contact me.

6 Pillars of Character


   Throughout the year, we study the 6 pillars of character.  We teach that character is how you act when no one is looking.   Here are some videos I've found on youtube that help to describe the 6 pillars to our students.


Character counts 0001
Character counts kids!
Chipolte Pictures
Character counts in Kodiak
Got Character?

Volunteering

    During counseling guidance we talk a lot about the 6 pillars of character throughout the year.  So at the end of the year, we talked about how we need to help others to be "a person of character"  We saw some short videos of volunteering and came up with ideas on where they can volunteer and how they can help others.  They came up with quite a few.  Here are some of them:


Send food to the hungry
Send money to charity
Collect money for cancer
Give money to the poor
Volunteer at a hospital
Help people with groceries
Volunteer at a pet area
Pick up litter
Pick up things that have fallen
Grow plants and give it away
Help at a petting zoo
Volunteer at a grocery store
Donate to your school
Give stuff away
Build houses for people who need them
Mow for neighbors
Support the military
Send military care packages


   They had a lot of great ideas!  I found the videos on you tube.  Here are the links:


This is from the movie, Up
Justin Beiber on volunteering
Use your 2 hands to volunteer
The Power of One
Walk the talk

Friendship

  Over the past year, I have worked with many groups of students on friendship issues.  Sometimes it is just 2 friends needing help, while other times it can be many together or the entire class. Many friendship conflicts start because each of us are so different.  Elementary students want to be liked and accepted, so it's hard for them to accept that they are "different" from others.  Yet this is what makes us so special!  Because we have different likes, dislikes, needs and personalities, conflicts are inevitable.  So here are some points I try to get across with students:
     1.  Accept each person the way they are.  Different does not mean better or worse.
     2.  Gently tell each other how you feel-do not blame others.  I teach the 1st grade classes about "a bug and a wish."  "It bugs me when.....I wish you would....."
     3.  Do not boss others.  Adults feel very defensive when they are "told" to do something instead of being asked.  Children are no different.
     4.  Help others, but don't get in the middle of other's business.  Sometimes students want to find out what's wrong with everyone else and in the process, they make things much worse.  And in addition, the other friends work things out, and end up blaming the one in the middle for the trouble.  Many times, entire classrooms of students get involved in someone else's business, when it can be solved very easily by just 2 people.
    5.  Don't gossip.  Period.  This one thing has ruined many friendships for children and adults.  I know it is very tempting to find out the latest information, but it can be so hurtful, especially with children that are still learning how to deal with life issues.
   I have been using a book called Friends:  Making them and Keeping Them. It is an American Girl book for young girls, but can be used for both boys and girls.  It can be purchased at Amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=american+girl+friends+book&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=3997723165&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5859090461191136340&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_60u29s71m2_b

Fairness

   During the month of February we have been studying the Pillar of Character, Fairness.  We've talked about sharing, taking turns and treating others equally.  In the 4th grade, we talked about how we sometimes judge people unfairly by how they look, then when we get to know them, we find out how wrong we were.  In Kindergarten and 1st grade, we met Guisto the Giraffe, who shows fairness by sharing and taking turns with his twin brother.  You tube has some videos that reinforce the character of fairness.  Here are a few that I liked:


Another Fairness Song
Character Counts Fairness Video
Fairness Song

Bullying

   One area that has been keeping counselors busy has been bullying.  We tend to think of students hitting, shoving or beating up another student when we hear the term bullying.  Because both Hatton and Northwood schools have been very strict enforcing their "No bullying" policies, we see much less of this type of bullying.  We are, however, seeing more of the type of bullying called relational bullying.


    Relational bullying consists of leaving out other students, putting them down in front of others, making them feel unwanted, starting gossip about others,  and just plain being mean to them.  It can be anything from making dirty looks to manipulating others to get them to look bad in front of their peers.  You may say, "They're just kids being kids, they have to learn to ignore these things and get over it."  That is true and, as counselors, we work on building that resiliency with a lot with students.  But when this happens daily or up to 10 times a day, it can be so traumatic for students that they don't want to go to school anymore.  I have had instances where the student had put up with this type of bullying for 3 years or more before telling someone about it.  This student's grades had been slipping and finally they couldn't take it anymore.


    Also, when our class sizes are small, if a student is ostracized by one or two students in their class, much of the rest of the class will go along with them, mostly because they don't want to be the next one bullied.  There may not be anyone else in the class that they can feel comfortable with, such as there would be in a larger school.  That student feels even more alone.


   If this is happening to your child, give them a chance to talk about it and validate their feelings.  Sometimes our kids just need to vent to someone-be there for them.  Also, don't blame them.  It's easy to say things like, "Did you say something to provoke him?" or "What did you do first?"  Sometimes they are the victim because of something that happened a long time ago or for no reason at all.


  Here is a web site that has some information about relational bullying:


 http://foreverfamilies.byu.edu/Article.aspx?a=124

Counseling Corner

     This is my first time writing a blog, but I decided if our elementary students can do this, so can I.  One topic I stress with my students is character education.  Each month we study one of the 6 pillars of character.  This past month of February, we have been focusing on fairness.  I found a fun video on you tube about fairness.  My first graders loved it.


  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLSB4tGJiIc&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL634867D59BC12779


I use a lot of the materials from the character counts website.  They have a lot of ideas for both parents and students.  Here is a link to their website.


http://charactercounts.org/sixpillars.html