Hello Grade 7s!!

I am sending you this message so that you can let me know how you are doing. I will post something on this page about once per week, and I'd love you to give me your thoughts. Sometimes it will be a picture, or sometimes an article or a video.

I am always here for you, so please email me, or let me know if you'd rather talk on google hangouts: dplett@hsd.ca

The Benefits of Keeping a Journal:

Maybe some of you are already keeping a journal, or some form of documentation, in order to record your experience in this pandemic. Maybe some of you have realized that you will one day want to know what you were doing and thinking during this event of such historical importance. Did you also know that keeping a journal can help your mental health? I came across an article by another Counsellor who listed six benefits of keeping a journal and I'd like to share those with you. I will add the link to her article (even though she writes to parents).

1. Journalling can help you regulate your emotions. It is calming.

2. If you use a shared journal (where you write an entry, and then someone else writes the next entry in response to yours, and you go back and forth like that), it can help you to communicate. This might be a good way to talk to your parents about how you are feeling, if it's difficult to talk in person.

3. Gratitude. Journalling can help you track the things you are thankful for, which can help you focus on the positives.

4. Writing is a creative task, but journalling can also include pictures and doodles and links to songs, so that you can express yourself in those creative ways also. Your journal can look like a scrapbook.

5. Writing in a journal can help you focus, so it can be a form of mindfulness. You are in control of where your mind is going.

6. Journalling can help to de-clutter your mind and put things into an order that makes sense to you.

And once again, if you'd like to talk about any of this, please contact me. Check out the complete article here:

Try a cool recipe: Pavlova!

Hello Grade 7s! I was inspired to challenge you to try to make something new....and yummy! My son Nolan made a pavlova and it turned out great. It has only a few ingredients in the base, and then you can eat it with whipping cream and fruit (we just used frozen berries that we thawed). I am giving you the link to the recipe, and also posting a picture of Nolan's finished product. Let me know how it goes!