What's New?

May- Oh May. It is about this time of year that I start to become wistful. The students are growing up so fast, and I know that my time with the 5th graders is coming to a close. I can't believe how grown-up they all seem! This month my lessons are based on what each teacher has identified as a need in their classrooms. In Kindergarten, however, I will continue to focus on mindfulness. I also hope to get outside on the playground to check up on how the Peer Helpers are affecting life outside the classrooms.

This month is also the time for the Smarter-Balanced Assessment (SBA) for our students grades 3rd-5th. This can cause a plethora of emotions, both negative and positive, for our kiddos. If your child seems a little "off" testing could be the reason. I always encourage the students to plan something special for themselves for when they are done. We all like things to look forward to when we are stressed. Even something simple such as spending outdoor time with the family can be something special. As many of you may be going through the stress of the last few months of school I encourage you all to think of something special you can do too!

It's so nice outside I wanted to give you all some app ideas that inspire children to spend more time outside. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/apps-that-inspire-kids-to-play-outside?utm_source=04232019+Edu&utm_medium=email

April- First of all I have to so how impressed I was with everyone during Kindness week! It was such a blast and I heard from many students how much they loved it. This will definitely become a tradition. This month I am finishing up my groups for the year. It has been great spending extra time with the students. We focused on themes such as perseverance, positivity, friendship, and mindfulness. In grades 3-5 I will be providing lesson on test stress and growth mindset in preparation for the upcoming SBA. In first grade I will focus on bullying and friendship. In second grade the theme will be the power of our choices. In kindergarten I will explore mindfulness using the MindUp curriculum. I hope you all have a wonderful spring break!

March- Well folks I missed February all together, because is almost didn't exist! I hope that it never snows again. March is going to be action-packed! Student Council, the PTA and myself are sponsoring Kindness Week! Kindness Week will be March 28th-April 1st. Each day a grade level student council team will "sponsor" an event that focuses on kindness. Each student in the school will also be given a custom designed kindness bracelet. In additions each student will be given a "Kindness Challenge Checklist". This checklist will have all sorts of acts of kindness to complete. If the kids complete the challenge checklist and put it in my mailbox by the end of the week, the will get a reward and have a chance to enter a raffle to win a kindness T-shirt.

January - Happy New Year!! Where does the time go? This month I get back into the swing of things, providing monthly lessons to each grade level. In Kindergarten we will be discussing mindfulness and becoming "breathing experts". Breathing is a great tool to use when we need to calm down. In first, second and fifth grade we will focus on friendship. In third and fourth grade we will begin lessons on mindfulness using the Mind Up curriculum.

I will also begin forming groups for all grade levels. These groups will focus on positivity, perseverance, friendship, self-esteem, and self-control. The groups will be anywhere from 6-8 weeks. Please be on the look out for parent permission slips and don't hesitate to contact me if you would like your student to join a group.

December - December already?! As you all know this is a short month. I know that most of you are ready to go for Parent-Teacher conferences. Please know that I am also here during those times if you would like to stop into my office to chat for any reason. I am also available to attend the conferences if there is anything you would like some support or have specific questions relating to your student that you think I may be able to assist in. I am trying to get into as many classrooms as possible this month in the short amount of time that we have.

Also the Peer Helpers have been trained! It was such a fun day! The next couple of weeks I will go out to recess with the Peer Helpers to provide "on-the-job" training. In January they will be ready to go!

I hope you all have a wonderful Winter break!

November - I am excited to announce that Peer Helpers is ready to be launched. Peer Helpers is an opportunity for 4th and 5th grade students to support all kids during recess. Beginning in January there will Peer Helpers at almost every recess. What do Peer Helpers do? I'm glad you asked! Peer Helpers will have a weekly game that they will teach and play with schoolmates during recess. They will also be on the playground to help students solve small conflicts. I have gone to every 4th and 5th grade classroom and announced the program and given out applications. I had over 75 students take applications! 47 students turned them in! Later this month I will be providing training to these students on how to help solve small problems and teach them the games that they will be teaching others. I am so excited to get this program up and running!

I am also starting a few small groups this month. I will be focusing on 1st and 2nd grade and will be running groups centered around issues of friendship ( how to be a friend, waiting your turn, sportsmanship,ect..). Additionally I will continue to provide monthly classroom lessons. This month I will focus on the theme of Gratitude in all grade levels.

September -Welcome to a new school year! I am so excited to back for another year of awesomeness. This year I am excited to be a full time school counselor. This means that I will have more time to get into every classroom and teach your kiddos important social-emotional lessons. My goal is to be in every classroom at least once a month. This month I will focus on teaching (or reteaching) the kids what I do at school and how to write me notes should they want to come and see me. Because I have more time I will also be starting new student lunch bunches for each grade level. This will be a way for new students to get to know each other.

des 1-4. The district was able to purchase this important curriculum for every elementary school. The curriculum consists of 4 lessons and covers the topics of Recognize, Report, Refuse and Bystander Power. If you would like to see more information about bullying prevention and also the curriculum clink on the link below.

http://www.cfchildren.org/resources/bullying-prevention-resources

February-2017 - This month I am starting a ton of small groups. I will be holding groups for students in every grade. To identify students who would benefit the most from groups I went right to the source, their teachers! I met with each grade level team and we identified the greatest need of the grade and also identified students that would not only benefit but would be a good match with each other. However, you the parent can also refer your child to be in a small group with me. If you would like to know about the particulars of each small group, and/or would like your child to receive some social/emotional support in a certain area, please give me a call/email or stop by my counseling office.

November-2017

I can't believe it is already November! This month I have been focusing on providing lessons with themes of friendship and conflict resolution in grades 1-5 and in Kindergarten I have been supporting the classes in Second Step. I have also started group this month focusing on the theme of friendship. Groups will really begin to ramp up in January. I will start in 2nd grade and work my way up to 5th. My first groups will focus on students who need support with internalizing behavior. Often times students with anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem are the trickiest kids spot. The school is devoted to identifying and supporting these students build skills to help them be their best selves. If you think your student could benefit from being in a small group with me, please let me or their teacher know.

Next month I will begin meeting with volunteers to get the school's Kindness club up and running! I will also be focusing on kindness and community in my December and January classroom lessons.

October-2017

The new school year is fully in motion! I am already getting into classrooms and providing lessons. This year all of the teachers are implementing a new social-emotional curriculum in their classrooms called Second Step. Second step is a evidenced-based curriculum that focusing on Skills for learning, Empathy, Emotion Management, and Problem Solving. Last year I went into every classroom in the school and did at least a few lessons to get the teachers and students familiar with the program. This year part of the lessons I am providing in the classrooms will support Second Step. You can also support your student in developing their social-emotional I.Q. through the home links that I have included below (if you scroll down to files you will find it there). The home links are separated by grade. I have also included a "year-at-a-glance" from the district so that you can follow along at home.

Next on my agenda is groups! I have already begun a friendship group for 1st grade students and plan to get a few more groups up and running this month. If you child is invited to join a group I will send you an email to let you know that a permission slip will be coming your way.

May 10th, 2017-I can't believe it's May already, where did the time go?! In the last couple of months I have continued to support the classrooms using both Second Step and Mind Up curriculum's. I have also been visiting classroom to tackle test anxiety and stress. We are now in the throws of the Smarter Balance testing. To prepare the students, we have been practicing breathing and focusing techniques that they can use if they begin to feel overwhelmed. Next up I will begin to focus on career lessons. It's never too early for students to start thinking about what types of jobs people do in our world!

I have also continued with groups, this round focusing on resilience, self-esteem, and positive thoughts. So far the groups are going great, and we are all making new friends. learning, and having lots of fun!

February 1st, 2017 - It's the month of love here at Maple Hills! I can feel it in the air...

This month I will continue to provide guidance lessons in the classrooms on an ongoing basis. Some of themes are: Kindness, Emotion management, and Friendship. I will also begin using the Mind-Up curriculum to introduce the student to what happens in their brains when they are experiencing strong emotions. Through the curriculum the students will develop skills to be the masters of their own brains and how to be mindful when they are experiencing strong emotions and how to self-regulate. This will be especially important as the students begin to go through the process of test-taking.

I have also started groups with students in the school. Small are groups are a great opportunity for me to support students who may need extra support in areas around social-emotional development and/or friendships. Groups are comprised of 4-8 students who need similar supports. The groups run for 6-8 week and meet weekly for thirty minutes. Students can be referred to groups from teachers, staff, parents or they can refer themselves. I always send home permission slips before I start a group.

October 1st, 2016 - I am so excited to be the School Counselor/ Student support coach at Maple Hills! I have already been in every classroom teaching the students about what a school counselor does and how they can self-refer to see me. My office is 407 located near the First grade pod. I have a mailbox outside my office with my name on it in big sparkly letters (you can't miss it). Please stop by my office anytime! I am hear to help every student be the most successful learner they can be.

I have also begun to teach Second-Step lessons in classrooms that focus on Skills for Learning. These include, listening with attention, focusing, ignoring distractions, using self-talk, and focusing attention. If you would like more information on Second-Step please click the link in the above sentence.