The last time I posted we were still planning on hybrid learning and when we switched gears I got busy making new plans and didn't have time to post again! 

This year is going to be a year of HUGE growth and learning--for kids and adults alike! It may feel like everything is "off" or different, but it is going to be a year to develop some really important life skills like--patience, compassion, communicating through technology, listening carefully, independent learning, creative thinking, coping with changes (expected and unexpected), etc! I know this year is not what I hoped for, but I am already really excited about some of the opportunities that it has presented. :) 

Counselor classes will be WEEKLY while we are learning virtually and will start next Thursday, September 17th. We will start by processing the events of the last six months and any feelings those events may have caused for us. I can't wait to see all my Falcon friends soon!

I am so excited to soon see all my young friends in person once again! It has be an insufferably long time since we have been together. Of course, things at school are going to look different than they have in the past. I want to share some things that may help families prepare for those differences. 

Here are a few resources to talk with kids and help them understand mask wearing.

Change is hard--even if it is for the right reasons! Being away from friends is hard--even if it is important for staying healthy! I've honestly had a lot of anxiety the last few days thinking about what is coming for all of us. I thought knowing what's next would ease that feeling, but now that I know I will be away from my school family for an extended period of time I'm just feeling sad! 

I expect a lot of people are having strong or conflicted feelings right now!! That's okay :) ALL feelings are okay--we just have to know what to do with them!

I want to pass along some resources and some reassurance (I need it--maybe someone out there does, too!)

A few resources...
Resources to talk with kids about Coronavirus:
-Child Mind Institute-Talking to Kids About the Coronavirus: https://childmind.org/article/talking-to-kids-about-the-coronavirus/
-National Association of School Psychologists- Talking to Children About COVID-19: A Parent Resource: https://go.aws/2w0daHv
-15 ways to help kids who are worried about the Coronavirus: https://www.counselorkeri.com/2020/03/14/talk-to-kids-about-coronavirus/
-Simple strategies to help kids manage big feelings: https://www.mother.ly/child/6-simple-steps-to-help-your-small-child-manage-their-big-feelings

A little reassurance...
We can do this! As a mom I have my doubts about being a teacher to my kid while working from home, as a counselor I have doubts about my ability to best support my school kiddos and families without being able to look them in the eyes, and as a person I have doubts about staying home for weeks at a time without going crazy!!
Here are my little pearls of "wisdom"
*A counselor friend of mine once said, "Be a thermostat, not a thermometer." It's been one of my parenting mantras ever since. When I get frustrated with my kiddo, I take a deep breath and try to stay at the emotional level I WANT him to be rather than joining him at the level he is currently.
*Another friend of mine pointed out recently that we are not separating from each other out of fear, but rather out of love. Spending this time apart IS a way of caring for my students and their families. The time apart is necessary in order to have more time together later--a lesson on patience/delayed gratification :) 
*I'm going to use this time as an opportunity to connect with people in other ways. I'd like to write more letters and call more friends. I'd also like to take a minute to breathe deep and practice slowing down and enjoying time to myself. It's a good reminder that it's important to slow down sometimes!

Families--if you are needing support, I will be checking my email regularly during our time away from each other (NOT March 21-29). I'm looking forward to seeing you and your students in person again, soon!! Until then-- take care.

This block of time represents 2 lessons for each class and all of the lessons have been about personal safety.

The first of the two lessons we reviewed our safety information from the beginning of the year: The 3Rs (recognize, refuse, report), the Always Ask First rule, and, in the younger grades, our 8 Never Never Rules. We then talked about safe, unsafe, and unwanted touches. We identified unsafe touches as any touch that hurts our body. Safe touches are touches that make us feel safe and cared for. Unwanted touches are any touches we don't want--unsafe touches are ALWAYS unwanted, but safe touches can be unwanted, too. Our bodies belong to us and we have the right to say "no" to ANY touch we don't want. We practiced identifying touches and assertively refusing.

In the second lesson, student learned a new rule: The Touching Rule. This rule states that no one should touch the private parts of their body except to keep them healthy. We talk about how they should not look at or touch other people's private body parts, either. We defined private body parts as the parts of our bodies covered by a swim suit. We identified people who might have a reason to look at our touch us to keep us healthy. We talked about how our bodies let us know if something is uncomfortable and to ALWAYS report to an adult anything that makes us uncomfortable--especially about touching. We identified adults we trust and talked about how those people might be different for different kids. We also talked about how no one should ask us to keep a secret about touching or anything that makes us feel confused, sad, scared, uncomfortable, etc. Your child should bring/have brought home a letter the day of this lesson. It summarizes the media used in each class, explains the lesson content, and gives you an online code to access the content yourself. I can't post the codes online because our district has purchased the rights to share that access with only families in our school district--if you are a current Fairview Family and need that access code, please let me know and I can send it to you. There are a few 3-5 grade classes who haven't had the second lesson yet and will bring their letters home in the next couple days.

KD- General safety. We reviewed the 3Rs, rules at school that keep us safe, and the 8 Never Never Rules. We talked about the playground and things we do to stay safe when we are playing. We practiced being assertive and refusing if something isn't safe.

3rd- Finished up our Multiple Intelligence surveys. We talked about how they give us information about things we can work on, things we are interested in, etc. We'll revisit them when we talk about careers in a couple months!

4th- Finished up our goals. Writing goals that are specific and measurable is HARD! Perfect lessons to follow our growth mindset lesson :)

5th- We talked about the importance of an educational plan. They pretended they were going on a trip and listed what they would take/do to prepare. Many forgot important things! We talked about how it is important to plan early to be sure you have all thing things/classes/experiences you need to end up in the career you want. I encouraged them to talk to people--family, teachers, counselors, friends, etc. to learn from their experiences!

Fairview celebrated kindness the week of February 3-8. Unfortunately, we had a couple snow days thrown in so we missed out on a few planned activities!
Monday we celebrated that there is no place like home for kindness! Classes talked about how to be kind at home.
Tuesday we talked about how kindness never takes a vacation. Classes discussed how they can be kind in fun environments in the community and at school.
Wednesday should have been kindness is always classy day. We had a fun, fancy lunch planned for our Falcon friends! We have rescheduled this for Wednesday, March 18th and are looking forward to it!!
Thursday was supposed to be kindness is our job, but it isn't hard work. I was bummed to not see their awesome career outfits! :( 
Friday was about kindness at Fairview. Classes talked about how to be kind in different places at school. 

I created a photo backdrop in the front hall. It's still up and you can't miss it!! :) Be sure to check it out if you are around in the next couple weeks. 

1st- Finished STAR problem solving. We reviewed calming our bodies and deciding if our problem was kid sized or adult sized. Next, we practiced thinking of possible, positive solutions to our problems. We used the book What Should Danny Do? School Day to practice making choices and reviewing the outcomes--did his decision make the problem smaller and better or bigger and worse?

2nd- Scholfield's class got a lesson listening! Goerlitz and Turpin missed it because of weather days :( we'll make them up at some point!
We talked about the steps for being a whole body listener and sang my listening song together. Then we talked about WHY it is important to listen and follow directions and what might happen if we don't! We read The Worst Day of My Life...Ever! and discussed the kiddo's choices and their consequences (negative and positive). We practiced listening and following directions with an activity on the smartboard. 

K- Anderson and Bickel were ahead so they did a bonus lesson while Hays and Ferling got caught up. A&B read Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses. We talked about how we can turn negative thoughts into positive thoughts to be happier! We made our own magic sunglasses! They were adorable!!!

3rd- Multiple Intelligences. ALL kids are smart--they just all have different strengths and areas for personal growth. Just because we aren't strong in an area doesn't mean we never will be, we just aren't YET! We talked about different areas of kid smarts and took a survey to see which areas might be our strengths vs areas for growth. We'll keep working on this next time!

4th- Goal setting. In fourth grade we talk about how to self-assess when we set a goal. This means our goals must be specific and measurable. This is a HARD concept for many of my fourth grade friends. I love that this lesson comes right after growth mindset :) We started writing our goals and will finish up this lesson next time!

5th- Organization. We did a Nearpod presentation together about being organized. We talked about areas that we need to work on and why. We specifically discussed ways to organize our lockers (next year), study space, agendas, and work time.

K- Talked about anger. It is OKAY to be angry!! All feelings are okay! We just have to make responsible choices when expressing our feelings. We met my Kimochi friend, Cloud, and read his book: Cloud's Best Worst Day Ever. We talked about the sad choices he made when he was mad and the good choices he made. Then we practiced coping strategies to use when WE have mad feelings including taking deep breaths, counting to 10 (with breathing), tensing and relaxing muscles, etc. 

1st- Problem Solving. We reviewed the STAR problem solving that we learned last year in kindergarten. We did our STAR cheer, then talked about the first two steps. S- STOP talked about strategies for calming down and deciding if it is kid sized or adult sized (tattling vs reporting song). T-THINK what are my choices? Practiced with a few situations. Used The Kid's Guide to Staying Awesome and in Control to learn some calming strategies.

2nd- Growth mindset- We talked about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. What are some strategies to use when stuck? Read Making a Splash and discussed what kind of mindsets the kids in the book had and how that impacted them. Practiced turning negative (fixed) statements to positive (growth) statements

K- Feelings. We reviewed our 4 basic feelings and talked about some others. Then we talked about how we might associate feelings with colors. We read The Color Monster and discussed his feelings and how he shows them. Then we use The Magic Coloring Book of Feelings to recognize feelings in others and "magically" color the pages of the book! It was amazing :) We finished up by coloring a person outline with our feelings!

3- Diversity. Defined "prejudice," "discrimination," and "diversity." Talked about ways we are all different and how to respect differences. Read Children Around the World and found similarities and differences between us and other kids. Started to write down some things about our families to share with others--remember to be respectful!

4- Growth Mindset. We did a little challenge to grow and stretch our brains! We read Your Fantastic Elastic Brain and discussed how AWESOME it is that learning new things and making mistakes help our brains grow!

5- Study Skills. We discussed and took notes on strategies that will help us to study and take tests to the best of our abilities!