Welcome or welcome back to Fairview! Although the summer seemed to go by too quickly, I am still so excited about starting a new school year! I love the new supplies, new decorations, new theme, and new possibilities. I love that I am going to get to meet new kiddos AND welcome back experienced Falcons! I can't wait for the halls to be "buzzing" with excitement. As you return, if you have any social concerns about your child or feel like they could use some extra support to be successful here at school, please let me know how I can help!

Another year has come to a close. I always have the mixed emotions that come with the end of a school year- excited for summer plans, sad to see kids go, worried about some of my kiddos... but for some reason this ending has been especially emotional for me. Maybe the fact that I don't want to let go this year means that it has been an especially good one! Maybe it is all the change happening in our building for the coming year. Whatever the reason, I have especially identified with those kiddos who seem reluctant to embrace change this year. BUT, just like I have been teaching my kiddos these last few weeks: change is inevitable! I guess I'll get to using my positive coping strategies and see you all in August. :) Have a wonderful, safe summer!!
~Mrs. Hoell

1st-Transitioning to 2nd grade. Talked about all the changes that might be coming up for us--some kids are moving, changing schools, getting new family members, going to a new grade, getting a new teacher. We reviewed life changes and coping strategies. Mrs. Hoell did some magic to show how coping strategies can help us feel better when we have tough feelings!! Read Who Will My Teacher Be This Year? and did a memory sheet about first grade.

2nd- Transitioning to 2nd grade. Talked about all the changes that might be coming up for us--some kids are moving, changing schools, getting new family members, going to a new grade, getting a new teacher. We reviewed life changes and coping strategies. We read Don't Be Afraid to Drop​!  

3rd- Talked about transitioning to fourth grade. Discussed the tough feelings that can come with change and how to cope. Read Little Tree. 

4th- Finished up talking about our career paths. Discussed the stations we did last time, which activities we enjoyed the most and why, and the paths we might like most. Spent the last 10 minutes talking about transitioning to 5th grade.

5th- Talked about going to middle school. How can we use the things we have learned in counseling class to help us make great choices and be successful in middle school? What are some things we are excited about? Nervous about? One thing that worries kids is locks! We learned how to use combination locks and practiced opening them. Did a sheet about the things we remember, are working on, goals for MS, etc.

5th- Finished up careers. Compared and contrasted the skills, abilities, education, & training of the different jobs we researched within the different career clusters. Then we talked about the importance of an educational plan.

1st- Learned the career paths. Read LMNOPeas and indicated if we were interested in the different jobs listed in the book. Played a game on the smartboard to connect different careers with their career paths.

2nd- Debriefed from our STEAM bus adventure. Each group talked about:
*what they did on the bus
*how their activity connected to their career path
*if they enjoyed the activity
*if they think they would want a job in that path
They also answered many questions from their friends about the experience :)

3rd- Reviewed Career Paths, roles, and responsibilities. I handed back the multiple intelligences survey from MUCH earlier this year. We connected our strengths and areas for personal growth to the 6 career paths. Then we played a guessing game: one student was given a card with a job title and some hush words (words they weren't allowed to say). The student had to tell the class the career path, academic skills, responsibilities, and contributions to the community and their classmates tried to guess the job.

4th- Career path stations. Each class was divided into 6 groups and rotated through 6 stations representing each of the career paths. The spent 5-6 minutes doing an activity: counting and organizing money, bandaging a bear and taking their pulse, giving advice and making pizza, building with LEGOs, assembling a dinosaur skeleton, and drawing pictures or comic strips.

5th- Due to MAP testing, we'll have class next week, instead!

As part of our unit on careers and the career paths, my second graders were able to explore the STEAM bus this week!! 

Students filled out a career interest inventory a couple weeks ago. I used the areas they indicated they were interested in to put them in groups by career path. 

Each class was able to spend one hour on the bus and the students spent the hour in their group doing a career path related activity. We had a BLAST!!!

Business- used the Bloxel design kits and Bloxel iPad app to design and create a working video game
Creative- used littleBits synth kits for Musicians to assembly snap circuits and create different sounds and music
Fixing, Building, & Technology- worked together as a group to construct a LEGO building
Health- BREAKOUT box- students were challenged to solve clues to find an antidote to a deadly airborne virus
Helping- used the Young Architect City Planner set to design a park with specific features
Nature- BREAKOUT box- pretended that it is the year 3000 and our planet has become unstable. They had to solve clues to access the research of an important (but missing) environmental scientist and save the planet.

1st grade- We talked about the skills and responsibilities of jobs in the school. They brainstormed different adults who work at Fairview and then we talked about what they do, things they need to do well, and why they are important. 

2nd grade- We Identified and compared roles and responsibilities of workers within the community. We reviewed the career paths and jobs within those paths.

1st- We started talking about careers. We talked about how strengths and interests connect to different jobs and each students shared something at which they are good or they enjoy doing. We read People in Your Neighborhood and made it a guessing game to figure out what job the book was describing. We talked about how men and women are both able to do many jobs--men can be teachers! Women can be firefighters! We also talked about why jobs are important: individuals need to earn money and we all need the goods and services provided by working people.

2nd- We talked about careers. We are all on a journey to a career and everything we learn helps us figure out what we might want (or NOT want!) to do when we grow up. The students took a career interest inventory. I will use the results to group them for a VERY SPECIAL activity they are doing in two weeks!!! :)