Hello from your proud School Counselor!!!
We’re two months into the school year, Quarter 1 is behind us, and I am in full-swing with guidance lessons at both of my schools.
I’ve moved out of talk about Allies (Ally Week was in October, celebrated with art and constructive conversations about being different and embracing eachother’s differences) and have begun a focus on problem-solving with K-5 students. The first lesson in this unit will be very similar for all K-5 students. We’re introducing or re-introducing Kelso’s wheel by talking about the general philosophy – we must first learn to tell the difference between small and large problems. With older students, this is going to be the bulk of the next several weeks, as we dissect what is “bullying” and what is not. All students basically should have the idea firm that big problems are those we cannot (or must not) ignore because SOMEONE IS GETTING HURT (or could easily get hurt). We also talk about the use of choices. Kelso’s wheel includes 9 great ways to solve little problems. Any problem in life offers many choices, unless you’re a concrete thinker. We read “Stuck” by Oliver Jeffers, about a boy who tries to knock his kite out of a tree by throwing a variety of things at it. The book is a fun exaggeration of what can happen when we have one solution to a problem. Students finish my sentence “when something isn’t working…” with “try something new”.
We’re two months into the school year, Quarter 1 is behind us, and I am in full-swing with guidance lessons at both of my schools.
I’ve moved out of talk about Allies (Ally Week was in October, celebrated with art and constructive conversations about being different and embracing eachother’s differences) and have begun a focus on problem-solving with K-5 students. The first lesson in this unit will be very similar for all K-5 students. We’re introducing or re-introducing Kelso’s wheel by talking about the general philosophy – we must first learn to tell the difference between small and large problems. With older students, this is going to be the bulk of the next several weeks, as we dissect what is “bullying” and what is not. All students basically should have the idea firm that big problems are those we cannot (or must not) ignore because SOMEONE IS GETTING HURT (or could easily get hurt). We also talk about the use of choices. Kelso’s wheel includes 9 great ways to solve little problems. Any problem in life offers many choices, unless you’re a concrete thinker. We read “Stuck” by Oliver Jeffers, about a boy who tries to knock his kite out of a tree by throwing a variety of things at it. The book is a fun exaggeration of what can happen when we have one solution to a problem. Students finish my sentence “when something isn’t working…” with “try something new”.