Blizzard 2015

It took me about a year and a blizzard to get back on this blog.  With National School Counseling Week coming up and a special event for the school counselors in my area I thought it might a a chance to share some resources and our regional fun event.  The Penobscot Region Educational Partnership [PREP] is hosting a school counseling forum.  We have chosen the forum to be a book study.  The attendee's received the book How Children Succeed by Paul Tough.  We will meet February 9 for lunch and activities.  Here are some resources that we are sharing:

Marshmallow Test

Paul Tough and parents

Angela Duckworth Ted Talk about Grit

Edutopia. org
    
1.  Resilience and Grit: Resources
2. True Grit

Carol Dweck who has written a excellent book:  MINDSET
 http://mindsetonline.com/

Happy National School Counselor Week

To the School Counselors out there, thanks for all you do!!!!  We spend so much time problem solving, supporting, teaching, counseling, outreaching-when is there time left for us.
Here is a great video I recently saw at a conference.  I have watched it two times already just to remind myself about the topic of  STRESS and what to do about it.

I have found some simple ways to try to de-stress in my very stressful job.  I am sharing them with you in hopes that you have some ideas to share to:



VS

1.  Watch Downton Abbey
2.   Exercise
3.   If you can't exercise yourself take you students on a walk around the school, gym or outside.
4.   I have tried this in the classroom:  and i learned it at a conference.  The students love to spend a few minutes practicing taking care and flexing of their "gray matter".  Yoga 4 Classrooms
5.   I make a big pot of my favorite tea and have it in a thermos.  Then with a cup I pour myself a relaxing brew at the end of the day.

Restorative Practice

I am feeling proud that students are beginning to ask for circles as a way to solve problems, repair the harm in conflicts and participate in problem solving circles.   This is our fourth year as a restorative practice school and we strengthen our program as we progress.  We train our new staff each year so everyone can be on board with one of our RTI Tier 1 interventions.

This is a site that tells all about what is happening in Maine and has lots of resources.  Restorative Justice in Midcoast Maine

Here is another web site that is a great resource.  Safer Saner Schools.  I am always looking for great resources on the internet to find out what other schools are doing.  Please check out this website in addition to the other two as it has wonderful explanations of the process and some great videos of students.  Healthier San Francisco Schools

I think School Counselors are perfect for Restorative Practice because it is what we do. We want to keep students engaged and connected.  School counselors are involved in school safety, connecting all aspects of school through relationship building and we are always trying to have kids "talk it out".  Restorative Practice is a way of having structured conversations about relationships and/or problems.  We want to find alternatives to punitive responses with students who are having relationship or behavioral situations that impact their education.

The hardest part for middle school students is the awareness about "what is said here, stays here".  We can't talk about the other people in the circle because we are building trust. We tell students they can share their part of what happened with their parents. There are rules for circle participants that are reviewed at each circle. These are an example of the guidelines for a community building circle.

Community Building Circle

• Everyone will have a turn to speak and we agree to share the time equally.
• It’s okay to pass and you will have another chance to speak at the end of the circle. 
• Stay on topic
• Be as honest as possible
• Listen and speak with respect
• Please do not interrupt a speaker or have private conversations during a circle
• Respect privacy by keeping our conversation confidential.

Circles also require a "talking piece" that is unique to the leader or the group.  Sometimes our students pick a class talking piece or I bring my special item with me when I lead circles.
There are circles that are applicable to different levels in RTI.   Those with a high level of skill at leading circles would lead a targeted or intensive circle.

There are other interventions we use at Tier 1 to support Restorative Practice that will be in later posts.  The most important beginning step when thinking about if this type of school wide program is what your school could support is to have Administration "by in".  Our forward thinking Assistant Principal came back from a conference saying she loved the idea.  I had been waiting to collaborate and jumped at the chance, four years later voila!  So check out the web sites and watch this amazing TED Talk. Restorative Practice Ted Talk: Vancouver.  

After the fact!

The state testing is over, whew. October is so busy and it is hard to be creative on the fly.  I thought you would love to see the bulletin board created by my intern and myself.  I can take very little credit but we whipped it up on the board for the first days of the testing.   If our students do their best and they do, we have a reward for hard work.  Our students look forward to our NECAP festival every fall right before Thanksgiving.  We take the afternoon off and  turn our school into a festival with free options for all to attend.  Teachers offer events, games and of course, food.  I am so lucky to do the CUPCAKE WALK.  More on that later.  Right now check out the bulletin board.  And yes that is a fire alarm.   I love the cell phone idea and the suggestions on how to de-stress the test are here.

Here is the list of ideas of cell phone calls that show up as texts:

• Tune into the test.
• Do you have to guess? Eliminate the wrong answers first and then choose from the answers that are left. 
• A positive attitude will help you do your best
• Don't panic when you don't know the question. Take a deep breath and read it again. 
• Don't spend too much time on one question. If you get stuck come back to it later. 
• Do your best.
• Read every question.
• Get a good night of sleep before the test. 
• Eat a healthy breakfast.
• Answer all of the questions. Don’t leave any blanks.

Another idea for this space...I saved all the plastic rulers (which are hard to see) that were being recycled and had an idea for my next bulletin board.  
HOW DO YOU MEASURE....... supporting our Habits of Mind and Citizenship school theme. So I found some willing people and pets to say what they measure. Then with my trusty Ipad, I have some pictures to print on the color printer.  At the bottom of the picture ask the person what they would measure and how is in the speech bubble.  
So far we have:
Motivation
Respect
Attendance and tardies
LOVE

Idea #3 Fun in 5 minutes or less

 I thought I would share some of my favorite ice breakers, conversation starters, esteem builders, friendship builders, social skill learning tools.  They are actually rolled in a few small items.  Let me tell you about some of my favorite games to play with students.  I have a breakfast club that comes in early to chat and eat.  I sit back yes and drink my coffee and we get off to a good start by playing a few rounds of:   SPOT IT   Demo of Spot It on-line.  This is a great game and certainly a brain teaser and a favorite.





No day would be complete without a rousing game of UNO.  I use this game all the time for teaching good game skills, solving conflicts, being a good sport and social skills 101.  I usually play the international rules.
1.  If you play a ZERO you can trade hands with anyone in the game.  You could have 25 cards and a team mate 2 cards.  The trade has to happen.
2. Jump In.  If you have the same number and color as a card just played you can break the play and JUMP IN. This makes the game super exciting.
3.  MY rule.. if I catch anyone cheating I give them two cards.
Here we have:
Harry Potter UNO
Sponge Bob SquarePants UNO
Marvel UNO
The BIG FISH UNO







We can't forget a quick game of CONNECT FOUR.  This is an oldie but goodie and I have some intense players.  We take turns with the morning challenge and play each other while we visit.  Connect Four can be found at any big box type store.

I have the oldest game in the world and it is my go to game for just about any issue that needs to be wrapped up and have a student sent off with a peaceful feeling.  Have you heard of MANCALA? This game just has 2-3 rules but it is addicting.  The directions are simple and you will want to play over and over.  It is easy for almost any age to play.  Counting is not really even required just a willingness to take turns.




And last but not least a cooperative game that has students helping each other to beat the clock.  It is a bit like concentration and requires students to work together to pair the matches and then guess what is behind the SECRET DOOR.  I found this game in a Child's Work/Child's Play catalog.

Speaking UP a way to report Conflict, Harassment and Bullying

Whenever I go on trips I try to find anything that is free or could possibly work in getting good messages to my students and families.  The New York City metro card that says "if you see something, Say something" sat in my office for a while. I would glance up and see it waiting to be used.  Since we need an anonymous way of reporting bullying and harassment with our new Maine Laws I had students help me devise a way that would work for all students.  We met during lunch to brainstorm ideas about what it should look like, location, language and why a video would be helpful.  We decided to use the saying "if you see something, say something", Speak Up.  Speak Up is also one of our core values.  At the beginning of the year I teach in each classroom a lesson on what "harassment is and what it is not", the laws and the steps taken if harassment is a problem.  The video this year is an added bonus. A sixth grade teacher said it was VERY Powerful...

This is what we came up with.

Speak Up box 

1.  Students, with the direction of my super fabulous intern, made a HOW TO video about the Speak Up box. It is a wooden box that students can drop a note in to report harassment or bullying behavior.

2. The box is in an area that most students go to by the office, so their anonymity is protected.  The box is locked.

3. I check the box daily and keep a binder with details of each report and what happened.

4. In each classroom there is a form for students to pick up if they need one with instructions on what to do. There are also directions on the form.

5. We tried to color code the paper so we could begin collecting some data about each grade level that is reporting.  We thought about who would report most and use the box.

Here is an example of the front and back of the card that is used by students.

[FRONT] Speak Up

If you see something, Say Something!

Conflict is a behavior that happens daily. There can be may conflicts at school that you can solve yourself. But there are times when you need help to problems solve peer, teacher or school conflicts. This is an option for reporting that students have requested. As bystanders, peers sometimes don’t know what to do. They decided to SPEAK UP. The more bystanders who SPEAK UP the less power negative peer conflict will have. We want our school to be a place that is safe for ALL students. This form is a confidential way to report behavior that is unacceptable in our school. 

If you would like someone to follow-up with you please sign your name.

[BACK]  Date:

Circle what the problem is:

Friendship Drama, Unkind words,   

Peer Conflict, Bullying (Physical, Verbal, Emotional, Cyber Bullying, harassment, Sexual Harassment, Other_________________ 

What happened?

Were there any witnesses or bystanders?

What have you tried (circle as many as you tried)?

Told the person to stop, Problem Solving Circle, Told a (teacher, parent, friend, coach), Helped the Person in Trouble, Private Conversation, Team Meeting

Name of the person having a problem or conflict:

We also made a video that I am showing to all the classrooms so students will know what to do to take care of harassment behavior. 

Update: Idea #2 bulletin boards and flags

My welcome back bulletin board found on Pintrest has made the hallway look very inviting.  If you don't know about Pintrest then that is another update that I probably won't do justice to. This was quick but too the point.  We all can be contributors in our own way to school climate. And no one ever pulls the fire alarm that is right in the middle of all my bulletin boards. Sometimes I try to be strategic with disguise. 

September Welcome Back

Since my office is really small I try to add one eye-catching item a year that says what our year at LMS will be about.  This year I found flags that fit "just right above my door".  They give a great message and I have the opportunity to introduce peaceful mindful practice to students who ask.  These flags are called Prayers of Compassion.  They are colorful and I have them on both of my doors.  To enter my small space my cheerful secretary is first and then I am just around the corner.  Notice above my door a great peel and stick that I found at a local DOLLAR TREE.