Counseling & Wellness at CCE

Here's what students have been up to in Counseling and Wellness lessons during October.

In November we will focus on Gratitude and Kindness

Lessons on conflict resolution and bullying prevention were delivered to grades 3-6. Mrs. Edwards also visited K-2 classrooms to practice the calming and coping skills they learned about in September.

The ability to stay calm and be kind is at the foundation of bullying prevention and resilience. Those calming skills work best if practiced regularly when children (and adults) are already calm. So, keep asking your student and practicing their favorite calming skills as often as you can.

Brooks Gibbs is a resilience educator and Social Psychologist who specializes in teaching youth how to be emotionally resilient and inspires them to live by the Golden Rule. Check out some of his viral videos, one of which our 4-6th grade students got to see during their Oct lesson with Mrs. Edwards.

The key concepts they learned include:

• Bullying is dominance behavior.
• Responding calmly can disarm the dominator.
• Physical violence is not bullying; it’s a crime and should be reported.

Students got to role play with each other using specific calm and kind words to respond effectively to bullying behavior.

A lot of bullying behavior can be stopped before it starts with effective strategies for managing conflict when it's still small. Students in 3rd grade learned about the differences between a "Disagreement", "Rude Behavior", "Mean Behavior" and "Bullying Behavior". In each category, students identified ways to respond that would keep the problems from getting any larger. We also talked about when to ask an adult for help with a peer conflict.

CCE will soon begin using a new program in each classroom called Wayfinder. Beyond social and emotional learning, Wayfinder is an evidence based curriculum teaching core skills that help students connect classroom learning to the real world. Future-ready students are students with a sense of purpose and belonging and Wayfinder fits our mission as educators to do just that!

While the curriculum is new to our school, the character education it supports is not. Through counseling lessons, our PAWS program, and the community building that happens every day in our classrooms, students are gaining these important life skills alongside their academic learning. Wayfinder helps streamline and reinforce this important work.

Skills taught through Wayfinder lessons will fall into the following categories:

• Self-Awareness
• Adaptability
• Empathy
• Collaboration
• Agency
• Purpose

Check out the Wayfinder Family Information Hub or contact Mrs. Edwards or Mrs. Rahne with questions.

During the month of October, students reviewed and learned about the concept of mindfulness. We discussed how “mindful” and “unmindful” behavior would look, sound and feel. Then we learned strategies we can use when we need to get ourselves back to a mindful state.

Our youngest students identified which behaviors were mindful and unmindful when given examples. They used tally marks to sort, or acted out their guesses with their bodies for some fun movement. Later in the week they learned how they can use their senses to calm down and focus. We used our sight and listening skills to observe things around us. Students took a walk outside to do this. They enjoyed being outside and noticing things that they hadn’t before!

Second graders had done the same activities as K/1st last year, so this year they were challenged to read scenarios and sort them on their own. Some of the scenarios were tricky! After that, students had to describe a time when they were showing unmindful behavior. They named what choices they made and why it showed unmindful behavior. Later on they also used their five senses to make observations outside. Lastly, students experienced mindful listening using a chime.

All of our upper grade students began their week with an experiment! They all thought Mrs. Star had lost her mind! Students experienced what an unmindful classroom vs. a mindful classroom would feel like. We used these experiences to name the characteristics of a mindful and an unmindful state. Here is what we came up with:

Mindful state

• Focused

• In the moment

• Doing one thing at a time

• Feeling: calm, relaxed, grateful

• Mind is clean/”filtered”

• Making good choices

Unmindful state

• Unfocused

• Mind is “all over the place”

• Trying to multitask

• Feeling: rushed, stressed, confused

• Mind is “unfiltered”

• Making poor choices

Students shared interesting observations in friendship circle after the experiment. A few said the unmindful classroom felt challenging, and good. Most students did not like this scenario and were able to say it was stressful and frustrating. Most students enjoyed the mindful practice in the classroom saying it was much calmer focusing on one thing.

We then moved into learning strategies to help us when we are in an unmindful state. Students used their five senses, but were allowed to draw creatively using them. They came up with beautiful ways to acknowledge the environment around them.

All students are building their toolbox for mindfulness activities and strategies. They were told that when they are feeling unmindful, they can use these to help them come back to a mindful state.

Here are some of the strategies students named to help them be mindful:

• Belly breathing

• Mindful movement

• “Quiet cave”-have your child show you what this looks like!

• Read a book

• Talk to friends

• Draw

• Drink water

• Mindfully listen

• Use your five senses

• Go outside

Try to remind your child of the strategies listed above as choices for them when they show ummindful behavior. Try different things. The list isn’t all inclusive. You may find something else that works best for your child and your family. Recognize when your child shows mindful behavior. Praise them for this, calling out specific behaviors that you see. For example, “I noticed that you were calm and focused while you were doing your homework.” You can also try strategies as a family: “Let’s try to mindfully work on cleaning up our room today.”

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to me! I am happy to help in any way I can.

Stephanie Star

sstar@dcsdk12.org

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing and Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

ADHD is Awesome: A Guide To (Mostly) Thriving With ADHD by Penn & Kim Holderness.

Debbie Edwards, School Counselor dedwards2@dcsdk12.org

Stephanie Star, Wellness Teacher sstar@dcsdk12.org