I haven't done very well at all keeping up with this blog of mine. I figure it could be a New Year's Resolution, keeping it up a little better than earlier in the school year. As for an update as to what we've been doing during guidance here goes...
In K5 as well as in 1st grade I've been working on the Feelings unit with them. The Kindergarteners seemed to enjoy the "Don't Let your Snowman Have a Meltdown" activity about not "blowing our top" when someone or something upsets us. I also worked into the unit a few discussions on "Tattling vs. Telling" and read K5 one of my favorite books, "Don't Squeal Unless Its a Big Deal" and the kids loved coloring in their pig shaped "reminders" on the differences between telling and tattling. Catholic Schools week is one of my favorite times of the school year because we get to celebrate what we do best, teaching our students the path of Christ. For K5 I used CSW as a way to kick off our Friendship unit by using Jesus as an example of how we can be good friends. In 1st grade we celebrated CSW by reading another one of my favorite books, "the Golden Rule", where students learn how children and religions all around the world teach how to "treat each other the way you want to be treated".
In 2nd grade we've been discussing our Friendship unit lately with the students creating their own book entitled, "How to Keep All of Your Friends" as the opposite of the Nancy Carlton book " How to Lose all of Your Friends". The kids always love this activity because they have a finished book that they created as a class at the end of it that they can keep in the classroom. In the 3rd/4th grade classroom they have been working their way through their favorite unit, Teamwork. This past week they got to do a "Minefield" activity where they had to walk a classmate safely through a field of small obstacles and each walk is accompanied by a discussion of the teamwork skills the group showed.
In 5th grade we've recently started our "No Name Calling Week/Bullying" unit and had discussions on how to be a good bystander and stop bullying if we see it. We've also discussed how much words can hurt each other and why people bully each other. The 6th grade class has recently been starting their "All about Me" unit where we do different activities to share things about ourselves and teach us how to appreciate and celebrate ourselves. The 6th grade students recently drew totem poles to tell the story of their family, the students got very into the different symbolic animals used in traditional Native American totem poles.
In 7th grade we've been learning about different types of stereotypes we have or will encounter with most of the conversation being about gender stereotypes that society has created for us as well as the media. We had some really great discussions about this topic and it was great to hear their perspective on these topics. The 8th grade students recently finished up their "7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" Unit and started on the "No Name Calling Week" unit. I always enjoy teaching the "7 Habits" book to the students because they always happily surprise me with the answers they give.
Overall it's been a great start to 2014 in guidance and I can't wait to see what more I can learn from our students, they teach me every Friday and hopefully they learn something from me as well.
In K5 as well as in 1st grade I've been working on the Feelings unit with them. The Kindergarteners seemed to enjoy the "Don't Let your Snowman Have a Meltdown" activity about not "blowing our top" when someone or something upsets us. I also worked into the unit a few discussions on "Tattling vs. Telling" and read K5 one of my favorite books, "Don't Squeal Unless Its a Big Deal" and the kids loved coloring in their pig shaped "reminders" on the differences between telling and tattling. Catholic Schools week is one of my favorite times of the school year because we get to celebrate what we do best, teaching our students the path of Christ. For K5 I used CSW as a way to kick off our Friendship unit by using Jesus as an example of how we can be good friends. In 1st grade we celebrated CSW by reading another one of my favorite books, "the Golden Rule", where students learn how children and religions all around the world teach how to "treat each other the way you want to be treated".
In 2nd grade we've been discussing our Friendship unit lately with the students creating their own book entitled, "How to Keep All of Your Friends" as the opposite of the Nancy Carlton book " How to Lose all of Your Friends". The kids always love this activity because they have a finished book that they created as a class at the end of it that they can keep in the classroom. In the 3rd/4th grade classroom they have been working their way through their favorite unit, Teamwork. This past week they got to do a "Minefield" activity where they had to walk a classmate safely through a field of small obstacles and each walk is accompanied by a discussion of the teamwork skills the group showed.
In 5th grade we've recently started our "No Name Calling Week/Bullying" unit and had discussions on how to be a good bystander and stop bullying if we see it. We've also discussed how much words can hurt each other and why people bully each other. The 6th grade class has recently been starting their "All about Me" unit where we do different activities to share things about ourselves and teach us how to appreciate and celebrate ourselves. The 6th grade students recently drew totem poles to tell the story of their family, the students got very into the different symbolic animals used in traditional Native American totem poles.
In 7th grade we've been learning about different types of stereotypes we have or will encounter with most of the conversation being about gender stereotypes that society has created for us as well as the media. We had some really great discussions about this topic and it was great to hear their perspective on these topics. The 8th grade students recently finished up their "7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" Unit and started on the "No Name Calling Week" unit. I always enjoy teaching the "7 Habits" book to the students because they always happily surprise me with the answers they give.
Overall it's been a great start to 2014 in guidance and I can't wait to see what more I can learn from our students, they teach me every Friday and hopefully they learn something from me as well.