Counselor's Corner

It’s the last day of school before winter break and the fifth graders were ready to celebrate at their all-grade party. They are going to start by watching their favorite holiday movie,  50 Timothys Running Ethiopia . And who wants to watch a movie without snacks? They are going to eat the best snacks ever: Violet mangoes and stinkbug zucchini. Then it will be time to deliver the presents they made for their teachers. First, they will visit Ms. Bowman’s room. They got her ultraviolet monsters. She will feel so sad and she will think “You are so good at this!” Next, they will go to see Ms. Franco. They got Ms. Franco 654,942 clocks. She will be so angry! She will think “I need help!” Next, they will go to Mr. Rodriguez’s room. He is getting a throw-up green, off-leash dog. The fifth graders know he will feel embarrassed and think “I’m thinking…” After visiting Mr. Rodriguez, they will head to Ms. Bonsall’s art room to deliver her present. They got her a sparkly black frog. She will be s

This week we are exploring Rawson Saunders School’s core value  Reflective  in our SUPERHEROIC Skills classes. Our school’s definition of Reflective is:  I explore my thoughts and feelings that influence my behavior and reactions.  As I reviewed the curriculum for this week’s lesson, I found myself reflecting on where I was one year ago when delivering this same lesson plan. We were online, days away from winter break, and I was missing the energy that comes from delivering SEL lessons in person. I remember writing this lesson plan and trying to generate an online activity that encouraged students to differentiate thoughts from feelings and kept their “almost-to-break” attention focused amid the distractions of bedrooms, pets, holiday fantasies, and co-habited rooms. Voila! A Reflective mad lib activity was born.    Although we are in-person during this year’s Reflective: Week Two curriculum, we decided to retain the mad lib activity and will share a Reflective story with our RSS commu