Share a picture of you and YOUR Circles of Control to be featured on the next post!!
<https://youtu.be/kGEz71eSqhM>
Washington-Lee Elementary School Counselor |
I will try to update this page every few months, but my primary method of reaching students are through my Schoology Course. Parents/Guardians and others, please call or e-mail me to reach me.
Check out this video to learn about the CIRCLES OF CONTROL.
Share a picture of you and YOUR Circles of Control to be featured on the next post!! <https://youtu.be/kGEz71eSqhM>
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I am so excited to start my 5th year as the School Counselor here at Washington-Lee, and I hope you are happy to be here as well!!
There are not many major changes happening to the School Counseling Program, but I did want to announce that I am pregnant and expecting a baby girl in January 2020. This means I will not be at Washington-Lee from January until the end of March, although I will be back for the last month or so of the school year. All students have been notified of this upcoming change but with proper organization and preparation, I hope to have a smooth transition from the substitute who will be teaching and leading groups in my absence. Let's make 2019-2020 the best school year yet!! I have been able to follow the themes for each unit the same way every year, so I have not been updating this Newsletter as often. So if you're curious about what lessons are covered, feel free to look through the past posts or to contact me about what we do every week!!
It is about time to meet with my upper grades once again to prepare them for SOL tests. I look forward to this time because I truly believe that students' mental and emotional state greatly affects their ability to perform. And if I am able to encourage them and teach them how to be strong mentally and emotionally, they will be successful. My small groups have been going smoothly this year. I have two book clubs, an Academic Achievement group, Happy Healthy Hygiene, the Worry Warriors, Guys with Ties (boys leadership group), and Friendships are Fun at this time. It's been a lot to juggle and organize, but I am able to reach more students through groups than individually. In addition, students automatically have an opportunity to work on their social skills when in a a group setting. I hope everyone has enjoyed their school year so far. Remember, if there is anything I can assist you with, don't hesitate to call, e-mail, or stop by with an appointment. :) I hope everyone enjoyed their Spring Break at the beginning of this month! We are already at the end of April and our students have begun SOL Testing since last week. The schedule of our tests is below:
April 16-17: 3rd Grade Reading April 18-19: 5th Grade Math April 20: 4th Grade Virginia Studies April 23-24: 3rd Grade Math April 25-26: 4th Grade Reading April 27: 5th Grade Science April 30-May 1: 4th Grade Math May 2-3: 5th Grade Reading Retakes will take place towards the middle to end of May if students scores were between 375-399. 400's are Passes and 500's-600's are Pass Advanced. We are excited to see how are students do! As a reward for successfully passing these tests, there are four possible rewards (for the 4 tests being taken). If, as a school, we pass 1 test, students will have a picnic outside. With 2 passes, they will have a picnic outside as well as a special dessert. With 3 passes, students may have the picnic, dessert, and a morning of team games. Finally, if we pass all 4 tests as a school, students will have all of the above as well as a Slip 'n Slide afternoon! We are excited and hopeful to be accredited once again this year. :) Please make sure your child is eating healthy foods, getting good sleep, and coming to school in a timely manner-- especially on test days. They have worked so hard this year in their academics, and we want them to be physically and mentally/emotionally prepared for these tests. Let's go, Washington-Lee Students!! Our K-2nd grade students will be watching "Zootopia" during Guidance Class as I will be administering tests most of the day. They will be watching for Career-related themes in this movie and complete a worksheet when they finish as we relate the movie to our lessons in Career for the past month. Throughout the month of March (and beginning of April), I have been meeting with 3rd and 4th graders to go over SOL Test Prep lessons. We emphasize mental/emotional and physical preparation for the tests as their teachers prepare them academically. Shown below are the work these students have done to gain confidence to do their best as they show what they know on the SOL Tests. Let's cheer them on as testing begins in April!!
Happy National School Counseling Week!
I love being able to celebrate National School Counseling Week every year on the first full week of February. I educate students and teachers/staff about what the school counseling program consists of here at Washington-Lee. This year, I decided to give out cute treats with little sayings and tidbits of information to encourage and uplift our teachers and staff! I truly enjoyed this opportunity. I forgot to take pictures, but will try to find the posters I made for each day of the week later. :) For our Guidance Lessons, we focused on Kindness and Appreciation. With it being Valentines Day and Black History Month, I thought it was appropriate to recognize what we should be thankful for and how we can show appreciation to the people around us. Students wrote notes to one another, their parent/guardian at home, and were challenged to do an act of kindness based on what they drew from a "Secret Mission" baggy with kind acts written on slips of paper inside. We read "Have You Filled A Bucket Today?" which taught students that our words and actions can fill others buckets (hearts) with good feelings, as well as fill our own buckets through those acts of kindness towards others. We practiced saying nice things to one another in a circle in the classroom, too, which was such an amazing thing to see as they all began smiling and blushing as we complimented one another and "filled each others' buckets." Welcome back to school!
We focus our lessons after Christmas Break on motivation and having an open mindset. We read the book "The Dot" with 1st Grade, and I got to play guitar and sing "The Dot" song with them as we learned about how to have a positive, growth (open) mindset. It was a lot of fun!! We also took the opportunity to come up with New Year's Resolutions and other goals we have to make it a great year. One of my personal favorites are pictured below, and many more students came up with excellent ideas on how to better themselves and help others in this upcoming year. I started two new Book Clubs with 5th Grade boys and girls, and we are reading "How To Steal A Dog" with some boys and "Because of Mr. Terupt" with the girls. Both these books have excellent morals and I'm excited to begin these with the 5th grade students. It's been a couple months since I've had the chance to take some time to update my website and let you all know what the School Counseling Program has been working on with your child(ren). I apologize for a late post but will try to give an overview of what's been happening here at Washington-Lee. First of all, October's Bullying Awareness Month was a huge success! Pre-K through 4th Graders had Guidance Lessons on Bullying Awareness and Prevention, and we finished off the month with Anti-Bullying Spirit Week. Most students and many teachers dressed up for these days, and it really brought our school together and emphasized how diversity is beautiful and respect is a virtue. (The above pictures: 4th Graders wear hats and funky socks to show that they are "Bully Free from Head to Toe." 1st Graders participate in Mis-Match Day to show that "We are All Unique.") At the end of October, our 4th and 5th Graders had the opportunity to go to Virginia High School for our district-wide Career Day! All 4th and 5th Graders in BVPS went to listen to various speakers with a variety of careers, and took notes and asked questions as they participated. It was a great thing to be able to teach our students the importance of Career Education even in elementary school. (Below: Our BVPS Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Ritchie, shares with Washington-Lee 4th Graders about his Career Path.) Through November and December, I focused on Personal-Social Lessons and Diversity with Pre-K through 1st Grade Students. We discussed Personal Space Bubbles, Self-Esteem, Uniqueness, Disabilities, and Holiday Traditions. For 2nd Grade, we used our "7 Habits of Happy Kids" book to go over Problem-Solving Skills ("Thinking 'Win-Win'") and Listening ("Listen Before You Talk"). 3rd and 4th Graders continued in their respective books ("The Adventures of Dakota" and "Treasure") and learned about Grief and Loss, Conflict Resolution, Anger Management, Self-Discipline, and Uniqueness. (Above Pictures: "I'm All Ears"- 2nd Graders explain how to be an active listener.)
Hey everyone!!
If you are a parent or guardians of a student at Washington-Lee Elementary School, please take the time to answer this survey! It is only 7 questions long, and should take about 5 minutes. This will help me with the continuing development of the School Counseling Program. Thank you!! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H3MPDBZ September has finished off strong with many different lesson themes and programs beginning to take root. In Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade, we finished off our lesson unit on Friendships and moved on to Success at School. Students have learned about Teamwork, Listening Skills, and much more during this time. 2nd Graders are reading the 7 Habits book and have learned to Be Proactive; Begin with the End in Mind; and Put First Things First. Above are some worksheets that 1st and 2nd Graders worked on this month. In 3rd Grade, we have read Dakota's first chapter so far. Students learned about Rumors and how that can hurt people's reputations as well as build walls between friendships and relationships. As it was our first class following the routine outlined in my lessons, some students had difficulty being confident and acting out the skit, but I hope that things will improve as we continue these lessons. In 4th Grade, we covered two chapters in The Treasure. Students learned about Teamwork and Respect. In our Teamwork lesson, students had to work in small groups to stack cups using rubber bands and string. They were all successful in their endeavors, and we discussed what worked well (communicating, encouraging, etc.) and what didn't (getting mad when someone didn't do something right, refusing to listen, etc.). I was impressed with how quickly they learned how to work together effectively. Below is a picture of our Respect Field of Flowers. In the story, the flowers were all unique; in the same way that we appreciate flowers and their different blooms, students learned that respect is something we all deserve regardless of our differences. Students answered the question on the poster by describing how they show respect to others. another; students watering plants and making morning announcements are gaining confidence and enjoying these opportunities; and Bus Buddies are successfully setting examples for others on the bus.
Next month is Bullying Awareness Month! Be on the lookout for a survey that I'm creating for Parents that will be available the first week of October. Please answer if you have a chance so I can better align my lessons and programs to the needs of our school. |
Mary ArgenbrightI am the school counselor at Washington-Lee Elementary School in Bristol, VA. Archives
May 2020
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