August Counseling Lesson

Fourth and fifth grade students participated in their first counseling lesson of the school year this week.  Swap classes came together to meet with me in the amphitheater for around 50 minutes to learn about me and my role as their school counselor.  Through listening to various song clips, students identified reasons they might want to talk to a school counselor.  They also learned how to make an appointment with me and how to know when it is their turn to come to my office.  In addition, each grade level participated in an activity to help them recognize that our words and actions have a lasting effect on others.  The activities for each grade level are summarized below.

4th Grade - The Wadded Paper Activity.  Each student was given a plain piece of white paper.  I explained that they were mad at the piece of paper and that they had 15 seconds to show the paper how mad they were.  Students showed the paper how mad they were by crumpling it up, stomping on it, and even yelling at and talking to the paper.  After 15 seconds, I told the students that they were no longer mad at the paper and they had to smooth the paper out and make it look exactly like it did when I gave it to them.  The students were given time to try to straighten out the paper, but they could not make the crumpled up papers look new again.  We discussed the fact that the paper they were given represents a person's heart.  The things we do and say to people leave wrinkles in people's hearts.  We can't make the wrinkles go away on the paper by telling the paper we are sorry.  This is true of the wrinkles in people's hearts, too.  People may forgive us, but we can never take back the things we do or say.  We discussed the acronym THINK (pictured below courtesy of Technology Rocks) and the students were reminded that they are in charge of their legacies and of the choices they make.

5th Grade - Kid President Video "20 Things We Should Say More Often".  We reviewed the Wadded Paper Activity (described above) from last year and discussed the fact that the things we do and say to people leave a lasting impression.  We can choose to be kind or choose to be unkind.  We watched the Kid President Video "20 Things We Should Say More Often".  As we watched, I paused the video and we talked about the underlying ideas behind the "surprise corn dogs" and the "BBQ sauce on someone's shirt" to make sure the students understood the meaning behind these analogies.  The students were reminded that their words and actions make a difference in the lives of others.  We reviewed the acronym THINK (pictured above courtesy of Technology Rocks) and the students were reminded that they are in charge of their legacies and of the choices they make.

You can view the PowerPoint I used for this month's lesson by clicking here.

Thank you for your support of the counseling program at Paine Intermediate.  If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me via e-mail (lauren.blake@trussvillecityschools.com) or you call me at 228-3387.  Thank you for sharing your children with me!