Red Ribbon Week and Treats for Troops

Greetings! Next week is going to be a very busy week here at RRES!

Monday we kick of Red Ribbon Week! This year's theme is "Love yourself. Be yourself. Stay Drug Free!" Each child was given a sticker to wear home or put in the agendas with a different dress up day each week. In case you haven't seen the stickers here are our fun days...

Monday- Wear Red to show you are choosing to live a healthy life!
Tuesday- Sock it to drugs! Wear crazy socks!
Wednesday- Team up against drugs! Wear your favorite team gear!
Thursday- Peace out to Drugs! Wear tye-dye and peace signs!
Friday- Put drugs to rest! Wear your PJs to school but don't forget real shoes!

On Monday we will also be kicking off our first ever Student Ambassador Treats for Troops! We are collecting candy to send to our men and women who are currently serving overseas. There will be a box either outside my office or just inside the door for candy donations. The flyer below was sent home last week. I hope this is the start of a great tradition at RRES!

Peer Pressure Gauge

I am going to be working with the 4th and 5th grade students about how to recognize peer pressure and how to resist peer pressure. I came across this great book by Julia Cook called Peer Pressure Gage. One of the things I love about Julia Cook is how she can take a hard topic to understand and put it in kid friendly language. Another thing I love about Julia Cook is that the back of her book has resources for parents and teachers in the back. Below is some of the information that she shares in the back of her book Peer Pressure Gage.

Tips for Parents and Educators (From Author Julia Cook):

Peer Pressure is the influence that a peer group has over a person. This influence can change the person's attitudes, values, or behaviors to conform. It plays a big role in who you are, how you dress, how you act, etc. Peer pressure can occur at all ages, but as children grow older, the behaviors negatively affected by peer pressure become more risky. While positive encouragement is a good thing, negative peer pressure can cause many difficulties in your child's life. 

- Talk with your child about making friendships. What are the qualities that a good friend should have? What do you admire most about your friends? How do your friends handle conflicts? how can you choose the best friends for you?

Discuss what peer pressure is and talk about what it look/sounds like: 

Insults: Making a person feel bad for not doing something. 

Rejection: Excluding a person because he/she chooses not to do something.

Reasoning: Giving reasons why a person should do something. 

Unspoken Pressure: Seeing everyone else doing something or wearing something. Observe negative body language (eye rolling, etc.) when you don't conform to what others expect. 

Talk about the cost of saying NO, and let your child know that you understand how difficult it can be. You may lose a friend, your social position, or something else that means alot to you. Tell your child stories about how you dealt with negative peer pressure effectively. Expressing genuine empathy will give your child strength and validate feelings. 

Role-play different scenarios with your child so they can practice their responses to negative peer pressure, and practice their resisting skills.

Encourage your child to: 

- Understand his/her own beliefs and values.

- Have self-confidence

- Choose his/her friends wisely

- Talk to a trusted adult if needed

- Not make excuses, instead practice saying exactly how he/she feels

- Practice coming up with reasons for getting out of tough situation

When resisting negative peer pressure, have your child: 

1. Look at the person

2. Use a calm, assertive voice tone

3. State clearly that you do not want to engage in the inappropriate activity.

4. Suggest an alternative activity

5. If the person persists, continue to say, "NO".

6. If the peer will not accept your "NO" answer, ask him/her to leave or remove yourself from the situation. 

*For more Parenting information please visit parenting.org from Boys Town. 

Learning Styles

In a few weeks I am going to be having the 5th grade students do a learning styles quiz. We will be talking about why it is important to know your learning style and how you can use it to your advantage in the classroom. I came across this great article that talks about the three different learning styles and the ways you can help your students. It may also help you understand how to help your students with homework. I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did!

http://www.uisd.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/help-your-child-develop-good-learning-styles.pdf

Welcome to a New School Year!!

Hello everyone! We are already off to a great start! All classes are working on rotating through specials and by the end of the month I will have met every class. There are very few things that are changing this year with Guidance. The biggest change is the way students will request to come and see me. This year the students will "text me". I have paper cell phones in every classroom that the students can write to me. They will fill out their names, teacher, and give me a little summary of what the situation is. Hopefully this will allow me to meet with the students who have a greater need quicker. I will post a picture of one a little later.

Here are some things to be looking forward to:
Treats for Troops (New this year!)
Random Acts of  Kindness Week
Pasta for Pennies

End of Year Survey

Hey everyone! As we only have two more weeks of school left I would love it if you could take a moment and fill out my end of year survey! I would love your feed back so I can help the program grow and make sure I am meeting the needs of all of our students!

Please click HERE

Thank you so much!

Test Stress!

As we get closer and closer to the end of the year I get more students coming to me about test anxiety. Especially the 3rd grade students because they have never taken the EOG. Everyone handles stress differently and I try to really explain that to the students who come to my office and say well the other kids don't seem worried. Here are a few tips!

Night before the test:
- Go to bed at your normal time. Maybe a little early (try and keep the routine the same!)
- Eat a good healthy dinner
- Drink alot of water so you are well hydrated.
- Do things to help you relax.
- Do NOT study!!!

*That last one is really important! I know as parents you want your kids to study and be as prepared as possible. However, last minute cramming can lead to feelings of more stress and anxiety if they don't know the information. It is best the night before a test to let the student simply relax. If is the night before the test they either know it or they don't and last minute cramming doesn't help.

Day of the test:
- Keep as normal a routine as possible!
- Eat a healthy filling breakfast (try and not let the kids eat sweet sugary cereals that wont keep them full)
- Get to student to school a little early so they have time to get settled in. (Desks will be moved around so your child needs time to find their desk and get comfortable. As well as go to the bathroom and eat breakfast if they eat at school).

These are simply just a few tips I share with the children. I use Pinterest alot as a resource to find new ideas and information. Here is a link to my Pinterest board on Test Anxiety. I have used several of these things but not all of them. Feel free to follow the board or just look at the ideas and suggestions.

http://www.pinterest.com/asupirate/test-anxiety/pins/

One of my favorite things I found this year on Pinterest is a video from YouTube called This Test Does Not Define You! It is a little over six minutes. You need to watch the whole thing! The kids have really enjoyed this video. For my lesson plan click here!

Below are pictures of the mandalas that the students drew. They are hanging in the hallway so they see them as they walk into the room before EOGs! 

Meredith College

Our college of the month is Meredith College! Mrs.Gingery, Mrs.Meares, and Mrs.C.Jones all attended Meredith College.

Meredith is located in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is the largest college for undergraduate women in the southeastern United States. It was founded as the Baptist Female University and then later changed its name to the Baptist University for Women. In 1997 the school moved away from direct connect with the Baptist State convention and is now known solely as Meredith College. Meredith students are known as the Avenging Angels. For more information check out their website: http://www.meredith.edu/

Kindergarten Parent Orientation

Tomorrow we will be hosting a rising kindergarten parent orientation in the library at 10am. If you happened to be unable to attend please let me know and I can get you whatever information you might need!

1st Grade Anti-Bullying Shilds

Greetings Everyone!

I wanted to take a minute to share what our 1st graders have been working on. We have been talking alot lately about bullying and different ways to deal with a bully. One of the ways is to Ignore the bully. And when I talk with the children we also talk about how hard this can be. Especially when someone says something that can really hurt your feelings. In the story we read, Brenda Bee is trying to ignore Big Beetle. In order to do this first she comes up with a "Power Sentence". A Power Sentence is something you say over and over again in your head to try and block out what a bully is saying. I give the students several examples of ones I come up with. Things such as "I am smart", "I am beautiful", and "I am strong". Then I invite everyone who wants to share one they came up with. Next I had the students create an Anti-Bullying Shield. On their shields they were to write their name, draw a picture of themselves, a picture of what they are good at, a picture of what they like to do, and a picture of their friends and family. Next year I plan on making the paper the students use bigger because many of them couldn't fit the picture of their friends and family. However, it was very sweet to see them asking their classmate how to spell each other's names. The students also kept asking how they were suppose to wear their shields ( I didn't add an arm band on the back). So again maybe next year I will make it so the students can actually wear them. They were very excited to let them hang up in the hallway. I tried to remind the students that when they are ignoring someone and saying their "Power Sentence" to try and picture their Anti-Bullying Shield to give them extra strength. I told the students that they can also use the Stand up to Bullying skills even when someone is doing something we don't like and not just being a bully. These are skills the students can use to cope with various friendship problems they may come across as they get older.

Middle School Registration!

Greetings parents! This post is mainly for our 5th grade parents.More to come about the other grades later!

It is that time of year when we start to talk about middle school. If you had older students there are very few changes from last year. I received the recommendation sheets at the end of last week and have sent them out to the students teachers for them to place their recommendations. If your student is AIG or has an IEP those teachers will be giving the recommendations along with the classroom teachers.

Because Math placements can be very confusing, especially for parents, there are going to be 4 parent information sessions. There is a letter coming home with your child today. But just in case that doesn't make it home to you here are the dates and locations.

Choose from Four Locations...
Session #1: Monday, March 17th, 2014
Location: Salem Middle School
Time: 9:30am-10:30 am

Session #2: Wednesday, March 19th, 2014
Location: Heritage Middle School
Time: 5:30pm-6:30pm

Session #3: Monday, March 24th, 2014
Location: West Lake Middle School
Time: 5:30pm-6:30pm

Session #4: Wednesday, March 26th, 2014
Location: East Millbrook Middle School
Time: 9:30am-10:30am

During these sessions they will be talking about the Middle School Math Placement Guidelines, Resources to support success in Math available in ALL WCPSS Middle Schools, Math progression in middle and high school-What come after 6th grade math, and How and When you have options for Math Acceleration. I HIGHLY suggest attending one of these sessions! For more information please check the following link created by WCPSS : http://wake-ms-math.weebly.com/

Our homeroom teachers will be working on their recommendations when we return from D.C.Once they have finished their recommendations, the sheets will be sent home for you and your student to sign. I MUST have these back as they register your student for their middle school classes. You will also be getting a sheet about electives for your students middle school. That also MUST come back with the green registration sheet. If the elective sheet does not come back then the middle school will be choosing your child's electives.

If you already know that your child is going to East Garner Middle they are having a Magnet Application Course Registration Night. They will be sending you more information. This again is only for those students who already know they are going to East Garner. I will also be sending home an elective form that you can bring with you that night so they can help you choose the best classes. On April 22nd from 6-7:30 East Garner is having an Expo night. ALL students are welcome to come that night to meet the teachers, counselors and administrators while touring the school.

North Garner Middle has already had their open house. If you missed it do not panic! The best thing to do if you have questions about courses at North Garner Middle is to call and ask to speak with the 6th grade counselor for next year. I only know some general information about their courses so for specific questions call the school directly. Also because so many of our students attend North Garner, a counselor will be coming to talk with the students about middle school in general to answer any of their questions.

For other questions about specific classes you can also view the WCPSS Middle School Planning Guide. This gives you a summary of every class.

And finally all rising 6th graders must also have the Tdap booster. Please click here to read more information on the WCPSS website.

Highlights from Random Acts of Kindness Week

Greetings!! Today wraps up our extended Random Acts of Kindess Week. Thanks to the snow we were able to talk about kindness for two weeks!

Here is the bulletin board where students could share their random acts if kindness. It took a few days to get going but then the students were really getting into it. Next year if I do the same thing I will be looking for help to have a few spots set up in the mornings. Because I was in the lobby I missed a lot of the students who rode the bus.

With the third grade students we talked about how we could be bucket fillers around the school to make our school community a better place. We read the book  Have you filled a bucket today? Then we talked about what it meant to be a bucket filler at our school. The students were invited to write on a circle a way they could be a bucket filler in five different areas of the school. Each class talked about ways to be a bucket filler in the classroom as well as in the bathrooms. Each class also had 3 other common areas of the school. Today we talked about the classrooms, bathrooms, cafeteria, playgrounds, computer lab, library, art, music, P.E., and guidance. These are the areas that all students are expected to follow the same Rand Road expectations that help them attend the PBIS celebrations each quarter. After the lessons were finished I have hung them up around the school so all of the students can see them and hopefully reflect and talk with one another about how to be a bucket filler throughout the school. 

Thank you for everyone who brought in food for our food drive!! It was a great success and I will be dropping the food off some time this week at Wake Relief! 

Food Drive Extended!!!!

Due to all of the snow the food drive and Random Acts of Kindness Week will be extended into next week!

Random Acts of Kindness Week

Feb.10th-15th we will be celebrating Random Acts of Kindness. The goal of the week is to encourage students to do something nice for someone else simply because it's nice and not expecting anything else in return. Each day the news crew will share a different suggestion for the students to try. We are also encouraging the students to come up with ideas on their own. I will be in the lobby each morning with paper hears that the students can write their random acts on kindness on. They will be displayed on a bulletin board in the front of the school. 

To go along with our theme we will also be hosting a food drive to help Wake Relief, which provides emergency groceries to families in Wake County. There will be boxes outside my room (127) starting Monday, February 10th. The last day to donate is Friday, February 14th. Students will also be able to buy a can food item at the school store to give to the food drive. Students buy items at the school store using their gold coins they earn for good behavior and for following Rand Road Expectations.

Wake Relief's Website is below. 

wakerelief.org

Throughout the week I will be sharing more random acts of kindness. Be sure to check back for more ideas!!!  

National School Counselor's Week

Hey everyone!! Today kicks off National School Coubselor's Week!! Be on the look out for more posts each day to learn about what it's like to be a school counselor!

InterAct coming to RRES

Starting on Thursday when we come back to school through the first week of Feb. InterAct of Wake County is going to be coming to our school to speak with all of the 3rd-5th grade students through their specials classes.

For those of your who are not familiar with InterAct they are a private, non-profit, United Way agency that provides safety, support and awareness to victims and survivors of domestic violence. They have a great program that comes into schools to speak with the children about healthy relationships and how to stay safe. They are able to talk to the students in a way that is engaging, informative, and not scary. If you have any concerns please check out InterAct's website. A letter was also sent home to parents before the trackout.

National School Counselor's Week

National School Counselor's week is coming up fast!! It is Feb.3rd-7th. As a way to share with parents and families a little of what I do I will be starting a quarterly news letter. Be on the lookout!

Please check out the North Carolina School Counselor Association Website if you would like to learn more about school counselors in North Carolina.

Spotlight on a College

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone had a great trackout!

I came up with this idea right before trackout to spotlight a different college or university each month. I would like to create an environment where students are thinking about their future and all the wonderful things they can do. In our ever changing world one of the biggest things that helps anyone have the job of their dreams is some form of higher education.

 I asked the teachers what schools they attended as my starting point. I want our student to realize there are other schools outside of the triangle. In December I highlighted Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. I apologize for not taking a picture of the bulletin board before I took it down. On the board each month I will be sharing some facts about the school and a few pictures. I will also be sharing what teachers went to that school. I hope that if a student is interested in a school they may reach out to that teacher to learn more. The news crew is also sharing a fact they find each morning. This month we are highlight North Carolina A&T.

I have added the links to both school's home pages. If you and your students would like to learn more about the school please click on the school's name above.