Welcome to Mr. Otten's School Counseling Page
Check in for periodic updates on School Counseling activities at Argyle Elementary
Argyle Elementary School Counseling Mission Statement
The mission of the Argyle Elementary School Counseling Program is to provide effective support services in the domains of academic, personal/social and career development that align with the leaning styles of our students. Support services include instruction and counseling to:
* Reduce barriers to learning which impede academic achievement
* Assist in the development of positive character traits
* Teach effective goal setting, problem solving and decision making skills
* Encourage the demonstration of appropriate behavior
* Develop successful personal and career related relationships throughout life
Below is a description of classroom guidance lessons I am teaching this year.
I will continue to provide updates on lessons as I teach them.
In following our mission statement, some of the things we provide are:
Classroom Guidance________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Stay tuned for updates. I plan on beginning classroom guidance the week of August 17. Lesson topics will be summarized for each grade level as they occur throughout the year. I typically meet with each class every other week for 30 minutes.
Week of August 17:
3rd, 4th, & 5th: Played multiple choice game that introduced role and job of School Counselor.
Week of August 24:
K, 1st & 2nd: Played a Bingo game that introduced School Counseling and what School Counselors do.
Week of August 31:
Kindergarten: Watched to Wilbur video's about saying please and thank you.
1st Grade: Read "Understand and Care" by Cheri Meiners about empathy.
2nd Grade: Read "Froggy Learns to Tame a Bully" by Kathie Guild.
Week of September 7:
4th and 5th: Used the website californiarealitycheck.com, in which students were able to learn about finances, bills, and responsibilities of adults.
3rd Grade: Introduced Holland Career Theory by using props to demonstrate each group, students identified group(s) that described them the most.
Week of September 14:
Kindergarten: Watched Wilbur video about sharing and saying I'm sorry.
1st Grade: Students were introduced to higher level vocabulary feeling words through a powerpoint. Students then got in groups and matched the feelings pictures to the feelings words.
2nd Grade: Students watched "The Good Birds Club" about what a bully is, what to do, and what to do as a bystander.
Week of September 21:
No CG, Fall Break
Week of September 28:
3rd Grade: Read a couple stories from "Journey's to Jobs" by Debra Wosnik. The detail how
4th & 5th: Watched career video's from bls.gov about elementary skills like math ability, paying attention, social skills, etc, and how they apply to obtaining a wide range of careers. Completed this worksheet as we watched.
Week of October 5:
Kindergarten: Played a "manners charades" game in which students acted out good mannered responses to everyday situations.
1st Grade: Students took turns acting out the feeling words we learned in previous lesson, then another student gave an empathetic response. Scenario's were taken from this worksheet.
2nd Grade: Read a "Froggy story" about doing your best.
Week of October 12:
3rd Grade: Read two more stories from "Journey's to Jobs"
4th and 5th: Completed video's and worksheet from week of Sep 28.
Week of October 19:
No CG, completed Vision and Hearing screening for 4th grade, as well as all day counselor meeting.
Week of October 26:
Kindergarten & 1st: Watched part of "Stranger Safety" video created by John Walsh.
2nd Grade: Watched part of a video on "Responsibility".
Week of November 2:
3rd & 4th: Used this worksheet to discuss correlation between super hero's and career skills. Then used Career Superhero cards to look at specific super powers needed for a variety of careers.
5th Grade: Used iPads to go to insidejobs.com and research specific careers.
Week of November 9:
Kindergarten & 1st: Watched the rest of "Stranger Safety" video
2nd Grade: Finished watching Responsibility video.
Week of November 16:
3rd and 4th: Students were put into teams, and several careers were described. As they were described, each team had to come up with the top four skills needed for the given career and were awarded a point for each correctly identified skill (using this template).
5th Grade: Students completed doing research on a specific career on insidejobs.com and presented their findings to the rest of the class.
Week of November 23:
No CG, Thanksgiving Break.
Week of Nov 30:
No CG, Human Growth & Development for 5th, Career Day 3rd, 4th, & 5th.
Week of Dec 7:
3rd, 4th, & 5th: Watched "Internet Safety" video produced by John Walsh.
Week of Dec 14:
No CG
Week of Dec 21-Jan 3:
Break
Week of Jan 4:
3rd Grade: Students watched a video about internet safety.
4th & 5th: Students watched these video's from netsmartz.org/nsteens:
1. Friend or Fake - You never really know how you're talking to online.
2. Post to be Private - Nothing is truly private online.
3. Profile Penalty - Be careful of what you post, and what your profile says about you.
4. Mike Tosis - What do you do if an embarassing post, picture, or text message is circulating?
5. Terrible Text - What do you do if you or someone you know is being harassed via text or social media?
Week of Jan 11:
K & 1st: Read "A Children's Book about Honesty".
2nd Grade: Read about the "Lie Monster" in "A Big, Fat, Enormous, Lie".
Week of Jan 18:
3rd Grade: Read a Froggy stroy "Froggy Tames a Bully" about how to combat bullying.
4th & 5th: Used materials from Netsmartz.org. Small groups were given scenario's and decided to tell, ignore, and/or if situation was safe. Also used a paper doll to discuss students online reputation.
Week of Jan 25:
K, 1st, & 2nd: Watched a video about Honesty.
Week of Feb 1:
3rd Grade: Introduced to Bystander Strategies and then students were bullying scenario's to act out, and had to choose one of the strategies to combat bullying.
4th & 5th: Reviewed Bystander Strategies, read "Say Something", and then were asked to write about a bullying situation they have witnessed or faced. Situation was read to class and discussed which strategies could be used.
Week of Feb 8:
1st & 2nd: Played "hide the donkey", a game that teaches students to never give up. A picture of a donkey was hidden in the room while 1 student waited outside. When the student entered, the rest of the class said "hot" and "cold" to help find the picture. It wasn't always easy, but no one gave up and eventually the picture was found. We discussed how important it is to never give up and how others can help by giving encouragement.
Week of Feb 15:
No school
Week of Feb 22:
3rd-5th: Students will play a variation of the "hide the donkey game". Rather than a picture of a donkey, I ask each teacher what they were currently or soon to be working on in math. I then made up a related math problem with a couple wrong answers. I hid the wrong answers one at a time through the room and had a student try to find them with classmates helping by saying "warm" and "cold". Finally, I put the correct answer in the room and had the student find them. We then had a discussion how this mirrors the learning process - struggling with something, making mistakes, but eventually figuring it out if willing to stick with it and not give up.
Week of Feb 29:
Kindergarten: Watch a couple "Wilbur" video's about personal differences and teasing.
1st Grade: Learn importance of finishing the job. Filled in and colored pictures of houses, tree's, and birthday cakes that were only half completed.
2nd Grade: Read "Messy Bessy" and then compared/contrasted a messy backpack vs a clean and organized one.
Week of March 7:
3rd-5th: Played charades with "self calming" cards. Students were split into two teams, picked a card, and had to act it out without saying anything. Team had 30 seconds to guess the self calming strategy.
Small Groups_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Part of what School Counselors do is use data to anticipate student needs. Based on this data, small groups are a tool utilized to adress these needs. On-going groups include:
- Divorce/Separation/Loss Groups: Typically meet 1x/week for 6-8 weeks. Focus on normalizing, working through grief and/or difficult feelings associated with loss. Students usually meet during lunchtime and eat lunch in the group in order to minimize time out of class.
- Anger Mgt/Social Skills Groups: As needed
- Safety Patrol: 5th Graders can apply to be on the Argyle "Safety Patrol". There are 3 rotations, each serving for 2-3 months at a time. Safety Patrol serves to help assist staff with arrival and dismissal. They meet once every other week during lunch to learn about leadership principles using an adaption of Stephen Covey's "7 Habits" designed for kids.
1:1 Counseling_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As needed, we meet with students individually to assist with issues that are impeding their ability to learn. Parents, teachers, and students can refer themselves for individual counseling when appropriate.
I have received training and supervision in Play, Adlerian, Cognitive, and Solution Focused counseling models.
- Referrals for counseling outside of school can be provided upon request.
Other Activities and Happenings___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Stay tuned!
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