We Are Proud To Be Drug Free...Celebrating Red Ribbon Week

Every year toward the end of October, schools across the country have the opportunity to participate in the national "Red Ribbon Week" campaign, which is a week where students learn all about living a drug free and healthy lifestyle. "Red Ribbon Week" carries such an awesome message, however, it can sometimes be difficult at the elementary level to approach the topic of drugs and alcohol, especially if students do not yet have background knowledge. In order to start spreading this message in a kid friendly way, my principal and I worked together to come up with some fun ideas to get the students at my school involved in "Red Ribbon Week". This year, as in other years, each day of "Red Ribbon Week" had a drug free theme attached to it. For example:

Monday- "Orange you glad to be drug free?!" Everyone is encouraged to wear orange clothing to school.
Tuesday- "Sock it to drugs!" Everyone wears their craziest socks to school.
Wednesday- "Put a cap on drugs!" Everyone wears hats throughout the school day.
Thursday- "I'm a 'jean-ius', I'm drug free!" Everyone wears jeans to school.
Friday- "Team Up Against Drugs!" Everyone wears their favorite team jersey or t-shirt to school.

The kids and the staff were all encouraged to participate in each theme day, and the kids were really enthusiastic about it. Overall, it was a great way to spread the "drug free" message in a way that really got kids involved, as opposed to just talking about it.

As part of "Red Ribbon Week", I also ordered little gifts for each student in the school. On Tuesday, we handed out actual red ribbons (with an adhesive back), for students and staff to wear throughout the week. The message on the ribbon was "Celebrate Red Ribbon Week, Not Just a Week but For Life". On Wednesday, students each received a pencil with the same message printed on it. On Thursday, paper bracelets were handed out with "My future is bright, no drugs in sight!" printed on them. All of these awesome products were purchased from www.positiveredribbonweek.com.

I am lucky to have an awesome student council at my school. They were incredibly helpful in supporting "Red Ribbon Week" this year. Students involved in student council were asked to make posters with a positive "drug free" message on it. They were hung up all around the school as a way to keep spreading the message. The students really put a lot of extra time and effort into these posters, and seeing them hanging up all over the school has been really awesome.

Lastly, students signed a banner, which served as a school wide pledge. "NPE Is Proud To Be Drug Free!" Each class was asked to take some time throughout the week to come down and sign the poster as their promise to live a drug free life.

Overall, the week has been very successful. Hopefully, all students, starting in Kindergarten and reaching all the way through 5th grade (the highest grade level in my building), have gained a better awareness about living a drug free life, and hopefully they had fun getting there! :-)

Introducing the School Counselor

As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are many people who do not really know what the role of the school counselor is at the elementary school level. In many school districts, the school counselor position is relatively new. If it is difficult for adults to understand what the school counselor does, how can children possibly understand? It is something that I struggled with. I wasn't sure how to effectively explain the many different things the school counselor does on a day to day basis. As I was searching "pintrest" for ideas on how to introduce the role of the counselor, I found an awesome intro lesson pinned by savvyschoolcounselor.com. The counselor's first aid kit!

I adapted the first aid kit a little bit from what was in the kit featured on savvyschoolcounselor.com. In my tool kit, I included:

• Tissues-When you are feeling sad or upset, the counselor is a great person to talk to. The counselor can help you dry your tears, but also remind you that crying is OK, and even healthy!
• Jolly Ranchers-Going to see the counselor never means that you are in trouble, it is always a treat! Even when you're upset, the counselor can make you feel better, just like a treat can.
• Star-Like the North Star can guide people when they are lost, the counselor can act like the "North Star" of the school by helping if you are feeling lost, you are confused, or you are unsure how to solve a problem.
• Penny- "Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck!" The penny represents how the counselor reminds each and every student that we are lucky to be who we are and that we are valuable.
• Band-Aid- Counselors help to heal you when you are hurt on the inside, just like a Band-Aid helps us heal when we are hurt on the outside.
• Erasers- Everyone makes mistakes. The counselor can help you to work through your feelings when you make mistakes, can help you fix mistakes, and teach you not to make the same mistakes again.
• Cotton Balls- Just like a cotton ball feels warm and fuzzy, the counselor has warm and fuzzy feelings, too! Whenever you are feeling down, the school counselor can help you feel better.
• Safety Belt: The counselor is always there to help you feel safe, and to save you from scary, upsetting, or stressful situations. The counselor can provide support, help, and love to get you through the tough stuff.
• Headphones- The counselor is a great listener, and is always there to lend an ear when you need to talk to someone.

When using the first aid kit in an introduction lesson, I pull each item out one at a time, and I have the students pass them around. I ask what each item is usually used for. Then, I ask for ideas about why I might have that item in my "counselor's first aid kit", and use that discussion to explain the many roles, and how activities like groups, lessons, and lunch bunches fit in. For example, classroom lessons fit in the explanation of the star. I teach students how to solve problems, how to be a good friend, how to make good choices, etc. Lunch parties and groups can fit in that description, as well as the jolly rancher/treat explanation as well, in that groups are fun, and we work on many different skills to get us through tough situations.

If there is time after talking about each of the items, I read a story, usually about a character that is having a problem with a friend or a certain feeling. Good examples would be "Angry Arthur" by Hiawyn Oram, "Stop Picking on Me" by Pat Thomas, or "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorist. Once I finish the story, as a group we discuss how the characters in the story may have been able to get help from the school counselor. It is a great way to connect the things we talked about to an actual situation!

 

The Tools To Build Self Esteem

Having low self esteem is something that many children find themselves to be struggling with. Honestly, it is something that many adults still struggle with. Having low self esteem can effect a child in several different ways. For example, suffering from low self esteem can have a negative impact on social relationships, school performance, motivation, and can even lead to depression. There are several sources of low self esteem. Maybe things are hard for a child in the classroom, or they aren't as athletic as their friends or siblings, and often times for girls, they feel less popular and/or attractive than other girls in their class. Combating this low opinion of themselves can be a difficult task for parents, teachers, and students alike.

When I meet with students who seem to be having a struggle with low self esteem, my first step is to try to figure out what the trigger for the feelings might be. Once that is identified, obviously, I do my best to try and build that particular student up. However, it's my opinion that building self esteem is most effectively done when students can identify their strengths themselves.

An activity that I love to have students work on is their own personal self esteem tool kit. I have the students choose paper to cover a shoe box or any small box with a lid. From there, we talk about the things that will be included in their self esteem tool kit. This is an activity for students to work on both with me and with parents/guardians at home. One of the first things I ask them to complete for their self esteem tool kit is an acrostic of their name. For each letter, they should put something that they feel they are good at or that they feel good about. For example:

M akes really good art projects.

A lways does well in math.

R uns really fast.

K eeps up with his chores at home.

The next item to put in the tool kit is an activity for the whole family to participate in. Each family member should write a list of their favorite things about the child and leave the lists in the box as a surprise for them. Other things to add to the toolkit at home could include special cards or notes from friends, pictures of especially fun memories and of people who the child loves and who loves them, an assignment from school that the child did really well in, maybe a medal or an award certificate from an activity,  and other items that always make the child feel good about themselves. It can be anything, be creative!

The last thing I work on the child with at school is making a list of as many compliments as they can remember ever receiving. I like to put these lists and the acrostics on nice paper, and I laminate them for the students as well. Once the students have assembled their toolkits, I have them take them home and keep them with them in their room or in a safe place at home. Each night before they go to sleep, I encourage them to take out their toolkits and review all of the great things about themselves. This is an activity that I have done with several families, and it has gotten a very positive response. Not only is it a way for children to build their self esteem, but it is a way for families to acknowledge the many things they appreciate in each other as well!