Camas Ridge Counseling Corner

• Gratitude & Kindness
• Weekly lesson shared with students
• Parent Nights and Groups *many start this week!*
• Counseling Center offerings
• Assistive Technology supports
• 4j and Community Resources (food, technology, childcare, energy assistance, rent assistance)
• Office hours & contact information
• Prior newsletters

As the nights get longer, days get colder, and the duration of the pandemic continues into November, I tend to think more about Kindness and fostering an Attitude of Gratitude.

On the most difficult days, a small act of kindness can bring some light to the dark. When we wake up to bad news, the feeling of unease or anxiety in our stomach, knowing we can do something to shift our thoughts, even for a moment, can help us get out of bed and move forward. Focusing on gratitude and what we appreciate in our lives helps us shift our mindset to optimism and positivity.

Small acts of kindness are the belief that we have some control over how we see ourselves and the world. We make the decision to act in a way we hope others will act, to be the person who we would want to spend time with. When we choose to act in loving ways on the most difficult days, it gives us a sense of power. We can't control the world, but we can choose our choices.

See the below activities for celebrating kindness in your home and community

click on picture to access breathing prompts shared with your student(s) this week

The south region counselors would like to invite you to 2 parent groups/events:

1) Behavior Management Parenting Group

• run by UO Child and Family Center
• Wednesday evenings 6:30-7:30pm
• First event Wednesday Nov. 11 6:30-7:30 pm
• Zoom link: Parent Group Night (zoom link) (Meeting ID: 912 0842 5682; Passcode: Parents)

2) Timely Topic Tuesdays

• run by elementary counselors on varying topic specific to times.
• Second Tuesday of month 6:00-7:00pm
• First event Tuesday, Nov. 10 6:00-7:00 at Timely Topic Tuesdays (zoom link) (Meeting ID: 914 4889 6490; Passcode: 496274)

See this flyer for more information on these and additional Parent Nights and support opportunities in the community: Parent Groups and Events Flyer

Lunch Bunch: Want time for social connections for your student? I've made time for grade levels to come together and meet over lunch and connect with others of similar grades. Students can come every time or whenever they'd like. No specific agenda, just come and talk, share, interact with, and see your peers. Bring your lunch, or not.

• K/1: Tuesdays and Fridays 12:15-12:45
• 2/3: Mondays and Thursdays 12:30-1:00
• 4/5: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:45-1:15

Students can join by accessing my zoom link through my page in Clever (shows up alongside classroom teacher when students sign in) and also posted here: Ms. Jaime's ZoomRoom

Mindful Meetings: Open to any student who would like to join us while we focus on learning about our brains and strategies to tame and control our brains and emotions. Come every time or whenever you can.

• K/1: Wednesdays 10:00-10:25
• 2/3: Wednesdays 11:15-11:45
• 4/5: Wednesdays 12:35-1:05

Students can join by accessing my zoom link through my page in Clever (shows up alongside classroom teacher when students sign in) and also posted here: Ms. Jaime's ZoomRoom

In this virtual and distanced world, it's hard to maintain connections. I've created a couple resources and platforms that may help with communication and access. Visit these sites for community resources, request a meeting, video lessons, read-alouds, and other resources.

Explore my virtual classroom: Camas Virtual Counseling Space

And visit our Camas Ridge Counseling Corner website

You can contact me through the above sites to schedule time to consult with you, meet individually with your child, or otherwise provide supports or services.

Teachers are working tirelessly in Comprehensive Distance Learning to build classes that are interesting and challenging. One of the positives of distance learning is the variety of ways students can engage with learning and can demonstrate their knowledge, reducing many barriers and obstacles that get in the way of learning.

However, the calls and emails continue to trickle in from families who are struggling to make sense of the SeeSaw materials.

“The instructions are too fast” “My son/daughter has writer’s block”

“The information is hard to understand” “My child can’t sit still for that long”

The district Assistive Technology folks have put together a great blog of resources for families to help ease part of the cognitive burden http://blogs.4j.lane.edu/atseugene4j/about-us/.

In addition, by incorporating a few small changes to accessibility options, students can utilize text-to-speech and can listen to as well as read the information. They can use speech to text and word prediction to help them with writing. They can take notes on pdfs and use markup tools to help make sense of what they are reading.

There are videos demonstrating how to turn on these features as well as brief descriptions included in the following documents:

Elementary -Accessibility with Seesaw -iPad

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lpfXFsuI7oFtEQbJigZkxbHNljf_VSVuHA0oz7V84Es/edit?usp=sharing

Mac

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H-hdqK4ZSzYaaZDPxCwcplnqtIqIJn5vKKD6eMnG1zE/edit?usp=sharing

If you or your student need some accommodations to engage with learning opportunities, please contact me or your child's teacher.

Click on picture below to be linked to listing of resources for food, technology, and child-care

Lane County is providing rental assistance to those impacted by Covid. Applications for assistance open Monday, November 16 from 9:00-10:00 on first-come, first-served basis. They have run out of funds within hour in past months.

See this site for more information:

https://www.lanecountyor.gov/cms/one.aspx?pageId=16741613

The Energy Assistance Stability Coronavirus Relief Program (EASCR) is a federal program that provides financial assistance to low-income households for home heating and energy bills.

To apply, call Catholic Community Services at 541-345-3642 and leave a message. This funding is separate from LIHEAP and does not require waiting until 1st of month.

For more information, see: https://www.lanecounty.org/cms/one.aspx?pageId=16810052

If your family is in need of any additional resource, whether it is food, clothing, school supplies, parenting supports, mental health supports or something else, please do not hesitate to reach out.

We will always do what we can to help!

Use this Google Form to request support: https://forms.gle/W5VzfcyBtMWKhwdYA

Click this link to schedule an appointment for you or your student:

https://www.meetingbird.com/l/JaimeHock/counselorchat

Office hours (by appointment or drop-in):

• Mondays 1:30-2:30
• Monday evenings 5:00-6:00 (by appointment)
• Fridays 1:30-2:30

Email: hock_j@4j.lane.edu
Website: https://sites.google.com/4j.lane.edu/camas-ridge-counseling-program/home
Location: Camas Ridge Community School, 1150 E 29th Ave, Eugene, OR 97403, USA
Phone: (541)760-6199

• November 2-6, 2020
• October 28, 2020
• October 22, 2020
• October 15, 2020
• Fall 2020 (return to school)
  
• Summer 2020 (summer resources & anti-racism)
• May 2020 (collaborative problem solving)
• April 2020 (brain breaks & calm corners)