Mrs. Jackie Sekunda

School Counselor

We kicked off the school year with guidance lessons that took a deep look at our own feelings and how to identify and manage them. Grades 2 and 3 learned about and utilized the "mood meter" as a tool for building empathy, the ability to identify and manage emotions, as well as awareness of the feelings of others. Once we were able to identify our feelings, we learned and practiced coping skills for those big, uncomfortable feelings. We continued our journey exploring empathy, inclusion, kindness, and appreciating differences.

Learning to identify and express feelings in a positive way helps children develop the skills they need to manage them effectively.

Further Reading:

Why Teaching Children to Identify Emotions is Important - ThinkPsych

Emotions & Self Awareness - PBS KIDS for Parents

The first step in being able to handle our own emotions is to understand what we are feeling. Creating with play-doh lets children feel competent and proud of their accomplishments. Giving children the vocabulary to name their own emotions is very helpful. Check out the article below for more insight on the Power of Play-Doh!

We also talked about how we might have different feelings than our peers about the same situation. For example, on the first day of school some kids were excited, but some kids were also nervous. We also discussed how our feelings can change from one to another quickly. We played a four corners game where students went to the emotion corner of how they would feel in a certain situation, and seeing that classmates may have a different feeling than they do, and that’s OK !

2nd and 3rd grade students learned about and utilized the mood meter as a tool for building self-awareness, the ability to identify emotions, as well as the awareness of the feelings of others. The graph measures energy levels and pleasantness, and helps to build emotional intelligence. Once students became proficient in identifying what they were feeling, we were able to learn and practice coping skills to give students a variety of strategies to use when needed.

Students learn several coping strategies to help with big, uncomfortable feelings. In the beginning of every lesson, students practice mindfulness - including breathing, coloring, positive affirmations, and gratitude. During the lessons, students were able to practice coping skills in the classroom so they could utilize these skills when needed to get back to a comfortable feeling.

Ultimately, your children should be able to use coping skills on their own so they can deal with discomfort in a healthy way when you’re not there to guide them. But, as they are learning these skills, look for opportunities to talk about different strategies.

1. Helps children learn acceptance of others.

2. May reduce bullying and conflict.

3. Helps children learn to build stronger relationships with other children.

4. Helps children to build stronger relationships with their teachers and other adults.

5. Children are likely to feel more secure in an empathetic classroom.

6. Empathy will help children understand others later on, including future coworkers and customers.

After reading the book "Stand in My Shoes", students read different scenarios and explored how they would feel if they were in that person's shoes and how we can show others empathy. Empathy can be difficult to teach as we want to help solve the problem, yet the biggest piece of showing empathy is listening.

Students in grades K-3 had varying lessons focused on kindness, empathy, and bullying prevention. Read-alouds included The Wrinkled Heart, Stand in My Shoes,The Invisible Boy, and The Juice Box Bully.

A healthy school environment is safe, inclusive, respectful, and free from violence and bullying. One of the easiest ways to create a positive school climate is by being kind. During a kindness lesson, students shared ways they are kind to each other and went to five stations to practice and discuss the topic. One of the station favorites was making kindness bookmarks which were then put in books in the school library to sprinkle kindness with others!

Being Kind Helps Prevent Bullying | StopBullying.gov

Can Kindness Overcome Bullying? | StopBullying.gov

Preventing Bullying through Kindness

Guidance lessons in grades 4,5,6 have just begun! Sixth graders will be exploring Naviance - a career and college readiness program that is used throughout our district until graduation from high school. Parents of 6th graders also have access to Naviance through a parent account so look out for an email with your registration information!

Please feel free to contact me with any issues or questions at JSekunda@NMerrick.org.

Naviance Website: https://student.naviance.com/auth/fclookup

Our students practice mindfulness throughout their day. Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention to the present moment to experience and accept it without judgment.

When we teach mindfulness to kids, we give them the tools they need to build confidence, cope with stress, and relate to uncomfortable or challenging moments. The earlier we do so in their young lives, the greater the opportunity to help them cultivate resilience and develop and refine their mindfulness practice as they mature.

Teaching mindfulness to kids can also help shape three critical skills developed in early childhood: paying attention and remembering information, shifting back and forth between tasks, and behaving appropriately with others. These abilities are known as executive functions and they are essential for more advanced tasks like planning, reasoning, problem-solving, and positive social relationships.

Studies show that the benefits of mindfulness for kids may include:

1. Increased focus, attention, self-control, classroom participation, compassion.

2. Improved academic performance, ability to resolve conflict, overall well-being.

3. Decreased levels of stress, depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior.

-Make a game out of eating a snack very slowly, savoring the smell, texture, and taste.

-Dive into an afternoon of glitter jar making with any variety of materials: glitter, different-colored beads, food coloring and oil, pieces of lego. The DIY craft doubles as a creative exercise and a mindfulness tool to represent the mind settling.

Mindful Eating - Action for Healthy Kids

How to Make Glitter Jars - Fireflies and Mud Pies