"Mindfulness exercises can help us increase our ability to regulate emotions. These practices decrease stress, anxiety, and depression.

"When I feel anxiety and stress building inside, I have a few strategies I turn to for relief. I intentionally set aside time to engage in the physical activities I enjoy most, such as rock climbing, hiking, skating, and yoga. I find that moving my body helps to reset my racing mind, and being outside in nature brings me back to center."

Kate currently lives in Bozeman Montana with her 3 kids, cat, dog, and multiple fish. She earned her masters specialist in School Psychologist at the University of Washington. This is her 13th year as a school psychologist and 4th year working at WAVA. She loves all things winter; sledding, skiing, skating, and hot chocolate.

Kendell lives in Liberty Lake, Wa with her husband and 3 wonderful kids. She got her undergrad degree in psychology at Washington State University ( go cougs!) She then went to Gonzaga University for graduate school and this is where she pursued her School Psychologist degree. This is her 4th year working as a school psychologist. In her leisure time she enjoys spending time being active with her family, reading, working out, and playing golf with her husband.

This is Gretchen's fourth year at WAVA as the school psychologist for grades 6th through 8th. She began working in education in 2007 as a Head Start preschool teacher after receiving her Bachelors of Science in Child Development and Family Relation from the University of Idaho. In 2010, she received her Masters degrees in Counseling and Human Services and Education Specialist in School Psychology, also from the University of Idaho, and began working in the Coeur d' Alene School District as a high school counselor and school psychologist until 2021 when she joined the team at WAVA! She currently lives in Coeur d' Alene, ID with her husband Josh, twelve-year-old daughter Carys, and ten-year-old son Lachlan. She loves to spend her winters skiing at Schweitzer mountain and attending Gonzaga basketball games. Her summers are spent enjoying the beautiful lake in town or at the Silverwood waterpark!

Tiffany began her career as a School Psychologist eight years ago in her home state of Montana (Go Griz!), then spent a couple of years in Idaho before calling Washington home. This is her third year with WAVA and she loves the challenges and flexibility that come with work in the virtual setting. Her and her husband happily welcomed our daughter back in January and have been loving our new role as parents- even all of the extremely difficult and exhausting moments!

Why I Love this Series:

The I survived series are written by Lauren Tarshis, and it’s mainly about young people, surviving real natural disasters, accidents, wars and more— you name it! They also discover their inner strength and courage before, during, and after those events, and that’s what I love about it! It is a fun way to learn about history, but also a way to learn how people who survived those events likely felt. Right now there are about 23 ‘I survived’ books and I have just 4 of them.

Best suited for grades 3-6

I am Helen Keller is part of a series called Ordinary People Change the World by Brad Meltzer

Why I Love this Book:

I like this book because it’s about a girl who was blind and deaf, and that didn’t stop her from learning how to talk and read. The book also has the braille alphabet in it!

Best suited for grades K-4

Bitsy Bat School Star by Kaz Windness

Why I Love this Book:

I love sharing this book because it celebrates how we all learn differently. Each one of us is special and can find our unique ways to follow our dreams. The author of this book is autistic and shows us that even when we have a 5-star melt down, it's going to be okay

Best suited for grades PreK- 3

Something More by Jackie Khalilieh

Why I Love this Book:

A contemporary teen romance novel featuring a Palestinian-Canadian girl trying to hide her new autism diagnosis while navigating her first year of high school. I love this book because I found so much of it relatable. It hits so many relatable topics of being a teen, neurodiversity, stereotypes, multicultural differences, friendships and relationships. I found myself cringing and celebrating as the main character took me on a trip through high school. The author had a late diagnosis of autism and this is part of her journey making sense of her experiences growing up and realizing there are so many humans going through similar experiences with late diagnosis of all sorts.

PLEASE NOTE:

Best suited for mature teens

The Arabic Quilt written by Aya Khalil

Illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan

Why I Love this Book:

This story is about Kanzi, an Egyptian American girl who is teased for being different than the other children in her new town because of her language and food. She learns to be proud of her culture and bilingulaism and with the help of her teacher, shares that lesson with the other children at school. Bonus! There is a glossary of Arabic words.

Best suited for Elementary and Middle School students

Hey WAVA Elementary Students!

The end of the semester is almost here! That means it's time to power through and finish strong. Here's how:

• Stay organized: Keep your learning space tidy and use a planner or calendar to track your assignments.
• Ask for help: Don't be afraid to reach out to your teachers, learning coaches, or other support staff if you're stuck. They're here to help you succeed!
• Celebrate your wins: Acknowledge your accomplishments, big or small. Every completed lesson and every goal achieved brings you closer to success.
• Believe in yourself: You've got this! With hard work and dedication, you can finish the semester strong and feel proud of your achievements.

As we near the end of the first semester, it's crucial to prioritize your tasks, create a study plan, and seek assistance from learning coaches and teachers when needed. Self-care is equally important—ensure you're getting enough sleep, eating healthily, and taking breaks to prevent burnout. Reflecting on the progress you've made throughout the semester can provide perspective if you're feeling overwhelmed. Celebrate your milestones and victories to maintain motivation and finish strong. You've got this!

It is hard to believe that the first semester is almost done!

It is a perfect time to evaluate how you are doing as a learner. If you have had a good semester, identify what you did well. Focus on making sure these good habits stay with you into the next semester. If you have struggled, now is a great time to think about what you can change and ask for help in setting up good habits for yourself.

Remember:

• Everyone is a beginner before a master. Everyone needs to start somewhere!
• Most new things start out as a challenge, then with practice and effort, become easier.
• What’s a challenge for one person may already have gotten easier for a different person, and that’s okay.
• We have many different voices inside of us, and some of them can make us afraid of failure. However, the only real failure is not trying.

When in doubt, use the GoZen WOOP method!

Think about what you Wish to achieve, visualize the Outcome, recognize the Obstacles that stand in our way, and put a Plan in place to get past those obstacles.

We believe in you! You've totally got this!

My advice for finishing the semester strong is to avoid playing video games at 12am….. play them at 3am! Okay, my real advice is to make sure to turn your assignments in on time, and don't stress about schoolwork. Show your teachers and everyone around you your best work for the end of this semester.

As you go through each day schoolwork can be overwhelming, frustrating, and sometimes feel really hard. But try to remember you should always do your best to stay positive and if you do, you will finish off the semester strong.

MATHLAND for Nintendo Switch is designed for kids aged 6 to 14. MathLand offers a fun way to improve your math skills in addition, subtraction and times tables.

Mrs. Wofford- Elementary School Assistant Principal

The Virtual Hope Box app contains simple tools to help users with coping, relaxation, distraction and positive thinking using personalized audio, video, pictures, games, mindfulness exercises, activity planning, inspirational quotes and coping statements. https://www.militaryonesource.mil/resources/mobile-apps/virtual-hope-box/

Mrs. Olsen- HS School Counselor

Kahoot and Blooket are both great for learning, even when kids play alone. They make learning fun and engaging, offer self-paced learning, and give instant feedback. With a wide range of topics, they help reinforce knowledge through repetition and boost confidence. They're a fantastic tool to keep kids motivated and interested in their studies.

Mr. Kelley- 6th grade ELA & History

I recommend Lexia (for reading) and dreambox. My son uses them regularly to support the things he is already learning in class. He is in Kindergarten, but there are different grade levels. He loves them. Any educational app that a kid WANTS to play is a win!

Ms. Edeen- HS ELA

• https://www.funology.com/ This site has recipes, jokes, riddles, magic tricks, science experiments and more. My littles love it!
• https://www.storynory.com/ Students have the words to stories and are able to follow along with someone reading to them online.
• https://storylineonline.net/ Find a book on this site. Go to the library and check it out. Come back to the site and have a famous movie star, actress, athlete and more read you the book while you follow along

Mrs. Sloan- K-2 LAP Reading Specialist

One of my favorite apps that I've been looking at for executive function and social/emotional/behavioral skills practice is an app called "Finch (link: https://finchcare.com/). Finch is a free virtual app and your "finch," is your customizable pet bird. You set goals in the app for taking care of yourself, and as you complete the goals, your little bird goes on adventures and unlocks clothes, furniture for their house, different appearances, etc. As you complete goals, you also unlock additional pets to add to your "farm." I love this app because it also has a lot of self-care and mindfulness techniques embedded within that seem very appropriate for all ages. There are tools that range from meditation/breathing exercises, coping strategies for when you are feeling overwhelmed or having a bad day, as well as journal functions that let you respond to prompts or free-write as seen fit (it also has a mood tracker which is very neat!) Here is some more information about the app: https://www.occuplaytional.com/2023/04/01/finch-app/

Ms. Severance- Special Programs Clerk

XtraMath and Moby Max are great sites for math fact fluency.

Mrs. Mcialwain- 6th Grade Math Teacher

• www.time4mathfacts.com is a site where students can practice math fluency for grades 2-5. It is about $60 for a yearly subscription, but worth every penny. It could be a great gift for holidays or birthdays.
• Block Blast is a great game to play during a break from course work. Not only is it fun and engaging, but the game promotes awareness of spatial features and spatial relations.

Mrs. Osburn- Middle School FLEX teacher

Equality Explorer (PHET : https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/equality-explorer/latest/equality-explorer_all.html ) is a website students can visit to explore equations with integers and variables. The game can be played at different levels depending on the student's understanding of the concept. It is very applicable for Middle School students.

Mr. McClellan- Middle School Math Teacher

• ABCYa- The whole site is great. It is free and there is a variety of engaging games for all subjects for K-6+ grades.
• EPIC Digital Library- I like this because it gives student's access to a variety of books and they can search by interest. It also has a "Read to Me" feature for the emerging readers.

Mrs. Sorensen- Kindergarten Teacher

These are all apps designed to support learning languages.

• Duolingo is fun, and research shows that it works! With quick, bite-sized lessons, you'll earn points and unlock new levels while gaining real-world communication skills
• Mango is an app for learning foreign languages, offering interactive lessons, authentic content, and a focus on conversational skills, allowing users to learn vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and cultural context through realistic conversations with native speaker audio
• Babbel is a language learning app that offers short, interactive lessons to help users learn to read, write, listen, and speak

Mrs. Winder-Yost- High School World Language Teacher

"The best way that I manage time is by making lists of everything that I need to get done. I create main categories. Those are my big to-dos. I list the smaller to-dos in each of those categories. I also use an app called Focus Keeper which is a Pomodoro timer. I use my calendar as a reminder to book tasks for myself that I know I'll need to complete at a future date."

"When I first started teaching, I found myself behind on everything by the end of the first week. It was so frustrating, and had me questioning my career choice as a special education teacher, even though it was what I wanted to do from the time I was about 8 years old. I knew I had to make a change in order to keep up with the demands of paperwork deadlines, so I spent some time thinking about what would work for me. I realized I love rewards! I decided to line my computer with sticky notes that went in order of tasks that were coming due. My reward was being able to rip off the sticky note once I completed that task, and put it in the recycling bin. It was such a great feeling! I have done this for all 25 years of my teaching career. Although the sticky notes that are recycled have others that take their place, by the end of each school year, my computer is sticky note-free, which is a great feeling!"

"I have 4 calendars that I populate regularly. I need to keep track of multiple jobs, meetings, appointments, due dates and important events not only for myself but for my family and often students or friends. Without a calendar to help me keep track I would be lost."