At the beginning of this school year Nabnasset School welcomed 22 new students in our Pre-first, First Grade, Second Grade and Multi-age Classroooms!
Our new students met with us for 3 sessions on August 30th, 31st and September 5th. They had the opportunity to meet other new friends, tour the school, share their experiences and feelings of being new to school and participate in some fun activities!
Here are some pictures of the bulletin boards which they helped to create!
Welcome to our Guidance Intern...Miss Keele!
In addition to our new students, we welcomed our Guidance Intern for the 2017-18 school year, Miss Shannon Keele. She is currently a graduate student in her final year of her Masters of Education Program in School Counseling at Rivier University. In the winter/spring of 2016 Miss Keele shadowed us and now she has come back to the Nabnasset family! She is also currently working in the mornings at Nabnasset as a Kindergarten Teaching Assistant. As our Guidance Intern, Miss Keele will be running some small groups and some individual sessions, and she will be assisting us in teaching our classroom guidance lessons. In addition, she will be consulting with staff and parents, and she will be meeting with students who may need assistance when they use the guidance pass. We are thrilled to have Miss Keele working with us and we look forward to her new ideas and her expertise!September Guidance lessons:
Problem solving and Bullying Prevention:
In addition to welcoming all students to Nabnasset School this month, September is also the time when we visit all the first grade classes, multi-age classes and pre-first for 3 review guidance lessons. Our second grade lessons will begin in October. Below is a description of the concepts which we review in these first 3 lessons.
First lesson:- SOLUTION WHEEL: Review/learn how to use 3 solutions before asking for help.
- “DOUBLE D” RULE”: Our guide to help them decide when to tell an adult about a concern (if it is DANGEROUS or DESTRUCTIVE) and when to use the solution wheel.
- ASKING FOR HELP: Student can always ask for help if they are not sure or have tried 3 solutions and the problem is still happening.
Second lesson:
- Focused on defining TEASING and BULLYING and the difference between NORMAL CONFLICT and BULLYING.
- TEASING: a single incident of someone using hurtful words directed at them which they might be able to handle using the solution wheel.
- BULLYING: Hurtful actions or words that are: Repeated; One-sided; unfair…that make you feel: Scared; Alone; Sad; or Unsafe.
- NORMAL CONFLICT: Happens occasionally between people of equal power; involves mutual emotional reactions, remorse and effort to take responsibility to solve the problem. Normal conflict is not serious or emotionally damaging to the other person.
- Students viewed a movie called “Sticks and Stones” which clearly showed the difference between a teasing incident which was solved using several solutions and a bullying incident which was solved by “talking it out” with the principal.
- Review: They can try 2 to 3 solutions for a teasing problem.
- If the problem keeps happening they can report the problem (see ASKING FOR HELP).
- UPSTANDER: We began a discussion about how to be an upstander. The 3 steps they learn are:
- If it is safe, tell the person to stop
- Ask the person being teased to come play
- Get help if the problem is a "Double D" or if it continues.
- Review of differences between teasing and bullying
- Focus on how to be an “UPSTANDER” as opposed to being a “BYSTANDER”. The book entitled Say Something by Peggy Moss is read in first grade/pre-first in order to help the children learn what an upstander is and how to be one. They learned that if they see bullying or teasing going on they can help out by going over to the person who is being teased. They should never fight, but they can tell the person being mean to stop, (if they feel safe), ask the person being teased/bullied to come play, and help them to get help from a grownup.
- The UPSTANDER poem they learned is:
