Kindergarten - 2nd gradeWe learned about Good Touch and Bad Touch. We used the terms "accidental touch," "friendly touch," and "hurtful touch." We discussed that our "Swim Suit Areas," or our privates, belong to us. Privates are called privates because we need to keep them private. Our bodies belong to us so we need to take care of them and make sure that others respect our safe body rules.
Students learned about stranger safety with Safe Side Super Chick. She taught us about "Don't Knows," or strangers. She taught us about "Kinda Knows," or acquaintances. We learned that we don't go anywhere with a Kinda Know without asking our "Safe Side Adult," typically parents-but any adult the family identifies as a safe, trusted adult. We learned to keep Don't Knows out of our "Safe Side Circle," a radius of about 10 steps away from us. If someone comes into that circle and tries to have us go with them, we learned we can shout, "this is not my mom! This is not my dad!" This will draw attention to us so others can help us stay safe! We learned that we need to have a growth mindset. Growth mindset means that we are capable of growing our brains by doing hard things. We learned that we need to practice perseverance in order to learn new things. We know that it is always important to remember the power of "yet!" |
3rd - 4th gradeZone of Regulation are a way to talk about how we are feeling. We know that there are four levels. The lowest, slowest energy level is blue and includes feelings like sad, tired, lonely, sick, and bored. The next level is green and is the ideal place to be. It includes feelings like happy, calm, content, comfortable--we are ready to learn! Next we have a higher level of energy, we're experiencing more intense feelings like excited, frustrated, confused, nervous, or scared--we are starting to lose some control. This level is yellow. Finally, we have the red level. This is where we have our most intense feelings like mad, angry, furious, elated--we are out of control! When we can identify where we are on the scale, we can identify ways to slide back to a green or blue state of mind. Tools that help are things like breathing, walking, standing, reading, resting, listening to music, counting, or meditating. We know that different tools work for different people at different levels. We know that we want everyone to be the best version of themselves in order to be successful so we are prepared for things to look different for different students. We talked about expected behaviors (predictable behaviors) vs. unexpected behaviors (unpredictable behaviors). We also talked about making sure that the size of the problem matches the size of the reaction. These tools will help us monitor our own actions and feelings so we have the skills to be better at self-regulating.
We learned about boundaries in our communities and how they relate to our own personal boundaries. We know that we have different boundaries for different people. For example, we know that our family is the group that is closest to us so we would welcome things like hugs and "I love you." However, we know that acquaintances are people we don't know well so we might just be comfortable with saying hello or giving a high five. We also know that we create boundaries to keep us safe. Our boundaries should be respected by others and if they are not, we need to let them know that we have a problem. We talked about Harassment. We know that there are levels of hurtful behaviors. First is rude (one act that is hurtful and not on purpose). Next is mean (hurtful action done on purpose once or a few times). Then there is bullying (hurtful behavior done to one person, over and over, one-sided, and the person hasn't been able to make it stop themselves). Finally, there is harassment (continuation of bullying behavior after being talked to by school authorities and parents). We know that harassment involves the police as it is illegal. We know that this is largely because it is infringing on another’s basic human rights. Everyone deserves to learn in a safe environment. We learned about the different sizes of problems. We know that a small problem is one that we can work on with an adult, but that we can try to fix it too. We learned that a medium problem is one we want to talk to the School Counselor about, but it doesn't have to be today. We learned that a large problem is one that is very serious and needs to be talked about as soon as possible. Finally, we learned that a critical problem is one that needs immediate attention because someone is being hurt or has been threatened to be hurt |
5th gradeWe are beginning our Individualized Learning Plan. This is when we start to learn about ourselves and how we think and learn. We will also learn about our interests and what career clusters match those interests. We will then put all of our information into a presentation to show our families at the end of the year. This is our way of showing you who we have come to be and where we hope to go in our futures.
We began LifeEd today. This is 4 lessons that cover the changes our body goes through as it enters puberty, starting with our feelings and moods and ending with our body changes. Our first lesson covered self-esteem and ways to build our self-esteem. The second lesson discussed a positive self-image and how to build a positive self-concept. The third lesson discussed healthy hygiene. This helped us know how to take care of our bodies and why that's important. Our final lesson involves splitting the boys and the girls. We discuss how our bodies are physically changing and what to expect with these changes. This lesson will be held on Dec. 20th at 2:30pm. Parents have had the opportunity to attend a meeting showing the topics covered and videos shared. Parents have been mailed reminders of the final lesson scheduled to remind that this is a optional portion of the curriculum and that they can opt out should they wish to keep their student from participating. We talked about Harassment. We know that there are levels of hurtful behaviors. First is rude (one act that is hurtful and not on purpose). Next is mean (hurtful action done on purpose once or a few times). Then there is bullying (hurtful behavior done to one person, over and over, one-sided, and the person hasn't been able to make it stop themselves). Finally, there is harassment (continuation of bullying behavior after being talked to by school authorities and parents). We know that harassment involves the police as it is illegal. We know that this is largely because it is infringing on another’s basic human rights. Everyone deserves to learn in a safe environment. We learned about the different sizes of problems. We know that a small problem is one that we can work on with an adult, but that we can try to fix it too. We learned that a medium problem is one we want to talk to the School Counselor about, but it doesn't have to be today. We learned that a large problem is one that is very serious and needs to be talked about as soon as possible. Finally, we learned that a critical problem is one that needs immediate attention because someone is being hurt or has been threatened to be hurt. |