by schoolcounselingbyheart | Dec 5, 2012 | abuse, children's literature, classroom lessons
My first grade sexual abuse prevention lessons revisit and build upon the skills and concepts covered in kindergarten. (See Kindergarten Lessons for Sexual Abuse Prevention.) For this series of three lessons you will need the books I Can Play It Safe by Alison Feigh, Your Body Belongs to You by Cornelia Maude Spelman, and Do You Have a Secret? by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos. For the activities you will also need some coloring pages, a Good Secrets Box, and Secrets Cards. (Find links for these resources below.) (more…)
by schoolcounselingbyheart | Nov 30, 2012 | bullying, children's literature, classroom lessons
This year I decided to rework our fourth grade bullying prevention unit so that it builds upon the visually rich and thought-provoking book Goodbye Bully Machine by Debbie Fox. We’re in the midst of it now, and it’s going really well. I’ll share all the lessons and resources once we’ve completed the unit, but am so excited that I wanted to share this piece of it right away! Today our fourth graders put on a play based on the book, and you can see it in this video. (It runs a little more than 6 minutes.) (more…)
by schoolcounselingbyheart | Nov 25, 2012 | abuse, children's literature, classroom lessons
Many people have asked if I would share the sexual abuse lessons that I teach in grades K-5, and I am most happy to oblige. Deciding how best to teach about sexual abuse prevention can be a daunting task. It is such an important topic, but so loaded – because of the content, because of the potential for concern from parents, for cultural reasons, and perhaps even because the issue of sexual abuse may hit close to home for the person who is teaching about it. But despite this, kids MUST be taught how to respond to situations in which they are being groomed for abuse or abused! Otherwise they will not know what to do! We spend a lot of time and effort teaching them how to (more…)
by schoolcounselingbyheart | Oct 6, 2012 | children's literature, classroom lessons, conflict resolution
Teaching kids how to resolve conflicts is at the very center of the counseling program at my school. When I started at my school in the dark ages 1996, it was as a long-term sub. Being a sub had its challenges, but one of the major advantages it provided was that I had the opportunity to assess the skills and needs of our students and how the counseling program addressed those skills and needs. Here are my findings in a nutshell: They had some skills, many needs, and there was no program. When I was hired to fill the position permanently, one of the first things I did was develop (more…)
by schoolcounselingbyheart | Sep 19, 2012 | bullying, classroom lessons
Here’s a wonderfully clear and informative infographic about cyberbullying. The infographic is based on data gathered through McAfee’s 2012 Teen Internet Behavior Study. I’m definitely going to be incorporating it into my cyberbullying lessons, and thought you might like to do so too! (more…)
by schoolcounselingbyheart | Sep 5, 2012 | abuse, classroom lessons, individual counseling, personal safety
In the days after a student discloses abuse, I always touch base to see how things are going. I tell them (again) how brave they were and how proud of them I am. Unfortunately, not all of these stories have happy endings, but in many cases, telling helps kids find safety, and they feel protected, empowered, and proud of themselves. Some of the most profoundly moving moments of my career as a school counselor have come when kids have told me about how telling made such a difference in how they are feeling about their situations and about themselves. Here is some of what they have told me (and how I plan to use their words to help other kids too): (more…)
