Counselor's Corner

One way to define Responsibility is “taking action and understanding the impact of our choices.”

Taking action can mean doing the right thing or completing the tasks you have been assigned. Understanding the impact of our choices means that our actions matter. Positive and responsible actions can help people and irresponsible actions can hurt others.

Responsibility is 1 of 3 traits we will focus on throughout the year that helps students Be Strong. Throughout the school, students will be developing skills like focusing, organizing, and goal-setting.

Executive Function Skill: Organization

Organization is an important foundational skill for academic success. Students learn about organization and why it is important, develop and maintain a system for materials and assignments, and introduce the concept of organizing time or scheduling.  

Additionally we are exploring the question "How could being organized help us be more responsible?" as we work to bridge these in our lessons.

Character Trait: Respect

The dictionary defines it as the value of admiring another person for who they are and what they do.

The definition we are using in class is:

Respect: seeing good in people and things (and treating them with care).

We are also talking about Respect in the context of using good manners, not using inappropriate or offensive language, being courteous to one another, resolving conflicts peacefully, and treating one another as we would want to be treated (and how they want to be treated!).

More Information can be found on Classdojo: Counselor Connections.

Executive Function Skill: Time Management

Executive Function Skill: Organization

Organization is an important foundational skill for academic success. Students learn about organization and why it is important, develop and maintain a system for materials and assignments, and introduce the concept of organizing time or scheduling.  

Character Trait: Self-Respect

The dictionary defines it as the value of admiring another person for who they are and what they do.  That can mean respect for self.

The definition we are using in class is:

Respect: seeing good in ourselves and things (and treating ourselves with care).

We are also talking about Self-Respect in the context of using safety, healthy choices, and self-advocacy.

The dictionary defines it as: “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” The definition we are using in class is:

Gratitude: choosing to notice and appreciate things in our life, things in others, and things in the world.

We want to make sure we share with students that Gratitude is 1) a choice that we get to make over and over again on where we put our focus and 2) doesn’t always have to be about something positive. We can feel grateful even for tough or challenging things in our life! There is plenty of research that shows a strong connection between Gratitude and reduced anxiety, increased happiness, and better relationships. Over the course of the month, we will talk about amazing people who demonstrate Gratitude in various ways. We will talk about what we are grateful for in ourselves and in others. And we will even find Gratitude in some things we wouldn’t expect to be thankful for!

The dictionary defines it as: “

The definition we are using in class is:

Empathy: