Interland by Google- Internet Safety meets Minecraft

Have you guys seen Interland by Google yet? I am really digging it for lessons on tech safety. 

It's a game that students can play on their computer/iPad and tackles internet safety in a super fun way. The graphics remind me of Minecraft, so instant buy in right there. 

Each part of the game map has questions the student must answer to successfully answer to navigate on.

Lessons for November- friends, safety, empathy, decision making, thankfulness, and bullying!

It's almost time for Thanksgiving break!!!!! Until then, here is a little about the fun we are having in class..

K-
We are talking about being a good friend.

Intro: We started out by reading "Let's Be Friends" on BookFlix.

Next, we watched "Rainbow Fish" on Storyline Online to talk about how good friends put others first and share. 

The class shared examples of good friendship skills that I wrote on starfish and fish.  To end each student decorated his/her own rainbow fish that we put on our bulletin board: "We are all friends in our school" (get it school haha!) 

Need more: Check out the word match on Book Flix:

1st Grade: Our character education word of the month is citizenship. We are reading "Michael, Recycle!" This is such a cute rhyming book and it has a lot of big vocabulary words for 1st grade, like crusader! 

In the past I have used this amazing Rhyme, Define, Rhyme pack by Speech Snacks I found on TPT.

I really like it, but I think its too hard for 1st grade. I would definitely use it for 2nd or 3rd. If your students are up for the challenge there are rhyming cards in the TPT pack- you could hand them out to each child and them find the partner whose card rhymes with theirs. There are also some great discussion cards you could play Quiz Quiz Trade with. 

First, we read and slowly discuss the book. I let the students turn and talk and share their ideas and answer questions. Then at the end the students draw what they would do at school if we had a "Be Greener Campaign." 

Personal Safety and Body Language with a furry twist.

I was so excited today to present on incorporating animals into school counseling programs. It also gave the opportunity to re-watch one of my favorite videos on dog safety. I love this video because it shares a lot about the body language that dogs try to tell us. It's short, fun and educational. I would encourage you to share with your students as you do your safety lessons!!

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bstvG_SUzMo

TRIVIA: What do my 11 year old dog and my 95 year old Grandmother have in common?

ANSWER: Neither of them likes to be woken up from a nap, and they WILL growl at you if you do! ****


The difference? Gran can verbally tell me what she doesn't like, but Beau has to use his body language.  9 times out of 10, the dog attempts communication before a reaction. Are you aware of the signs? You can prevent unwanted behavior! PLEASE read the article and SHARE to your friends and family; paying attention to these simple signs and following proper supervision around children can prevent bites and making a tough decision regarding your pets.

(**** Please note I only wish I was this funny. Hilarity stolen from EAST CAN).

I actually had a call from a parent this year asking if I could counsel her child, because family members had started to point out how mean she was being towards the dog (i.e. shoving his head through the railings on the stairs and pulling his tail.) She wondered if she was depressed or angry about something and could I get it out of her? After a lengthy talk I gently asked what she was doing to protect the dog. "Oh he's small" was the response. So after a deep sigh I reminded the mom that big or small a dog didn't deserve to be hurt or mistreated. Also, if she thought it was ok to do to her dog, what would her daughter do if she went to a friends house and pulled the tail of a 70 lb. dog? I literally sent home 5 workbooks for the family to do together about proper dog safety thanks to the AKC.This is why I am passionate about dog safety education being in our schools!

Read more about important dog safety here!

Body Language Video

As you have probably read I think the dog safety lesson is truly one of the most important of the year. So many of my kids have dogs in their homes and so I think it's important to discuss how we treat them respect. Many of my kids struggle with social skills, including reading body language and tone. I love this video because it combines two important lessons: the importance/message of body language and safety.

What I took away from this video: I often see pictures my friends post (and probably I even have a few) where I thought the dogs looked ok, but really they look tense. I didn't notice it until I watched this video, but now I see the subtle hints.

Please share with anyone you know that has a doggie!

Helping Hands

Hands are not for hitting! Hands are for helping!!

This is a must have lesson for Kindergarden (although I remember working in a high school thinking they needed this lesson too- you know the saying everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarden!)

Here is how I approached the lesson this year:

A counseling must have book.

• I use the "Magic Coloring Book of Feelings" every year in K to introduce myself and my job. The kids sometimes see me in the hall and say "hi magic book lady." So I start my lesson with this book and it's an instant attention grabber, because they are always begging for it even if I bring it every time.

• We then review our previous lesson on feelings by drawing what it looks like when we have these different feelings on the smart board. We end with the feelings : mad, anger, and frustation. (For older grades I think it would interesting to incorporate how we look when we are mad, but also how animals look when they are mad.)

• Next we talk about what we do when we are mad and then I introduce the book "Hands Are Not For Hitting."

This year I couldn't find my copy of the book so my awesome music/tech teacher found it online:

• At the  end of the book we chart what hands are for, what we NEVER do with our hands, and what we should do when we are mad. This is also when I discuss that this goes for people, belongings (throwing, ripping, etc.) and animals! I think it's really important that we include animals in this. *

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*Speaking of helping hands and animals. This holiday weekend 65 wonderful, but terrified dogs were rescued from a county nearby.  These poor babies were in deplorable conditions because they were being fought and many had their teeth pulled so they could be bait dogs. I encourage you to extend your discussion to animals. Although I did not discuss this case with my class, we always discuss how to treat others and that we should treat animals the same way. It's a conversation I don't think is happening enough. 

http://www.newschannel5.com/

• After the discussion I have the students create their own hands and write two things they should use their hands for. 

• To end, if there is time, we review the lesson and then read a book. This year I read "You'll Be Sorry." Which I actually found at Hastings for $1.50!  

*Please consider donating items or money for Operation Broken Chain and the 65 dogs that were rescued by visiting: http://animalrescuecorps.org/ or liking ARC  or Nashville Pittie on Facebook

Squeal or No Squeal: Update Your Lesson With A Technology Twist

If somehow you have missed this book, run over to Amazon and get it for your counseling library immediately. It's a great book for a lesson on tattle vs. telling, something we all deal with. If you're a middle or high school counselor KEEP reading, this lesson can be done with any age level.


I love this book and I love reading it to my students. At the end of the book we discuss the 3-D rule: squeal when something is dangerous, destructive, or disturbing. Then we practice by playing "Squeal or No Squeal." The students are given several scenarios and they have to decide if they would "squeal" or "not squeal" because it's not a big deal. . I changed this at the high school level to "share" or "not share" and you can use any variation you want. Maybe "text it" or "zip it"- the possibilities are endless. What phrase do you use?

The scenarios can range from "a friend is  reading when they should be doing spelling" to "someone touches you in a bathing suit area and it makes you upset." For older students it could range from "a friend tells you they received a threatening text" to "a classmate offers to sell you pain killers between classes."

I have played several different ways, and each year I think it's gets better and better. My first year the students held up pig signs. On one side the pig said "Squeal" and on the other it said "No Squeal." Although simple, I still have the signs, because you just never know when technology might fail (and it my case that's about once a week.) I would only use this method with the young ones.

Next, I  incorporated the CPS units, or clickers. This is a great student response system that your school may already have- check with your librarian or technology person. Imagine the clickers as remote controls and the students are in charge. Each student gets a clicker with a number and when a question comes up they get to choose their response (A, B, C, T/F, etc) on their remote. Their response is recorded by number at the bottom. It will share the percentage of clickers that answered correctly, but it will not share whom, so anonymity is still intact. The only downfall is sometimes batteries run out or a technology glitch occurs.



This past year I started using Socrative, another student response system that really engages students by  creating online games, tests, quizzes, etc. Socrative runs on tablets, smartphones, and laptops so the possibilities are endless. Since our school recently got a set of iPads and the students just can't get enough I was excited about sing this system. Our older students (4th-6th) also have individual laptops and they always giggle with delight when I enter the room and tell them we are using our computers.  Many of our local county schools are allowing technology into the classroom so this is a great way to jump aboard. I also love this system, because it allows the teacher to log in at the same time as the students and track their progress. This means students can work at their own pace and you can see individual students answers and progress, while maintaining their confidentiality. If a student should answer a question in an alarming way, you can always make an individual follow up appointment with them. 



Socrative is also a good way to gather data by creating a pre and post test. 

Thanks to Pinterest I found a wonderful follow up writing prompt for students at the Teachers Notebook. Guess what Sassy counselors it's FREE!


So there you have it start with a wonderful book, followed by a discussion, test their knowledge with a game, and end with a writing prompt so they can process the information.