Counselor in the Classroom

School Counselors support students in a variety of ways through both direct and indirect services. One of the direct services school counselors provide are classroom social emotional learning (SEL) lessons. Topics for lesson units are chosen through collaboration with teachers to meet the needs of the students, tie in to school and district goals, as well as to build upon units from previous grade levels.

Starting in the 2021-22 school year, the school counselors at Mabel Rush will be able to be in all the classrooms approximately once a week all year long.

To learn more about some of what is covered in counselor lessons, please read below for descriptions of topics for each level. You can jump to a specific grade level using the menu on the right.

All levels

All Levels

Kelso's Choices

All levels work with "Kelso's Choices" or "Kelso's Wheel" on some level with their classes. Kelso gives us ideas of choices we can use to help us solve small problems:

Wait and cool off
Go to another game
Talk it out
Share and take turns
Ignore it
Walk away
Tell them to stop
Apologize
Make a deal

As students get older, they are encouraged to try two of Kelso's choices before coming to an adult for help when they are faced with a small problem.

Zones of Regulation: The Mood Meter

The "Zones of Regulation" and the Mood Meter are tools that provide students with tools to identify and categorize emotions, an essential step in self regulation.

Things you might hear from your student about our lessons:

Blue Zone: When we are in the "blue zone," we have low energy and feelings are not pleasant. We might feel sad, sick, or tired. It is expected that we will be in the blue zone when we are sick or had something sad happen to us. It's okay to be in the blue zone, but we don't want to live here all the time. We want to find a way to raise our energy.

Green Zone: When we are in the "green zone," we have a low energy, but our feelings are pleasant. We might feel happy, ready to learn, or calm. The green zone is where we want to spend most of our time.

Yellow Zone: When we are in the "yellow zone," we have a high amount of energy, but our feelings are still pleasant. We might feel silly or excited. IIt is okay to be in the yellow zone, but we don't want to live here all the time. It's exhausting and it can be hard to problem solve as our energy gets higher and higher. We might want to find a way to lower our energy.

Red Zone: When we are in the "red zone," we have a high amount of energy and our feelings are NOT pleasant We might feel mad, anxious, or furious. It's ok to be in the red zone, but it doesn't feel good so we will want to find a way to calm down.

Expected/Unexpected Behaviors: Expectations change based on where we are and who we are with, not based on how we feel. We have thoughts about other people, just like they have thoughts about us. When we do expected things, people tend to have good or comfortable thoughts about us. When we do things that are unexpected, people might have uncomfortable thoughts about us. People are more likely to want to be around others who do expected behaviors.

Kinder

In kindergarten we learn about what it means to be a good friend and how to solve different problems like what to do when we don't get our way or have a problem with a friend. We practice using Kelso's Choices and talking problems out ourselves in a calm way.

Things you might hear from your student about our lessons:

Strong feelings: Feelings that can overwhelm us and make it difficult to control our words and actions (angry, sad, frustrated, etc.)

Accidents: When we do something that hurts or bothers another person, we need to apologize and try to make it better, even if it was an accident.

Bug and a Wish: When we want to ask someone to stop, we can use a "Bug and a Wish" so they know WHAT we want them to stop. "It BUGS me when you.... I WISH you would stop!"

What a video of a read aloud here!

1st

In 1st grade we build on our knowledge of self-regulation to learn about how to be good communicators, problem solvers, and friends.

Things you might hear from your student about our lessons:

Problem Solving Steps: We break problem solving down into 4 steps:

STOP: Calm down
IDENTIFY: Figure out what the problem is. Try saying it out loud using "I want___. You want___." ("I want to ride bikes. You want to stay inside.")
THINK: Think of different solutions you could try. Are they fair? How will others feel?
TRY: Try out a solution! If it doesn't work, try something new.

2nd

In 2nd grade we use the "Second Steps" curriculum and learn and practice skills that help us be good friends and solve problems. We focus on how to use Kelso's Choices in the best way to solve problems and be PAX leaders.

Things you might hear from your student about our lessons:

Empathy: Empathy is understanding and caring about how someone else feels.

Big Problems: Big problems are problems where someone is hurt, in danger, or we have tied to solve the problem in multiple ways and it still is a problem. We need an adult to help solve the problem.

Small Problems: Small problems are problems where no one is hurt or in danger. Teachers expect that kids can try at least two Kelso Choices to solve the problem before getting an adult. Small problems can still be hard, but we can do hard things!

3rd

In 3rd grade we use the "Steps to Respect" curriculum and learn and practice skills that help us be good friends and identify and respond to bullying.

Things you might hear from your student about our lessons:

Definition of bullying: "Bullying is a one-sided aggressive or unwanted behavior used repeatedly to isolate, harm, or control another person."

The 3 "R's" of bully prevention: Recognize, Report, and Refuse. Students learn to use the definition of bullying to help figure out if a situation is bullying and are encouraged to tell adults whenever they see bullying happen. Although bullying is a big problem that we expect students need an adult's help with, we also teach ways to refuse bullying if they feel safe:

Act assertively (stand tall and look confident)
Say what you mean in a strong, respectful voice
Leave and go tell an adult about the bully.

4th

In 4th grade we use the "Steps to Respect" curriculum and build on our knowledge of self regulation to practice good communication and problem solving skills, including what to do if there is a bully.

Things you might hear from your student about our lessons:

Definition of Bullying: "Bullying is a one-sided aggressive or unwanted behavior used repeatedly to isolate, harm, or control another person."

Problem Solving Steps: We break down problem solving into 5 steps, building on the 4 steps we learn in the first grade curriculim:

Check your feelings and calm down if needed
Idenitify the problem
Think of solutions that are:
- Safe
- Fair
- Others will feel comfortable with
- Will work
Try a solution and if it doesn't work go back to step 1

5th

In 5th grade we use the "Steps to Respect" curriculum and learn and practice skills for problem solving including identifying and responding to bullying.

Things you might hear from your student about our lessons:

Problem Solving Steps: We break down problem solving into 5 steps, building on the 4 steps we learn in the first grade curriculim:

Check your feelings and calm down if needed
Idenitify the problem
Think of solutions that are:
- Safe
- Fair
- Others will feel comfortable with
- Will work
Try a solution and if it doesn't work go back to step 1

Definition of bullying: "Bullying is a one-sided aggressive or unwanted behavior used repeatedly to isolate, harm, or control another person."

Definition of assertiveness: "Saying what you mean in a strong and respectful way."

Standing up to a bully: 1) Decide if it is safe, 2) Get calm, 3) Be assertive, 4) Tell them to stop (ex. "Stop calling me names. I don't like it."), 5) Name it (ex. "That's bullying."), 6) Walk away and tell an adult.