I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break!  I am starting new small groups in Second Grade and Sure Start this week.  Small group counseling is designed to be preventative and developmental in nature.  We focus on coping strategies needed to be successful in the school environment, friendship skills, communication, anger management, basic rituals and routines, and much more.  Each group is developed specifically to meet the needs of the learners at that moment and time. A few standards that I use are:

Standard A Improve Academic School Success:
-Taking Responsibility for our actions.
-Use communication skills to know when and how to ask for help when needed.

Standard A Acquire Self Knowledge
-Recognize that everyone has rights and responsibilities.
-Respect alternative points of view.
-Recognize, accept, respect, and appreciate individual differences.
-Learn how to make and keep friends.

Standard B Self-Knowledge Applications
-Understand consequences of decisions and choices
-Identify alternative solutions to a problem.
-Know how to apply conflict resolution skills.
-Demonstrate when, where, and how to seek help for solving problems and making decisions.