I wanted to give a BIG THANK YOU to QP Ace Hardware for their generous donation! As 5th graders get ready to head to middle school, we’ve been practicing opening combination locks (a big worry for them!) QP’s donation of 12 combination locks was so awesome. These will be a huge help as we tackle this skill.
All students in 2nd through 5th grade responded to 11 statements about our school climate. Here is the data:
The data is very positive overall. Some of the most positive data is the percentage of students who responded to “My school wants me to do well” as either “Always” 78% or “Often” 13%. Also positive, were the results to “My school has clear rules for behavior”. 74% answered “Always” and 13% answered “Often”. 61% of students responded teacher always treated them with respect, and another said 21% said their teachers often treated them with respect. 68% of students responded there is always an adult at my school who will help them if they need it, and another 19% answered often to the same question.
Overall, the results are very positive regarding our school overall and the adults at our school. The areas to continue to focus on are the interactions between students.
I had students in 2nd through 5th grade answer the climate survey questions from PBiS (the behavior management system LPS is currently using). However, I felt the questions were a bit too difficult for 1st graders to wrap their heads around, so I modified them. Instead of 11 statements, I condensed them down to 4. For each statement, students could select a happy face, “medium” face, or sad/mad face. Here are the results:
71% said they feel happy about school.
82% said they feel happy about the school rules.
85% said they feel happy about the adults at our school.
67% said they feel happy about the other students at our school.
Looking at the data, the lowest percentage was regarding other students. This was true about the upper level grades’ responses too, and something I’ll be thinking about when planning for next year!
A new state standard was added this year regarding online kindness. This was the focus of our lessons in all grade levels in January. As part of my end-of-the-year data collection, I asked fourth and fifth graders what would happen if they took a picture of someone without their permission and posted in online and a tip for communicating online in a kind and safe manner. Here is the data:
*50% of fourth and fifth graders knew the consequence would be an office referral or worse. Several other students listed consequences as they person’s feelings would be hurt, or it would be a problem. Other students also stated just “don’t do it”.
*98% of students identified how to be safe and respectful online including don’t give out personal information, don’t bully, make sure you know who the person is, don’t say bad words, etc.
We will address these objectives again next year.
For my end-of-the-year data collection, I asked fourth graders about ignoring distractions, fixing mistakes, coping with being angry, and coping with being afraid or worried (along with the questions I asked to each grade level including my name, my job, my role in our school, what bullying is, what to do about bullying, and career identification). Here is the data:
*95% of students were able to list a technique to ignore distractions
*65% of students knew the first step in fixing mistakes
*100% of students knew a coping skill they could use if they were feeling angry
*85% of students knew a coping skill they could use if they would feeling worried or afraid
In fifth grade, we discussed how to show you are listening to someone, setting and reaching a goal, and counting to 10 when upset. Here is the data:
*100% of students were able to list a way to show you are listening to someone
*85% of students knew advice they could give to someone (or themselves) having a hard time reaching their goal
*100% of students knew why counting to 10 can be helpful when upset
For my end-of-the-year data, I asked second graders about the steps to follow directions and complete assignments (in addition to the questions about my name, job, role, definition of bullying, what to do about bullying, and career identification.) Our classroom lessons also covered showing concern for others and calming down when angry. Here is the data:
*47% of students were able to identify a specific step from following directions or completing assignments
*93% of students could identify a way to show concern for another person
*only 7% of students were able to remember how a character in a book we read together calmed down. However, many students said the character had taken deep breaths to calm down. This is an effective coping strategy, just not the one I asked about from our story.
In third grade, we discussed contributing to conversations and/or discussions, what to do if you miss the directions, giving compliments, and helping someone who is angry. Here is the data:
*78% of students knew how to contribute to a conversation and/or discussion
*100% of students knew what to do if they missed the directions for an assignment
*83% of students could identify a compliment they could give to someone
*100% of students were able to list ways they could help someone who was feeling angry
We do! In February, we spent the month discussing and exploring different careers. It was a really fun month as each grade level took on this objective. The lessons varied per grade level, but all students got to read and learn more about careers they didn’t know about. Part of my end-of-the-year data collection was to ask students in each grade level how many different careers they could list. Here is the data:
*38% of students could name SIX or more careers (some wanted to keep going, but I stopped them there!)
*15% of students could name five careers
*12% of students could name four careers
*15% of students could name three careers
So overall…
*81% of students could name three or more careers!
We will definitely study careers next year too!
While all students were asked about my name, job, role as a school counselor, what defines bullying, and what to do if they are being bullied, each grade level was also asked questions specific to their grade-level classroom lessons.
During the kindergarten lessons, we discussed whole body listening, how to ask for help, and feeling words. Here is the kindergarten data:
*87% knew how to do whole body listening
*93% knew what to do if they needed help
*100% of students could name at least one feeling word
*93% of students could name at least two feeling words
*73% of students could name at least three feeling words
During the first grade lessons, we discussed saying thank you and showing kindness. Here is the first grade data:
*80% of students could think of a time they would say, “Thank you,” to someone
*100% of students could think of a way to show kindness at school
*90% of students could think of a way to show kindness at home
These skills are not specific to school. Encourage your students to practice whole body listening at home, and model for them using feeling words to express yourself. Also, be sure to point out when you see them or someone else being kind.
Over the past two weeks, I have been meeting with students to evaluate their knowledge of the content we covered this year (the August through April lessons). I finally finished today, and have lots and lots of data. I’ll share some of the highlights here:
*83% of students knew my name was either “Miss Harris” or “Mrs. Harris”
*34% of students were able to identify my role as “school counselor” and 45% of students weren’t able to identify “school counselor”, but did identify my role as one who “helps”; thus 79% of students knew I was either a “school counselor” or a “helper”
*83% of students correctly identified my job responsibilities within our school (responses included: help kids, teach about bullying, help others be kind, help people with their problems, talk with kids about what happened.)
*88% of students knew bullying is something that happens more than one time
*88% of students were able to identify what they would do if someone was bullying them (report it to a trusted adult)
Those were the questions I asked to each grade level. I will continue to share data pertaining to each specific grade level in the future. I loved asking these questions, and plan to do something similar first semester next year as it gave me a chance to speak with students individually who I might not get the chance to otherwise. I will also be sharing some of this data with our district as an example of students clearly understanding what bullying is and what they should do if confronted with bullying.
I was lucky enough to get to go to Park Middle School with the 5th graders yesterday. We were able to meet the assistant principal, several sixth grade students, take a tour, meet a school counselor, and eat lunch. I had already met with three of the four fifth grade classes before we went, so I was happy to see that much of the information shared was the same as the information we had already discussed in class. Hopefully, it made the visit and information less overwhelming.
If your student is not attending Park, I would encourage you to reach out to the school counselor at their middle school and see if you can arrange a visit sometime before school starts. It generally helps alleviate anxiety if they are able to actually walk the halls. I would also encourage ALL students to attend the Open House night. This is when they will get their schedule, find out where their locker is, meet their teachers, and find all of their classrooms. It is great practice for the first day.
I have now met with all fifth grade homeroom classes. I will follow up next week with continued combination lock practice!
If you are interested, here is the basics from our May fifth grade lesson!
May – 5th Grade Lesson Tips for Success (Lockers, Homework, & Schedules)