Buzzing Along

We have been  busy SOARing with all of our dragonflies in September.  I have been presenting “Introduction to the School Counselor” lessons in all of the K-5 classes.  I am also getting to know our third, fourth, and fifth grade new students during their lunch times, as well as younger new students throughout the day.  A highlight of my intro lessons was an experiment I did with first grade classes.  We were practicing showing different feelings using a Mr. Potato Head lesson I had created on the Smartboard.  As students were changing the eyes and mouths of Mr. Potato Head, we matched each of his feelings to a color.   Red was the angry feeling; blue matched with sad feelings; yellow was matched with a sunny, happy feeling; and green was matched with scared feelings.  As I added drops of food coloring for each feeling into a “Feelings Cup”, the water turned a murky black color.  We talked about some of those “not so good” feelings making us feel dark and gloomy. As I talked about how the school counselor could help change those dark, gloomy feelings back to happier feelings, I added bleach to the dark water.  The kids were astonished when the water got lighter and lighter, eventually becoming clear again.  It was a delight to see the impact this “magic trick” had on them.  I hope the message will stick as I try to do my best to turn the “not so good” feelings into better feelings this school year.