Free Fish Follow-Up....Are We Still Swimming Along?

A couple of months ago I wrote about a few classrooms that were experiencing major Spring fever and not in a good way. There was lots of name calling, eye rolling, and leaving classmates out.  I went into the classrooms and presented videos and the book Simon's Hooks, one of my personal favorites.  The students made "Free Fish" cards, which I shared in a previous post.  Here's an update on what I have done since that lesson.

A positive classroom atmosphere (and school atmosphere for that matter) is of upmost importance to a successful school year.  When I think of achieving the right atmosphere in terms of behavior, I imagine a seesaw of social skills.  Students have to learn how to handle the inevitable conflict that will come up, but they also need to learn how to contribute to a positive environment and create the kind of atmosphere they want to learn in each day. There has to be some action on each side of the seesaw to achieve an optimal environment. In that frame of mind, I started having lunch bunches with students in my target classes to focus on the positive behaviors. As I met with one third of the class in each lunch bunch, I followed up on the free fish strategies and gauged whether students were using the strategies, which  ideas seemed the most helpful, and discussed any other recent conflicts.  Then, I read the book Have You Filled A Bucket Today? with them. This series of books by Carol McCloud (see below for another title I have used in the past) is great for promoting positive behavior, and I have used them in personal/social guidance lessons when I am talking about treating people kindly and making friends, as well as in my introductory school counseling lessons in August.  In fact, I am planning on using them again this August with ALL grade levels and creating a bulletin board similar to the one pictured below using student work created in the lesson.

After reading the book, I challenged my students to a game of Bucket Filling Bingo.  Each student received a bingo card at his or her lunch bunch and was instructed to return it to me when the card was completed (Blackout Bingo Style).  In order to have students really reflect on their bucket filling behaviors, I asked them to write the person's name whose bucket was filled with their action in each specific square.  I included behaviors such as asking someone to play, giving a compliment, saying "I'm sorry", and saying "Good Morning".  The students were really excited and have already been turning in their completed cards. I am giving them a small treat from my prize box when they return it, and I hope this "pay it forward" mentality will create a domino effect that continues throughout the final 21 days of school.  Happy Counseling!

                                          Angela