Don't be a space invader!

Personal space....it can be a difficult topic, but it's very important.  I can hug my mom, but I need to ask if it's okay to hug my friend, and the cashier at Kroger....I shouldn't hug her.  Many people understand how to respect people's personal space through their body language.  However, body language can be difficult to read and understand.  Our Wacky Wednesday lesson for today was about personal space and not being a space invader.  A few teachers performed a skit about respecting personal space.  It is not okay to walk up to someone and start touching them, playing with their hair, hang all over them, etc.  We went over the different types of body language people display when you are invading their personal space.  We discussed keeping people an arms length away, especially when you are at school or in public.  As high schoolers, having a boyfriend/girlfriend is a big deal for our students.  It is more natural for boyfriends/girlfriends to be in each others personal space.  We discussed with the students that hugging on your boyfriend is not only invading his personal space, but at school it is a form of PDA (Public Display of Affection) and could result in a DM.

Following our skit we broke into three groups and discussed different personal space scenarios.  Some examples are:

What should I do?
One of your friends keeps tickling you.  She thinks its funny but you don't like it.

Role Play
Act out what it should look like when you are standing behind someone in line.

Are you a personal space invader?
You walk up to the lunch table to sit down but notice that there is no more room.  You decide to sit at another lunch table.

Look for clues (stay or back away)
You see one of your classmates on a bench by themselves.  You decide to sit next to him.  He turns his body towards you and starts a conversation.

I found all of these scenarios and much more on the "School Counseling is Magical" teacherspayteachers store.  :)

At the end of the lesson, we watched a video from Despicable Me!

We completed an exit ticket determining whether or not we thought Vector is a space invader.  I encourage you to watch this again with your student and talk about personal space.  Next week's Wacky Wednesday topic will be over hygiene/showering!

Wacky Wednesday: Sharpen Our Saw

Today was our first Wacky Wednesday switch. We practiced Sharpening Our Saw. We played BINGO, minute to win it, karaoke, and made cards for our former Eagle friend, Katie-John. Her service dog, Hudson, passed over the summer. We had an awesome time! Next week we're going to learn about respecting personal space!

Getting to Know Our Staff

What's that phrase....it takes a village to raise a child???  The same is true for the classroom.  Not only do I have awesome teacher teammates, Mrs. Roberts and Mrs. Higdon, but I also have some other amazing staff working with me in my room.  I could not do it without their help and love for students.  On the far left, Mr. Kevin or Coach Farris as some of our football players call him.  In the white is my classroom assistant, Mrs. Robin, also known as my right hand.  Next to her is my classroom RN, Mrs. Kim.  AND of course all of my awesome Eagle students.  We are closing up an awesome first week of the 2015-2016 school year!

Hot Dog it's time to go back to school!

A big thanks to all the staff, student, and parents who came to the back to school get together. We enjoyed seeing our friends and meeting new faces! I can already tell this school year is going to be awesome!

Great First Day

Do you get the first day jitters?  I know I certainly do.  Even though I am in my 8th year of teaching I still get nervous about the first day back.  I just want everything to go perfect and my students to love school!  Our first day back was certainly a success.  My favorite part was definitely the school scavenger hunt.  We broke into teams and went around the building taking group pictures and selfies with some of our favorite and most helpful people....principals, staff, nurse, etc.  Check out our fun!

We always start our morning with circle up.  We like to get to know each other.  Relationship building is an important life skill!  Someone gets to hold the talking stick and share how they are today on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best), what they did last night, and what they ate for dinner.

Group Pic!!!!

Silly Pic!!!!

One of my partners in teaching....Mrs. Higdon

First day pic of the teacher!

We just love our peer tutors.  Although Marco graduated last year and is about to head off to UK, he stopped by to see the students and wish us luck on a great year!

A little afternoon Karaoke....

Merek brought his dancing shoes!

Mrs. Anderson in the attendance office

Mr. Ray....head custodian!

Mr. Brown, assistant principal

We even found Superintendent Owen Saylor on our scavenger hunt!

Mr. Broughton

Group pic with the Eagle

More of Mr. Ray

Photobombing Mrs. Jackie in the guidance office!

Gotta love the school nurse!

Starting the year off right reading a book!

More with Mr. Broughton and Mr. Dych

Check out our peer tutor friend, Jacyln, and her duck face selfie with Mr. Ray