Ms. Gee's Counseling Corner

It would be nice to think that as we flip to a new calendar year, we can just wipe the slate clean of the previous year, but unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. We are still living in the midst of a global pandemic, as well as wading through much social and political unrest. These are huge things that we are navigating daily and just as they effect us, as adults, our children feel the stresses, worries, and fears too.

Our goal at Bryker Woods is to create a bold and brave space for students and community members to navigate these uncharted waters together in a healthy and supportive way. It is important for all of us to understand our own emotional response to what we are enduring, but to also allow our kids and students to do the same.

In the coming weeks, I hope you are able to reflect on your own emotional state and meet your needs and the needs of your family with self-care and quality time in the presence of those you love most. We are hoping for the brightness to shine in this new year, despite the tragedies we have all endured.

I am excited to spend more time with our students and continue to grow and encourage others alongside them.

I will be hosting two third grade book studies this spring. The first will start the first week of February and we will be going through the American Girl series book Friends: Making them and Keeping them. This is geared toward girls, but anyone is welcome.

The second book study will start just after spring break and we will be using the book Speak Up and Get Along. This book is geared towards all kids and gives practical tools and strategies to communicate clearly and engage in positive social interactions.

I am still working out logistics, but it will be available to both in person and remote learners. Some of the details to when and where will be dependent upon how many people are interested. I will post a google form soon to see who would be interested in having their child(ren) participate. They can participate in one or both since they will not overlap. This is completely optional, and is just a resource made available to set a good foundation as kids begin to navigate more complex social dynamics.

*Each group will last approximately 6 weeks, meeting one day a week for 30 minutes.

At the end of the month, the week of January 25th- 29th, we will be participating in the Great Kindness Challenge. All learners can participate either remotely or in person. I will provide checklist to all teachers to distribute to their students. This checklist provides many actionable steps to show kindness to one another, in the community, and with their family.

Each day of the week our goal will be to individually complete at least one act of kindness. Your child is not limited to the suggestions on the check list. They will be free to come up with their own acts of kindness as well, if they choose to. At the end of the week, teachers will tally up all the acts of kindness their students performed and we will see just how much kindness we can spread as the Bryker Woods community.

This school year, we have a Bryker Woods Counseling Blend Page. Each homeroom teacher should have a link for it on their personal home pages.

What you can find there...

• Zoom link for office hours and lunch bunches
• Community resources (Agencies offering group/individual counseling in the community)
• Weekly newsletters
• Asynchronous lessons K-5th
• Student request forms
• Parent/Teacher request forms
• Student resources (Peace room and SEL Library)

Please feel free to look at this page and play around with the different tools

Email: Kathryn.gee@austinisd.org
Website: https://brykerwoods.austinschools.org/
Phone: 512-414-7198