TRAC NEWSLETTER

"It is not our job to toughen children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It's our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless." ~L.R. Knost

The purpose of the TRAC program is to provide universal social emotional instruction to the entire school population. Students will gain skills to boost their self awareness, increase self esteem and self regulation, improve their social skills, encourage empathy, and learn to seek internal motivation for their personal and academic success.

The goal is to create positive relationships and an atmosphere where each student feels connected, cared about, and physically and emotionally safe.

Hello to my ME community! Thank you for a wonderful and exciting past 6 months! Starting the year late was a challenge but you all were so incredibly welcoming and for that I am so grateful. Your kindness and support make me feel like a total ROCKSTAR on this campus and so I thank you! Here's a look at some of what we have learned in TRAC at ME with Miss G!

Kapeesh? Kaposh!

Students practice identifying strong emotions such as anger, frustration, embarrassment and then learn calming strategies like deep belly breathing, inversion poses, and mindfully crafted glitter jars.

ME collected nearly 500 plastic water bottles to create GLITTER JARS: a calming strategy that helps students self regulate when feeling strong emotions, a project that the entire student population would take part in.

So why do we lose control of our emotions??? Watch the video below

Classroom meetings create open communication in which students share their voice and feel heard. Students help shape classroom norms, share viewpoints and perspectives while working on problem-solving strategies and building social connections.

Pictured: Classroom meetings, restorative circles, connection cards, compliment circles and morning greeting meetings

Students in grades 2-6th were asked to take part in a 6-question TRAC survey sharing their voice in answering what frustrations they may encounter at recess and sharing solutions if they could "redesign recess" to support student connections and fun. Students also shared what skills they have learned in TRAC.

Mix-It-Up @ Lunch is a campaign developed from a national organization called Teaching Tolerance and it is part of our TRAC initiative in building a positive school culture and community. It is an event in which students "mix-it-up" and sit with someone new, creating opportunities for friendship. Some children are inherently more shy or may struggle to make friends, making lunchtime feel lonely. ME added fun to Mix-It-Up with a rainbow theme, crazy-hair day and a picnic on the field, complete with dance music, would you rather trivia questions and a bubble machine!

Each classroom has a bucket filling station for students to share kindness and appreciation for one another by writing notes and dedicating time to share them in class. Bucket filling is being intentionally kind in creating a positive and thoughtful environment where students feel valued, appreciated and respected.

Using your WITS: Walk Away / Ignore / Talk it Out (Using I Feel_____-Messages) / Seek Help is a strategy students can use when dealing with teasing or bullying.

Pictured: fourth grade

“I” messages are a way of communicating in a clear, strong way. Using “I” messages can help students express their feelings and make their needs known without being mean and without escalating a conflict. With an “I” message the speaker identifies his feelings about a problem instead of attacking the other person. This makes the listener feel more willing to try to solve the problem.

I feel_____________

when_____________

because__________

Pictured: Second and Third graders describe a feeling using watercolors. Each student completed their art piece with an I-message

The skills of empathy and kindness matter more than ever. Empathy and kindness help us build authentic relationships, understand problems through the perspectives of others, and create meaningful solutions.

"Kind people are brave people. Brave is not a feeling that you should wait for. It is a decision. It is a decision that compassion is more important than fear, than fitting in, than following the crowd.”

Glennon Doyle

Kelly Griffin

TRAC Teacher/SECD Educator

Social-Emotional and Character Development

Email: kelly.griffin@eusd.net
Location: Mission Estancia Elementary School, Calle Barcelona, Carlsbad, CA, USA