homecoming

This is my first post of the school year and we are 4 weeks in. It has been a whirlwind with lots of ARFF all around.
Achievement: The 5th and 6th graders made ARFF posters for the hall outside our counseling offices. The assignment was to draw what they want more of in their life. My favorite is a picture of a kid sitting on the ground watching the sunset. His caption read, "If I had more time I would go to the harbor and watch the sunset." This is an activity I will do again because just imagining having your ARFF filled can have some of the same positive effects as actually doing it. Also, just having them up in our hall reminds me that to do my job well, I need to keep my ARFF filled.

Respect: I get to work with really talented people who want to do all they can to help kids feel safe, welcome, and ready to learn. And I get to hear kids ideas. Today, when I asked fifth graders what we could do to make our school safe and welcoming for everyone, one student said, "I think everyone should have a chance to express what they are good at and have something they are proud of because sometimes I think kids who bully don't have anything else that they are proud of. The others agreed and suggested we do Enrichment Clusters again!

Fun: Kids know how to have fun. We should all play more. At least once a day. Tonight's fun will be cheering on the football team at the homecoming game.

Freedom: Today Ryan and I played, "Change Seats If You Brushed Your Teeth Today" with the 6th graders. We were laughing and carrying on and got pretty roudy. The office staff heard the commotion and were concerned but their teacher said, "Mrs. Ahnert's in there," and they let us carry on!