Counselor’s Corner
Elizabeth Herb - School Counselor
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Dear Evergreen Parents and Guardians,
Here at Evergreen Elementary School, we are
committed to fostering your students’ social and
emotional skills. Through school-wide behavioral
expectations, classroom instruction, small group
counseling, and implementing social-emotional
curricula, we strive to support your students’
overall social and emotional development.
Teachers and staff continually emphasize our
behavioral expectations, called the Chessie BARK,
after our mascot, Chessie! These expectations
include being our best every day, accepting
responsibility, respecting everyone and
everything, and keep trying even when things are
hard. These expectations are reinforced
throughout the school day in classrooms, hallways,
the cafeteria, at recess, and on buses.
Our school-wide behavior expectations are
reinforced through the use of various socialemotional curricula, such as The Zones of
Regulation, Second Step, and Steps to Respect.
The Zones of Regulation, often used in small
counseling groups, addresses skill building in areas
of emotional regulation by helping students
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identify feelings and strategies for self-calming,
including deep breathing and positive self-talk.
Second Step is a social skills curriculum that
covers topics such as managing emotions,
making friends, building empathy, and solving
problems. This curriculum is used often in small
group counseling. The Steps to Respect
curriculum is implemented in the form of
classroom lessons as bullying prevention.
Students learn how to identify bullying, and how
to report and refuse bullying. Students also learn
about the differences between tattling and
reporting, as well as the differences between
peer conflict and bullying. Evergreen strives to
promote pro-social behaviors through the use of
various programs in both small group and
classroom settings.
The following page has information and
examples of strategies that are commonly used
with students at school. These strategies are
reinforced by teachers and staff to help students
manage their emotions, effectively solve peer
conflict, and refuse bullying behaviors. Students
are encouraged to practice these strategies and
build on their social and emotional skills
throughout their time at Evergreen Elementary
School. Teachers and staff are also committed to
preventing, identifying, and addressing any
concerning behaviors.
If you have any questions or concerns, or would
like to access further information, please feel free
to contact me at 301-863-4060 or
[email protected].
Thank you,
Elizabeth Herb, M.A.
School Counselor
Common Strategies Used at EES
A Bug and a Wish – Often used with our
younger grades, students are encouraged to
speak up respectfully and confidently when
faced with peer conflict by using a bug and a
wish.
 “It bugs me when __________________, I
wish you would _________________”
 Example: “It bugs me when you call me
names, I wish you would stop.”
Calming strategies – Common calming
strategies used for students when upset, angry,
frustrated, overwhelmed, etc.:
 Three deep breaths (belly breathing)
 Counting up to 10 or down from 10
 Take a walk
 Get a drink of water
 Think positive thoughts, positive self-talk
 Drawing, writing/journaling
 Movement/exercise
Is it bullying? – Teachers and staff help students
understand the differences between bullying
and other types of conflict while also
supporting students during times of conflict.
 Conflict: Occasional, two-sided, not
planned, both sides upset, willing to solve
the problem
 Rude: Occasional, unintentional, can cause
hurt feelings, thoughtless, person is sorry
 Mean: Once or twice, intentional, angerbased, can hurt others deeply
 Bullying: Happens over and over again,
one-sided, intentional, planned, no
remorse, blames target, target feels
intimidated or unsafe
Tattling vs. Reporting definitions:
 Tattling is telling an adult in order to get
someone in trouble.
 Reporting is telling an adult in order to
keep someone safe.
Stay S.A.F.E. when facing a possible bullying
situation – The S.A.F.E. acronym helps
students remember a few strategies they
can use in possible bullying situations:
 S – Say what you feel calmly and
confidently (ex: bug and a wish, “I
messages”)
 A – Ask for help (ask a trusted adult for
help right away)
 F – Find a friend or be a friend
 E – Exit the area (if something we don’t
like is happening, quickly go to another
area or go to the closest adult. Ex:
leaving the field to go to the
playground)
Ways students can empower themselves if
teased – If teasing or put downs occur,
students can stay confident in themselves
instead of reacting through these
strategies:





Do little or nothing (don’t react, just
ignore)
Agree with the put down (ex: “I am a
better basketball player than you!”
“Yeah, you sure are!”)
Distract (change the conversation)
Laugh
Stay away (stay away from the person
who teases or puts others down