School #4

Today, I got to meet the counselor at Lindenwold School #4, Ms.Burns, and she is amazing. She made me feel very welcome in the school and I even got a chance to sit in on a group session with a few young boys who were very lively. She told me it would be entertaining and she was not lying! The topic she presented was domestic violence and the whole Chris Brown and Rihanna situation. Listening to their opinions on the topic was extremely interesting. Gladly, they all agreed that domestic violence is wrong and had some very nice things to say about Chris Brown (not really). Aside from the group session, Ms. Burns told me the difference between high school, middle school, and elementary school- she even gave me a packet of information about each one, which helped me get a better understanding. She told me that she did not get a degree in guidance counseling, that she is a certified social worker, which is something different from what I understand. Before the kids move up to middle school, they need to work on decision making skills and learn that for every action, there's a consequence. While I was looking around her office, I noticed a sign that said something along the lines of "When you __(action)____, I feel ___(emotion)_____ because __(reason)____. Please __(response desired)___." I guess this was a way to help the students address their problems and express their feelings toward certain behaviors. Overall, today was a great experience and I cannot wait to visit the elementary school again!