Konnie still loves to collect things on our walks.
He has really fast recall.
Konnie is losing his winter coat at the moment. This is great for him, but not so great for our furniture!
Time for a rest. Happy holidays everyone!
KvG
Category Archives: Career and School Counselling
Wellness Break & Staycation Ideas
MYP Students, still in distance learning, spent this past Wednesday afternoon, seeking to unplug and Take a Break.
We are proud of our students, teachers and parents who have endured over 3 months of distance learning and are looking forward to a much deserved rest. The activities listed are a good reminder and promote balance and wellness for each of us. We trust that new healthy habits and experiences will blossom as you each practice some self-care in the weeks ahead. Have a wonderful holiday everyone!
Parent Talk Event
Virtual Parent Talk with special guest
Mindful Mondays
Stay in Ship Shape with Arf's sea shanty
Our primary children have been able to stay in Ship Shape with a little help from Mindful Mondays and another sing along with our friend Arf.
This week and last the children, who needed to stay home, were invited to sing a sea shanty that reminds us of skills that work; (those treasures) that make going back and forth from school to home a little better. And we learned how to draw our own ships as we continue on this journey together. As you can see and hear, our boats are in Ship Shape as we believe better days are soon ahead.
Click for H.I.S. Shanty:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y7hpVHT0KuaWYEYp_rSsEB7HA2ZjEHkN/view?usp=sharing
Mindful Monday
Primary students keep a cool head and sing along with Arf
Our Primary students shared in one more Mindful Monday before the holiday break. They continued to learn more about the many emotions we are feeling during distance learning by finding ways to keep a cool-head when things get hard or if we’re frustrated.
And our friend Arf joined us again to help us learn ways to feel better again. Arf also joined us to sing a new song with the kids and parents; reminding us of ways to “self-regulate” by using our feel better skills.
A reminder for all of us to take a deep breath, hum our favorite song or move around to let off some steam. Click the link to watch and hear Mr Fortner and Arf sing the song:
LF
Time to Talk
Zoom discussion for parents
The H.I.S. Student Support Team would like to invite you to join us on 4 February at 14:00 for an open discussion about focus and concentration.
We hope to discuss the skill of focusing and review what works for our children while completing required learning tasks at home.
Please find the Zoom link for this open discussion in the newsletter no. 21.
Mindful Monday
Special Guest: Arf
Our primary students continued to explore their social emotional wellness with another Mindful Monday.
This activity helped students figure out mixed up feelings. A special guest, Arf, visited Mr. Fortner on SeeSaw, learning ways to share and deal with 2 feelings at once. We learned what our sad, happy, and mixed up emotions look like and most importantly, how to understand and talk about our feelings so we can find ways to manage them.
Photo: LF
Executive Function Workshop
for parents and interested students
The Student Support Team invites parents and interested students to join this online Workshop on Thursday 28th January. The zoom link will be in the H.I.S. Newsletter No. 20, published 25th January.
Konnie
H.I.S. Therapy Dog Konnie loves snowballs!
Konnie has had a great Winter Break and has enjoyed the recent snow. He loves to catch snowballs and run through deep snow!
photos: KvG
COVID Fatigue?
10 Actions that can help you stay strong and well
The moments between the summer and fall breaks required all of us to find a renewed source of resilience. Our students display this daily; following the guidelines that help safeguard each other and keep our community well. Over the next month in our weekly newsletter, I will speak to the 10 R’s listed here to help us all stay well during a time that tries our patience and keeps us distant from those we love.
The first R asks that we reaffirm our actions. These actions have kept us safe over the past 8 months and will see us through the rest of this pandemic. Actions matter and a mask on our faces, emphasis on hygiene and keeping distant are known to keep this virus in check. Let’s reaffirm these actions and trust that in time, our vigilance will make a difference when this pandemic is no more.
I invite all of you to send me an email to lance.fortner@hischool.de with strategies or methods you have used to achieve any of the R’s on this list. I would love to generally speak to what works for all of you as I share about these R’s in the weeks to come.
Stay well and strong everyone!
LF
Whole School Counsellor