Counseling Department
School Counselor
Helga Cluzet
hcluzet@brewsterschools.org
@HCluzetBCSD
845-279-4018, ext. 3136
Social Worker
Mrs. Sara Levin
slevin@brewsterschools.org
845-279-4018 ext 3126
School Psychologist
Mrs. Diane LaMorte
dlamorte@brewsterschools.org
845-279-4018 ext 3116
PBS KIDS Talk About | Feelings & Emotions
Overview
What is the Role of an Elementary School Counselor?
According to the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) elementary school counselors are educators uniquely trained in child development, learning strategies, self management and social skills, who understand and promote success for today’s diverse students. They provide a proactive program that engages students and includes leadership, advocacy and collaboration with school staff, administration and community/family members in the delivery of programs and activities to help students achieve success. Elementary school counselors also collaborate with teachers and parents on early identification and intervention of children’s academic and social/emotional needs, which is essential in removing barriers to learning and developing skills and behaviors critical for academic achievement.
Direct student services may include:
- Instruction – teaching the school counseling curriculum to students focused through the lens of selected student standards from the ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success.
- Appraisal and advisement – assessing student abilities, interests and achievement to help them make decisions about their future.
- Counseling – providing professional assistance and support to a student or small group of students during times of transition, heightened stress, critical change or other situations impeding student success. School counselors do not provide therapy or long-term counseling in schools. However, school counselors are prepared to recognize and respond to student mental health needs and assist students and families seeking resources.
Indirect student services may include:
- Consultation – share strategies supporting student achievement with parents, teachers, other educators and community organizations
- Collaboration – work with other educators, parents and the community to support student achievement
- Referrals – support for students and families to school or community resources for additional assistance and information
Department Goals
- Academic - to improve and enhance the amount of quality time spent engaged in learning, digital or in-person.
- By June 2025, students will be able to state why being organized is important and incite interest and excitement about improving in this area.
- College / Career - to help students realize how interests and abilities relate to future careers
- CVS: By June 2025, students will begin to consider occupations based on interest and ability. Students in grades K-2 will be able to name 2 careers. Students in grades 3-5 will be able to identify 2 careers based on interest and ability.
- Social/Emotional - to help students improve connections to school and the school community. All students will be able to identify at least one adult at school they feel knows them and they would go to for assistance.
- CVS: By June 2025, K-5 students will learn the vocabulary and utilize the Mood Meter of RULER’s self-regulation program to gauge connection to school.
- Attendance - Improve overall engagement with school, digital and/or in-person.
- CVS: By June 2025, develop a procedure for counselors to work with students/families to improve attendance.
Social and Emotional Learning
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a key ingredient of high-quality education care, is important for both educators and children, and has been associated with children’s concurrent and later academic and social success.
Over a decade ago, Yale University’s Center for Emotional Development developed and began testing RULER, an SEL program geared toward children and educators (i.e., school leaders, teachers, and staff). RULER stands for five key social and emotional skills: Recognizing emotions in self and others, Understanding the causes of emotions in self and others, Labeling and talking about emotions, Expressing emotions across situations, and Regulating emotions effectively. For children and the key adults in their lives, RULER combines a whole-school professional development approach with a skill-building curriculum targeting educator and student social and emotional skills, school and classroom climate, and educator and student well-being.
RULER Tools
RULER skill development relies on four core tools, which are introduced to all stakeholders in the school community—school leaders, teachers, staff, students, and families.
Charter: Builds and sustains positive emotional climates by creating agreed-upon norms for how people want to feel and how they can help each other to experience those feelings.
Mood Meter: Enhances self- and social awareness and supports the development of a nuanced emotion vocabulary and a range of strategies for regulating emotion.
Meta-Moment: Provides a process for responding to emotional situations with strategies that align with one’s best-self and that support healthy relationships and personal well-being.
Blueprint: Supports the development of empathy and conflict resolution skills by serving as a guide for reflecting on conflict and restoring affected communities.
RULER for Families
Using The Mood Meter at Home:
- Post a Mood Meter in your home in a visible area.
- Use a nametag, special magnet, photo, or picture to represent each family member- check in throughout the day (morning, after school/work, bedtime) and move your image around depending on your mood.
- Ask questions: Where are you on the mood meter? What caused you to feel that way? How can you stay there or move to a different quadrant? What is that emotion called? How can I help you move to the green?
- Talk about how to prevent or reduce red and blue feelings and how to initiate, maintain, and enhance yellow and green feelings.
- While some emotions may be uncomfortable, remember, there are no ‘bad’ emotions; all feelings are ok!
- Keep a journal: Use different colors for different moods. Use the journal to understand what triggers different feelings
- Plot characters in a book on the Mood Meter: Where are they on the Mood Meter? Why? How can they stay or move to a different quadrant?
- Come up with a song that represents each quadrant and play a song to express or generate different emotions.
RULER Mood Meter
The Mood Meter is a tool we use to recognize and understand our own and other peoples’ emotions.Here’s how it works.
The Mood Meter is divided into four color quadrants – red, blue, green, and yellow – each representing a different set of feelings. Different feelings are grouped together on the Mood Meter based on their pleasantness and energy level.
● RED feelings: high in energy and more unpleasant (e.g., angry, scared, and anxious);
● BLUE feelings: low in energy and more unpleasant (e.g., sad, disappointed, and lonely);
● GREEN feelings: low in energy and more pleasant (e.g., calm, tranquil, and relaxed);
● YELLOW feelings: high in energy and more pleasant (e.g., happy, excited, and curious).
Once we become more aware of our emotions, we begin to notice how they impact our decisions and behaviors. As we use the mood meter, we will begin to recognize which quadrant of the Mood Meter we’re in, have the ability to name the precise emotion we are experiencing (elation, dismay, anxiety, calmness, curiosity…), and develop strategies for working with a range of emotions. When children have the vocabulary to describe what’s going on in their inner life, they are going to have a better idea about what to do next, in their outer life. The Mood Meter is a tool that helps us build our skills of emotional intelligence.
