One of the biggest obstacles is to get the students to realize that they don't have to have an 'issue' to come see me.  Typically, many students feel that only problem students go to the guidance counselor.  I do my best to be out and about in the hallways, lunchroom, bus areas and classrooms where students see me interact with other students and the faculty.  It is my hope, by being in 'their' environment, it will be easier for them to connect with me and come to 'my' environment if necessary.  Students can come to see me for any reason.  A student might be having a problem with friends, an issue with a class/grades, or they might not be sure what to do in certain situations.  Students also come with concerns about what they know friends are doing or are involved in.  As well, students may need someone to listen about things that are happening at home.  Sometimes, all they need is a place to talk and get it out of their mind so they can focus better back in the classroom.  Truly, any topic-- social, emotional, academic --can be a reason to stop by.  That is what I am here for and want to provide a place in the tumultuous life of a middle school student that is open, safe and secure.

 

 

You may wish to contact me for a variety of reasons.  Perhaps you have concerns about your child's academic progress.  While your first line of communication would be with the classroom teachers, you could also contact me for suggestions or advice on additional steps you might take.  Maybe you are hearing your child talk about things at school, or with friends, that are concerning to you and you would like someone to look into it.  Or it might be that there are some difficulties at home that could affect your child's ability to do their best.  It can be very helpful to share that information so I can advocate for them as needed.  If you have a thought that maybe you should talk with a counselor, it would probably be a good thing to do.  Even if it seems like a small concern, I would be happy to chat with you and see how we can make your child's school experience as positive as possible.

 

 

Why Do They Act That Way?  A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen by David Walsh.  This is a book that I highly recommend to parents of adolescents, especially those going through it for the first time.  From the back cover... "is the first book to explain the changes in teens' brains and show parents how to use this information to understand, communicate with and stay connected to their kids.  Through real-life stories, Dr. Walsh makes sense of teenagers' many mystifying, annoying and even outright dangerous behavioral difficulties and provides realistic solutions for dealing with every day as well as severe challenges."  Parents who have read this book find it to be easy to understand as it does not get bogged down with too much scientific aspects of the brain.  It is a hands-on, practical and affirming tool for parents who might be ready to pull their hair out!

 

Not Much Just Chillin':  The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers by Linda Perlstein.  The author spent a year in classrooms and lunchrooms shadowing several middle school students.  She went into their world and emerged with insights from the adolescents' perspectives, as chaotic and wild as they might seem.  As summarized from the back cover of the book --- "Suddenly they go from striving for A's to barely passing, from fretting about cooties to obsessing for hours about crushes.  Former chatterboxes answer in monosyllables; freethinkers mimic everything from clothes to opinions.  Their bodies and psyches morph through the most radical changes since infancy.  They are kids in the middle-school years, the age every adult remembers well enough to dread."

 

What Are You Doing in There?  Balancing Your Need to Know with Your Adolescent's Need to Grow by Charlene C. Giannetti and Margaret Sagarese.  An easy-to-read book that deals with a tricky and sticky topic.  The authors known as experts on the 'tween' years, "show parents how to keep informed without stifling their child's fledging independence.  They identify six privacy zones -- bedrooms, friends, romance, school, the body, and the Internet -- examining why these areas are so important for young adolescents and how much freedom to give them to explore.  Within each zone, they point out the most common cover-ups, why too much knowledge can be a bad thing, and how to establish and work within positive limits that allow both parties the freedom to breathe.  Ultimately, Giannetti and Sagarese teach parents how to build a relationship based on trust so they can stay involved and still allow their child to become mature, independent individual."