This week, on Friday April 7th, 2017, we have our field trip to Wamesit Lanes! We will be leaving at 8:00 from BHS and heading back around 1:00pm to be back for regular dismissal. Just a reminder: Please wear comfortable clothing and bring cash to purchase lunch from the cafe. Students will spend the first half bowling and second half after lunch at the arcade.
“Teamwork” and being “cooperative” is an essential part of group work and workplace success. Like a basketball team working together to set up the perfect shot, every team member has a specific role to play in accomplishing tasks on the job. Although it may seem as if one player scored the basket, that basket was made possible by many people’s planning, coordination, and cooperation to get that player the ball. It is an important skill to work well with others, while also understanding that not every player on the team can or will be the one who gets the ball. When everyone works together to accomplish goals, everyone achieves more. We are looking for our students to practice these skills as they contribute work within a group to create and develop our next module. A number of important skills when building relationships and working with others was addressed with our students during this week's module:
Burlington High School will be hosting its annual Open House on Thursday, March 16, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. This event provides you with an opportunity to meet with teachers and view the Art Exhibit and Fashion Show. Please stop by the Bridge room if you have any questions or concerns, we'd love to see you! Administrators will also be available throughout the evening to answer any questions you may have. We look forward to seeing you tonight!
People often do not realize that they put on masks when interacting with others. We wear masks to get through a variety of emotional times (stress, anxiety, happiness, etc.). There are thousands of masks we wear, sometimes all within one day. Furthering the discussion from last week's module: Understanding External Masks vs. Internal Masks, we asked students to design their own mask using different colors to represent different emotions. The goal is for students to become aware of these masks and recognize the difference between the way they handle emotions internally and externally.
The masks below were created by our students to express their internal emotions (inside feelings or thoughts) and external emotions (outward expression or presentation). Remember, the colors used were associated with emotion (i.e. Light Blue = calm & collected; Dark Red = Anger & Frustration) and each color and emotion is unique to each mask. As we move into quarter 3, our students will now be working towards understanding autonomy. In other words, a sense of one’s own identity and an ability to act independently and exert some control over one’s environment.
“Our lives only improve when we are willing to take chances and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.” ~Walter Anderson Almost any emotion or behavior can be used as a mask. Putting on a mask is a way of being invisible. In order to prevent our true inner self from being seen, we wear a symbolic mask over our authentic personality in the hope that we will remain hidden. Maybe you mask insecurity by disliking others or mask sadness by being the life of the party or mask fear by being a joker/class clown (Hall, 2012). These masks can provide some emotional protection, short term, but the costs of consistently wearing masks are high. When wearing a masks, you do not truly feel a sense of belonging, because you are not being true to yourself. One of the most basic needs people have is to feel a connection with others. This can't happen when you are hidden behind a mask. This week in Bridge, we discussed the importance of understanding our internal masks versus our external masks; our internal masks being what our personality is really like, who we really are, and how we act when we feel the most comfortable (fun, lots to say, quiet, goofy, etc.), while our external mask is the image we try to portray to others each day (happy, calm, brave, etc.). The following "masks" were derived from Karen Hall's article, "Wearing Masks" (2012) in the journal, Psych Central, and discussed this week during modules: Functional Mask: A functional mask is one everyone needs. This is the one you wear at work or school when you need to look ready for the day's challenges. A functional mask is used at the most necessary times, such as hiding your true nerves before a presentation. With this mask, you are temporarily shielding your true feelings from others. People Pleaser Mask: The people pleaser mask is used to do whatever it takes to make others happy so they'll accept you and be less likely to hurt you, emotionally. When you have thoughts or feelings that are unique to those of your peers, you ignore these thoughts, nod, and go along with what others are saying, just to avoid being "different." We discussed with the students that this mask is common in high school when trying to establish connections with peers. It is important to know that you can wear the people pleaser mask so often that you lose yourself and who you truly are. Happy Mask: A way to protect yourself is to act as if your are happy all of the time. Happiness covers our true feelings, but how are others going to know when your feelings are hurt? Angry Mask: Another way of protecting yourself is to wear a mask of anger. Anger can keep people away from you and protect you from feeling vulnerable (Hall, 2012). Anger can feel more powerful than sadness or fear, and can be used to avoid those feelings and cover up that sensitivity. What mask are you wearing? It's normal to feel a little nervous and stressed before a test. Just about everyone does. And a touch of nervous anticipation can help you get revved and keep you on your toes while you're taking the test. However, for some people, this normal anxiety is more intense. The nervousness they feel before a test can be so strong that it interferes with their concentration or performance. Some students experience mainly physical symptoms like headaches, nausea, faintness, feeling too hot or too cold, etc. Others experience more emotional symptoms such as crying easily, feeling irritable, or getting frustrated quickly. The problem with feeling nervous for a test is its effect on thinking ability. It can cause you to blank out, or have racing thoughts that you can't control.
What can our students do to control test anxiety? STAY HEALTHY
MAKE A PLAN
Other..
This week in Bridge we focused on tips for studying for midterms. We had each student develop a studying plan for each of their exams. Many parents have concerns that their student does not know “how” to study. Studying skills may look different for each child as they are a visual, auditory, or hands-on/tactile learners. To acquire study skills that work, students need to first have a routine that is consistent. Students should find a designated area at home that is quiet and free of distractions (little brother or sister, television, cell phones, ipods, xbox, etc.).
Below is a self assessment we utilize in Bridge on study habits. After it is complete, the students consider their own habits and decide if their are changes they can try to implement that will make for a more effective student. you.stonybrook.edu/bridgesonline/files/2015/09/Study-Skills-Self-Assessment-1a4ab2h.pdf How can parents help? Provide a quiet place to study and do homework Encourage students to work for a period of time and take a breaks Help your son/daughter develop a system to keep track of important papers (binder, folder, etc.) ORGANIZATION AND STUDY SKILLS Use your agenda book Check off assignments as you complete them Estimate how long it will take you to complete each assignment Circle the verbs in the directions Review class notes and highlight the important details Before reading, Preview (review the headings, pictures, captions, tables, charts, graphs, and vocabulary) Use context clues and dictionaries to figure out the meaning of unknown words Make an outline Make a web/graphic organizer Make flashcards Use a peer tutor Before a writing assignment… Read the directions three times Highlight each part of your assignment Check when the assignment is due and estimate how much time it will take you to complete each part Organize your thoughts and brainstorm your ideas with a graphic organizer Good writers write at least two drafts After writing your first draft, reread the directions to make sure you have answered all of the question and completed all of the steps Proof read your writing, check for purpose, clarity, neatness, punctuation, spelling, overused adjectives, and supporting details. Make sure your writing is “showing” with details and not just “telling” Before the test… Reread the sections in your book Reread your notes and highlight key information Predict what questions might be asked on the test Space out your studying over several days During the holidays, routines are disrupted, nutritious meals may be replaced with fast food, and bedtimes may be delayed. Children and youth are also sensitive to the stress their caregivers are experiencing. Peace between family members may be disrupted. The holidays may also invoke painful memories for some children, who may be missing a deceased relative or remembering a past family crisis.
· Get enough sleep- sleep deprivation is a major disturber of people’s moods. Jet lag, parties, and over-excited children all make it hard to get our usual number of hours. Doctors recommend that you get at least six hours of sleep every night, preferably more. If you’re burning the candle from both ends, you’re going to feel bad and put yourself at risk for getting sick. Being well-rested affects so many areas of your life. Don’t sacrifice sleep! · Relaxation techniques- Take 10 minutes and practice deep breathing in times of stress. Taking a few deep breaths can help you separate mentally and emotionally from the stresses. - Remember routines - For parents of small children, this is especially good advice. During the holidays, children will find their routines disrupted. They stay up past bedtime and eat too many holiday goodies. When a routine is broken, stress can result.· - Family activities- This could be as simple as going out, baking cookies or playing a board game. · Change your mindset- Although we may have expectations that things will go smoothly and perfect during the holidays, there are times where things do not go as planned. Instead of becoming frustrated and overwhelmed, try to engage in positive self-talk that reminds you it is going to be OK. For instance, if plan A doesn't work, then lets try plan B (similar to the Growth Mindset post below). A moment of that positive self-talk may remind you that the holidays may not always be perfect, but a time to develop and share memories. - Holiday playlist- Turn on your favorite holiday stations, or create a playlist of your favorite "feel good" songs that you can have access to during times of stress. Research shows that listening to music can lessen stress and anxious feelings. · Exercise- is proven to be the best stress reliever. Exercise is good for everyone. It will help relax your body and mind. · Reflecting- Sometimes just taking a few moments to think of all the reasons that you are grateful and thankful at this time of year and thinking about past memories, can relieve stress and make us feel a lot happier! · Take a break- Prevent your work life from seeping into your holiday break. You can create a strict divide between home and work by shutting the door to your home office or not looking at your work email. With today's remote technologies, it can be all too easy to get sucked into your work while on vacation. Switch off push notifications, and take a break away from your work phone. Preventing professional disruptions during your holiday vacation can be the easiest way to avoid thinking about work. - Take Care of yourself! Make time for yourself. Sometimes just spending 10 minutes alone without distractions may refresh you enough to handle everything you need to do. The Guidance Department at Burlington High School will be hosting a Parent Breakfast on Wednesday 11/16, from 8:30-9:30 AM in the BHS Guidance College and Career Center. The purpose of this breakfast is to give parents of Burlington High School students the opportunity to have an open dialogue around stress and anxiety with Burlington High School staff members. Stress and Anxiety impacts all students in a variety of ways. The breakfast is aimed at providing insight into stress and anxiety in adolescents and effective coping strategies. We look forward to seeing you! Please RSVP at by calling 781-270-1780.
Cell phones have become constantly updates, active journal of our lives. They are filled with conversations between friends, complete with emojis and acronyms. On social media we post pictures of ourselves, selfies, friends and family. We can look at a memories page on Facebook and see exactly what we were doing on this day five years ago. Technology is a wonderful and quick way to share information.
What is surprising, is the number of students communicating with their parents throughout the school day. It is important receiving texts from their parent. Consider this scenario: Your child is in class and fighting with a friend. She becomes upset and asks the teacher to use the bathroom. In the bathroom she takes out her phone and texts you and asks for you to dismiss them from school. You dismiss them because they are telling you they are too upset to stay in school. Now, how is the student going to handle their next problem? If they give the school resources a chance (i.e., guidance counselor, teacher, etc.), they may be surprised. Unfortunately, we find students super glued to their cell phones at any chance during the school day. So the message informing them that they are grounded after school or that you have checked their grades and are upset with them now disrupts the rest of the school day. Perhaps we should stop and think about how we utilize our cell phones to convey messages. Is it possible we respond too much to our children during the school day? Is the timing appropriate? Should we be teaching our students to utilize access to school resources and advocate for themselves? |
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September 2019
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The Bridge Program: Burlington High School