Help me give my students labels, file folders, a shredder, whistles, stampers, pencils, paratroopers, spin tops, wristbands, a sand tray, kinetic sand, construction paper, and envelopes.
I am a school counselor at a public, K-5 school in Tennessee. The students at my school are a diverse group culturally, ethnically, and economically. I work primarily with students in grades 3 through 5, providing classroom guidance and individual and small-group counseling services. Much of my work involves teaching students life skills and encouraging character development.
Helping others and demonstrating personal responsibility are two skills that I highlight through my peer tutor program.
Peer tutors help younger students who are struggling academically with their work. Each Wednesday morning, 4th- and 5th-grade peer tutors go to their study buddies' classrooms and provide 20-30 minutes of one-on-one tutoring. Building meaningful relationships and encouraging those who are struggling are at the heart of this program.
My Project
I train my peer tutors how to build meaningful relationships with the students they serve. To reinforce these relationships, peer tutors make goodie bags for their study buddies several times a year. These bags are filled with several "cool" items, such as the pencils, whistles, paratroopers, stampers, stickers, wrsitbands, and tops requested here. The requested items will be used to fill three sets of goodie bags; peer tutors will present the bags to their study buddies during their tutoring sessions the week prior to our Winter Break, the 100th Day of School, and Valentine's Day. The construction paper is used to make cards that accompany the goodie bags; and the envelopes will hold stickers that are used during peer tutor sessions. I am also requesting a sand tray and kinetic sand as some of the peer tutors use their time with study buddies to create a sensory break for their students.
The at-risk students served by the peer tutors do better because they are befriended by someone who cares "a whole awful lot" about them.
The goodie bags send this message of caring. When paired with the peer tutors' words of encouragement and the time they spend with their buddies practicing math facts, reading, or other skills, study buddies make important academic progress! In the process, my peer tutors learn important lessons about responsibility and reaching out to those in need.
In addition to the items that will fill the peer tutor goodie bags, I am also requesting file folders and labels to hold documentation of the work each peer tutor does with their study buddy, as well as a shredder for any confidential materials that don't need to be kept long term.
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