My students need books that can help them heal and see that they are not alone in their struggles as well as increase their love for books and literacy.
My students have so many barriers getting in the way of their learning. Struggles such as poverty, homelessness, divorce, bullying,etc. are part of their daily lives. Now many of them are displaced due to a tornado destroying their school and many, many homes.
These students are in a high poverty area to begin with.
Since the tornado, many of them are living in hotels, with family in overcrowded conditions, and sometimes in their cars. They are very bright and loving children who have a lot of obstacles to overcome. Our school was destroyed by a tornado so any resources that were previously used to reach out to these children have been destroyed also. Even our school's administration building was hit so our resource center for counseling tools and books were destroyed. This is my first year as a counselor so I began the year with limited tools to use with these precious children. In addition, the previous counselor lost all of her books and additional resources in the tornado.
My Project
I carefully selected many books that have been recommended to me by various seasoned counselors to help me address the emotional, behavioral, and social needs of this particular population. For example, "My Dream Playground" is book that inspires children to think about their own goals and dreams. Our school is actually building a new playground when the school is rebuilt so this book is perfect for a guidance lesson on goals and looking forward to a new future instead of feeling bad about the past. The Energy Bus is a great book that encourages positive thinking and looking ahead to the future and finding strength to overcome any obstacle, just to name a few. The resource books will assist me in various counseling sessions to help children learn to deal with their anger, fears, anxiety, etc. Each of the resource books that I have requested came highly recommended. I have also included some therapy toys that are helpful for students to fiddle with or play with in the sand tray.
This project is so important because all of the previous counseling tools and resources were destroyed.
Books are great to link learning with literacy and develop coping skills with a wide variety of topics. The toys help with play therapy and expression of emotions. Resources books will guide me in developing lessons for specific needs of students in whole groups, small groups, and individual therapy. These children deserve all the help they can get after surviving such a horrific event.
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