Counselor SEL Videos

Counselors Keep SEL on Track with Weekly Videos
Posted on 05/27/2021
Harpeth Valley counselors online lesson

Before the pandemic, every class at Harpeth Valley Elementary School went to the school counselors’ classroom once or twice a month for sessions on social-emotional learning.

When that possibility disappeared, the counselors took the lessons to the students with weekly videos.

Every week since October, Laura Lamb and Jessica Kelley used Microsoft Teams to record themselves talking about strategies for calming down, taking responsibility, being a good learner, managing hurt feelings, moving up to middle school, fair ways to play, and more. They shared the screen, used stuffed animals as props, and smiled and laughed a lot.  

And even after many students returned to Harpeth Valley in person, Lamb and Kelley continued to share the videos – one for Pre-K through second grade, another for grades 3 and 4 – with teachers so all students, whether they were in the building or still learning virtually, would see them.

“It’s the best way to reach everybody in the same way,” Kelley said.

“Our amazing school counselors collaborated to find a way to provide high-quality lessons for all of our virtual and in-person learners,” said Ann-Marie Gleason, Harpeth Valley’s principal. “In a ‘typical’ year our counselors provided monthly counseling lessons, yet through their innovative videos all students had weekly access to learning about managing emotions, mindfulness, and SEL foundational skills. Our counselors were able to re-allocate the time previously spent on whole class lessons to provide additional small group and individual counseling services.”

Lamb said they’ve received positive feedback from students and teachers, with one parent saying recently that her son would be thrilled to get one final lesson before the year ended. Students occasionally stop them in the hallways to talk about the latest video lesson.

Teachers also can pull up an older video at any time if an issue comes up in their classroom, Kelley said.

Although all of Harpeth Valley’s students will attend in person in 2021-22, the school counselors are asking teachers to let them know if they want the videos for their students again.

“It could be a good alternative in a busy season,” Lamb said.

Watch Support Videos

Metro Schools student and family support and counseling staff have published a wide variety of videos for students and families - with topics ranging from motivating your child to self care.

 

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Archive News
Tags:
SEL,Virtual Learning