Presentation to fifth grade students…THANK YOU EES PTO!

Yesterday, Rick Irving, a counselor and social worker from Andover Public Schools came and spoke to   our fifth grade students about a variety of subjects.  Mrs. South, classroom teachers, and I enjoyed sitting in on the discussion.  Rick was very impressed by how well mannered the children were and by their insightful questions and comments.  I thought you might appreciate learning about some of the topics that were discussed.  Students learned about:

• AMBIVALENCE:  when you have opposite feelings at the same time.  This is normal.  He gave an example of being excited about going to middle school, but being sad to leave EES.  Rick explained that these are very normal feelings and we all experience them.  He said, "Whatever side we pay attention to, the other one tugs at us!"  His recommendation to students was to allow both feelings to co-exist.
• NEUROLOGY: brain function.  He explained that nobody's brain functions in the same way, which is what makes our world such an interesting one.  He taught students about the "thinking" part of the brain, and the "feelings" part of the brain.  The thinking part is rational, while the feelings part reacts really fast due to emotions.  Rick explained that people who manage life well are those who's thinking side and feelings side can balance out.  He encouraged students to tray and say, "I wonder what would happen if….?" before the feelings side takes over.  This is a great way to train your brain to think if this is a good idea or not…..
• OUTSIDE SELF/INSIDE SELF:  Rick drew a diagram and demonstrated that we have an "outside self" and an "inside self".  He explained that the outside is what we show to people and the inside is what we keep to ourselves.  He talked to students about finding a good listener/friend to share your inside self with.  At times we can be fine on the outside and not fine on the inside.  Rick told students that parents ask questions because they love their kids and worry about things.  He encouraged students to say, "I am not ready to talk about it yet." rather than saying, "NOTHING" when parents ask what is wrong???   
• CHOICES:  Rick explained how we have choices in everything that we do.  He talked about less important choices (what to eat for lunch) and more important choices (who to trust), as well as choices that have temporary effects (what cover to pick for cell phone) and long term effects (what you say in a text).  Rick explained to the students that text messages and things on social media never really go away, so they have permanent outcomes.  He discussed how this can impact your reputation.  A reputation is what people think of you, true or untrue!  Rick explained that it is very hard to change your reputation so it is important to think about decisions that have long term effects.
• SOCIAL MEDIA:  texts, posts, etc last forever. Once you send a text, it is impossible to stop as people can pass it around.  You can be used by social media.  It can come back to bite you!  Must stop texts that are gossip!  He ended with BE SAFE and BE KIND!  

This was an excellent opportunity for for our oldest students to discuss some important topics in a safe environment.  Thank you to our PTO for funding this!