JHWMS Guidance News
Nutley Public Schools
Nutley, NJ 07110
Ways to Ask Your Teen “How Was School Today?”
Nov./Dec. 2014
Without Asking Them “How Was School Today?”
Volume 2, Issue 2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Cappello’s Corner
2
Naviance
2
Week of Respect
2
REPORT CARD DATES
2014/2015
November 14, 2014
February 2, 2015
April 22, 2015
June 25, 2015
Report cards will be available
through Realtime.
Are you curious about your child’s day but never get more than “fine” or
“good?” Here is a list of questions that might help:

Tell me one new word you learned in Spanish/Italian/Latin class? What does it
mean?

What would make school better?

If you were a teacher, what class would you teach? Why?

What was the coolest (funniest, most interesting, etc.) thing that you saw today?

If your day at school today was a movie, what movie would it be?

To whom could you be nicer?

Which is your easiest class? Which is your hardest class? OR Which class are you
learning the most in?

If they played music in the halls at school, what would everyone want them to
play over the loudspeaker?

If today had a theme song, what would it be?

Which class has your favorite group of students in it?

What are the top three (or five) things that you hear people say in the halls?

What do you think the most important part of school is?

Tell me one question that you had today, even if it wasn’t answered… actually,
especially if it wasn’t answered?

Who did you help today? Who helped you today?

What part of the day do you look forward to?

If you had to go to only one class every day, which class would it be?

Tell me one thing you read at school today.

If your day was an emotion, which one would it be?
Adapted from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/liz-evans/28-ways-to-ask-your-teenshow-was-school-today-without-asking-them-how-was-school-today_b_5751546.html
Page 2
The Week of Respect 2014
The Week of Respect is an annual week of awareness, education and action around harassment, intimidation and bullying
in New Jersey Public Schools. The Week of Respect was held
this year October 6-10th. At John H. Walker Middle School, all
students enthusiastically participated in a classroom activity
entitled “Circles of Strength”. The activity was designed to help
students thoughtfully reflect upon how they are part of many
different communities or “circles”. As citizens of those communities, students were asked to reflect upon how their attitudes and actions “shape” and positively influence those community circles. Through the activity students considered how
they might utilize their personal strengths and uniqueness to
strengthen the circles in which they live and expand circles by
respecting the abilities, gifts and perspectives of others.
Students were then asked to use their reflection of their
strengths and uniqueness to design their own personal “Circle
of Strength”. Each student’s outstanding example, displaying
their creative expression of strength, was then added to a banner to be displayed as a reminder that together our individual
strengths make our school community stronger.
Naviance in the Classroom
Cappello’s Corner…..Why is my friend
ignoring me? Nobody likes me! Everyone is going except for me!
Why is my friend always taking their side? Why didn’t they respond to my texts?” Sounds familiar? We can help.
With the school year full in gear, I thought this would be a great
time to discuss one of the hottest topics frequently presented by
students – middle school friendships. Balancing, maintaining,
and developing friendships, as well as, discontinuing other relationships that are not working out can be extremely challenging
for some.
Take a moment to think about the “melting pot” your child has
encountered since the beginning of the school year: new 7 th graders from each of the elementary schools, present 8th graders, new
students who have moved in to town, and transfers from private
schools. With all of these options to increase their social network,
present friendships may go through some turbulent times.
As a pressure cooker filled with strong emotions, some students
may feel sad, angry or jealous because they believe they are being
excluded or neglected by their friends. Here is the tricky part:
although they may turn to you less and less, they still need your
support and still need to know you care.
Here are some suggestions for you to assist your child:

Ask your child how everything is going with their friends –
be specific too






Listen and see it from your child’s point of view


Provide suggestions on how to resolve

Contact the school for assistance if continues
Validate their feelings
Remain calm
Do not over react and yell
Do not lecture – they will tune you out
Make your child an active participant to resolve their social
concerns by brainstorming specific solutions
Encourage and praise when friendship concerns are resolved
peacefully
Naviance helps students and families connect what students do in the
classroom to their life goals, including finding colleges and careers
based on their personal skills and areas of interest. Starting in October, Ms. Ginsberg and Mrs. Gennace began visiting the 7 th grade
Health classes in order to introduce Naviance and model some of its
basic functions, such as the Career tab. Students were able to utilize
this function to search various careers and gather useful information
related to the career, such as a job description and necessary
knowledge and skills. In addition, students explored the tasks and
activities associated with their desired careers, as well as related college majors.
As a parent, we often become defensive in protecting our children. However, as your child hits the middle school years, they
begin to develop a sense of self-importance and independence.
Since this a critical time for them, we have to be tactful in assisting them navigate their social lives. It’s not easy and there is no
one right way to help. The important part is to try.
In addition to introducing Naviance to the 7 th grade, the counselors
are working with the 8th graders to expand their knowledge of the
program as well as having them take a career cluster inventory. The
purpose of the Cluster Finder is to help students learn what career
clusters may be a good match for them based on activities that interest them, personal qualities that they have and subjects that they enjoy studying in school. All students will be able to access Naviance
from the Nutley Schools homepage under the Student link.
SAC & District Anti-Bullying Coordinator
Joseph Cappello
[email protected]
MIDDLE SCHOOL GUIDANCE STAFF
Jill Divilio, Director of Guidance
School Counselor & Anti-Bullying Specialist
Alisa Gennace
[email protected]
These same lesson activities will be presented to the Health classes in
the second, third, and fourth marking periods.
School Counselor
Lauren Ginsberg
[email protected]
Any student who does not yet have a Naviance account or needs help
logging in should see their school counselor now.
Newsletter Editor— Linda Posternock