River Ridge High School – Peer Counseling 2

Mar 2026 · 2nd Semester

### General Notes The purpose of this course is to enable students to develop intermediate-level knowledge and skills in communication, personal and group dynamics, and conflict resolution. The content should include the following: - Demonstrate understanding of the functions and responsibilities of peer facilitators (listening, team building, confidentiality, conflict resolution, and intervention). - Demonstrate knowledge of varied behavioral responses to situational, environmental, and chemical elements; and the impact of subsequent decision-making on self and others. - Demonstrate understanding of the impact of self-knowledge and interpersonal skills on relationships with peers and family. - Demonstrate knowledge of the positive and negative impacts of peer pressure on oneself and on relationships with peers and family. - Demonstrate use of intermediate-level facilitative communication skills (listening, questioning, feedback, paraphrasing, nonverbal communication, nonjudgmental response). - Make inferences and justify conclusions from sample surveys, experiments, and observational studies. **Special Notes:** **Instructional Practices** Teaching from a well-written, grade-level textbook enhances students' content area knowledge and also strengthens their ability to comprehend longer, complex reading passages on any topic for any reason. Using the following instructional practices also helps student learning: 1. Reading assignments from longer text passages as well as shorter ones when text is extremely complex. 2. Making close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons. 3. Asking high-level, text-specific questions and requiring high-level, complex tasks and assignments. 4. Requiring students to support answers with evidence from the text. 5. Providing extensive text-based research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence). **Florida’s Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards** This course includes Florida’s B.E.S.T. ELA Expectations (EE) and Mathematical Thinking and Reasoning Standards (MTRs) for students. Florida educators should intentionally embed these standards within the content and their instruction as applicable. For guidance on the implementation of the EEs and MTRs, please visit