School Counselor Reincarnated

Long time no see!  I know it has been a long time since I have written anything.  Things have been very hectic, to say the least.  There were days where I was questioning what I was doing and whether school counseling was the right career for me.  I was stressed out nonstop, all day every day. I would go home and forget all about my job and just honestly wanted nothing to do with school counseling.  I didn't even want to look at anything on Pinterest related to school counseling or read my favorite school counseling blogs (a big deal for me).  Things have settled down and I have found my footing again.  Anyone who lives in, or works in North Carolina, knows about all of the legal happenings surrounding education.  I won't get in to all of that, nor voice my political opinions, but suffice to say, it's not a great time to be an educator in this state.  Needless to say, I wasn't taking care of myself.

On a happier note, I have finally been able to start my small groups, and I have been filling my day with counseling appointments, to help remind me why I'm doing what I'm doing.  It worked! I'm back and enjoying school counseling once again!  Soon I will be posting more about what I'm doing differently in individual and small group counseling, as well as a big change in my classroom counseling schedule!  Thanks for understanding and for continuing to read my ideas (and those stolen from others and shared with you!).

Sharing how you feel is magic!

I have successfully survived the first 2 weeks of school!  It has been very busy around here, meeting new students, helping kindergarteners adjust to school, collaborating with parents and teachers, as well as conducting student surveys.  I try to visit each class in the school every month to do my lessons.  This month, I decided to tag-team my lessons with a student survey.  We had a student survey a couple of years ago, but decided to do it again.  I created the survey using google docs, and it asked questions such as: what's your favorite subject? Do you feel safe at school? And do you feel like you have a friend at school?

One of our classes on the special rotation is called Sharpen the Saw, which focuses on the 7th habit, taking care of yourself.  I teamed up with this teacher this week to complete the surveys.  Literally, I have been in the computer lab all week!  When students come to their usual Sharpen the Saw rotation, they come down to the computer lab where I show them how to get on the student survey, and then we have our September "Meet the Counselor" classroom lesson.  It has worked out great!  I'm getting all of my initial lessons done in the first week, as well as collecting data through the surveys!  We decided not to do the surveys with Kindergarten, as they do not have the computer skills yet, and then decided half way through 1st grade, that it was too difficult for them at this time as well.  The rest of the groups did great!  They were excited to give their feedback and a lot of them had some great comments. 

As for my Meet the Counselor lesson, I wanted to share something that was passed down to me and I have enjoyed using over my past 5 years as a school counselor.  It's the Magic Coloring Book of Feelings by Robert P. Bowman, Ph.D. and Kim Frank, Ed.S., LPC.  This is a great tool when discussing the role of the school counselor and how sharing your feelings is like magic:  you feel better, and you help others understand you.  First, I show the students the different feelings represented in the coloring book and we talk about times we may have felt that way.

Next, I ask the kids what is missing.  Usually they will figure out that it needs the colors.  I explain to them that they all have the different feelings inside of them, and they need to share those feelings with me to see what happens.  I have the kids rub their legs and arms to get the "feelings" on them and then on the count of 3, they throw them into the book.  I pull the book back dramatically like I caught them.  Next, I flip through the book and all of the pages are filled with colors!! It's magic!  

The kids start gasping and laughing.  Next, I tell them they all need those feelings inside of them, so they need to take them back.  The kids take back their feelings, but when I open the book, the lines are gone too!  I act really surprised and say "You took my lines! Very Funny! But I need those back for my next class!"  

On the count of three, they throw back just the lines and we all laugh some more.  We talk about how this is a reminder that when you share your feelings, it is like magic.  (the directions for the magic trick are on the back of the book.)  The kids love it and ask me about it all the time.  I started out just doing it in Kindergarten, but now I use it in every grade level every year.

I also created this StoryBird about the School Counselor to use with my special needs classes!

New Year, New Look

This has been a full week of workdays, getting ready for our kiddos to return for another successful school year.  I have been working on preparing my room, making plans for my "meet the counselor" lessons, as well as preparing some surveys and other tools for gathering data.  I have also been meeting with teams and collaborating with teachers, parents, and community agencies so that we are prepared to meet our students needs.  Every year, I change things around.  I'm such a perfectionist that I am never satisfied!  I still plan on using technology to collect data, such as minute meetings and rating scales, but I'm always thinking of new ways to get the job done.  I thought I would share some new pictures of my office (since i've rearranged and acquired some things).

Still a mess with donated school supplies

my new shelf for craft supplies and other materials I frequently use.

I am also excited to be switching back to a paper planner. There were things I liked about my google digital calendar, but I missed being able to jot down notes and other useful information, so here's the cute one I got at Target.

 

I am excited to grown even more this year than I have in my past 5 years at this school.  Every year, I change things up and do things a little different.  I am always trying to find better and more efficient ways to run my school counseling program.  I am excited about opportunities for collaboration and professional development this year and I hope to keep you in the loop as I go along.

 

Happy 2013-2014 school year!

Target Dollar Spot Gems 2013-2014 school year

Since we got out of school for the summer, i have been kind of MIA from the blogging world.  i decided to take this time to sharpen my saw, spend time with my family, and help my boyfriend recuperate from knee surgery.  However, the school year is quickly approaching, so I'm excited to once again prepare for an even better year than last year!  That's always my goal: to do at least one thing each year to make it better than the last.  I always tell myself "this is going to be my best year yet!"  Of course ip,an to use my new data strategies, I'm always excited to find new things to use with kids.

 So, last year I posted about some of the awesome things I found in the dollar spot section of Target that I can use in my school counseling program.  As the school year is quickly approaching, I was excited to see what I might find this year. Here's what I bought:

Bulletin Board Border: although I don't have a bulletin board, I trout I might use this around my whiteboard to make it look a little more kid-friendly

ID card holder: last year, my ID badge ripped where it attaches to my lanyard so I had taped it...not cute. As I was perusing the dollar bins, I came across these ID badge holders in various colors and knew I had to get one.

Sticky Googly Eyes: I couldn't pass these ups..oh the possibilities in creative counseling! I'm excited to use these in individual and small group counseling.

Beads: one of my favorite things to do in my friendship groups is to make friendship bracelets, so I'm always looking for cheap ones to add to my selection.

Doctor Kit: finding this was like hitting the jackpot!  I have dabbled in play therapy over the years, but am trying to learn more about it and add to my play therapy kit.  I learned some more about it at a regional conference in April, and will be learning more this year from Heather Thompson, a professor at Western Carolina University, who has specialized in (and done a lot of research in) play therapy.  It's doctor's kit will be a great addition.

Stickers: kids love stickers..and I do too!  I plan to use these for positive reinforcement in small groups and to celebrate successes in individual counseling.

Finding these "gems" always helps to motivate me to kick off the school year (and when I need a little reminder of why I do what I do when times are tough). It's funny how some little things that only cost $1 can bring so much excitement to a school counselor. 

One more thing that I wanted to share is not a new gem, its an old one! I love the idea of keeping a worry box in my office for kids to let go of their worries and "leave them with me." In the past, I've always used an empty Kleenex box that I decorated.  I had remembered that I used to have a little tin box with a lock (I used it as a piggy bank because it has a slit on top). I decided to ask ,y mom if she still had it, and she did!! I am so excited to put this to use as my new worry box! I love the idea of locking away their worries until another time when we an pull them out to revisit them (this is part of the process discussed in What To Do When You Worry Too Much).

What kind of gems (new or old) have you discovered this summer to use in your school counseling program?

Do you Drive?

One thing I love finding are new ways to use technology in my school counseling program.  I have tried more ways than I can count to try and find the best way to document student notes.  My biggest focus this year has also been on collecting data.  I started out by stealing an idea from JYJ counselor's blog about creating a form in google drive to document students i've seen, what for, and which ones need to be followed up with.  I love that I can easily click through the form to document, AND it puts it all into a handy spreadsheet for me to sort and graph to my hearts desire!  (here's the link so you can love it too...plus this awesome counselor blog has so many other useful tips..and she's from North Carolina like me!) This will be so helpful when presenting "what I do" to others in my school as well as stakeholders.  Since I don't know much about creating formulas in spreadsheets from this type of data, I googled how to create a pie chart, and now I have a visual of what types of issues i'm seeing students for--this will help me to decide what I need to focus more time on in classroom guidance and target potential small groups.

 Once I realized how much I LOVED using this form, I thought...why not use a form to document the other things I do? Thus my student rating scale was born.  I had already used a rating scale for some of my "frequent flyers" so that I could track their progress as we meet. This also gives me a starting point for dicussions.  However, I was slaughtering helpless trees to create these beauties.  I created tech-savvy scale and put a link on my iPad and BAM!  Success!  Students love being able to use the iPad...little do they know, they're giving me the data I need. Sneaky, Sneaky!  

I will also be using Google Drive to document how I spend my time, which students I'm seeing in small groups, and will send one out to teachers to find out what times they want me to visit their classes.  Lastly, I made out a list of how I'm going to track data in each aspect of my school counseling program:

Classroom Guidance

·        Teachers sign up for time using Google form, responses recorded in spreadsheet

·        K-2 students will create a class book after each lesson

·        3-5 students will complete a pre and post survey on topics to be covered for the year

Small Groups

·        Students in groups will be documented on spreadsheet to prevent unnecessary repetition

·        Teachers will complete a pre-group assessment on each student entering the group prior to the first meeting

·        Students will complete a pre-group assessment on the first day of group

·        Students will check in each day of group to monitor progress

·        Students and teachers will complete post-group assessments

Individual Counseling

·        Each student who is seen by the school counselor will be recorded on a Google form, responses will be recorded on a spreadsheet.

·        School counselor will use this data to look for trends to be addressed in small group and large group classroom guidance

·        Students who are seen regularly will check-in using a Google form rating scale to track their progress through the counseling process.

School-Wide Programming

·        School Counselor will create a parent survey at the beginning of the year

·        School Counselor will continue to host Coffee with the Counselor, if this time continues to be best for parents.

·        Parents attending Coffee with the Counselor will complete an evaluation

·        Behavior referrals will be tracked monthly using the ORATS notebook in the front office.  This data will be graphed.

·        School counselor will track time spent in a spreadsheet

·        An End-Of-Year report will be provided to all staff members

This made my nerdy organized self feel a little more prepared for next year so that I can really focus on sharpening my saw this summer! :)

How do you use Google Drive in your school counseling program?

Friday Finds: Weird!

I have already blogged about so many great bullying resources out there, but what I was looking for was something so that kids could see all of the people involved:  the target, the bully, and the bystanders.  I wanted to be able to discuss what each person's role and responsibility was in bullying.  When reading another blog, I came across the most fantastic series of books about this very topic!  The books in the series are Weird!, Tough! and Dare! by Erin Frankel.  All three books tell the same story, but from different perspecties:  Weird! gives the persective of Luisa (the target of the bullying), Tough! gives the perspective of Sam (the bully), and Dare! gives the perspective of Jayla (the bystander). 

The thing I like the most about this series of books is that it is so comprehensive!  As I previously stated, it covers the responsiblities that each person involved in bullying has.  Students learn that they have a role in stopping bullying, even if they are not the bully or the target.  Everyone has a role.  Depending on your need, these books can be used one at a time, or in a series of lessons.  At my school, we have something called Wildcat Team Time where classes spend the first 20 minutes of every day talking about the 7 Habits and related prosocial skills.  I have not been able to keep these books on my shelf because so many teachers are wanting to use them for WTT lessons!  Most of them take the time to go through each book with a fine tooth comb so that kids really understand.  Another thing that is AWESOME is that in the back of each book, there are discussion ideas, lesson ideas, etc.  Also, if you go to www.theweirdseries.com, there is a free downloadable leaders guide!  Free is my favorite.

Like I previously stated, teachers have been begging to use this book in their classrooms during WTT.  I've even talked to my principal about ordering several sets so we can keep them available for classrooms to check out.  I have used this series in classrooms and individual counseling, and would definately be suitable for small groups as well.  I hope to use the series in its entirety during classroom guidance next year.

I know that you will love these books as much as I have, and that you will see how your students understand the concept of the bystander so much better when it's connected to the other two stories.  ENJOY!

Committing to Make a Difference

I've already posted about the Trudy Ludwig books that make my heart sing!  This year I worked with 5th grade on bullying between friends.  We read the story My Secret Bully and had a great discussion on how bullying between friends can occur.  Later in the year, I decided to focus more on bullying and what role each and every one of us plays.  I had one 5th grade classroom who had a particularly hard time, so I went in for 5 days to co-teach with the teacher.  After this, we decided for me to focus my monthly guidance lesson in all of the 5th grade classrooms on bullying again.  I picked out parts of Confessions of a Former Bully to discuss with students, focusing on the roles of the bystander, the bully, and the target.  We talked about what each of us could do to make an impact on bullying.  As we read the story, I told the students that whenever they felt inspired to do so, they could go up to the poster and write down their commitment to stopping bullying.  Here's what the end result looks like:

I also hung up a poster with some of the helpful information from the book so that students could reference it if needed.  This is hung in the 5th grade hallway so that students can always be reminded of their commitment.

How do you get students to commit to stop bullying at your school?

Using the Habits to Solve Conflicts

It has been such a busy time for us all, I haven't had time to blog.  But as part of my personal growth, "sharpening the saw" is one of the 7 Habits I need to dedicate more time to.  For me, blogging sharpens my saw! 

Yesterday I was meeting with 2 students who were experiencing some friendship issues (I dedicate a lot of counseling sessions to this type of thing).  Usually I find it is best to have all parties involved present so that we can all talk safely and honestly.  Anyway, I was giving my usual "conflict resolution" strategy suggestions when the light bulb went off!  Why did I never think of this?!  These ARE the 7 Habits.  As I've already posted, we're going through the Leader in Me process and have been teaching the 7 habits for some time now.  I realized that these strategies would probably make a lot more sense to students if I used the language they are used to:  7 habits lingo.  Thus, my teaching tool was born:  Using the 7 Habits to Solve Conflicts.  This was something that was easy for me to explain to students, made sense to them, and integrated concepts we were already teaching.  I even put up this poster outside my office (which is also located right by the bathrooms that my 4th grade friends use).  4th graders by far write me the most notes about this topic, so I thought...hmm, maybe if I post this in a central location, they can try to use the skills first, BEFORE they get to me.  I use the 7 habits in so many ways, but I'm still amazed to see how easily they integrate into everything I do. 

How do you use the 7 Habits to teach conflict resolution?

Pawsitive Behavior Day

Today at our school we celebrated Pawsitive Behavior Day!  (Pawsitive because we are the wildcats).  Although we are not a PBIS school, we still recognize student's positive behavior by giving them "shout outs."  Shout outs are little notes you write when you see a student doing something good.  The notes go in a jar in the front office and my principal reads them over the announcements in the morning and at assemblies.  Students are always so excited to hear their name announced!  Every time students earn a collective 500 shout outs as a school, they earn a Pawsitive Behavior Day!   Pawsitive Behavior Day is a day that is centered around a theme.  Students still do many of their academic tasks, but with a twist.  Even our "specials" block is set up with games centered around the theme.  We go all out--costumes, decorations, etc.  It is so exciting to see student's faces when they get to school that day because they are smiling bigger than ever.  Today we celebrated our students with a Dr. Seuss themed Pawsitive Behavior Day.  Students got to have a green egg relay race, play a "fox in sox" game, and do many more Dr. Seuss themed activities.  By far my favorite moment was seeing a 5th grader who I know pretty well skipping down the hallway because he was so excited.  That is such a rare moment! 

How do you celebrate positive behavior at your school?

The little things

We've all had those days where nothing seems to go right and we feel like a failure.  There's always that time that you think "i'm the worst counselor ever!"  There are so many things that happen in the day to day that we were never prepared for in graduate school.  We are looked upon to make in-the-minute decisions and sometimes we make the wrong one.  Students confide in us and tell us secrets that we must tuck aways inside ourselves.  Parents take out their anger on us or don't understand.  Many school counselors (especially in elementary schools) are lone rangers.  We develop our programs, we implement our school wide programs, we make our own schedules (only to have a crisis come up and throw it out the window), we plan and conduct our own small groups and classroom guidance lessons, and then we alone go home and keep it bottled up.  I've already written a blog post on the importance of self care, but I forgot to mention one of the most important things:  the reason we do this job--for the kids.  One afternoon, I was walking down the hallway when another teacher stopped me.  She said "I have to put a copy of something in your mailbox.  We did a lesson in 2nd grade where we read a story about a bully and then had to write about it.  One student wrote about you."  My heart jumped for joy!  Here's a time when a student was able to identify the role of the counselor, when I wasn't even involved in the lesson!  I hadn't even seen that kid that day!  I knew in that moment that I am making an impact, and kids DO KNOW what I do and who I am and that I am here to help.  Sometimes we don't need a big recognition (although I felt so loved during National School Counseling Week), it's the little things that matter the most. 

The Electric Company: Feel Electric!



Mood Dude:  Create one to show how you're feeling!



I am excited this week to be writing about an iPad app that i have fallen in love with!  It is by The Electric Company and is called "Feel Electric!" by Sesame Street. I was so excited when another school counselor in my county (thank you Ann!) told me about this app and I couldn't wait to try it out.  This app has so many different aspects that cover all types of moods and feelings.  There are games that students can play, videos to watch, and other activities to help students understand different feelings, identify facial expressions, and expand their vocabulary.  Students indicate how they are currently feeling (see below) when they first log in, and their feelings are tracked over time in the Moodosphere.

How do you feel today?



home screen



My favorite part of this app is how extensive it is!  When I first looked at it, I though it might be pretty basic, but as I started playing with it and explored with my students, I found that there is such a wide array of feeling words and feeling faces.  I love how students learn to match facial expressions with the appropriate feeling through fun games and activities.  It is colorful and plays cheerful music which quickly draws in students.  My favorite section on the app is Mood Tales.  This is kind of like Mad Lib, because students read a story and fill in feeling words.  It's kind of silly but the kids really enjoy it.  I also love how it tracks students' feelings overtime in the Moodosphere.  This can be really useful when identifying what services might be appropriate for students.



I have used this app mostly in my individual counseling sessions, but I think it could also be really useful in small groups:  especially those focused on social skills.  Feeling identification and facial expressions are such a huge skill that young students need to learn.  As far as individual counseling, I have a Kindergarten student who I have started working with.  She is extremely shy and has not opened up to me yet.  I have been trying different ways to get her to express her emotions, and by far this one has been my favorite.  Although she will not tell me with her words how she is feeling, she likes to show me on this app, and that is a success!



What's the Word!  Earn points for learning new words





Happy National School Counseling Week!

Trudy Ludwig

For today's Friday Find, I am excited to write about one of my favorite authors, Trudy Ludwig.  We all teach lessons on bullying to students, but a  lot of the time the bullying that is going on is relational ("bullying between friends" as I describe it to students).  Don't get me wrong...I love my Bully Beans lesson, but sometimes the strategies we use in teaching this type of bullying do not address problems between friends.  Every year, especially in 4th and 5th grade, my purple mailbox is flooded with notes from students wanting to talk about a problem with a friend.  Most of the time it is something along the lines of:  "Susie stole my friend Sara" or "Susie is hanging out with Sara now and not with me so I don't like it" or  "I'm trying to hang out with my new friend Susie, but Susie's other friend is giving me dirty looks."  And trust me--it's not just girls.  Trudy Ludwig's books address this specific type of bullying and fit right in with the goals and strategies that I'm trying to instill in my 4th and 5th grade students.  My favorite ones are My Secret Bully, Trouble Talk, and, Confessions of a Former Bully.

 

My favorite part about Trudy Ludwig's books is that they lend themselves to some excellent discussions.  Usually all I have to do is bring up the topic and students already begin opening up about their personal experiences.  After reading the stories, students are easily able to come up with real life connections, and even come up with some solutions using ideas from the characters.  My favorite types of lessons are the ones that get kids talking.  I always address the fact that this happens between boys and girls, and the funny part is that a lot of the boys start nodding their heads!

As I previously stated, there's not a lot of planning that goes into a lesson using one of these great books.  Usually for classroom guidance, I review what we already know about bullying.  Next, I tell the class that we're going to talk about a type of bullying that isn't as talked about:  bullying between friends.  I have students give me some examples of what "bullying between friends" looks like.  They are easily able to tell me (as they are seeing it happen in their class and at recess!).  It never fails that students will bring up those topics that I get the counseling referrals about:  friends stealing friends, friends spreading rumors, friends ignoring them.  Next, we read one of the stories and have a discussion.  This year, I used Trouble Talk with 4th grade to focus on the gossip and rumors, and My Secret Bully in 5th grade to focus more about "friends stealing friends."  Confessions of a Former Bully is very empowering because it gives the "inside scoop" from a former bully.  I haven't used this one in the classroom yet, but plan to soon!  These books have also lent themselves to some great discussions in individual and small group counseling as well. 

How have you used Trudy Ludwig's books to facilitate discussions on relational aggression?

Kid President Pep Talk

This kid is inspiring!  Thanks to Danielle at School Counselor Blog for sharing on Facebook!

Infinite Learning Lab

For today's Friday Find, I wanted to share a website that I found recently that is fun to use in small groups, individual counseling, or classroom guidance.  It features our favorite orange cat, Garfield!  The website is called Infinite Learning Lab and there are even iPad apps for each of the topics.  Garfield discusses topics in math, language arts, science,and life skills.

In the life skills section, there are videos on self control, Internet safety, self esteem, listening, cyber bullying, diversity, etc.  I love that kids can easily learn these topics from a character that they recognize. Students watch a video about the topic, try the will, and then apply it.

This website is easy to use with kids in individual counseling, small groups, and classroom guidance. I would love to try it on the smart board in a classroom.  Students are easily engaged and the videos open up discussions and serve as a great opening to my lessons.

How to Lose All Your Friends

How to Lose All Your Friends by Nancy Carlson is one of my staple lessons in first grade.  This is a time when students are beginning to learn behaviors that can help them or hurt them in developing friendships. When starting this lesson, I always ask students, "Why do you think I would read you a story about how to lose your friends?"  They quickly come to the conclusion that I want for them to learn what NOT to do when making friends.  This story goes through some of the "big" mistakes that children sometimes make in making friends, such as being grumpy, tattling, not sharing, being a bully, etc.  The story is cute and the kids love to say "No!" or "that's wrong!"  as we go through the story.  After the story, I tell the students that they will have the chance to write their own book.  This book will be called How to Make Friends.  We brainstorm some ways that we can make friends (smiling, sharing, helping) and then I show them how to fold their paper into their book.  I tell them that just like my book had words and pictures, I want for their book to have the same.  The students love making these little books, and are so excited when they get to take them home.  The bonus is that they will have a take-home reminder of our lesson and how to effectively make and keep friends.

Seeing Red! An Anger Management and Peacemaking Curriculum

Earlier this week, I posted about a Sesame Street video that touches on a common intervention for anger management, but I thought I'd share the incredible resource that I use in my Anger groups.  It's called Seeing Red:  An Anger Management and Peacemaking Curriculum by Jennifer Simmonds.  This book has a comprehensive plan for each group session and goes through the step by step procedures for every group.  I love how simple it makes my planning.  I usually don't have my groups for longer than 6-7 sessions, so I'm never able to complete every lesson, but I have my "go-to" lessons and then pick and choose depending on the group's individual needs.

What I love about this book the most is that it makes my planning so easy.  It goes through every group session starting with the introduction session, and ending with a celebration.  I also love that it includes a self-assessment and Icebreakers for every group session.  The lessons are easily adaptable, and I've added my own spin to some of them.  She even includes an "estimated time" for each part of the session. My favorite session is the one on discovering our anger triggers.  There is a list of triggers and students are asked to lay down a "yes" or a "no" card depending on whether it makes them angry or not.  I took it one step further and made little signs with "yes" on one side and "no" on the other.  Students hold up their popsicle stick sign depending on their answer.  We then discuss how knowing what our anger triggers helps us to manage our anger in a healthy way.  Kids easily understand that by knowing what our triggers are, we are able to identify our anger early enough to make a good decision.

As I stated earlier, the book includes steps for every group session--from beginning to end.  The book includes 12 sessions, however, my groups typically only last 6-7 weeks, depending on the need.  When I start planning my groups, I alwasy have my "go-to" sessions--the ones I do with everyone.  These include "discovering my anger,"  "Warning: I'm getting Mad!," and "Digging Deeper: What's under all that anger."  With the other sessions, I decide which to use depending on the group dynamics and developmental level.  Another adjustment I made was with the session called "Digging Deeper."  I have used the anger mask in the past, but recently saw a blog post about creating "anger sandwiches."  I love being hands on in my groups so I decided to give it a try before Christmas.  It was a hit!  The kids were easily able to identify underlying feelings beneath their anger and put those inside the sandwich.  The top peice of bread was "Anger."  I also loved that they had something to take home after to review.


Have you used this resource?  How have you added your own "spin" to it?