Class Dojo

As engaging as I try to make my groups, sometimes things don't go as planned.  Students can often lose focus or become silly and rowdy.  Being the counselor can be difficult because there's a line that we dont want to cross.  We want to teach them skills such as self control, anger management strategies, and social skills, but we don't want to be put in the disciplanarian position. 

That being said, I've played around with several different ideas in groups to keep students motivated.  I'm so excited to be starting an idea which I first saw on Pinterest:  Class Dojo.  Several teachers in my school use Class Dojo (a website and iPad app) to monitor student behavior.  Each student has an avatar (a monster) which you can change to the student's picture.  Teachers can modify their behaviors (to add or take away points).  Students will hear a ding when they receive a point and a buzz when they lose a point.  I plan on using the Dojo for each group and points will be awarded for participation, modeling skills (anger management, social skills, self control).  Instead of monitoring each student, I plan on creating an avatar for each group.  They will collectively earn points, and we can even create reports on the program to look at our overall performance and analyze data.  I want to put up a chart on the wall so that we can record their points for each session.  Groups will be able to monitor their progress in comparison to other groups.

What type of behavior management system do you use for classroom guidance or groups?

It's Finally Here!

Tomorrow is the first day of school for the kiddos!  I am so excited to see their smiling faces tomorrow, and to meet some new ones.  This past week has been jam-packed as far as professional development, which has been somewhat stressful, but definitely motivating!  On Wednesday, the counselors all got together to go over our new NC Essential Standards, so that got me thinking about data and what I do to show what I do.  I've decided to re-vamp my whole system, and I'm so excited to see how it goes.  I got a few ideas from fellow bloggers.  I'm going to keep scheduling students, either using Google calendar, or some other source.

I've also been inspired by many other blogs to try some new things. First of all, I've decided to go back to something we were required to do in graduate school.  I will be keeping a log for each day to show how many hours I spent in each activity (direct services, responsive services, etc.).  Also, I was inspired by Lauren Gentry at Cool School Counseling to track my individual students (confidentially) and list what issue I saw them for.  That way, I can create a end of the year report (inspired by Marissa Rex at Elementary School Counseling).

Finally, I'm excited to announce that I will be doing Minute Meetings at the beginning of the year as well as the end of the year.  This idea came from Danielle Schultz at School Counselor Blog.  I was a little nervous as to what the teachers would think of this idea, as it will be another time for me to pull their students, but the feedback has been awesome!  So many teachers have come to me to tell me how excited they are that I will be doing this.  It will allow me to meet with 100% of the students, and provide some excellent data (and referrals).

As I shared earlier, I have been involved in a lot of professional development over the past week.  I'm excited to announce that my school has been chosen to participate in the Leader in Me process!  If you are unfamiliar with the Leader in Me, it is a school wide program based on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.  We have taught the 7 Habits the past for years, but I cannot wait to become a Lighthouse school!  So far, we have completed the Signature training, which has been life changing!  It has challenged us to look at ourselves and realize our own leadership potential.  I am so excited for this opportunity to grow personally and professionally.  I can't wait to share this with my school staff and my students!

Personal Space Camp!

I've already posted about this amazing author before, but yet again, I'm already posting about another Julia Cook book!  This book is called Personal Space Camp and it's a fun way to talk to kids about respecting others' space.  In the story, we meet Luis again (same character from My Mouth is a Volcano).  He thinks he is a space expert! "Zoom Zoom, Zip Zip, Buzz the planets, Tickle the sun, Back to Earth, Now that was fun!!"  Luis is told by his teachers that he has a problem with personal space, which is very confusing to Luis since he thinks he is a space expert!  Luis attends Personal Space Camp in the principal's office where he finally learns the difference between outer space and personal space. 

I love this book because it covers all of the bases of personal space:  walking in line, sitting on the rug (instead of laying on the rug), etc.  I also love it because you can easily bring up conversations about touching people, pushing, hitting, etc.  We talk about how everyone has a different amount of personal space that makes them feel comfortable (our personal space bubble, or personal space ship).  Sometimes, we feel OK with someone getting in our personal space (parents, friends who we give permission to), but most of the time, we don't like for our personal space bubble to be broken.  We talk about how part of respect means asking permission to enter someone's personal space (for a hug or whatever the reason might be).  This can also lead to a discussion on personal safety and good touch/bad touch.  I use this book in 2nd grade classrooms, in my social skills small groups, and of course, with individual students as well.  Teachers are always asking to borrow this one.

What could make this any better?  Of course!  There is the activity & guide book which is also available for purchase! Oh Julia, you make life so easy for us!  There are all kinds of activites in the book, such as clumping all of the desks together (to show how impossible it would be for us to work this way), creating personal space place mats, a space freeze game, and many more!  I feel like an advertisemet, but I just can't say enough good things for these books.  Enjoy, Personal Space campers!

Bowling for Kids Sake

This Saturday, February 25, myself and a team of 4 teachers will be bowling in support of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina.  This is an annual fundraiser in which each team member is asked to raise $50 in order to bowl.  The proceeds will go to BBBS WNC.  The program spans across Buncombe, Burke, Haywood, Henderson, and Polk counties and there will be teams bowling at bowling centers in each of these counties! 

This is the first year my school had participated in this event, and I am so excited!  This year, we have worked closely with Jeff Kowalak of Henderson County's Big Brothers Big Sisters program to pilot a new program linking ROTC cadets from the high school with deserving elementary school students here.  It is amazing what a difference one visit, once a week, from a mentor can make on a child.  Almost every day, these students ask me when the cadets are coming to visit.  Unfortunately, the high school is out of funding and cannot afford the bus trip over, so we have not been able to continue this program for the past couple of months.  We are brainstorming a fundraiser for our particular program.  But in the meantime, why not support the great cause of Big Brothers Big Sisters.

If you are unfamiliar with the program, BBBS links adult mentors with a deserving child.  In the school based program, the "big" comes to visit "the little" at school and they spend time together forming a friendship through playing games, working on homework, or having lunch together.  You can find more information about the program by visiting http://www.bbbswnc.org/ or http://www.bbbs.org/.  I will be sure to fill you in to let you know how my team does and how much money we raised for this awesome program! 

If you are interested in donating, you can sponsor us securely online at www.firstgiving.com/bbbswnc (or click on the picture above) and find my team, the Wildcat Wonders!  I hope to see you Saturday where we plan to tear up the lanes and bring home the trophy!

Play-Doh Creations

I'm sure for many of you, play-doh is a staple in your school counseling office.  It is so useful in small groups and individual counseling.  I have found that kids open up so much when they have something to play with (whether its legos, play-doh, or a drawing).  Many of us have heard of Play Therapy of course, but not as common is Clay Therapy.  Paul White is a child therapist who offers seminars and keynote speeches on the topic.  Although I've never attended one, I have perused his website, Paul White's Clay Therapy, and learned some things from a fellow school counselor on how to use Play-Doh as a tool in individual counseling.  It's a great hands-activity that takes away the anxiety of a first visit with the school counselor, and also gives the child something to take home!  Paul White can teach you to make just about anything out of play-doh by simply using snakes, balls, and other simple things we all know how to create already! He has a whole gallery of "critters" such as a snail (I use this to teach self-control...slowing down), airplanes (be the pilot of your brain!), and roses (self-esteem, inner beauty?).  Even if you don't get to attend one of his seminars, you can still use your creativity with Play-Doh in counseling.  Below you can see some snails I made with a student that i've left in my office to dry:

How do you use Play-Doh in counseling settings?

When Things Don't Go as Planned...

    Or in other words...when life gives you lemons.  It's always amazing to me how group dynamics work.  Some groups go so smoothly, everything as planned, while others go off track and have you scrambling at times.  One of my favorite groups is my self control group.  Right now I have one going with five 5th grade boys...all completely different, but all with issues focusing and controlling themselves.  Today I had an awesome lesson planned out which stemmed from our discussion last week on anger.  We began talking about some strategies we can use to cool off when we are feeling angry and the boys were coming up with great ideas!  I was so impressed with what they came up with.  Today, we were going to make "chill cubes," and activity from Small Group Counseling for Children: Grades 2-5.  One of our group members has had a very sad day today.  So, instead of making our chill cubes, we spent the majority of our group listening to him share his experience.  My group of boys impressed me so much! They were listening with care, and even sharing some of their own similar experiences.  I commended them so much for being so caring and I could tell that the upset student felt understood by his group. 

This really taught me how much this job is all about "going with the flow."  Things don't always go as planned, and you know what....I wouldn't have it any other way!

My Mouth is a Volcano!

I'm already writing about another Julia Cook book.  I just can't get enough!  This time I used the book My Mouth is a Volcano in 2nd grade.  This book is about a boy named Louis who has a big problem with "erupting" (interrupting).  His "important words slide down from his head onto his tongue.  His tummy starts to rumble, and then it starts to grumble.  His words begin to wiggle, and then they do the jiggle.  His tongue pushes all of his important words into his teeth and his volcano erupts!"  This  a cute story that children really enjoy.  Toward the end, Louis's mom teaches him a technique to keep him from interrupting.  I have used this book in classroom guidance, small groups, and individual counseling!  Anyone can use a reminder...

There is also an accompanying activity book called My Mouth Is a Volcano Activity and Idea Book. In the book, there is a project called "Button Up"  I tried this with my students this year and it was a success!  Each student is given a button and an index card.  On one side, they color their card green and write "Speak with good purpose" and on the other side, they color the card red and glue their button.  Beside the button they draw an up arrow in black.  The card is taped to their desk (button side up).  The teacher can use the card during instruction.  When it is the teacher's turn to talk, she tells students to flip their card to the button side (to remind them to button up!) and when it is time for student talk, they are asked to flip their cards to the green side.  I love this activity because I think its a great way to extend the lesson into everyday learning.  I'm a fan of anything that serves as a visual reminder!  So far, the teachers seem to like the idea and are using it. 

What types of visual reminders do you use for classroom guidance?

Dianne Senn

One of my most recent purchases is Small Group Counseling for Children: Grades 2-5.  I really enjoy this book because it has everything you need to run small groups.  How to get started, planning, needs assessments, and lesson plans. This is a great addition to my collection.

Another Dianne Senn gem is Creative Approaches for Counseling Individual Children.  This great book includes sample forms, information gathering tools, tips for identifying the problem, as well as a variety of different topics and ideas for use in individual counseling sessions.  I've used some of the ideas for small groups as well.  There's even a section on behavior support. 

Lastly, for classroom guidance lessons, I've been using Puzzle Pieces: Classroom Guidance Connection ever since my internship!  I still use some of the same lessons.  This book has a collection of lesson plans on almost any topic you can think of for all grades K-5.  This book is one I know I can always turn to when planning classroom lessons.

What other Dianne Senn resources have you used??  I'd love to hear!