PSSCA Conference

This year, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the 2015 Palmetto State School Counselor Assocation's Conference in beautiful Myrtle Beach.  This is the first state conference I have attended since graduate school.  I was blessed to be able to go with one of my co-counselors.  We had a great time and learned A LOT!  The theme of the conference was Find Your OASIS:  Reflect, Refresh, Recharge.  This is exactly what we did.  We had a great time learning new information that can benefit our school counseling programs, got to network with other school counselors, and even got to meet Julia Cook! ....and bought wayyyy too many of her books--hey, they were autographed!

Since we teach the 7 Habits at both of my schools, we are constantly emphasizing the importance of sharpening the saw.  It's important for us counselors to remember to sharpen our saw as well.

Some of the sessions that I attended were:

Putting Out Fires to Preventing Fires:  Implementing Effective Tier II Behavior Supports (we learned some great ideas for supporting our programs with data and also some great ideas for groups)

School Counseling With HeART...Connecting With Elementary Students (Great ideas for using art in individual and small group counseling)

Be An Active Participant in Your Own Rescue (ideas for using self regulation and yoga)

The Tech Savvy School Counselor (One of our fellow Greenville County counselors presented on using various types of surveys to collect data)

Bullies Need Love Too (How to support not just the victim, but the child exhibiting bullying behavior as well)

Creative Counseling (Great ideas for using play and art therapies in school counseling)

And last but not least...Books That Make a Positive Difference by Julia Cook!

Not only did we get great ideas from these sessions, but we also were treated to a lunch with Julia Cook as our Keynote Speaker, speaking about motivating underachievers.

I hope that you all take time to sharpen your saws, both personally and professionally.  Sometimes we forget how important it is to network with other school counselors because we can't do it alone, whether that is by attending conferences or using the blogging community.  As one speaker said in our opening ceremony, "we're in good company with school counselors!"

I'm Back!

Whew!  I recently realized that it has been almost a year since I have written anything on this blog!  That's embarrassing!  I feel like I have so many new things to share that I don't know where to start.  First off, let me get myself off the hook a little by explaining what I've been up to this past year.

I have had many life changes that have happened this last year that have turned my world upside down (in a good way!).  In the past year I have gotten engaged, moved to a new state, and started a new job!  My fiance relocated to South Carolina for his career so I was put into a professional-personal tug of war.  I loved my school and felt like the school counseling program there was my baby--I had developed and molded it into a program that worked for me, my students, my staff, and my school overall.  Was it a stressful job?  YES!  Was it hard being the only school counselor there? YES!  Did I love being a Wildcat?  DEFINITELY!

Look at my awesome family!

On the other hand, I knew that I had to put my personal life and family first, and made the difficult decision to leave my position and move to South Carolina.  Changing my licensure over to a new state was harder than I thought it would be and I spent many hours on the phone and on the computer making that happen.

I finally accepted a position split between two schools (mornings at one school and afternoons at the other).  We moved to SC the first week of August and two weeks later I was starting my new career as a SC School Counselor.
Starting a new job in a new state (and just moving to a new state in general) was difficult, but I wouldn't change my decision for the world.  Of course I miss my Wildcat family and they will always have a special place in my heart (and I miss those kids so much!), but making a decision to benefit my family was a no brainer.

My new life as a split school counselor has been a great learning opportunity!  I am fortunate enough that I FINALLY get to work with other school counselors in my buildings, and I have learned a lot from both of them.  In the language of Stephen Covey, I have had a huge paradigm shift and am becoming a better school counselor every day because of it!

Thanks for being patient with me, and the best is yet to come...

PS:  Happy National School Counseling Week!

Bowl for Kids Sake!

 

For the past couple of years, my school has participated in a fundraiser called Bowl for Kids Sake.  All money raised goes to support Big Brothers Big Sisters of WNC (a mentoring program that makes a difference in deserving children's lives).  Personally, our school has partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters and a local high school to start a pilot program where we match high school ROTC students with elementary students.  We have seen great success as a result.  Please support our team by following the link below.  Every little bit helps this deserving organization!

https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/tracihart/bowl-for-kids-sake-to-support-henderson-county

Spoonful of Sweetness Book Review & Giveaway!

I feel very honored to be asked by one of my favorite authors to post on my blog about one of her newest books.  Maria Dismondy is a #1best-selling children's book author, former teacher, and highly sought-after speaker.  One of my favorite books by her is Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun!  Spoonful of Sweetness is her 5th children's book.  What I love about this book is that it starts instilling the habits and character traits that we want for our children to have at a very young age.  The book is entended for children from birth to age 3.  The reason this is appropriate for my Elementary school counseling blog, is that I strive to be proactive in my school counseling program.  I believe that if children are enstilled with positive character traits at a young age, they will become more natural as they grow into school aged children.  I can't wait to share this fun book with my neice so too can exhibit acts of kindness.  If you go to Maria's website (link below), you can even download a free parent guide and coloring page!

More about Maria Dismondy:

Maria has a passion for spreading an anti-bullying message and making a difference in her writing, public speaking, blogging and charity work. She lives in southeastern

Michigan with her husband and children. To find out more about Maria and her award-winning books.

visit www.mariadismondy.com

 

Purchase the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Spoonful-Sweetness-other-delicious-manners/dp/0984855823/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383160687&sr=8-1&keywords=spoonful+of+sweetness

Book Trailer on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HPyDL2hgKk


Enter below using the Rafflecopter widget to win your very own copy of the boardbook Spoonful of Sweetness by Maria Dismondy.  In order to win, you must leave a comment in the comments section of this blogpost!
The contest will run from January 14 through January 21.  Good luck!
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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!