I Like Myself

I am always trying to intertwine self-esteem lessons into my groups and one of the favorite lessons with my 2nd graders a few years ago was based off of the book I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont. 

We read the book together as a group and had some discussion throughout. At this point all of the kids are in a happy and silly mood because of the fun nature of this book! I then told the students that we are making our OWN I Like Myself book! I worked with each student to write a few sentences for their individual pages of our book focusing on what they like about themselves. While I was working with students individually the other students either worked on illustrations for their individual pages or on our book cover. I typed the student pages for them and they chose the fonts and colors to personalize their pages even more.

We also made up our own poem that each student created based off of the prompt below. (I can't remember at this point where I found this but I believe it came from another book. Once I remember I will post that information!) I included each students poem at the end of the groups I Like Myself book.
1st line: first name
2nd line: 3 adjectives about themselves
3rd line: Who loves ...
4th line: Who feels ...
5th line: Who needs ...
6th line: Who fears ...
7th line: Who gives ...
8th line: Who would like to see ...
9th line: Resident of ...
10th line: Last name

Once the pages were printed and the students illustrated them I brought them to my local Staples Copy and Print Center and the staff helped me turn all of the students' work into our very own book! I spoke with the parents of the students in my group and gave them the option of purchasing a color copy of our book (only a few dollars) otherwise I sent home a black and white copy with each students to remember this special project.

Creating the book as a group took several group meeting times however, it was completely worth it! It is still one of my favorite lessons to this day! :)

Pin It

Career Day Fair

My principal and I recently partnered with 3 eighth students from Norfolk Girl Scout Troop 3616 who attend our district's middle school and are working towards earning their Silver Award within The Girl Scouts.  To do this they needed to develop a project within their community and then make a plan to put the project into motion. The girls decided they wanted to sponsor a Career Day for the 5th and 6th grade girls at our elementary school! They even wrote a grant to a local organization within our community in order to raise funds to invest in their Career Day project.  The girls worked so hard to create this night and build interest in it; they started planning the Career Day back in October and the fruits of their labor were very evident this week ~ they did an absolutely amazing job! The girls recruited about 12 female professionals to have a booth at the Career Day Fair to talk to the 5th and 6th girls about their professions. We had a classroom teacher, special education teacher, veterinarian, orthodontist, firefighter/ paramedic, nurse, district attorney, personal trainer, speech and language pathologist, cosmetologist, insurance administrator, caterer/ personal chef, flight attendant and an architectural engineer. Each professional had a booth with visuals about their career, some hands on activities for the girls as well as great knowledge and information to pass along to our students.

Meghan P., Eliza S. and Caitlin D.,are members of Girl Scouts Torop 3616.
They worked incredibly hard to create this evening for the 5th and 6th grade girls at our school.

My role on this night was to make a brief presentation to all the girls before they started exploring the different careers. My PowerPoint presentation touched upon how the skill-sets they are learning in school are also valuable in their future career. However, for the most part I talked about what types of careers the girls may be interested in based upon their current interests in school and outside of school. I also briefly touched upon what type of education is generally required for these fields and about the different types of degrees they could receive after high school graduation.

Sample slide from my presentation at the Career Day Fair.
The entire PowerPoint presentation is available for FREE by clicking the link above.

We had a great turnout for the event and have had some wonderful feedback as well. It was so nice to see the girls interacting with the female professionals and learning about different opportunities that are out there for them when they get older. We are hoping to continue the Career Day each year and possibly offer a separate evening for boys as well in the future.

Pin It

National School Counseling Week!

I would like to wish all of my fellow school counselors a "Happy National School Counseling Week." For some more information about this week you can check out ASCA's website or for ideas to celebrate at your school check out Danielle Schultz's School Counselor Blog's Pinterest page for NSCW or ASCA-SCENE's discussion topic on School Counseling Week.

You all do so much for the students, families and staff at your schools. So I wanted to do at least a little something to recognize all of you do!

I am having a sale on my Teachers Pay Teachers website during NSCW; it is the least I can do to honor all you do! So please check out my TpT store to start saving on Monday morning! The best deals are earliest in the week, so shop early!

Thanks and have a GREAT week! Pin It

Friendship Bugs

I tend to do a "bug" unit every year with my younger students; especially the boys ~ they love it! For this lesson I first read the book How to Lose All Your Friends by Nancy Carlson with the students. We discuss all the different things that the children did such as not sharing, throwing tantrums, etc and how that would effect your friendships.

I then begin a lesson called "Friendship Bugs" that I adapted from a lesson in Creative Small Groups For Grades K-5 by Marco (by they way they have the BEST customer service! Love them!) I scatter some plastic bugs  and pencils with bugs on them from the Dollar Tree Store on the table to sort of set the mood. :) I found a bunch of different bug cutouts online that I photocopied on to construction paper that I also lay out on the table. I then instruct the students to select 2 different bugs that they would like to work with and have them begin cutting them out.

My "What's Bugging You" Jar that I keep the plastic bugs in.

Assorted plastic bugs from the Dollar Tree Store.

As the students are cutting out their bugs I begin to explain the rest of the lesson. We talk about different things that others do that "bug" or bother us. For example: tattling, being bossy, teasing, laughing at others mistakes, name calling, being a copycat, breaking promises, whining, and so on. I write all of the ideas that the students come up with on the white board so they can easily refer back to them later. Now I have the students write at least 5 things that "bug" them on the bug they recently cut out. The students then paste their bugs on a piece of construction paper and I print on the top "Things that BUG me."

The next time I meet with the students we work on the next half of the lesson. I print ahead of time on the backside of their construction paper "Things I do that might BUG someone". I review what we did last week when we brainstormed all the different things that "bug" them and begin to talk about how we also do things that may "bug" or bother others. I start the conversation by expressing how even I do things that would bothers others and then give a suggestion. This generally starts the conversation going and I begin writing their ideas on the whiteboard. For some students I definitely need to lead the conversation a bit while they are brainstorming because they are unable to self-reflective. I have students write at least 3 things that they may do that "bug" others (as this is a more difficult skill to self reflect I only require 3 ideas instead of the previous 5). The students then paste their bug on the construction paper labeled "Things I do that might BUG someone else".

We then have a nice conversation about how we can apply what we just worked on in their everyday lives at school. Such as trying to be a little more aware of how their actions can impact others. I usually do this lesson with students in grades 1-3 however I have also done this with some upper elementary school students that are on the spectrum.

This is my lesson plan for the Friendship Bugs lesson.

Pin It

School Counseling Linky Party 2013

Marissa Rex at ElementarySchoolCounseling.org is hosting a School Counseling Linky Party for School Counselor bloggers to share their great ideas, inspirations and blogs with everyone! What an amazing idea! Thank you

As I am still fairly new to blogging (just started in September 2012) I don't have too many features on my blog yet. I hope to add some different sections/tabs in 2013. Although, one of my favorite aspects of my blog thus far is the step by step descriptions with pictures I have been able to write about in many of my posts with the hopes of helping other School Counselors.

It is very hard for me to select a favorite post on my blog but I probably have to go with my Bucket Filling post because this is something that I have been doing since I became a School Adjustment Counselor right out of grad school . I have been updating, tweaking and adjusting my school-wide program as I go throughout the years and will be making a major shift to my classroom guidance lesson this spring when I teach the concept to my 5th and 6th graders. I feel that the Bucket Filling concept is a great way to recognize students within my school for positive acts of kindness towards one an another!

By far my most popular blog post has been my Worry Stone post. I believe this post was repinned many times on Pinterest which lead to its popularity. This is also one of the posts that I created step-by-step directions with pictures about how to many the worry stones which I hope the readers found helpful. Worry stones have really taken off this year at my school, the kids think they are 'cool' and I have kids stopping by all the time to pick out a couple worry stones to keep. I even have 5th and 6th grade students come by to make them at lunch because they think it is fun!

Pin It

A Season of Giving

I don't know about you but this is my favorite time of the year! I love all of the good cheer all around and time spent with family and friends; not to mention a good excuse to shop!!

Unfortunately for many this is a season of stress; worrying about how to make ends meet providing for their families. Every year no matter what school district I am in, we always team up with a community agency/organization as a school community to help provide gifts during the holiday season to those in need. Depending on the year and the school we have been able to help upwards of 25 families each holiday season! WOW! This is most definitely one of the other reasons why I love this time of year, helping others!

I contact our community agency/ organization in early November to get a list of families in our community and the wish list of gifts the children and parents would like or need. The gifts generally range from socks and clothing items to toys and gifts cards. I then create a spreadsheet in Excel and use 'mail merge' to create labels for each item or group of items requested for each individual. Generally each child has about 6 snowflakes/ snowmen and each adult has about 4 with a label on each.

An example of a snowman that is located on the bulletin board at school.

In the main lobby/ hallway of my school I created a bulletin board (literally created from scratch this year because our new school doesn't have any bulletin boards!) with snowflakes and snowmen each individually labeled with a gift item needed.


I send home a letter to parents and students explaining how our school is helping to support families in our own community during the holidays. Parents can either grab a snowflake/ snowman off of the board during parent-teacher conferences or when they are in school volunteering. They can also contact me by phone or email to have one sent home. Staff also participates in the season of giving.

Above is a copy of the letter that I sent home to families this year.

We ask that all gifts purchased are delivered to school by mid December with the snowflake or snowman securely attached. Then as a staff we have a 'wrapping party' after school to wrap all of the gifts and organize them by family. I then load up my car and bring them all to the community agency/ organization. I LOVE IT!! :)

          

Pin It

Bucket Filling

I have been doing Bucket Filling for about 5 years in my elementary schools and I absolutely LOVE IT! If you are not familiar with Bucket Filling it is based off of Carol McCloud's Have You Filled A Bucket Today? book. She has authored 5 books in total about Bucket Filling and Tom Rath has also written a book entitled How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids that I use a lot as well.

The Bucket Filling concept is that our buckets are full when we are happy and feel good about ourselves. We need other people to help fill our buckets and they need us to help fill theirs. Filling another person's bucket is easy. A bucket can be filled by doing something as simple as a smiling and greeting someone, remembering to say thank you when someone has been kind, helping a friend with a problem, or complimenting someone on a job well done. Really the list is endless when it comes being a ‘Bucket Filler’. But sometimes, people dip into our buckets and that is called ‘Bucket Dipping’.  This is what we want to try to avoid doing to others. Bucket Dipping is when people use unkind words, bully others, say or do mean or inappropriate things, not helping others or not treating others in a respectful way.

I go into the classrooms and read one of the Bucket Filling books with the students to introduce the concept to them. I go over what Bucket Filling is and what Bucket Dipping is as well introduce some examples of both.

I then go into a more interactive portion of the classroom guidance lesson where the students actually get to practice filling each other buckets. I include the teacher and any assistants in the classroom in this activity as well. I give half of the class buckets and the other of of the class gets bingo chips. The students with the chips go around to the students with the buckets and give them either a specific and personal compliment or say something nice to them then drop one or two chips into their buckets. We continue this for a little while with the adults assisting the students as needed. We then gather on the carpet and the students share something that was said to them that really filled their buckets and made them feel good. We then switch it up and the students with the buckets get chips and we do it all over again. 

I get my buckets at Target's dollar section. These are some that I picked up this weekend while they were 70% off, so they were only 30 cents each.

I then go over the Bucket Filler of the Week program at our school and show the students the slips they will be using to nominate each other. Staff members can also nominate students. I give each classroom their own bucket with Bucket Filler of the Week slips in it.

My Bucket Filler of the Week slips are available on my Teachers Pay Teachers website for only $2.

When a student is a Bucket Filler of the Week at my school they get a certificate, a Bucket Filler sticker, a Bucket Filler pencil and their group picture is taken. I display the group picture outside my office and the principal also posts their picture on our school blog this year which is pretty neat for the kids! I really try to make being chosen as a Bucket Filler of the Week seem like a big deal.

My Bucket Filler of the Week certificate if available on my Teachers Pay Teachers website for only $2.

I recently came across a Bucket Filling SMART Board lesson online that I think I am going to edit this year to use with my 5th and 6th grade students as the interactive piece during their classroom guidance lesson. I need to edit to use with an older audience and personalize it more to the school setting. Once I get around to doing this I will definitely share it with everyone. But it looks pretty interesting - let me know if any of you have already used it and what you think!

Here is a newsletter blurb that I used last year to introduce the concept to parents.

Below are some examples of different bulletin boards I have done throughout the years for Bucket Filling.

I put the group picture of the Bucket Fillers of the Week up on the bulletin board in the middle of their art work.

The coloring page is available here.

           

Pin It

What You Say in Here Stays in Here ...

This past summer on the School Counselor Blog Danielle Schultz talked about how she decorated the walls in her school office. She had created a couple of signs that I absolutely loved and one in particular that wanted to include in my office this year. I loved the banner she created about student privacy, "What You Say in Here Stays in Here." As I mentioned in a previous post, I sort of have a theme in my office this year of polka dots and the colors pink, green and blue so I wanted to relay the same message to my students and keep with my new office decor. 

So I used Photoshop Elements once again to create my own "What You Say in Here Stays in Here" sign and printed it on VistaPrint.com as a 36"x24" poster. I then laminated the poster at my school. I hung the poster above my desk on the wall facing my office door so that as students passed my office they would always be reminded that what they say in my office remains private. 

I have posted the pdf file on my Teachers Pay Teachers page for other school counselors to utilize in their own offices as well. Or you can also purchase Danielle's version at the School Counselor Blog Store.

Do you have a sign that you absolutely must hang every year in your office? If so what is it? I would love to share it with other school counselors!!

How do you let students know about confidentiality in your office?

                

Pin It

It's all in a name ...

So you probably saw on Danielle Schultz's School Counselor Blog or Facebook page this week the Ecard that she made about being mistakenly called a Guidance Counselor when you are a School Counselor. It certainly would bother me because we have all worked so hard not only when we were in grad school but also now that we are in this profession helping students, teachers and families. Over the years our roles have changed and evolved to be so much more.

Now I am a School Adjustment Counselor which is a little but different than a School Counselor in Massachusetts (my masters degree is mental health counseling based and a bit lengthier than my friends with a masters in school counseling). I get mistakenly called a lot of different things from people ranging from Guidance Counselor to the one that bothers me the most - the Feelings Teacher! It has become a running joke at school between some of my colleagues because they know it bothers me so much! So I decided to make my own ecard based off of Danielle's!

What do you guys think? Is there a title you get mistakenly called at school that bothers you? Do you correct people when they misspeak or do you just let it go?

     

Pin It

Worry Stones

I use worry stones with numerous students throughout the school year. The concept is that if you rub the worry stone in your hand then it will help your worries go away. I also love it because they students physically have something in their hand which helps with fidgeting as well!

I used to make all of my worry stones at home and then bring them into school. However, last year I had an epiphany and have had the students help make them! The kids love it because they made it themselves so it holds even more value to them. I have also had students in my friendship lunch bunches help me make them this year because they just think it is a fun craft and they get to play with the clay. Some students have really become quite creative with their designs!

I prefer to use Fimo Soft and Soft Effect Clay. I purchase the clay at my local Michael's Store and when it goes on sale for 4 for $5 I stock up. You can even get your teacher discount in addition to the sale price! 

      

Below are step-by-step photo directions to make your own worry stones. 

Step 1: Pull off a small amount of 2-3 colors of clay.
Step 2: Push the clay together to form a ball.
Step 3: Roll and twist the clay in your hand to make a 'snake'.

Step 4: Either take your 'snake' and smoosh it together (yes that is the technical term!) or coil it.

Step 5: Roll it into a ball.
Step 6: Press your thumb into the ball until you have an indentation that you can rub your thumb in.

Once you have made several worry stones you need to bake them at 230 degrees for 30 minutes. I bake them in foil pans so there is absolutely no clean up.

     

Pin It