Counselor eBook

I am always on the hunt for professional and engaging counseling resources. Rebecca Atkins from Counselor Up has made it easy to find hundreds of counseling resources in one spot! 22 Counselors from all over the world have joined together to create a Counselors of TPT eBook.  The best news is each page has a FREEBIE to share! That is 22 counseling resources to add to your bag of tricks.

Click Here to Download eBook

The eBook has 22 pages to introduce each counselor.

 Here is my page:

Click Here to go to my TPT Store

A HUGE Back to School sale starts tomorrow on TpT. The sale is 28% off EVERYTHING!  So, if you are in need of fun, engaging lessons...go as fast as you can to check out these amazing counselor's TpT stores.
Click on Links:
Counselor Up
Mental Fills
Speckled Moose Counseling
Social Emotional Workshop
Counselor Keri
Savvy School Counselor
The Counseling Teacher Brandy Thompson
Carol Miller- The Middle School Counselor
The Helpful Counselor
School Counseling Files
School Counseling is Magical
Counselor Corner
Yanique Chambers
EduKate and Inspire
Life on the Fly Counselor
Robin Zorn-The Georgia School Counselor
Counselor Traci R Brown
Cheerful Counseling
Mrs Bell the Crafty Counselor
Little Miss Counselor
Cheerful Counseling
Bilingual Learner
Whimsy in School Counseling
The DIY Counselor

The first day of August is when I start to get into panic mode about the upcoming school year. I'm so happy to have so many resources to choose from to help make my year less stressful and more productive!

I hope you all enjoy the last few days left of summer!

Invest in Relationships With Others

Having been a School Counselor for 10 years, I've had the opportunity of working at several different schools.  I have found the secret to a positive work environment is taking the time to invest in relationships with others. We spend a lot of time at work! So, building positive relationships helps make the workplace a fun place to be. Throughout the school year, I try to do little things to show support and care to those I work with.  My school recently went through a boundary change, so there will be a lot of new staff changes this upcoming year.

A few years ago, I created a questionnaire as a way to get to know people better in a short amount of time.  It was soooo helpful! It gave me the chance to see things I had in common with others and it gave me topics to discuss around the water cooler or at lunch. With all the changes at my school, I'm planning on doing this again.

I found mini TAKE 5 candy bars at Target. They were 3 bags for $10.00. Each bag had 14 candy bars in it....which makes each candy bar less than 25 cents each! When I go to each classroom for my counselor lesson, I plan to ask the Teacher to TAKE 5 minutes to fill out this questionnaire and give them a candy bar for a small treat.

If you would like to do this at your school, I have made this a FREE DOWNLOAD. I made individual tags for mini candy bars. In addition, I also included a large sign if you wish to have a bowl of candy bars to leave in the faculty room.

Click here to download. 

Some of my best friends are my coworkers. Putting the effort in developing positive relationships can make the biggest difference. School Counselors deal with heavy subjects. Having a positive relationship with others sure makes it easier to be approached when difficult things come up.

What things do you do at your school to help foster positive relationships with others? Comment below, I would love to hear!

Kindness Challenge

Working at a year round school has its challenges.  One issue that happens frequently is kids getting on each other's nerves by the end of the school year.  My list of friendship problems seems to TRIPLE the last month of school. So, in an attempt to avoid this problem last year, I came up with The Kindness Challenge Brochure. I wanted my students to be aware of this issue and make a concentrated effort to promote kindness at school.  It ended up being a big hit! I did this with my 3rd-6th grade students.   

The Challenge...

Each student received their own black and white copy of the Kindness Brochure to color and personalize. The challenge was for students to complete all 16 squares of Be A Friend Bingo. Once each activity was completed, students could mark that square with an X.  Before returning it to me, each student was expected to summarize the brochure with their parent(s)/guardian and get a signature. I really wanted this activity to generate some good conversation about positive things that were happening at school. Once signed, students could turn in their brochure to me and receive a small prize. 

What I LOVED most about this activity was watching and hearing stories of kind acts.  I received several reports from teachers of positive acts of friendship taking place in their classrooms and out at recess.  I passed out approximately 455 brochures.  I received 327 back.  When I stopped to think about it.....327(students) x 16(squares) = 5,232 ACTS OF KINDNESS. That totally blew me away!! As I was wrapping up this lesson, I had several students ask if we could do the challenge again next year! That made my whole day! So, I think I will add a sequel to The Kindness Challenge for the upcoming school year. 

Example of Completed Kindness Brochure

This activity can be found here in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. What activities do you do at your school to promote kindness? I would love to hear! Please comment below.

A Year of Kindness

Oh My! This summer is flying by! About the middle of July, I start to think ahead to the upcoming school year. One thing I love about being a School Counselor is that EVERY YEAR feels like a fresh start or a new beginning. At the end of each school year, I like to write down things I thought helped make the year run smoothly, and areas that need improvement. Over the last couple of years, I have noticed an increase in problems with kids getting along. Problems seemed to happen more frequently AND last longer. So, I've decided to go back to the basics. I'm planning to focus my 2016-17 school year on KINDNESS.

One way I plan to promote kindness at my school is using these googly eye magnetic clips I found at the Dollar Tree. They are sooo cute!  As I go about my day, if I observe an act of kindness I will take a couple of minutes and fill out a kindness card. After school, I will attach the kindness card with a small treat to the googly eye clip and place it on the students desk. When that particular student shows up for school the next day, it will be a sweet surprise! The googly eye clip can stay on the desk for the day and then I plan to collect the clips after school. That way I can reuse these clips all year. I want to magnify the positive and show that kindness matters.

  If you would like A FREE COPY of these Kindness Cards to use at your school,  CLICK here to download. 

*****I have 2 sets of Googly Eye magnetic clips to GIVEAWAY!  To enter, please comment below how you would use these Googly Eye clips at your school. Two random winners will be selected on Tuesday, August 19th. Don't forget to leave your email address!

Comfort Buddies

Comfort Buddies is a calming strategy I use for my younger students experiencing anxiety.  Over the years, I've found Distraction as an effective anxiety treatment option. Distraction is defined as: Something that makes it difficult to pay attention or that draws attention away from concerns. Distraction is a great way of helping students put their mind onto something POSITIVE instead of the NEGATIVE symptoms they are experiencing. I found a cute, cheap Over the Door Shoe Holder and I filled it with stuffed animals.  When students come to me upset, or full of anxiety, I let them pick out a Comfort Buddy to hang out with for a few minutes in my office. It doesn't take long for them to calm down and feel better. 

To go with the Comfort Buddies I found these cute Stretchy Dogs in the Target Dollar Spot.  I use them as a fidget toy.  I have my students keep the stretchy dog in their pocket.  If they start to feel sad or anxious again, they can put it in their hand to help them feel better.  I have been happy with the success of this coping strategy in helping to reduce fears and worries.

Click here if you would like a Comfort Buddies Cover Page.

School Anxiety...AGAIN!

I have been so surprised with the number of student referrals on school anxiety.....still!  For me, this has been the biggest issue at my school this year, by far!

As my number of students started to increase by the day, I decided to make an activity where my students could take an active role in reducing their worries.  School anxiety has a way of making kids feel powerless.  It's sooo important for them to realize they aren't powerless and that they DO have the power within them to overcome this issue.

When I was in college, I had a professor who talked about anxiety reducing methods.  He stated that our bodies give us clues when we are worried.  By recognizing these clues, we can put coping strategies in place that target that symptom to reduce fear.  That concept has really stuck with me! So, I created an interactive lift-the-flap activity that takes this approach.

I use the color copy version as an example. Each flap represents how anxiety can affect that particular part of the body.  Open the flap and a worry busting strategy is recorded as a way to target that area of worry.

Example:

Brain Scary thoughts.........Strategy: Write in journal

Mouth: Shortness of Breath..........Strategy: Deep breathing activity

Stomach: Butterfiles in stomach.......Strategy: Eat a healthy snack

Hands: Trembling......Strategy: Trace a figure 8 on palm of hand

Feet: Frozen in spot.......Strategy: Do something active 25 times (jumping jacks, hula hoop etc.)

With the black and white version of this activity, I have my students color and write down the body clues they are experiencing to make it personal to them. We come up with worry busting strategies that they think will work to target each symptom.  I have found this activity to be SO successful in helping students reduce fears and worries.

 

Example from a student

For my small groups, we make Worry Busting Bags to go along with my lift-the-flap worksheet.  I include things like...small notebook for journaling, party blower for deep breathing activity, small bags of pretzels and water bottles, and stress ball buddies.

Examples of Worry Busting Bags

You can find this activity in my TpT store by clicking here.  Included in this download is the following:
boy/girl color printed copy
boy/girl color blank copy
boy/girl black and white printed copy
boy/girl black and white blank copy
Happy Thoughts Journal tags for Worry Bags

I would love to hear what strategies work for you at your school!  Please share ideas in the comments below.

Turkey Trouble

Turkey Trouble is my favorite Thanksgiving book of all time!  I teach character education lessons to every class in my school.  I don't always teach the same lesson for every grade except for my favorite lessons. This means there are occasions when I teach the same lesson 34 times!  It seriously feels like being Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day by living the same day over, and over, and over again! But, I'm happy to report, I have yet to tire from this cute book! Problem Solving is the topic I'm teaching for the month of November. Turkey Trouble is the PERFECT book to discuss this subject. In the book, Turkey has a HUGE problem....he realizes his days are numbered and he doesn't want to end up as the main course for Thanksgiving dinner! As he looks around the barnyard, he decides to disguise himself as various other animals as a solution to his problem.  Each time, he feels his costume makes him look just like the other animals...well, almost!  In the end, with no options left, he comes up with a clever solution to his problem by disguising himself as a pizza delivery guy. This is a creative solution to his problem and helps start a new fun tradition for Farmer Jake and his family.

Problem Solving is such an important skill for students to learn. Before reading this book, I discuss a 3-Step Problem Solving Model using the acronym GPS.  GPS is easy for students to remember and I always refer back to it when students come to me with a problem. GPS stands for: 

Get Calm-if you are really mad or upset you aren't in a good state of mind to solve a problem.
Plan- Making a plan means you are putting thought into what the solution may be.  Many times students avoid dealing with problems which makes the problem bigger in the long run.  Making a plan means action will be taken towards finding a solution.
Solve or Start Again-  It's great if the problem gets solved on the first try.  However, it's important to realize that doesn't happen all the time.  Students often times give up if their plan doesn't work on the first try. The book Turkey Trouble demonstrated that Turkey had to come up with several different plans before his problem was solved.

To go along with this lesson, I made a Disguise the Turkey Matching Game.  I printed 6 games to use in each classroom.  I had 4-5 students per group on the floor in small circles.  The object of the game is to try and get the most matches. One of the matching pair is a turkey in a pizza delivery disguise.  That is how turkey solved his problem in the book, so the student who finds that match gets two points. My students have LOVED the funny turkey disguises in this game.

*****Click here for a Free Copy!****

Glue turkeys on the back of disguise squares. When playing, have the glasses disguise facing up and the turkeys underneath.

Aren't these turkey disguises soooo fun???

I glued the turkeys and disguise squares on cardstock to add a little color.

My students LOVED the fun book and the hilarious disguises in the matching game.  I hope your students like it too!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!