My fabulous co-counselor, Karen, loves to try new things. We sit around and come up with crazy ideas in the hopes of meeting the needs that we see around our neck of the woods (not there are any woods in this desert...)! At the start of the year, we thought it would be a great idea to have a 4 week series for parents. So we put it in the master calendar... and promptly forgot about it! When January rolled around, we suddenly realized we were actually going to have to plan and present on four separate topics, each one being 1.5 hours long. Whoops!

The following are the four topics we covered, along with just a few of the activities & resources we shared:

This session focused on parenting and attachment styles. Parents identified their style(s), and learned about the impact of each style. We also shared techniques that foster authentic relationships between parents and their children.

This session focused on first defining 9 executive skills, then discussed how parents can develop and improve those skills in their children. As executive skills improve, it enables them to work more efficiently and effectively at home and at school. These skills include: planning & prioritizing, organizing, time management, flexibility, emotional control, impulse control, task initiation, sustained attention, and working memory.  (This was the #1 topic requested through a parent survey we'd sent out earlier this year.)

ACTIVITY: How long is a minute?
​As a part of the discussion about one executive function, time management, we asked, "How long is a minute?" We explained that children must learn, often through experience and practice, to become aware of two aspects of time: accurately predicting the experience of units of time and how long individual tasks will take.

Parents were given the following instructions:
1. Put their heads down or close their eyes.
2. Start their minute when we say "go."
3. Raise their hand when they felt a minute had passed.
4. Look up or open eyes when we say "stop."

As the minute passed, we tally-marked each hand raised in 15-second intervals for two minutes on a white board. Then we asked parents to look at their estimations and discuss how they did as adults (they are generally fairly accurate). We ask them to predict how children in upper elementary do at the same task (generally about the same because they often know strategies such as counting to 60 or listening to the tick of a clock). We discuss the difficulty of adding other tasks and distractions... can we accurately predict a minute if we can no longer count or listen to the ticking clock? We learn to notice a minute based on previous tasks or with the use of tools like timers and alarms, so we, as parents and educators, must build in opportunities for students to practice tasks estimating and confirming timed tasks.

A growth mindset thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligience, but as a springboard for growth. This perspective, along with building a capacity for being able to ‘bounce back’ from hardships and/or disappointments, are vital for experiencing success and ultimately happiness. This session focused on developing these important skill sets.

"Thank You Mom" is a Proctor & Gamble Commercial from the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, created by the ad agency Wieden + Kennedy (http://www.wk.com/) in 2014. It clearly shows how children must fall, again and again and again, before they can be successful... and parents have to be willing to let them take those risks!

This session focused on the ways in which families adjust to various challenges and transitions. We touched upon how family roles and dynamics affect the family system. We covered the wonderful joys of siblings: both fostering relationships and dealing with rivalries. Finally, we discuss the importance of open communication, including "I" messages and family meetings, when dealing with conflict and changes as a family.

RESOURCE: The Positive Discipline website
​One of the websites to check out when discussing any and all family concerns is the Parenting and Parent Q & A sections of Positive Discipline. They have many great tools, including the "I feel _____when________  and I wish___________" formula, how to run successful family meetings, and many other topics on the blog. We touched on some of these topics within our presentation, but parents can search on their own as needed.

After our sessions were over, Karen and I sent out a survey to request feedback. Parents were kind, and gave helpful responses. I am grateful to have had a partner in creating and presenting, as I've learned a great deal from this experience. I also feel more confident and comfortable talking with parents in general! I hope that this post gives you a taste for what we presented, and perhaps inspires you to try your own. And I truly value collaboration with other counselors, so if you already run workshops, please share in the comments below! 

As I settle into my new job at ASD, I have been so encouraged to find a comprehensive international school counseling program already in place. It is great to enter into a job with excellent programs and systems established. Now I have some work to do to develop further as a school counselor within these programs! We are being asked to create a professional growth & collaboration goal, so I have had the chance to sit down with a collaborative partner and discuss some areas where I could develop further. I feel fortunate to have time, collaborative staff, and PD opportunities dedicated to doing just that!

In the process, I have narrowed it down to two topics: child protection and Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (formerly known as collaborative problem solving). Regarding the former, the school counselors from preK- 12 have met for the past two years to examine current practices and ensure alignment of the curriculum across grade levels. I have joined the discussions and have been working to catch up with all of their hard work. I have also been selected to attend the AISA International Child Protection Symposium in Cape Town, South Africa in March 2015! I look forward to learning more about different aspects of child protection, but especially about research-based curriculum and its use with appropriate developmental levels. Oh, and for school counselors who are passionate about social justice and child protection… check out AISA's Child Protection Handbook!

I discovered that one of my fellow school counselors is a trainer for Collaborative & Proactive Solutions, and she is willing to mentor me as I learn more about the philosophy and techniques! I have been intrigued by Ross Greene's methods, as many counselors speak highly of its effectiveness. Collaborative and Proactive Solutions seeks to understand the child's need for skills rather than believing the child is willfully challenging adults and peers. I find the approach compassionate and affirming of the unique qualities each child holds. I hope to research CPS, integrate it into my current practices, and then assess the effectiveness in my own school setting. 

I feel blessed to be in a school that encourages us to grow professionally! I would love to hear about the topics and methods you, as a school counselors, are pursuing in your professional growth, too… comment below to share!

When I was in grad school, my place was always super clean. This is NOT because I am a neat freak, but because I found that cleaning and organizing a closet was so much more interesting than writing, say, a 10 page paper on the benefits of a given medication or treatment. 

Now I am finding a similar pattern in that I will do pretty much anything to avoid packing for my upcoming two year stint in a country halfway around the world. One weekend, I spent hours downloading old photos to convert into electronic copies. Now I am updating my blog…

In the last few weeks, I have been working on getting prepared to leave my current school and getting excited about going to a new one. For some reason, my mind is just not grasping how quickly this transition is taking place. Three things have helped, though:

1. I started a countdown to the end of the current school year. I do not normally do this, as I don't want the days to rush by and forget to savor those little moments with students. Most students I work closely with are not looking forward to summertime away from school. However, I needed to be shocked into the realization that I don't have much time to say my goodbyes, help students transition, tear down my office, sort through all of counseling stuff (what stays, what goes in storage, and what must come with me overseas), and still do all the necessary daily aspects of my counseling jobs (...not to mention all the paperwork and packing in my personal life)!

2. I made a Prezi to announce my departure to my current students (all 580+ in grades K-5). It is a simplified version of one I made to announce to my adult friends and family. As I have presented it to classes, I have repeatedly watched the videos and caught the excitement of the students ("There's a mall!" "There's a POOL!" "I want to move there!" "We can Skype with or email you?"). This has helped me to accept that this transition is, in fact, happening.

3. I received a care package from my future school (see the photo above). It contained:

• a fancy pen with the school's name,
• a t-shirt with the school's logo and mascot, the Dragons (why an XL, though? Geez!),
• a lanyard again with the school's name, and
• chocolate covered dates.

Even the package with Qatari stamps and Arabic writing were exciting! 

As my friend Sarah is fond of saying lately, "This is getting REAL!"

So I should probably start packing now, huh?

I have exciting news! I will be moving to another country to work at an international school! I will continue to work as an elementary school counselor. To learn more, click the picture to the left or follow this link (and please let me know if the link does not work!). 

I added a page to this website about international school counseling where I plan to post about counseling techniques and resources when working overseas. I also plan to post about my travels in this blog… so stay tuned!

The gist:
While discussing individual counseling sessions on a Twitter #escchat (where counselors form all over the country gather to share ideas via tweets for one hour), the question came up regarding how students request to see the counselor. Last year I knew that I wanted to use a self-referral form similar to that of my internship supervisor's form. Yet I had no structured way to collect these forms other than teachers handing them to me when they could. Thus, I decided to try a more efficient system this year. 

The box:
This year, I purchased a drop box that was attached to the wall near the library, a central location that nearly every student passes by daily. This box is the perfect size, affordable (very important to counselors on a budget!) and has a convenient slot in the back to hold blank forms and pens. Students tell me they like using it because it feels like they are passing me a secret note… which makes the process fun, too! I like it because it teaches students to be aware that it may take a day or two before I can meet with them, and it is locked to ensure confidentiality.

The form:
The form incorporate Kelso's choices and big versus small problems, which (hopefully) encourages students to try to solve a problem on their own first. When I meet with students from these self-referrals, I always go over the attempts they made to solve the problem and use it as a teachable moment (either how they could try next time and/or affirming their choice to seek a trusted adult). The student's description and the indicated level of urgency help me to prioritize sessions, as well. Here is the form I use currently:

What is your process for gathering student referrals?

As I shared in my last post, we offered eleven small groups with five different topics for students in grades 3-5 this fall. It required a great deal of organization to keep everything running smoothly! Luckily, I had many school counseling blogs to use as reference for efficient methods and systems. Below are a few tools and systems that were implemented.

The check in scale (modeled after that of Tabitha's at Scrapbook of a School Counselor) proved to be extremely popular with group members! The scale is a simple piece of laminated cardboard with the numbers one through five, and is attached to the edge of a large whiteboard. Every week, I wrote two emotions/ states that could be considered along a range (satisfied/longing, extroverted/introverted, shy/outgoing, etc). Every group member had a clothespin with their name, and clipped their pin to the number that best suited their feelings at that moment. Each member then had the opportunity to share about their choice or pass. At the end of our groups, students reported this was one of their favorite parts of the group experience.

For my own organization, I have a groups binder with tabs that contain the list of group members by topic, permission form letters, lesson plans, and notes from each group. Each curriculum also has its own binder filled with clear plastic sleeves. As we completed projects, I placed extra worksheets and samples of group members' work to show in future groups. When I find ideas for supplemental projects or worksheets, I place these in the back of the binder as well.

On December 5th, there will be a Twitter chat (#escchat) about the role of 504 Coordinator. If you are in this role, join us for an hour long discussion with school counselors around the country. Hopefully, you will get the opportunity to ask questions, share resources and ideas, and possibly come away with new knowledge about the 504 process! An easy way to follow the entire chat is to use a website like Tweetdeck or Tweetchat (check them out now and get set up so you're ready to join the chats for elementary school counselors weekly on Thursday evenings @ 8E/5P!) You can find a list of upcoming topics for the #escchat at http://bit.ly/escchat-info.

By the way, I can't recommend Twitter highly enough as an alternate PLC. I have found so many phenomenal school counselors who are sharing great articles, lesson plans, and other ideas. Maybe you have always considered Twitter a social site for teens, but I ask you to consider it as professional resource as well. My Twitter handle is @adventurousSC… find me and follow! Or join me at #scchat to find those resources and other counselors I was talking about. We are so lucky to have social media to help connect us in ways that were never before possible.

Recently, I joined a group on Facebook called the Elementary School Counselor Exchange (Join us! We're sharing ideas, topics, questions, resources and more!). Last week, someone posted about school counseling classroom lessons being scheduled into the Building Specials (i.e., music, P.E., etc) Schedule. I am a school counselor who has been scheduled in this way, and I found it challenging to find enough time during the school day to complete tasks that required face to face connections (i.e., crisis management, individual counseling, small groups, behavioral observations, and staff & parent consultations). Therefore, I created an alternative schedule. I pitched the idea to my administrator, who suggested we present the alternative to the staff for a vote. The Prezi presentation I created is below.

I found that I was nervous on the day of the presentation (I felt very strongly that the alternate schedule would be beneficial for our students and community), but I had no reason to worry. Our staff members were overwhelmingly supportive, which meant a lot to me. I could infer that the staff support a comprehensive counseling plan with their vote: they can see the value in a school counseling program that provides a variety of other services besides that of a "guidance teacher."

We are now three weeks into our new schedule and I believe it has been successful so far. I have had the chance to visit classrooms, observe students, put behavior plans and interventions into place, consult with staff and parents, assess and form small groups, and collaborate with staff to establish new routines in a variety of areas. It is exciting to see how much more the counseling program can provide with this alternative schedule! At the end of the year, I hope to reflect and see if it has in fact made a difference to our students, as well.

I must say that I am glad that I gathered up the courage to advocate for this change. It is empowering to experience such tremendous support from colleagues, and exhilarating to find yourself with time to do more tasks that directly serve students' needs! Get out there and advocate for your programs, school counselors!

We had an open house called Supply Night at our elementary school last night. It was so wonderful to see all of our students and families again after several months apart! In preparation for this, I created a display to fit this year's theme: "You can be a hero, too!"

One section displays a school counselor's "super powers," including consultation with staff and parents, group counseling, connecting families to community resources, and on and on. I added a touch of humor by adding a "G" symbol in the Batman-styled search lights, as I go by Ms. G. around the school. The third section features a comic strip story of three students who have a problem, but make heroic choices to turn the situation around! I plan to use this board as I teach my introductory lessons in classes in the coming weeks. At the table on Supply Night, I also provided pamphlets for local community resources, our elementary counseling program pamphlets, a sign up sheet for any parents or guardians who wanted to discuss their student or family needs in greater depth, and a sign to encourage everyone to vote for our school at the Give with Target Facebook page. Overall, I am pleased with the result!

So, what do YOU think? Do you have any resources, websites, or lesson plans about ordinary heroes to share? And what do you do at Open house events?