Welcoming Diversity......

Merriam Webster's definition is a great reminder about the emotions a person should feel when we are welcoming someone.  Happiness. Pleasure. Is this how your students will feel on the first day of school when they enter your school building? What about on the 80th day? Or 180th day?

Embracing diversity has always been a priority for me as a school counselor. Years ago I created a really fun, hands-on Ability Awareness lesson with different activity centers that I wrote about here. It helps students see what it would be like to have physical or educational challenges so that empathy and compassion can be cultivated. Last year, I added more diversity lessons for my students and recently created this Diversity Lesson Bundle to share at Life on the Fly. The bundle lessons focus on appreciating physical differences, diversity of talents, and diversity of interests. 

Earlier in July I had the true pleasure of beginning training as a site-based facilitator for Welcoming Schools in my school district. As one of five counselors from my district included in the training, it was a unique opportunity for me to learn and grow.  Welcoming Schools is an approach that focuses on the following areas:

Embracing family diversity
Preventing bias-based bullying and gender stereotyping

Supporting transgender and gender expansive youth

Creating LGBTQ-inclusive schools

As educators, especially school counselors, it is our job to promote respect and tolerance so that ALL students are received and accepted with care and compassion.   

So, how do we do this in elementary school?

You may not have a transgender student walking through your doors in August, or a student that identifies as gay or lesbian, or even a student that currently has two moms or two dads, but are you building a school atmosphere that could embrace those situations and others if (and when) they occur? Because if you are in this profession long enough, it WILL happen and NOW is the time to educate and prepare students who are welcoming of students with LGBTQ differences, racial differences, family structure differences, gender differences, preference differences...the list goes on and on. 


One easy way to begin these diversity and tolerance conversations is with bibliotherapy.  Whether you do a classroom guidance lesson or read a book with a small group or individual student, books are a great place to start in planting seeds of tolerance. Welcoming Schools has some great lesson plans available for some of their recommended books. I also have recommended readings from other resources that I plan on checking out this year. Click on the book titles to read the summary of each story.

Family Diversity Books

  

The Family Book (Pre-K-K) and The Great Big Book of Families (Pre-K-3) are good starting points to present all different kinds of families with your primary grades.  And Tango Makes Three (Pre-K-3) is the story of a penguin with two dads.

Gender Diversity Books

Jazz Jennings, a transgender girl and national spokesperson for transgender youth, is the co-author of I Am Jazz (K-5)  She is also the star of the show "I Am Jazz" on the TLC network, which focuses on her life as a transgender teen growing up in Florida. George also tells the story of a young transgender girl. Jacob's New Dress (Pre-K-2) features a character who doesn't identify with stereotypical gender roles while Elena's Serenade (Pre-K-2) and 10,000 Dresses (K-4), also challenge gender stereotyping, especially as they relate to interests and possible careers.

 





















Finally, Red:  A Crayon's Story is a delightful book where a blue crayon, labeled RED, struggles with identity and acceptance to be the crayon it is inside. Although this book could easily relate to LGBTQ topics, I believe it also presents a broader acceptance of diversity of self, no matter what the difference expressed.

Many of these books can be found on YouTube if you want to check them out prior to buying them or use them as e-books for lessons.  I am by no means an expert on these topics, but I am leaning into the learning curve and recognize the huge need to promote acceptance and respect for ALL types of families and ALL students. Join me in the important work of creating school environments that truly are welcoming!

Enjoy and Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

#ASCA2015...Celebrating with a Book Giveaway!

     *Image from ASCA website

Let the countdown begin....in 3 short days I will be attending my second annual ASCA conference in the lovely, but HOT, Phoenix, AZ.  I'm super excited to be presenting "Full STEM Ahead- Supporting STEM Initiatives as a School Counselor" to share some of the STEM activities I have done the last two years at my elementary school.  It is sure to be a good time with lesson ideas, school-wide program examples, video clips, and DOOR PRIZES! After all, who doesn't love a good door prize?! If you are attending ASCA in person (or even virtually), stop by and see me on Tuesday from 11:15-12:30.  I would love to meet you in person!  I will also be live tweeting and posting pics to my Life on the Fly Facebook page throughout the conference. Send me a shout out to @apoovey.

To add to the upcoming excitement, I am doing a book giveaway from one of my fave school counselors, Mr. Kip Jones. I first met Mr. Jones at the 2014 NCSCA conference when I went to his seriously entertaining biblio-rhyming session.  I was thoroughly engaged by the creative videos, raps, and original books that he uses with his students. By the end of his session we were doing a conga line around the room because we were having so much fun learning! His newest book entitled The Power of Bystanders features his ever-popular main character, Willie Bohanon, teaching kids how to stand up to bullies like a B.O.S.S.  The B.O.S.S. acronym provides students with a powerful tool to be a bystander who is part of the solution.

What I love most about Mr. Jones' books is that they feature diverse characters and are written in a graphic novel or comic book-type format, which is popular among kids, especially boys.  The language is very informal and relatable to kids and raps or songs are always interspersed in the content.  It is truly a fun read!   If you want a chance to be my lucky winner, fill out the entry form below. You can enter up to three times by following me on Facebook/Twitter or tweeting about the giveaway.  One lucky reader will be chosen on Thursday, July 2, and I will mail you the book directly.
Good luck and Happy Counseling! ~ Angela
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Summer Lovin'

Summer is ending. I am not in denial about this fact and actually feel like I have been able to enjoy it and get rejuvenated while also working on projects that I don't always have time for during the school year.  So, here's what I have been doing:

 Working on RAMP.  Wow! I knew this project would be a bear, but I wasn't quite prepared for the brainpower it would require. Every time my co-counselor and I sit down for RAMP "work days" I feel like I have gone through a mental marathon by the time we are done, usually 8 hours later.  With that being said, it has been a great opportunity of growth for me. I have had so many "aha" moments that are going to help me be a better counselor next year.  The biggest one has to do with school counseling program goals, which I never really used before this year.  A wonderful friend I met at ASCA shared this Smart Goals worksheet with me, and it really helped me process the data I collect and apply it towards overarching program goals that could then be narrowed down into specific Closing the Gap action plans.  I also have appreciated the guiding examples of exemplary RAMP components found here on the ASCA website.

 Thinking about my office decor.  Last year, the NC legislature deemed that school counselors should not be responsible for  test coordination.  My phenomenal AP ended up with the task and took a huge testing cabinet out of my office towards the end of the year. There wasn't enough time to worry with filling the "hole" before school ended, but now I am captivated by the possibilities for my new corner. For some reason, I really want to put a tree there. Think "Giving Tree" or "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" like these examples (from Pinterest):

I am planning on enlisting my husband to help me with the design and stability factors (he doesn't know this yet), and I have promised my principal that I will do a "scaled-down" version so as to not upset the fire marshall and get a write-up. HA! BUT, I do hope to have my own tree picture to share with you very soon. 

Thinking of new "Introduction" to the School Counselor lesson ideas. You may remember that I did a camp theme for several grade levels in my intro lessons last year. Check out my post here.  I am still going to use those lessons this year, but I wanted to add something new and exciting for some of the classes that had already experienced that lesson.  So, I am going to introduce #FlatGroovyPoovey to my Kindergarten, second, and third grade students this year.  I am still working out the lesson details, but after Internet searching and finding no Flat School Counselors or Teacher figures that would work for me, I made this worksheet. My plan is to teach my lesson and have students write in the lines the ways I can help them during the year (I will help K students).  Then, I will send it home with a letter to introduce myself to parents.  I am going to ask them to take me along on their family adventures this year, taking pictures of #FlatGroovyPoovey in different places.  Then, I will post them on my school website and they or I can post it to Twitter using that hashtag.  I also plan to include my teachers in the fun and will create a bulletin board entitled, "Where in the World is #FlatGroovyPoovey?"  The most exciting adventures will be incorporated into my theme for School Counseling Week later in February. Fun, right??!  The worksheet (with a line to fill in your own name) will be available on my Life on the Fly Store and is already up on TPT at my store here.

Finally, I have been reading...YAY!  I finished Drive by Daniel H. Pink, which I already mentioned I was reading, and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. They were both really interesting books, and it was nice to read something for myself in my downtime.  Now, I am reading more for kids and my book clubs and have finally started the book Crash by Jerry Spinelli.  I got this title last year with my book club grant but haven't used it yet, and I'm thinking it may come in handy with some students that will be rising fifth graders this year. Also, I added two new book club activity packs, Because of Mr. Terupt and Origami Yoda, to my Life on the Fly Store and TPT site if you are getting started with or continuing your own book clubs this year.  They are great for upper elementary or middle school book club groups and are 25+ pages each. Check them out and email me if you have any questions!

           

Can't wait to get started in another school year with you! What exciting projects are you working on???

Happy Counseling!   ~Angela