Drop it Like it's Hot...... on Dropbox

I really should be on a commercial for Dropbox. I have my family using it, I have my co-workers using it, I even have my PLC collaborating with this tool.  So, when I saw that SCOPE -- the School Counselors' Online Professional Exchange--- needed a professional school counselor to write an article about how they use Dropbox, I naturally jumped at the chance.  If you don't know about SCOPE, created by Dr. Erin Mason, check it out here.  This free resource that features free technology tools is a great place to get ideas (and FREE is our favorite price!).  They also have a fantastic list of school counselor blogs and best practices for school counselor technology use.

 You can check out my Dropbox article by clicking on the image below.
                                   Enjoy and Happy Counseling! ~Angela

National School Counseling Week Linky Party

 

I wrote earlier in the week about tips you could use to have a successful National School Counseling Week.  Now that we are a couple of days in, I wanted to share some pictures that go along with the plans I outlined in my last post. 

My co-counselor and I kicked off School Counseling Week on Monday morning with a breakfast for our staff to say THANK YOU for everything they do to work with us day in and day out. We put an invitation in every staff member's box to get them excited (see below).  We decided to use a SUPERHERO theme as our take on the "Building Magical Futures" theme from ASCA.  Superheroes have their own kind of magic, right?!!!

                                                                          The staff loved our decorations and breakfast treats of "magic" muffins, "power" bars, and lemonade.  Here is my awesome co-counselor busy at work wrapping the power bars with our "BOOM" decorations.  I made them with my handy Cameo silhouette machine as well as the "POW" and "BOOM" decorations you see hanging from the break room ceiling.  Super fun!

 

 Today, we put treats in staff members' boxes to continue our SUPERHERO theme.  I downloaded a cape template from Pinterest (of course!) and wrote "Together We Are Invincible" on it. Then, I made copies and put them on Blow Pops to give the illusion of a superhero flying (see below).  They turned out very cute! We are still working on completing our interactive bulletin board with puzzle pieces from each of our classes. I will post that later in the week.    We also have some fun planned for Friday when my co-counselor returns to my school.  Happy School Counseling Week! ~  Angela
****See my update from the last day of School Counseling Week here.

Challenge to Collaborate

The power of collaboration is one of my core beliefs as a school counselor. It is the reason I love being a PLC facilitator and was the driving factor for starting a blog. Every time I get an email from another counselor across the country or someone asks a question or comments on one of my posts, it creates a connection and exchange of new ideas that benefits everyone.  The power of social media and technology truly creates unending opportunities for educators (or any hobbyist or working person for that matter!).  It makes me wonder what I did before Pinterest, school counseling blogs, Twitter, and online forums...wow!

On that note,  I wanted to share what some great school counselors are doing and have shared with me recently. I am flattered that my posts have prompted others to implement similar ideas, but more importantly, I am inspired by how others have taken ideas I have shared and made them even better!!

Anne Caudill, an awesome veteran counselor at Laurel Hill Elementary in Scotland County, NC,  emailed me and shared these pictures of a bulletin board she had made after reading about connecting Perseverance to goal setting in this post.  She also gave me a great kinesthetic lesson idea for careers and linking educational achievement to higher pay, which I will be sharing when I focus on careers again next year....fantastic!

Sarah Klimek from Centennial Elementary in North Dakota was in contact with me following my post about book clubs.  We emailed several times sharing resources, and she came up with an EXCELLENT question guide for Strange Case of Origami Yoda, which will add tremendously to the discussion of themes and social strategies that I already use with my students. Check out these cute activities she shared that can be incorporated into a book club session:

Turn these sentences into Yoda-speak:
 --You must read the book to find out.
--Learn to speak Jedi.  
--Clean your room.
-- Ask for a new bike.
--Go to bed early.

Compose an acronym with sentences that describe Dwight’s appearance and personality.

D__________________________________________________________________________

W_________________________________________________________________________

I__________________________________________________________________________

G__________________________________________________________________________

H_________________________________________________________________________

T__________________________________________________________________________

I'm also taking collaboration to heart as the editor of the NCSCA News Magazine.  I know not everyone has time or feels comfortable with writing a long article for our news magazine so I decided to try something different for the Spring issue. I am asking for "best resource" examples from counselors across NC in order to include a "Top 10 or 20" list from the experts who use these materials each day. Counselors can include bibliotherapy books, videos, counselor workbooks, or anything that has become a "go to" resource for them. I would like to open this up to my blog readers, too.  If you have a resource you could not live without in your professional work, please fill out the information below and share it with me.  I will include all shared resources in an upcoming blog post so EVERYONE has a chance to save the list for future PTA funds or school counseling purchases.  Happy Counseling Y'all! ~ Angela