You're Hired!

So, the EOGs are done, and my school did great! I'd like to think our awesome EOG pep rally pushed everybody over the top, but I know it's really due to all the hard work from our staff and students this year. I will say, though, the third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers rocked it out at the pep rally. We had everything from Uptown Funk to Maroon Five to my personal favorite, Meaghan Trainor.

This year I changed the words to "If Your Lips are Movin'" and my media specialist and I did a live performance of the song after an American Idol type skit involving other specialists and our administration. Imagine in your head--- "If your lips are movin', if your brains are movin', if your answers are groovin' then you'll fly, fly, fly baby!  YES, it was special!!! There is video evidence of this performance, which I am trying to edit so I can share it with you (too many kids' faces in it right now).  A post-performance photo is below of my media specialist and me (I'm the pencil.....ha!).

Luckily for all, I have not been hired as a singer, but I have been hired at a new job for next year. WHAT?! Yes, it's true!!! Big changes are coming for Groovy Mrs. Poovey as my family MOVES to the Charlotte area this summer.  My house is sold and I have a new job at a school that I am very excited to join!

Many school counselors, whether new grads or veterans, are in job search mode this time of year, and it can be a little nerve-wracking to interview for a new position. I have only interviewed two other times in the past 10 years and have been thankful to be offered positions both times. This third experience also went well, and I was truly impressed by the quality of questions my future administrator and co-counselor asked thanks to their fantastic central office school counseling personnel. If you are preparing for an interview, prep by brainstorming answers for some of the questions below (Not exact wording but paraphrased versions).

  1.  What are some examples of school-wide programs you  have been responsible for?

2.  Give an example of how you have addressed the academic domain this year? Personal/social domain? Career domain?

3.  What are examples of small group topics you have addressed this year?

4.  What small group counseling techniques do you use with students?

5. What are some examples of topics you have addressed in classroom guidance this year?

6. What bullying interventions do you implement?

7.  How do you motivate students to be career and college ready?

8.  What's your vision for your school counseling program

I also had to give responses to two hypothetical situations involving crisis situations and how I would handle them at the school.  There were many more questions, but those are the ones that stood out the most.  It was the best interview to hire a school counselor that I have ever been a part of, no matter whether I was the one interviewing or being interviewed. Kudos to them because they really know who they are getting as a school counselor!  

If you have any other interview or resume questions, feel free to contact me while it is fresh on my mind and GOOD LUCK to those who are job searching!

Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

Believe. Imagine. Create.

I can't believe that a week from today I will be in Orlando at my first ASCA conference having just finished my breakout session presentation.  I am so psyched in anticipation of the keynote speakers, breakout presenters, receptions, and general overall atmosphere I will encounter as we live the conference theme and plan to "Build Magical Futures."  Even more exciting is the news I got last week that Michelle Obama has been added to the agenda for Tuesday...wow, what a special first conference experience to hear a keynote address from the First Lady! As a school counselor, I especially love her quote to the side because it speaks volumes about priorities and the calling I serve each day with my students.

I truly hope that if any of you are in Florida next week or have friends attending the ASCA conference that you (or they) will stop by during or after my session on Monday afternoon at 3:45 to say hi. I can't wait to meet new colleagues and learn from everyone!

Another last piece of news that I am pumped about is that I FINALLY opened a TPT store for Life on the Fly School Counselor. It was one of my goals for the summer so I'm glad to cross it off my list while it's still June. I will continue to put items on my Life on the Fly Store page, but the majority of my new material will be introduced at my TPT store here.  I hope you will visit me soon!

Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

School's Out for Summer........

AAAHHHHHH.....the first day of summer vacation!  That time when all your summer days are lined up in front of you waiting for adventures, relaxation, fun, and checklists filled with all the things you wanted to do during the school year but didn't have time to do!  It's fun to daydream about all the things you can pack in before the days start whizzing by.  I have a couple of "must do's" that I will share later in the summer, but I wanted to reflect on a couple of fun events from the last days of school.

I was able to get into the fifth grade classrooms following our EOGs to deliver my middle school transition lessons.  You may remember reading about those last year here.  They went really well again, and I added a memory mural activity at one of the centers.  I later posted it during the fifth grade dance so kids could see what their classmates had written. Check it out....

I also wanted to end the year with some positive recognition for our staff who worked SO hard this year amid changes in administration and new district initiatives.  One of our kindergarten teachers had done end of year awards at another school so we used that as a starting point for our first annual Cleveland ES staff awards.  There were eleven categories:  Leadership, MVP, Olympian, Fashion Plate, Mystery, Wild and Wacky, Unforgettable, Jester, Extra Special, Great Ideas, and Star Quality. I created a PowerPoint and made award "props" that will be passed on each year to the next recipient as we continue this tradition.  Luckily, there were lots of ties for first place and honorable mentions were given to all so everyone was included! Here are a few pics of our happy award winners with their certificates and prizes (mine is the Wild and Wacky award with the blue wig :)--go figure!).  

Our last bonding experience of the year was creating our very own "kick off to summer"  video inspired by other teachers' summer videos on YouTube (see our creation below).  It was an awesome way to de-stress and get some fun back after the slammed schedule of EOGs, awards days, graduation, and the end of the year pack-up.  I certainly hope all of you are HAPPY  about summer break and hope to hear from you!                          Enjoy and Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

What Does the Fox Say?! EOGS!

You probably aren't surprised to see the picture above.  If nothing else, this blog documents my passion for kids, my love for having fun in my job, and my lack of concern about embarrassing myself on a regular basis.  So, when conversations started about our EOG pep rally this year, I decided to go big or go home! The video below on YouTube was my inspiration to use "What Does the Fox Say?" as our performance song for the third, fourth, and fifth grade EOG pep rally.

I ordered my fox costume on Ebay, and it was sent straight from China to my doorstep in a matter of weeks.  My co-counselor, the fabulous Amanda Collins, got her shirt for $5 from Walmart (our kind of price!) to fit in with the theme.  We changed the words up a bit, and I choreographed my own pop and lock dance routine at the end to give the performance a little extra pop! I also decided to include the students in the performance and created an iMovie that I played before the song began.  I asked a variety of third, fourth, and fifth grade students what their parents or teachers said they should do to pass the EOGs. Then, we segued into "what the fox says...."  Needless to say, the staff and students loved it! Check it out below.

Also, I finally got to use a great idea I saw awhile ago on Pinterest for the days of the EOGS. I headed to my school this past weekend and decorated the sidewalks leading from the carpool line and the bus loop.  As students arrived this morning to test, there were words of inspiration and encouragement greeting them as they walked in the school.  Hope your last days of school go well!

Enjoy and Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

Double Take: What Are You Going to be Next Year?

You  probably remember that I asked my fifth grade students during their middle school transition lessons what they wanted to be next year. I think it's that time of year where I, and all educators, need to ask ourselves that same question. I went through a lot of changes this year starting in a new county and a new school.  I was hired seven days before school started so I didn't have the luxury of taking a lot of time to plan my counseling space or reflect on data that would help me shape my school counseling program.  This year will be different.  I know my co-workers.  I know my administration and the students.  I know the school culture and how I need to go about delivering my school counseling program.  So, I'm thinking, "What do I want to be next year?"

I have some data to help me answer this question so that I can focus on specific objectives Day One of next year. Some of my data came from an end of the year survey I gave to my colleagues the last week of school.  I used Google Docs and created a nine question form that covered individual counseling, small group counseling, classroom guidance, and some schoolwide programs (see below to get a sense of what I asked).  Then, I emailed it to the staff as a form so they didn't even have to click on any links or open other windows.  The results provided some really positive perception data, which I can format into charts and graphs and use for planning purposes, as well as share with my administration.

I also went through attendance data and behavior data that I had been gathering all year so I would have some concrete baseline data for interventions next year. 

Now, I love my summer so I won't be burning the midnight oil on school stuff all the time.  However, there are some fun things (and some more boring things) I can't wait to finally have time to piddle with.  It doesn't feel like work when I am on my porch with fun snacks, enjoying the weather, and can really think about some of the new ideas I want to try.  So, here is a list of what I'll be writing about this summer:

                              Top 5 List of Summer 2013
1.  Decorating my office....Yay!  I already have some fun inspiration from Pinterest of projects I want to make for my office, and I kind of started during a little during workdays. I want to hear your ideas, too!
2.  Working on grants-  I have been only mildly successful in earning grants for some of the projects I want to try at school. So, I am going to give it a shot over summer and step up my game!
3.  Researching books-  Student book clubs are a huge love of mine, and I have some reading to do to find new material  for next year.
4.  Guidance Essential Standards- I am going to work hard to organize the essential standards into a matrix that works for my classroom guidance schedule.  If you know of something like this that already exists, please share! I certainly don't need to re-invent the wheel.
5.  Business connections-  I want to establish some community partnerships in my NEW community now that I have gotten my bearings this year. I was able to have community support in so many of my interventions at my previous school, and it's time to get to work building new connections for character bag goodies, speakers, certificates, etc.

So, it looks like I will be busy but IN A GOOD WAY, AT MY OWN LEISURE, and that reminds me of this cute card. Love that website!   Happy Counseling  ~  Angela

What Are YOU going to be next year?

What Are YOU going to be next year?  That is the way I am starting my middle school transition lessons this week as I furiously try to see all of my fifth grade students before we end school on Friday.  I will admit, being in charge of testing this year has truly cut into the meaningful "transition to middle school" groups, lessons, and individual conferencing that I used to be able to do with my  fifth graders. However, that is my reality, and I am not going to let my fifth graders graduate without having some discussion about middle school next year.

I am going into each fifth grade classroom for an hour lesson this week.  When I ask them what they are going to be next year, there are lots of things I am referencing. For fun, we are going to match the different mascots to the feeder middle schools my students attend on a Smartboard lesson I have prepared.  Most of them are going to be RAMS next year, as they make their way to the middle school next door. Some will be Eagles or Mustangs.  However, I also want to focus on what they are going to be in terms of their reputations and the types of students and friends they want to be in middle school.   I also want to impart some practical information like how to open combination locks and how they can make sure they get to class on time so they will be prepared.

I plan on showing the following YouTube video "How to Open A Combination Lock" to the whole class.  It is a short visual that will help all the students before we practice locks later in the lesson.
Next, students will divide up among three different Middle School Stations, spending 10-15 minutes at each one as we rotate through all the stations.

Station #1

Combination  Locks:  Students will have a chance to practice opening combination locks with adult assistance (ME!) in a small group.  I bought 9 of these basic combination locks from Walmart that were sold in packs of three.

Station #2

School Map/Survey:  I am doing a couple activities at this center because I need to use computers and there are not 9 computers in my fifth grade classrooms.  Students will alternate between going to a computer and answering survey questions on a Google Form that I made and doing a school map activity.  The Google Form is pretty straightforward (see the live form to the right).  My purpose is to get them thinking about some of their feelings about middle school so we can have discussion about steps they can take over summer to minimize nervous feelings and maximize excitement.  As students complete their surveys, they will return to the station and complete a school map activity with my co-counselor.

One of my lovely feeder middle schools gave me an electronic copy of their school map, as well as all the schedule information I would need to take my fifth graders through a typical day in sixth grade.  Each of my fifth graders will get a paper copy of the school map, and we will let them draw their route through the school as they change classes, go to lunch, attend specials, and dismiss.  Experience has taught me that two of the top fears fifth graders have are getting lost in school or being late when they switch classes. It seems to really help them relax when they see that three minutes really is enough time to go to the classroom next door when they have to move to second period. 

Station #3

My final station focuses on what students want to be in terms of their reputation and friendships.  I modified a Friendship Rating Scale that comes from the book Salvaging Sistehood, a wonderful resource I have used for years written by a fantastic Wake County counselor, Julia V. Taylor. The students rank the traits #1 to #15 that are most and least important to them in choosing friends.  Then, they reflect on if they want to change anything about the way they choose friends in middle school.  It is a great conversation starter in terms of what is really important in a friend and the material things that don't matter.

After all three of my rotations are complete, we will come back together as a whole class and give the highlights of each station.  I plan to show the electronic copy of the school map on the Smartboard to discuss any difficulties or suggestions students have for getting around.  We will also look at the Google survey results to see what students are most excited about and nervous about for next year, as well as the top traits students want in their friends. 

I can't wait to see how the kids like the lessons and am excited to try my kiddos these last few days.  Happy Counseling!

 Angela

Skyping: Part II

I am finally able to post the results of my Skyping activity with the The TASIS American School in England.  It was such a fun activity and was a lot easier to organize than I originally thought it would be.  We chose 9:20am EST (2:20pm England time) to Skype with the international students. When I got to Ms. Liberto’s classroom to prep the students before our Skype appointment, we handed out the ten question cards the students had brainstormed the day before.  I set up my laptop with a chair in front of it so the international students would be able to see and hear our students easily.   We could see their class on Ms. Liberto’s Smartboard, which worked well in allowing everyone to see.  

We directed the students from Ms. Liberto’s class who were asking questions  to introduce themselves before beginning their question.  It was  so cute to hear the first student say, “Hi.  My name is Willy, and this is my question.”  The students had a great time discussing recess
 games, playgrounds, classwork, uniforms, cereal and snack food, and so much more! My second graders gasped when they realized the international students had read some of the same books as them this year.  They were also amazed by the description of a “treehouse playground” at the international school.  The similarities among the two schools and student far outweighed the differences overall.

Afterwards, my students enjoyed discussing the similarities and differences at their tables and created “Friend Venn’s” as a final product for the activity.    What a fun way to learn about diversity!

Discussing the Friend Venn’s (left) and showing
   the final products (below).