Off to the Races.....

Here's to another school year!  We are "Off to the Races" at my elementary school with a Kentucky Derby theme this year. Each August we receive our principal's welcome back letter that gives our surprise theme, and I was really excited to see that we were doing a horse racing theme. Luckily, I already had a hat to wear to our opening meeting, and we had a great time dressing up!  Check out my friend Maggie (left) and me (right) below.  I also love a BACK TO SCHOOL SALE and am offering a sale tomorrow at my TPT store. If there's something you've had your eye on, now's the time to grab it up!

After the derby festivities, I had to get focused and start prioritizing because there are so many things to do!  My list has gone something like this:
1.  Organize my office
2.  Welcome and introduce myself to new staff members
3.  Get prepared for county professional development for school counselors
4.  Get prepared for "Meet the Teacher"

I already mentioned I was planning on creating a tree in my office in my last post here.  I focused on that for part of the optional workday last Friday, and I could not be more pleased with how it turned out, especially since I was kind of winging it with my design.  

I hot glued brown bulletin board paper to my wall for the trunk and added the tree hollow.  Then, I twisted up the same bulletin board paper to create the branches.  The leaves were created in different shades of green with my trusty Silhouette die-cut machine, and I hung two paper lanterns I found on clearance at Target to give it a whimsical feel.  Then, I used my die-cut machine for "The Giving Tree" letters. I can't wait for the kids to see it!  

I also put up my Big Deal Problem Scale numbers that I use for perspective-taking activities with my students who tend to catastrophize (more info at my TPT store here).  We will attach problem situations to the clothespin line above the numbers as we brainstorm coping skills. 

With those changes and a new paper cover on my table, I think my office is ready to go for now!

I also wanted to welcome and introduce myself to the new staff, particularly the classroom teachers who I will be working with closely as I help students.  I found these cute tags on Pinterest (go figure!) and printed them on white cardstock.  Then, I attached them to hand soap from Michael's (about $0.85 each after the teacher discount).  I taped a brief list of things I can help them with this year on the front:  Classroom guidance, small group referrals, RtI, parent conferences, behavior contracts, etc., and asked them to post it near their computer so they will have my phone extension and can call me. We have a large group of new teachers this year, and I have a new part time co-counselor so there will be a lot of time spent helping create a positive school culture and building relationships with our new Cleveland Stars.

I am presenting at county staff development tomorrow and can't wait to have our whole group together in one place.  I believe we have a great vision for our PLC this year as we plan to implement more components of the ASCA National Model.  In support of this goal, I will be presenting on the ABCs of the ASCA National Model and will give an overview of the next steps we plan to take as elementary school counselors. More details to come in a future post....

Finally, I was able to spruce up the main hallway and complete the FOUR (yes, FOUR!) bulletin boards I am responsible for during the year.  In keeping with the race theme, I updated my character board where character trait award nominees will be recognized each month. Check out the jumping gates! Each grade level's picture  will go above them. 

You may remember my map from the College Madness post.  This time, I am using it to post stars on the places our new students have moved from after I meet with them in new student groups. I may also list their names or take their picture, depending on how many new students we have. 
  
Next, I wanted to introduce my new co-counselor and continued my tradition of caricatures by turning us into "horse jockeys" as students are reminded of how school counselors can help them during the year! I don't think there's anything more entertaining than seeing your teachers, TAs, school counselors, administrators, etc. as bobbleheads! Kids love them!

Last, I am already preparing for my goal-setting lessons in September and my Career and College month in October and made a "Goals, Grades, Graduation...Go For It!" college pinwheel bulletin board. I'll give more details on how I did it later but wanted to share my pic for now.

As you can see, I have been B.U.S.Y. but having fun! I can't wait to see all my students at Meet the Teacher on Thursday.  I hope each of you has a fantastic start to the school year (if you haven't started already)!                
                     Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

What's on Your Summer Reading List? Book Clubs!

I may be getting ahead of myself, but there are less than 30 days of school left of the 2013-2014 year, and this weekend weather got me thinking about summer vacation.  I love to read and don't get enough time to indulge myself during the school year so I try to catch up during summer vacation. Often, I am researching books that I want to use with parents or students.

I am about to complete my first virtual parent book club and read the book I am using, Talking Back to Facebook, last summer.  The virtual book club, which I organized through Edmodo, has been a really cool experience.  I wanted to focus on Internet safety and online/social media awareness since I am a co-sponsor of the Cleveland Stars Technology Club at my school---check out our student blog here.  I targeted the parents of my tech club members since their children are clearly interested in online projects and technology and also posted the book club opportunity on my webpage.  We are a small group, but it has been perfect for my first endeavor.

Our first group meeting was in person at my school, and I provided refreshments as a fun kick-off event.  I shared the reading schedule with the ladies, although we got off a little bit with snow days here and there, and discussed what they were most interested in learning about.  Each week I post discussion questions related to the assigned chapters and also present a website resource and/or popular app review to the members.  Everyone posts responses to the questions as they are able during the week so we get a variety of perspectives on the challenges, concerns, and successes of navigating the digital world with children.  I should also mention that the author of this book, James P. Steyer, is the founder of Common Sense Media and his website is a GREAT resource for parents and educators alike as it reviews pretty much every media source you would encounter--apps, websites, movies, tv shows, video games, etc.

Also in book news, I recently finished a fantastic book club with some fifth grade students that was designed to help them learn to cope with anxiety. I mentioned in my post here that I have seen more anxiety in my students this year than I ever have before.  Luckily, Because of Mr. Terupt was on my reading list this past summer so I had the perfect book to use in book club with my students.  I have talked a lot about my book clubs on the Book Club Page of my blog so I won't re-hash how I run everything when you can read about it here. There is also a short summary of Mr. Terupt on that page, which I have now updated since reading the book.  I will say that this book club group was one of my most favorite EVER, and my pre/post data was FANTASTIC.  Every child decreased their self-report Likert scale anxiety rating on my post survey compared to the pre-survey, and EVERY teacher reported seeing less anxiety in their students on the teacher post survey.

I changed things up a little this year and let my students take their books home a couple of times after they asked me to do so....they really wanted to see what happened with the characters!  It did help because the book is 268 pages long, although it reads MUCH faster with lots of short chapters.  It is also an awesome book to use when addressing perspective-taking skills because each chapter is written from the viewpoint of a different character, and they are often describing the same event in multiple ways.

I have been asked several times to create book club materials by school counselors who are interested in running book clubs at their school, and I finally made time to put everything together.  The 25-page Because of Mr. Terupt book club activity pack is now available at my Life on the Fly Store.  I will tell you that it is extremely comprehensive and includes everything you would need to create your student workbooks and get started right away:  a parent permission letter, student pre/post surveys, teacher pre/post surveys and all the other student sheets listed in the user's guide below.

I hope it will be helpful to you and  you will love this book as much as I have! If you are more interested in another book that I have mentioned using in book club, send me an email.  The others will be coming as soon as I can carve out some more time.    Also, I really have started making my summer reading list for the summer.  So far, I am interested in the following books (not all are for books clubs as I use different resources for my lessons, Career Cafe events, etc.):

Happy Counseling and Enjoy! ~ Angela

Guest Blogger: Get Ready for Testing!

                          *Check out new vinyl at the Life on the Fly Store

 I'm starting a new series of guest blogging on Life on the Fly.  Collaboration isn't just a "buzz word" for me, it's what I live and breathe each day.   I want to share what counselors all across the state (and nation) are doing at their schools and give different perspectives of how you can implement an effective school counseling program. Maybe you have a great idea but don't have the time or desire to write a regular blog; this is your chance! If you would like to share a great idea and be a guest blogger, let me know.

Rebecca Atkins is a veteran and brilliant school counselor at Cameron Park Elementary School in Hillsborough, NC. She previously worked in Wake County and has been the school counselor of the year for NCSCA and Wake County. She has a blog connected to her great Cameron Park school website found here.

I am so excited to do a guest post here at Life on the Fly.  Angela and I know each other in "real life" so I am stoked to be able to that we can now connect blog-style.

With the increase in pressure related to standardized testing, I have doubled my focus on academic counseling and support.  In the past, elementary counselors didn't do too much with academics and seemed to learn towards the feelings side of things.  Well, my friends, the writing is on the wall and passing the test academic success is the number one things on everyone's minds. 

Over a two weeks span I am going to be starting academic groups for 51 students.  Whew- have I lost my mind?! Maybe! I run groups for 3-5 during lunch and will be having 3rd, 4th, and 5th academic groups every day except for Thursday (Lunch Bunch Day).  I have already talked about how I choose students and how we focus on goal setting over on my blog.  I thought over here on  Life on the Fly, we could talk about some of the fun activities that we do and even include a FREE PRINTABLE!

Adults aren't the only ones feeling a lot of pressure! s The kids are being crushed by the amount of pressure they are under.  This is in elementary school!  As part of our academic achievement group, we talk a lot about handling stress and pressure.  Of my 51 students starting the group, almost half had teachers rate handling stress and pressure as one of their top two areas of concern.  Because of this, we have 2 sessions related to managing stress.

How does stress affect our brain? Bottom line- stress is bad for our memory.  What is learning? A lot of remembering! To make this point we watch a YouTube video about scientific research into stress and memory.  We discuss why stress is bad for memory and how memory is related to learning.  The kids in the group are always really interested in this connection and eager to share their stresses. i ask students to write down things that cause them stress on a post-it.  While they are working, I divide the white board into four quadrants:  home, school, friends, and other.  When students have finished a post-it, they can place it in the appropriate quadrant.

Once our white board is full, we read them aloud -- stacking like items together -- and brainstorm ways to manage that stress.  As the students talk, I write their ideas on the board.  When we're done we have a list of ideas about managing stress.  I take a picture with my phone and print the picture to place in their group folder.

In our next lesson, we pinpoint a big stressor:  test anxiety.  Since this session is towards the end of the group, it usually takes place a few weeks before our big state-mandated test.  Test anxiety is on everyone's minds!  To make it fun -- we play a game! Here is your amazing FREE PRINTABLE! To play -- each person rolls a die and then completes the calming strategy listed.  When you've rolled that number you can cross out the picture.  First person to cross off 6 numbers wins! If you roll the same number twice, you get to practice that strategy again!

I hope you find these stress lessons helpful! For more information, please feel free to contact me at Rebecca.atkins@orange.k12.nc.us  Have a stress-free end of the school year!

     Awesome ideas, Rebecca! Enjoy and Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

Dollar Spot

It is no secret that raises have been hard to come by for educators in the great state of NC over the past six years. Even if you are fortunate to be in a better economic situation, we all know that money doesn't grow on trees! I pride myself on being a thrifty shopper whether I'm buying clothes, shoes, home accessories, or SCHOOL COUNSELING supplies.  So, I love it when I can find useful items for cheap to use with my students!

Be sure to check out the $1 spot at Target, (although some things are $2 or $3 even though they call it that), any Dollar Store/Dollar General, and arts and crafts stores....the $1 bins at Michael's are my  new favorite; they have been getting some really good stuff lately!

Recently, I found these chalkboard mini signs at Michaels (4/$1) and bought two packs....Winning! I have already used them in a small group to rate anxiety and during a mediation so that students could rate how they were feeling or how things were going between them. I had the students write down their own number without letting anyone else see and then counted down for everyone to show the group at once to start our discussion. I typically use 1-5 (5 being the best) in those situations, although my "Miracle Scale" for ongoing individual counseling does go up to a 10.  Each pack came with one stick of chalk.

I also bought this twine clip string for $1 at Michael's.  I am going to use it in my office décor, although I may cut it in half.  The string is about 15 feet long and there are 12 evenly spaced mini clothespins.   I was given so many great pictures for School Counseling Week, and I think it would be great to display some of them for the rest of the month. Then, I can rotate them out for other pictures students make during individual or group counseling or work products from classroom guidance lessons.  Cute, right?!!! I also have a fun idea of how I can use it with a perspective-taking activity I use with kids in individual counseling. I will post a pic of that in action later!

What dollar finds have you found?!!! Please share!  Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

"SMORE" Communication

Happy Holidays! This will be my last post of 2013 and what a great year it has been! Prior to break on Friday, I was able to wrap up several of my School Success groups and will begin Study Club groups later in January in preparation for the spring EOGs.  We finally got our EOG scores back from the county so I will be looking at that data to create the fourth and fifth grade groups.

In communicating with teachers and parents about my groups, I have started using a great E-tool from the website smore.com.  My co-counselor learned about it at the NCSCA Conference courtesy of Andrea Burston (JYJoyner Counselor Blog), and I love it! The website allows you to make great looking E-flyers that you can share via email or embed on a webpage. I have always sent electronic or print updates to teachers and parents two or three times during my groups so they know what skills we are working on and how they can connect the group to home.  See a previous example here.  However, SMORE makes it so much easier.

The website is free and once you have your initial template, you can simply duplicate your flyer and update the information as you go through your group.  Here is the first School Success Group update I sent to teachers and parents.




 Here is the second update I sent, and I even included my post survey evaluation for parents with an embedded link at the bottom of the flyer. 

The link takes them to a three question Google form, which helps identify any habits they have improved upon since the start of the group.  I outlined how to make Google forms in a previous post here if you need additional information.

 

I have been emailing the flyers because I requested email addresses on my initial group permission form, but you could also print them and send them home if you have parents without access to email or do not have their email addresses. 

Best wishes for a great holiday to you and your families.  I am looking forward to an exciting 2014 full of fun, creativity, and joy in each day!
Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

Balloon, Balloon: Don't Let the Balloon Touch the Ground

I had to use that title for my post because it was one of my most favorite childhood games growing up, and I loved to play it with my sister. I find it completely fantastic that I have been able to incorporate it into my J-O-B. Here's part two of my Ordinary Objects Post - Balloons!

I use balloons in lots of ways at school, many of which I am sure you also use.  Here's a rundown of my favorite uses.

1.  Individual Counseling/Classroom Guidance with students focused on coping with anger, anxiety, or other unpleasant feelings. 

A balloon is extremely powerful in illustrating how feelings can build if you don't use strategies to calm down and release the "not so good" feelings in healthy ways.  I usually let students brainstorm the triggers that have upset them in the current situation or in the past. As they share the triggers with me, I inflate the balloon each time until it is about to pop.  We relate those pent up feelings to exploding in the classroom and making bad choices.  Then, as we discuss, draw, and practice strategies that could help students calm down, I release the air a little at a time until the balloon is completely empty.

 I have also used this idea in a classroom guidance lesson on anger management.  I incorporated the superhero Incredible Hulk and found this You Tube video.  Every time the Hulk growled, I inflated the balloon. Every time he turned back into Bruce Banner (the normal version of himself), I released some air.  It was a great "hook" to introduce the topic of controlling your anger.

2. Skill practice for appropriate social skills, self-regulation, and any other replacement behavior practice a student may need.

We have all seen the icebreaker or conversation starter balls that you can buy through educational companies or on Amazon.com. They are a great resource and can really help you get to know a student or prompt them to start talking about important issues. I decided to create the "do-it-yourself" version and save $20 with a balloon.  I made the balloon pictured to the right for a student who was having a hard time staying in her space and keeping her hands to herself.  I had already done a lesson about your "Hula Hoop Space"  with the entire class so this balloon activity provided her with extra practice to reinforce the skills. I drew lines to divide up the balloon and then listed actions such as "Show Your Hula Hoop Space", "Practice a Good Touch", "Ask Someone to Move Over", and "Sit Criss Cross in your Hula Hoop Space" on the balloon. We would hit the balloon back and forth a few times and when I said STOP, she would practice whatever skill her hand was on.  The other advantage to the DIY version is you can have specific skill practice for a wide range of issues rather than one generic ball.


3.  Teamwork activities in classroom guidance or small group counseling.

I am currently running a "7 Habits of Highly Effective Students"  School Success Group.  Habit #4 is THINK WIN- WIN.  I am using balloons to practice the idea of teamwork and helping everyone around you be successful.  My plan is to take my group into the gym and give them the challenge of moving the balloon from one end of the gym to the other.  The group will earn one point for completing the task and additional points each time every member of the group touches the balloon.  Following the exercise, we will discuss how teammates helped each other get the balloon, how they communicated, and their feelings on whether they liked completing the activity as a team or would rather have completed it independently. 

You could also incorporate one or more balloons in a classroom guidance lesson on teamwork and pass multiple balloons around the room at a time.


How do you use balloons as a school counselor? Please share and.....Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

Ordinary Objects

Two ordinary objects have become permanent fixtures in my office lately:  Balloons and clothes baskets

I wanted to share a few quick ways you can use these inexpensive items, which 99% of us already have at our houses, in your counseling office.  My first post will focus on clothes baskets.

Clothes Baskets:
1.  Goal Setting:  I am doing a "7 Habits of Happy/Highly Effective Kids" small group right now, and I absolutely LOVED the goal setting lesson I did with my students using clothes baskets.  It was an idea I adapted from a Goal Setting presentation at last year's NCSCA Conference (wish I could remember the speaker's name to give credit! Email me if you recognize this activity).

I took my students into the gym during the PE teachers' lunch break.  I had them all stand on one side of the gym and gave them each a frog (you could use a stress ball, rubber ball, etc.).  In the first round, I had them cover their eyes and try to get the frog in their basket. I placed three baskets out for five students so they would have more space for their throwing.  We related this action to going through the school year without an idea or vision for where you are going.

During the second round, I took all three baskets and placed them on the opposite side of the gym, about 30 feet away from the students.  We related this basket "attempt" to choosing goals that are too hard.  In the third round, the baskets were placed right in front of their feet. The students immediately knew that this round showed the goal was too easy.  In the fourth round, the baskets were placed about 10 feet way to signify an appropriate, challenging goal. Most of the students made the basket by their second attempt, but a few took three or four tries. Finally, I held one of the baskets in the fifth round and "assisted" them by moving the basket as they made their toss. We related this round to teachers, parents, and school counselors who will support students in reaching their goals, which can make things easier. 

 

2. Icebreaker Time:  Kids LOVE to try and toss my frogs in the clothes basket when we meet for individual counseling, especially kids that have a hard time sitting still or feel uncomfortable with traditional "talking" at a table.  I find they open up and are much more relaxed if we start talking while playing the frog toss game.  Sometimes we will even take turns and switch once we have gotten a certain number of frogs in the basket.

At first, I was just putting the basket on the other side of my office so I could take shots with my students, but then I got the bright idea of hanging it on a hook that has randomly been on the back of my office door since I moved to my school.  I now call the game Hook Ball.  The new basket placement also frees up floor space in my pretty small office...truly a win-win! Check it out:

3.Skill Practice Motivation:  I met with a student last week who needed to work on prosocial skills (hands to self, talking nicely, working appropriately in centers).  I wanted to make our skill practice more fun, so we turned it into a game.  Each time she got two frogs in the basket, we would stop, model, and practice one of the skills we were working on.  After she practiced, she got to take more shots.  It definitely made our session more enjoyable, and we still talked about her classroom progress while she was playing.

Do you have any other uses for clothes baskets? I would love to hear!  
Happy Counseling ~ Angela

Get Your Read On!

One of my passions is literacy.  I love incorporating bibliotherapy into my classroom guidance lessons and individual counseling. I also love creating book clubs for my small groups.  Last year I presented on book clubs at the annual conference for the North Carolina School Counselor's Association.....a great organization and conference!!! I am in the process of creating a new page on my blog to share the ideas and book suggestions I have used or plan to use in the future. Please come soon to check it out and let me know of any resources you love so we can add suggestions for all.

One of my favorite books clubs was one I did towards the end of last year with fifth grade boys.  We were working on friendship and social skills and read The Strange Case of Origami Yoga by Tom Angleberger.  These boys really got into the whole Star Wars "quirky" theme of the book, and it was one of the best book club experiences I have ever had.  

I start every book club by creating my book question guide, which helps me remember specific themes or passages I want to highlight as we read the book together.  I note the page numbers where characters encounter situations such as bullying, conflict, social difficulties, etc. so I can remember to spark discussion or do an activity with the group.

Then, I create my student books, which include all my activity sheets, pre and post tests, reflection sheets, job sheets, and any other resources I want to make sure we cover in the group.  The kids love having these books to use each week, and it really helps me stay organized since the entire packet is bound together.  I start the group by letting each student decorate his or her cover, (the student name here is covered by the post-it note) and students get to take them home at the end of the group.  Then, they can remember what we discussed in group and use it as a resource in the future.  It also can be shared with parents so they can be involved in emphasizing skills at home.

As we got through the Origami  Yoda book club, we had a lot of fun incorporating literacy objectives.  We wrote summaries for each chapter of the book as we read.  Then, we created a final book review to post on my school counseling website so parents, classmates, or teachers could learn more about the book. We also made origami Yodas using the tutorial at the end of the book and decorated a bulletin board of book club "tweets" with the kids describing what they liked
  best about the book.  We included a QR code for the book review link so any visitors with Smartphones could check it out!
                                                         

The kids had a blast and so did I!   Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

Free Fish Follow-Up....Are We Still Swimming Along?

A couple of months ago I wrote about a few classrooms that were experiencing major Spring fever and not in a good way. There was lots of name calling, eye rolling, and leaving classmates out.  I went into the classrooms and presented videos and the book Simon's Hooks, one of my personal favorites.  The students made "Free Fish" cards, which I shared in a previous post.  Here's an update on what I have done since that lesson.

A positive classroom atmosphere (and school atmosphere for that matter) is of upmost importance to a successful school year.  When I think of achieving the right atmosphere in terms of behavior, I imagine a seesaw of social skills.  Students have to learn how to handle the inevitable conflict that will come up, but they also need to learn how to contribute to a positive environment and create the kind of atmosphere they want to learn in each day. There has to be some action on each side of the seesaw to achieve an optimal environment. In that frame of mind, I started having lunch bunches with students in my target classes to focus on the positive behaviors. As I met with one third of the class in each lunch bunch, I followed up on the free fish strategies and gauged whether students were using the strategies, which  ideas seemed the most helpful, and discussed any other recent conflicts.  Then, I read the book Have You Filled A Bucket Today? with them. This series of books by Carol McCloud (see below for another title I have used in the past) is great for promoting positive behavior, and I have used them in personal/social guidance lessons when I am talking about treating people kindly and making friends, as well as in my introductory school counseling lessons in August.  In fact, I am planning on using them again this August with ALL grade levels and creating a bulletin board similar to the one pictured below using student work created in the lesson.

After reading the book, I challenged my students to a game of Bucket Filling Bingo.  Each student received a bingo card at his or her lunch bunch and was instructed to return it to me when the card was completed (Blackout Bingo Style).  In order to have students really reflect on their bucket filling behaviors, I asked them to write the person's name whose bucket was filled with their action in each specific square.  I included behaviors such as asking someone to play, giving a compliment, saying "I'm sorry", and saying "Good Morning".  The students were really excited and have already been turning in their completed cards. I am giving them a small treat from my prize box when they return it, and I hope this "pay it forward" mentality will create a domino effect that continues throughout the final 21 days of school.  Happy Counseling!

                                          Angela

16 days......That's how many school days are left until the first End of Grade (EOG) test at my school.  Now if that number quickens your pulse or causes you to feel anxious, you are not alone!  I think most teachers, administrators, and school counselors are feeling a little overwhelmed at this time of year (or a lot!) because there is SO MUCH to do between now and the final day of school.  I, for one, just finished coordinating the final MAP assessments at my school for second through fifth grade students and now am trying to fit in all of my school counseling interventions before the next wave of testing hits.  Luckily, I have a fantastic co-counselor who is able to keep our comprehensive school counseling program on track during the testing times.  One of our ASCA (American School Counselor Association) plans this year is focused on creating small EOG groups for students who did not pass the third or fourth grade EOG the first time but did pass it the second time.  We figure those students are on the cusp of passing and our extra attention and support may be enough to help them pass on the first try.

 I used EOG initial and retest data to create the fourth and fifth grade groups.  My school had 15 fourth graders and 14 fifth graders that fit into our target group. My co-counselor sent parent permission letters home and we planned a 4-5 session group, depending on how quickly we can get through each topic.
My co-counselor made each student a small group book (something I do for every small group I run) so that they would have the information in a handy reference guide and could remember what we talked about after our group was over. The groups are being run during recess time and lunch time, depending on the grade level. The main topics we are focusing on are:

• Routines for the nights before and days of the EOG (foods to eat, how to dress, when to go to bed and wake up)
• Multiple Choice Strategies
• Coping strategies if you get nervous 

These are all basic pieces of information that help students feel more confident and prepared when going into the EOG testing days.  They can also be presented as whole group lessons if you are able to get into third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms for guidance lessons prior to the EOG. My favorite parts of the group are:
 
The Test Plan
Each student has the opportunity to visualize and construct their ideal plan for EOG testing days after we discuss each topic.  By the end of the group, the test plan will be completely filled out and ready for students to review on the days leading up to the EOG.  We also encourage students to share their test plan with their parents so everyone can be on the same page on EOG days.

The EOG Fortune Teller
Even if we don't have enough time to complete AND fold the fortune teller in group, it is a FUN and EASY way to review all the strategies we have brainstormed in group.  The kids LOVE these paper games, and I have used them with everything from EOGs to conflict resolution strategies to friendship skills. The students often will take them to recess and help each other fold them after they have filled out each triangle in group. You can find an editable template here.

"I Have, Who Has?" Vocab Game
Icebreakers, games, and other fun activities keep EOG small groups from being another classroom lesson for kids whose favorite thing is probably NOT talking about tests during their recess or lunch period.   This vocabulary game emphasizes the keywords that students should be paying attention to, underlining, or circling when reading passages or word problems on the EOG.  You can make your own game by picking 25 common EOG vocabulary words.   Decide which word you will start the game with.  For example, you might put "In All" on the front of the card.  On the back you would write "I have In All.  Who has the word that is the answer to an addition or multiplication problem"?  The person with the word PRODUCT would stand up, show their word and read the back of their card.  "I have product.  Who has the word that is a number sentence"?  Then, "I have equation....." and so on until every student has the chance to stand up one or two times (depending on if you are using this game for a guidance lesson or small group).  The last person will say "The End" after they have shown the last word.  Kids get to stand up and down, everyone talks, and they have to pay attention to which word is being defined so it's a really engaging game!

End of Group Encouragers
Leave it to Pinterest to have the best ideas for encouraging and motivating students during the EOGs.  In our last session, my co-counselor and I will give a little treat to our small group students for working so hard to prepare themselves for the EOG.  Here are some of my favorites:

I also found THE BEST website called Keep Calm-O-Matic where you can create your very own "Keep Calm" poster and order other merchandise, too.  How cute will this image be on some postcard-sized cardstock with a positive thought message on the back from the school counselor???? Maybe the EOGs won't be so bad after all!

Happy Counseling!

Angela