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

I've got the MAGIC in me...........

I know we have a few more days before National School Counseling Week officially starts, but I feel like CELEBRATING early! It's a snow day in NC, which doesn't happen very often, and we actually got a decent accumulation. So, as I sit by my fireplace and write about school counselor's week, I want to celebrate you!!!  Next week, I hope people give you big high fives and write you notes telling you how great you are.  I hope kids draw you pictures and you get special treats. I hope your principal buys you lunch! However, even if no one else acknowledges you  (I speak from previous experience), know that you ARE making a difference and planting the seeds of change for many students.  Each time you greet someone with a smile during arrival, give a crying child a hug, or help a student solve a problem, you are making your school a happier, more caring place for kids.  So, think about how you want to highlight the great work you are doing and ponder these tips if you are still planning for School Counseling Week 2014.


1. Include students in your celebration.  Last year I handed out puzzle pieces to each of my classrooms and asked them to draw or write a picture of something they had learned from the school counselors. I got so many GREAT pictures back and then put the puzzle back together on a bulletin board. This year I am doing something similar so that everyone is included, but my individual pieces are going to create a different type of image. Just wait and see................

2.  Thank your teachers for being part of your SUCCESS as a school counselor!  It is very difficult to be a great school counselor unless you have good relationships with your teachers.  They are the rock stars who are on the front lines every day noticing the subtle changes in their students, seeing who walks in without a coat, alerting you if grades suddenly drop or if a child has a mark on his or her cheek.  Sure, we notice these things too, but we can't lay our eyes on every child every day like 40+ teachers can.  Good relationships with teachers also make planning your classroom guidance lessons, small group sessions, and individual counseling meetings SO.MUCH.EASIER. I appreciate my teachers who say "sure, take them" each time I ask for a student more than they know. So, thank them.  My co-counselor and I have been busy making preparations so we can host a small breakfast celebration the first day of School Counselor's Week. It is nothing fancy, but I hope my teachers know it is done with much love. Picture to come.......

3.  Have a theme!!! Let's just put it out there....themes are fun and get people excited. So, pick a theme. You can go with the ASCA theme ---- School Counselors: Building Magical Futures (hence the title of this post), borrow an idea from someone else, or come up with your own!! I piggybacked on the "magic" part of ASCA's theme this year but put my own spin on it.  You can DRESS UP to go with your theme (yes, I will be, of course!), use it to make something cutesy to put in your teachers' boxes, or simply incorporate it into a bulletin board. It can be simple! ASCA has some ideas here and you can join the ASCA SCENE discussion even if you are not an ASCA member.  Of course Pinterest has tons of ideas, too, so get pinning!

4. Say "Thank You."  Next week, if people tell you how great you are as a school counselor, just say "thank you" and smile. Sometimes school counselors don't own their "magic."  We would rather fly under the radar and just keep giving like we do every day. Resist the temptation to downplay yourself next week. Let your bucket be filled and enjoy it!

And just in case you need anything else to pump you up for next week.............
Happy Counseling! ~ Angela

Head Elf

Leadership is a fascinating topic to me. I have had eight principals in my nine years of being a school counselor, and I love observing how different people manage and lead a school.  Whether I worked for a principal for four months or four years, I have gleaned something from each distinct personality.  It has truly given me a broad perspective of leadership styles.

I strive to be a leader as I carry out my school counseling functions and that includes encouraging leadership in those around me. I came across this Ted Talk video that speaks to the vision I have for leadership and the impact I can only hope to make each day among students, families,and staff.

  http://www.ted.com/talks/drew_dudley_everyday_leadership.html


As you guessed by my title, there is more to this story than the video clip above.  I've talked in previous posts about choosing to be a leader as it relates to school climate and a positive school environment for the staff at my school (remember the Easter egg hunt?!). After Thanksgiving break I decided we all needed to have a little fun as we dealt with MAP testing, MClass progress monitoring, exhaustion, and holiday stress before the winter break. So, my principal graciously agreed to adopt a new member into our school family and STAR was introduced to the staff.

Each day, STAR has a new message for staff members as they go about their daily activities. I also post a picture of where STAR was the day before in our daily staff email just in case teachers didn't get a chance to find her.  It has been a big hit so far, although there was some confusion on the first day when a teacher assistant thought you were supposed to turn STAR into the office for a prize if you found her. I quickly sent out an email reminding everyone not to touch her and referencing the Elf on the Shelf movie. Ha! As a side note, I only hide STAR in teacher areas so no children have been involved in this activity. It is solely for the staff.  What are you doing to spread holiday cheer?  Any good ideas for what STAR should  do next?!

Happy Counseling! ~ Angela (AKA Head Elf)

Visibility: Part II

Do your staff members know what you do at school? Are they aware of the value you bring to students, parents, other staff members, administration, and the community as a whole?  Advocacy is an important word that school counselors use when we are talking about students.  We want to advocate for students who may not be having their voices heard so they can be successful at school.  However, we also need to advocate for ourselves as professional school counselors. 

Our job is often measured in changes that may go unnoticed by others during the fast-paced, high stress weeks of school (surely that's not just my school ;o)  ); the child who can finally walk down the hallway to class instead of crying and fighting to stay in the car every morning because they know you will be there to help them, the student who doesn't mind taking Accelerated Math tests anymore because you worked with her on positive thoughts and anxiety, and the student who went from four negative reports home a week to zero because you worked on and kept practicing specific behaviors for the classroom.  These are all great improvements, but we have to do more.  Here are some examples:

1.  Morning Show/Newsletter/Website/Parent Letters: I am certain that most  school counselors have websites and may send home updates about what they are doing at school.  If not, it is a great way to inform parents of the lessons, programs, groups, etc. that you are offering at school. I used to have a Weebly website, which I loved, until I moved to a new county that didn't allow it. Now, I just use the template that is required and don't get to have as many of the bells and whistles on my site. However, I am lucky to be included in the "Specialist" (music, PE, art,  etc.) quarterly newsletter that is sent home to all students. I write up my articles about what I am doing and make sure to include my website link so parents can access additional information.

 Also, I LOVE going on the Morning Show at our school to talk about events that are going on.  My media specialist is great about fitting me in whenever I want.  I even made this GoAnimate cartoon to share during the Morning  Show at the beginning of the year, although I am still waiting for the correct cord to make it technically possible to show it to ALL students (some have seen it in groups with me).   Check it out:
School Counselor Intro by apoovey on GoAnimate


2. Staff Meetings:  Each year I request to be put on the agenda at an opening staff meeting so I can share my plans for the year.  I include any new information that has been passed down from the county  level, an overview of my annual plan for the year, and my specific action plans based on data.  I use PREZI because it is perfect for my goal of just focusing on the "big picture" information while I verbally share the details, and it is much more engaging to watch.  Here are some examples of information I include.

I love the ASCA National Model so I want my staff to have at least heard of this framework. I also reintroduced the Guidance Essential Standards to them this year after mentioning it at another staff meeting last year.

Here are my action plans for the year written in a very general way.  I focus on one specific plan for each of the ASCA domains (academic, personal/social, and career), and then I always include a plan addressing attendance. If kids aren't at school, how can they be successful?!

The annual plan information gives an overview of how I will be interacting with them during the year:  classroom guidance, small groups, schoolwide programs, and monthly activities that will involve them.

3.  School Advisory Council:  I haven't always had a school advisory council, but I think it is a good way to get feedback and publicize your program. The people included are my fantastic co-counselor,  a 3-5 teacher who is also a parent, an administrator who is also a parent, a specialist, and a K-2 teacher. I am also on the School Improvement Team, which allows me to share a lot of information about what I am doing, but I like that the advisory council's sole focus is the school counseling program.

Whatever strategies you use, make sure to let people know that your job as a school counselor is essential to the students, staff, and families you work with each day.   Happy Counseling!  ~Angela

New and Shiny

There is a lot of "NEW" in my school this year, which is not a bad thing. In fact, it's pretty exciting! We have ALL new administrators, some new teachers, new schedules and roles....most importantly, not being the "testing coordinator" due to the Safe Schools Act that was passed by the NC Legislature in July (thank you!). I am now teaching specials to Kindergarten for 45 minutes each day, but I think it will be a great opportunity to have built-in classroom guidance for a grade level that can really use a lot of proactive instruction on character traits, social skills,  work habits, etc.

With all the changes,  I have found that a larger chunk of my time has been spent welcoming in the new.  Our theme chosen by my principal for the school year is "ALOHA" - welcoming the new while also acknowledging that it is sad to say goodbye to the old.  You can see my co-counselor and I embraced our Hawaiian theme the first workday- what fun!

We also have been embracing the new and trying to be welcoming ambassadors for our school.  Here are some examples:

Welcoming New Staff

Check out these cards we gave to our new teachers!

We also created a bulletin board to introduce our new staff (our mascot is the STARS) to students, parents, and colleagues.  We are going to use the map in the middle for new student groups and place stars where our new students are from....incorporating a little Social Studies!

Welcoming Our Parents and Students



We couldn't forget to welcome our parents and students at Open House and remind them how school counselors can help during the school year.  I love the bobbleheads!











Also, I can't wait to pass out some of these fun sticky notes to my colleagues this year.  They are from Knock Knock Stuff, and even if you can't find these exact ones, there are some similar ones here.  Being in a positive school environment is so important to me, and I want to do my part to make someone else's day!

What are you doing to welcome new staff members or students? I would love to hear!

Happy Counseling!   ~ Angela

Don’t Forget the Fun…..Staff Morale Boosters

Do you ever feel like the month of March inches by, as if Spring break will never come? I certainly do, and with four days remaining until this long awaited vacation, I decided to do something fun for our staff as part of our Recruitment and Retention committee....our first annual staff Easter egg hunt!

I thought the egg hunt would be a great morale booster for the last few days, as I believe one essential aspect of my job is to contribute to a positive school climate.  Each day, I think about what I'm doing to help kids be excited for school from the moment I go to morning carpool duty and start smiling and waving to each car (EVEN when my hands are frozen in 30 degree weather) to the moment I say goodbye to my last carpool student in the afternoon.  When I run out of steam at bedtime, I often think about the amount of energy I expend being enthusiastic and positive with the people around me.  And don't get me wrong, there are definitely days where I don't feel "up", but I do my best to find the good in what's happening around me.  Luckily, I work with a FANTASTIC staff that makes it a lot easier to feel great at school, and I wanted to focus on doing something fun for them.

To get started with the egg hunt, I raided my children's Easter egg baskets for some plastic eggs and got candy as well as more eggs donated by my principal, co-counselor, and other staff members.  Then, I had some fun with the "Hey Teacher" quotes that have been made so famous by Ryan Gosling.  I took the school appropriate comments and printed quote strips, shortening some that would have otherwise been too risque for school purposes.  If you have never been to the Hey Girl Teacher Tumblr website, click below to see tons of examples.  They are a MUST READ for educators!


               

Next, I added a quote and piece of candy to each egg.  My co-counselor and I had a great time hiding them in classrooms and in each hallway of the school. We will refill and re-hide the eggs as staff members turn them in so we can make the egg hunt last all the way through Thursday. 

And, if an Easter egg hunt isn't going to work for your school, consider these other morale boosters shared by the "Connected Principals" blog, which is a great source for getting different perspectives on schoolwide issues and ideas. I particularly love this You Tube Validation video that could be shared during a staff meeting.  After all, what staff member doesn't need more of that?!!  Happy Counseling!
Angela