Individual, Individual, Individual!

True Life: It is Hard to Blog During the Week!  But finally, I can steal a couple of minutes to sit down at my computer and write about the week.  I have been busy seeing individual students because of my new mailbox.  I brought it with me during the first counselor introduction lesson and kids have been filling it up!  I've found that it's pretty easy to weed through the notes to find the "emergencies" versus the "small stuff" but I know that even the small stuff is a big deal to those students.

Most of the student referrals have been about getting along with people in their class.  When I meet with them, I try to give them some tools that they can use to solve their problem themselves.  We discuss Heart Talk and The Feedback Game [When someone gives you feedback about yourself- good or bad- ask yourself these questions: 1) Does this match what I know about myself? 2) Did the person who gave me this feedback have my best interest at heart? 3) Will this help me become a better person?  If NO is the answer, you reject the feedback with positive self talk!]

Some of my friends have needed to talk about things going on in their family, and I have been keeping a little list for students to add to a group when they get started.  Also, I've gotten to help some friends learn to self-monitor their behavior in class!  It's been lots of fun to get letters from students who want to talk with me about things going on in their life.  One sweet little 2nd grade filled my bucket by leaving me this note: "Dear Mrs. Kendrick I love you and you are a good guidance counselor."  :)  Do you have a system for letting kids self-refer themselves to you?  I'd love to hear about it!