tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27993168918730073642024-03-13T04:49:01.211-07:00 Confessions of a School Counselor A place where school counselors can share exciting ideas and resources, encourage each other during challenges and celebrate together our successes!Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-79609797688102959812014-02-06T13:13:00.001-08:002014-02-06T13:13:26.345-08:00National School Counseling Week 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy National School Counseling Week to all of you awesome school counselors out there! I didn't do anything grand this year for NSCW, but here is the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwih6zJm8NHlR0trMndKUk1oMlE/edit?usp=sharing">newsletter </a>that I created to keep my staff in the loop with the school counseling program. I view NSCW as a time to continue to advocate for our unique role in the school. A big part of that advocacy is education, so I wanted my newsletter to be informative to let my staff know what I am doing and also what is going on in the school counseling program. Along with their newsletters, I also gave my teachers Dove chocolates for some yummy inspiration :)<br />
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To all school counselors out there, you make a difference each and every day. I am thankful for this blog and the many school counseling blogs that I follow which help me connect to other school counselors. Our collaboration together makes a difference as we continue the challenging and incredibly rewarding job of shaping the lives of our students. You rock!<br />
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-66701635611883126422013-11-06T07:22:00.001-08:002013-12-08T10:31:21.618-08:00A Snapshot of October<div class="MsoNormal">
Whew, I cannot believe that we are already into
November! I have been so busy this year
and just haven’t stopped to write about how things are going. This post will be a snapshot of October to share
some of the things that I’ve been feeling and doing while MIA from the blogging
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Overall, this year has been more stressful for me than last
year. It seems like the need is greater
and my already full plate has been overflowing.
I have also been taking more home with me (actual things to do and
emotionally speaking) this year than last, and am just having a hard time
leaving work at work. I am attributing
this to the fact that I now have deeper relationships and connections with my
students, their families and my teachers. I will have been at my school for 2 years this
January. I am at a Title One school, and
the stressors that my students experience at home are more obvious and overwhelming
to me each day. Despite feeling
overwhelmed because I can’t ever seem to quite do “enough” (I am my harshest
critic), I do feel like I have finally gotten into my groove for the year. Here are a few snapshots I wanted to share... <o:p></o:p></div>
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We celebrated a successful Red Ribbon and Character Counts
Week with the theme: Our future is looking bright! Here are some pictures of the week. <o:p></o:p></div>
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My favorite part was on Thursday when we celebrated our good character by being HEROes. I had the teachers give their students a hand print to sign and decorate showing their commitment to being a HERO for the rest of the year. It was not an orignal idea, but something I saw nad loved a while ago on Pinterest. I don't remember where it came from, but thank you to whoever created it! :) We talked about how being a HERO means making the choice to not bully or put others down, but to lift each other up. It turned out to be such an awesome character ed display!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pc-JenMHNQs/UnpPqvhBhKI/AAAAAAAAAis/Tkr80QIVd9E/s1600/HERO+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pc-JenMHNQs/UnpPqvhBhKI/AAAAAAAAAis/Tkr80QIVd9E/s400/HERO+2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6acl1r7hlhU/UnpQ-LPKCeI/AAAAAAAAAkI/D7bvqnGooSw/s1600/i-Tune.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6acl1r7hlhU/UnpQ-LPKCeI/AAAAAAAAAkI/D7bvqnGooSw/s320/i-Tune.jpeg" width="240" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dl2rngi3v4U/UnpQ9sxPN6I/AAAAAAAAAjs/GhNx3RdejMI/s1600/i-Tune+Out+Drugs.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dl2rngi3v4U/UnpQ9sxPN6I/AAAAAAAAAjs/GhNx3RdejMI/s320/i-Tune+Out+Drugs.jpeg" width="240" /></a><span style="text-align: start;"> I also have to show off these writing samples that a first grade teacher did with her students during the week. Aren’t they awesome?! I love when teachers get into the week and show their creativity.</span></div>
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I’ve also finished training an amazing group of students to be peer mediators. They worked so hard during their training and it was awesome to see it reinforce the conflict resolution skills that I have been teaching them with my 7 Habits curriculum. Look what they came up with all by themselves!</div>
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We are a PBIS school, but were in need of
displaying our PBIS expectations across the school and in a kid-friendly
way. Look what our fabulous PBIS team
came up with! These signs are posted all
over the school showing what the expectations look like around the building and
on the playground with the help of our mascot, Pride. I love PBIS! </div>
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For Halloween, my school celebrates by dressing up as your favorite book character. At 1:00, we invite parents to come watch their children parade around the school in their book character costumes. Book Character Day is a fun way to allow the children to dress up appropriately and celebrate a love of reading! Here is a pic of me as the Rainbow Fish! Students were asking for my scales all day! Next year I plan to make some to hand out to them along with the costume!</div>
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Finally, I wanted to share this bulletin board that an RTI teacher of ours put together. I absolutely love it! What a great visual for our kids to dream big <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div>
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I’ve been seeing a ton of kids individually and enjoying my
time spent with them too. Maybe my next
post can focus on the strategies I like to use the most when working with
students in a counseling setting… Until next
time, thanks for stopping by! Happy
November to all!<o:p></o:p></div>
Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-79999272643500199942013-08-25T06:49:00.000-07:002013-08-25T06:49:27.869-07:00Back to School Pick-Me-UpWhat started out as a hopeful and enthusiastic back to
school year took a turn earlier this week. After an engaging welcome back faculty
breakfast and meeting last Wednesday, we were all feeling ready and excited
about the school year. Teachers were
working hard in their classrooms and meeting to plan with their teammates. I felt blessed to be a part of this community
again and we were all ready for Meet the Teacher on Monday night. Then, we got the news. Because we were short of our projected number
of students, we were going to lose a teacher.
I guess with budget cuts and uncertainties there was just no wiggle room,
and our principal sadly had to share this news with our staff hours before
students would arrive to meet their teachers.
Three teams and five teachers were directly affected by this change in
assignment. We were dealing with big
changes accompanied by big stress. Our school community in many ways is like a family, and everyone pitched in to
help move our teachers around the building, situate them into their new classrooms,
and share lesson plans for the first few days.
The community feel was unlike anything I had seen before. I know that everyone, myself included, is
trying hard to not let the changes and stress affect the first week for our
students. However, despite our best
efforts, this has been a challenging start.
With this extra strain during our first week, I felt like as a school community,
we needed a pick me up.<br />
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I did some brainstorming and decided to go with an idea for
a dessert bar that I’ve seen on other counseling blogs and pinterest. I was keeping it in my pocket to use on a rainy
day (I didn’t know that it would come to us so early this year, but<i> </i><b><i><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Que Sera, Sera</span></span></i></b>). I talked with my principal about putting
together the dessert bar for our staff during lunch on Friday to lift people’s
spirits and encourage and reward their resiliency and perseverance. She loved the idea! Setting it up was a lot of fun too and the
teachers really appreciated this simple gesture of thanks. I replenished the desserts throughout the
various lunch times so that all teachers would be able to enjoy it, but other than
that it was a fun and easy thing to do to celebrate our well-deserved Friday.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Despite the stress and strain of this first week, I know that our teachers will continue to bounce back and work hard to love our students and move them forward. I hope that you’ve all had fabulous starts to your school
years!</div>
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<br />Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-51145981240396285582013-08-21T15:58:00.000-07:002013-08-21T15:58:24.448-07:00Liebster AwardI was very excited to see that Cheryl Lassey from <a href="http://creativeelementaryschoolcounselor.blogspot.com/">Creative Elementary School Counseling</a> nominated my blog for a Liebster award! I still consider myself a newbie blogger and have such few followers as it is that I was totally surprised and excited by the nomination. Thanks Cheryl! It’s awesome to know that my blog has helped me network with other counselors even though it's taken me a couple of weeks to get this going (back to school- busy, busy!). So, the Liebster award seems to be like chain letter/ email forward…which I’m usually not so into, but it is just cool to have my blog recognized by another counselor that I am eager to participate!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dwvzzqIIfk8/UhVEv-sT0hI/AAAAAAAAAgg/GZKi26SYIXQ/s1600/Liebster+award.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dwvzzqIIfk8/UhVEv-sT0hI/AAAAAAAAAgg/GZKi26SYIXQ/s1600/Liebster+award.png" /></a><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">The rules are:</span></b><br />
1. Link back to the blog that nominated you.<br />
2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers.<br />
3. Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator.<br />
4. Share 11 random facts about yourself.<br />
5. Create 11 questions for your nominees.<br />
6. Contact your nominees and let them know you nominated them. <br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b>Here are my answers to Cheryl's questions:</b></span><br />
<i><b><span style="color: orange;">1. What are your favorite blogs? </span></b></i><br />
I love looking through all of the school counselor blogs out there! that help us all share, connect and become better counselors. These blogs especially inspire me:<br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a href="http://www.schcounselor.com/">http://www.schcounselor.com/</a></span> (An all around fabulous resource for all things school-counseling!)<br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><a href="http://schoolcounselorscrapbook.blogspot.com/">http://schoolcounselorscrapbook.blogspot.com/</a></span> (I love the authentic writing and real-life happenings.)<br />
<span style="color: #351c75;"><a href="http://jyjoynercounselor.blogspot.com/">http://jyjoynercounselor.blogspot.com</a>/ </span>(So many wonderful ideas and practical things to put in place.)<br />
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><a href="http://www.lilblueboo.com/">http://www.lilblueboo.com</a>/ </span>(This isn’t a school counseling blog, but it’s my cousin’s who is an amazing writer and inspiring person!)<br />
<i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Why did you start blogging?</span></b></i><br />
I love connecting with others and really believe that we are better educators and people when we can share ideas, struggles and celebrations with each other. I wanted to find a place to share ideas and resources as well as challenges that we all face in this exciting, changing and often difficult role.<br />
<i><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What advice do you have for others who are just starting out with their own blog?</span></b></i><br />
Go for it! I think I (still) tend to let myself get caught up in “is this even worth posting?” Of course it is! Someone out there may need to hear exactly what you’re writing. We all do so many different things each day and being able to sort through and find others with new ideas or fresh perspectives on the role of the counselor can be re-energizing and just plain awesome.<br />
<i><b><span style="color: orange;">4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Why did you decide to work as a school counselor?</span></b></i><br />
I love being in the school (my mom and sister are both teachers) but didn't necessarily want to be in only one classroom or focusing on academics. I found my niche in school counseling and couldn't be happier! It is awesome to be able to advocate for children and teach them critical life skills that too many are not learning at home.<br />
<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What are your favorite things to do outside of school?</span></b></i><br />
My husband and I love Clemson football, and I’m pretty pumped for the season to start! I also enjoy reading, mindlessly watching tv shows on Netflix, and getting outside on pretty days.<br />
<i><b><span style="color: #674ea7;">6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is the best part of your job?</span></b></i><br />
Being with the kids!! I love seeing them, helping them and teaching them. They make it all worthwhile! <br />
<i><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How many years have you been working in a school?</span></b></i><br />
I was blessed that my school had an opening in January 2012 after graduating with my Masters in Dec. 2011. I have been at my school for 1 ½ years and I feel as if I am exactly where I’m called to be!<br />
<i><b><span style="color: orange;">8.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If you could only have 5 books in your office which ones would you choose?</span></b></i><br />
Great question…I don’t know where to begin! In no particular order: The Invisible String (I love this with kids of all ages even though it is geared towards younger students dealing with separation or grief), Have You Filled A Bucket Today (always a good one for talking about friendship and bullying), How Do I Stand in Your Shoes (a great resource for teaching empathy!), When Someone Very Special Dies (I needed this a lot last year for my kiddos), and 7 Habits of Happy Kids (my curriculum is based off of these again this year although I use much more than just the stories in the book.) I get most ideas and classroom/group lesson resources offline so I'd stick with some of the stories I think.<br />
<i><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">9.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If you could live anywhere in the world where would you live?</span></b></i><br />
I am so happy living in Greenville, SC. I have a great job and am close to family, but if I could visit or live somewhere else for a short time, I think I’d like to go back to Africa with my hubby and then maybe somewhere in Europe just for a fun and exciting change of pace.<br />
<i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">10.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is your favorite memory of a teacher from childhood?</span></b></i><br />
Mrs. Kroko, my 3rd grade teacher, made me want to be a teacher when I grew up! She was so kind and helpful. I was a "hairbow" kind of student (we use this terminology on my PBIS team for those students who are the teacher's pets) and enjoyed feeling like her little assistant.<br />
<i><b><span style="color: #674ea7;">11.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What is your #1 go to resource at school?</span></b></i><br />
I love getting ideas from Pinterest and the amazing school counseling blogs out there, but when it comes to this question, it is not the “what” but the “who” that comes to mind. I am very blessed to have an amazing internship supervisor turned counselor friend and mentor that I can call any time with practical questions or for supervision and consultation. I hope everyone has that person that they can go to! My school also has a social worker that has been here for 10 years so it is always helpful to bring issues up with him too.<br />
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<span style="color: magenta;"><b>My nominations for the Leibster Award are...</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b>Your questions to answer:</b></span></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">What are your favorite blogs?</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Why did you start blogging?</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">What would you like other bloggers to know about you?</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Why did you decide to work as a school counselor?</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">What are your favorite things to do outside of school?</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">What is the best part of your job?</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">How many years have you been working in a school?</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">If you could only have 5 books in your office which ones would you choose?</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">If you could live any where in the world where would you live?</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">What is your #1 go to resource at school?</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">What is your favorite quote?</span></li>
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-46084925110752243382013-07-23T09:03:00.000-07:002013-07-23T09:03:29.182-07:00Lessons Learned in Africa<div class="MsoNormal">
Jambo! I’ve been MIA
from the blogging world lately because I spent the first month of my summer
living in Bujagali Falls, Uganda. Africa has always been in my heart and
living, learning and teaching there has been a shared dream of mine and my
sister’s. This summer we traveled together
to Uganda to volunteer with the <span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.souluganda.org/">SOUL Foundation</a></span>. We were
so very blessed to spend a month living with a host family in the most
welcoming and amazing community imaginable.
When I returned, I had to pretty quickly jump back into school mode to
attend my district’s Summer Academy professional development. While catching up with my principal on the
phone, she remarked about what an amazing opportunity I had to live and teach
in Africa and that I surely will bring so much back to share with our students
this school year. It got me thinking… What
will I share? What impact did Africa
have on me that I will bring to my school?
What lessons did I learn during my time in Uganda? So, I did some reflecting and lots of looking
through my pictures to come up with the following list of my own lessons learned. I am sure there will continue to be other
lessons that pop up and different ways that I realize I have been changed from
this experience, but for now, here are some things I’d like to share about my
journey.</div>
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<b>Lesson one: When
you’re a fish in the water, make the first move.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-70XCezOwlNw/Ue6nAuwhqjI/AAAAAAAAAeo/05AyIa0snkw/s1600/IMG_2714+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-70XCezOwlNw/Ue6nAuwhqjI/AAAAAAAAAeo/05AyIa0snkw/s320/IMG_2714+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a>It’s not comfortable or fun to be the fish out of
water. If I’m being honest with myself,
I am rarely out of my comfort zone at home.
I spend my time doing what I love and am good at surround by people that
know and understand me. In Africa, I
frequently felt like a fish out of water.
I didn’t look, speak or act like the people I was living among, and there
were vast cultural differences that challenged me daily. What made me feel better adjusted and more
comfortable were the interactions with the community when people from the
village made the first move. That is,
they made the first move (despite the language barrier) to greet us, welcome us and try to understand us. The more difficult times came when we felt
disconnected and out of place because no one was interacting with us or
acknowledging our presence or trying to understand our cultural
differences. Thankfully, those times
were few and far between (as I said, we were in the most welcoming
community). I think sometimes we tend get
so caught up in our own comfortableness that we don’t realize how uncomfortable
and out of place others around us may feel. This is certainly often the case
with parents and school-- and especially so with parents that are not from the
US themselves. My school population is
around 60% Hispanic and growing, and I thought a lot about that while I was in
Africa. Like those welcoming people in
the village, am I making the first move to ensure that they feel comfortable,
appreciated and accepted within the school building? I am definitely a fish in the water back home
and at school, and I want to be ever so conscious of doing what I can to make
the first move in welcoming and accepting all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Lesson two: Children
are much more resilient than we give them credit for.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The afternoon before we were getting ready to leave,
Elizabeth and I went to sit by the Nile together one last time. We quickly found ourselves surrounded by 8 or
so children all under the age of six running, screaming, crying, laughing and
playing with no adult supervision. One
second they were mean to each other by hitting, hurting and teasing, and the
next they were laughing and playing again without any adult intervention. The same truth could be said about the
students we were teaching at preprimary. It often went against my nature to allow
children to just freely roam and interact with each other anywhere and
everywhere by themselves, but it is such a cultural norm that I had to just get
over and accept it. And you know
what? It turns out that children are
much more resilient than we give them credit for. They look out for each other and very quickly
get over it when they get hurt. They
don’t hold grudges or create drama with their friends. If someone hits them, they may cry for about
30 seconds or they may just turn around and hit that person back who will then
shrug and move on with life. The next
thing you know, they are back to playing and having fun. Children as young as three are responsible
for getting to and from school by themselves and sometimes have to do so by
walking very long distances. It is
amazing (and through a Western lens, often terrifying) that they are able to
handle and do so much by their own little selves. It makes me think that in America we are
often guilty of going overboard on coddling our children and not expecting as
much out of them as they are capable of.
I want my kids at school to know how much I love them, and I am sure as
a result of that, I too often give in to the drama and allow them to become
dependent on my help. I plan to very
consciously take a step back this year and instead of coddling, empower
students to accept their feelings and problems solve on their own. Trust me, they are more than capable of doing
so.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Lesson three: Hard work
really does pay off… but it may take some time.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u5-Uv6e2YdU/Ue6lL1JHaGI/AAAAAAAAAdo/5rSSzpQRDII/s1600/IMG_2181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u5-Uv6e2YdU/Ue6lL1JHaGI/AAAAAAAAAdo/5rSSzpQRDII/s320/IMG_2181.JPG" width="320" /></a>While we were volunteering with SOUL, we were fortunate to
visit many different women’s groups that SOUL created to empower the women and
provide sustainability within the community.
Some of the most amazing groups we visited and got to participate in were
the fish farming groups. Four years ago,
they had the idea to create a group that would fish farm to earn money for
themselves and their families. Being
from a fishing community, they were excited to take this project on; however,
they did not know about the process and chemistry of fish farming nor did they
have the ponds ready to go. They had to
start from the bottom up. Together, this
group and the SOUL staff found some land and began to <b>hand dig</b> the four ponds necessary to start fish farming. It is incredible to imagine what they must
have been feeling and thinking on those hot African days while digging for what
I’m sure seemed like an endless amount of time.
How were they able to keep the end in sight and understand the purpose
for all of their hard work in the beginning knowing how far away the reward
was? While we were there, the fish pond
group was gearing up to sell their biggest fish and make their first
profit. That’s right, their <u>first</u>
profit after 4 years of all of that hard work.
They had many struggles along the way and numerous learning experiences
to get them where they are now, but I think that the reason they will continue
to be successful is because they are now seeing how all of their hard work has
paid off. They have had ownership of the
whole project from start to finish. What
a useful example I now have to share with my students to help them keep the end
in mind while goal setting and planning for their futures. It isn’t always fun, easy or quick, but in
the end, hard work really does pay off.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Lesson four: Synergy
can turn a bite into a meal.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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One of my favorite things to witness was break/lunch time at
preprimary. Firstly, the kiddos were
just adorable with their little lunch pails.
But looking past the cuteness was a raw understanding of synergy that
took place each day during this time.
The kids would take their own little pail and go sit down with a group
of friends. They would open their
lunches, grab a handful of beans or rice or whatever was packed for them that
day and put it in their friend’s pail.
Next, they would reach in and grab a bit of corn or potatoes that were
in their friend’s pail and place it in their own. They did this with no communication
whatsoever. There were no “please” and
“thank you” taking place because they had such a basic understanding of
synergy. In other words, if they go eat
by themselves then they will have a meal consisting of a few beans. However, if they grab, take and give among
their friends, their lunch will go from a few beans to beans, rice, corn,
potatoes and whatever other goodies were packed for their friends that
day. I think what was truly remarkable
to me about this is how it happened so naturally. In America, how often am I telling kids the
importance of sharing and teaching them that we can do more together than we
can alone? Kids in Africa just get it. On another note, synergy can also help raise
children, create and run a business, expedite the success of a business, foster
sustainability and over all better everyone’s livelihood. </div>
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<b>Lesson five: It takes
a village to do just about everything.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The final lesson that I want to share from my time in Africa
is about the incredible sense community I felt and experienced. The saying goes, "<i>It takes a village to raise a child"</i>, but the truth of the matter is
that it takes a village to do just about <b>everything</b>. One of the most striking cultural differences
that I am struggling with as I acculturate back into Western society is the
lack of community I feel here. I've been
lucky that I had professional development this week to allow me to get out of my
house and interact with fellow school counselors. But even so, after the few hours we are
together, we all go back home, close our doors and do our own thing. That is too often life here in America. In Africa, there was no going inside and
closing the door… people were always outside so that you can see, greet and
communicate with everyone. They don’t
have the same sense of individuality that we have here. Instead, they truly live by the words “<i>What’s mine is yours</i>”<i> </i>and embody them in all that they do. The village is better off because everyone
looks out for each other and their children (who are usually just roaming
around in and out of people’s homes and getting fed and loved). People there work together to create a
community that can continue to sustain and better itself every day. How amazing would it be if our schools had
that sense of community? What if instead
of competing to have the best scores or smartest students we all worked
together in a synergistic way to share and grow education as a whole that would
benefit each and every student and family?
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Thanks for reading my thoughts… Living in Africa was an amazing
and life changing experience that I will always hold in my heart. Now, with my new lessons learned, on to
planning for the 2013-14</div>
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school year!Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-11541405182787425362013-05-31T05:18:00.001-07:002013-05-31T05:18:43.627-07:00Finishing UpWith the end of the year so rapidly approaching, I am in the process of tying up loose ends and wrapping up my first full school year. I am excited and pleased with the data I'm collecting so far in regards to how the program ran this first year. I wanted to evaluate the program this year for a couple of reasons: 1) to help me and my advisory council plan for next year 2) to include teachers in the process and encourage buy-in 3) to share with my administration what I have been doing this year and how it has been received. I searched some school counseling blogs that I follow and ASCASceneIt for ideas of what I wanted to include in my staff survey. Ultimately, I wanted to evaluate the program and get a fresh perspective of our students' needs. I created a short, 10 question survey that I emailed out through SurveyMonkey last week and I have gotten tons of positive feedback from teachers. I am excited and humbled that they feel so good about the direction that this program is headed in. This first year I was able to really create the foundation for a program-- we have a mission, vision, philosophy and curriculum which I created and have been working with school wide. Next year, I will do more trying to get everyone to buy into the program as more than just "what Kristi does" and help teachers see the impact that integrating it with what they already do can have on behavior, classroom management and the well-being of our students. <br />
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You can see the questions that I asked below. Most were on a scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree with a few multiple choice and free response sprinkled in. Although SurveyMonkey has limitations for what you can use without upgrading, I found it to be very useful for what I was hoping to accomplish. It was very easy and user friendly both for myself and my teachers!</div>
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I also really wanted to show the incredible staff that I am blessed to work with how much I appreciate them. However, being that there is only 1 of me, it can be hard to do this on a budget. So, I created these little goodie-bags and placed them in their boxes. I bought the stickers at Wal-Mart and downloaded the template from the packaging. From there, I just inserted a picture of an owl, chose the cutest font and printed them. I stuck them on squares of scrapbook paper and stapled them to baggies filled with candy and viola, a little treat for the teachers and staff! </div>
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This has been such a wonderful year all in all. Definitely full of ups and downs, but even in the downs I know that I absolutely feel called to be where I am right now doing what I do. I am a school counselor at heart! I love getting to work with the sweet kiddos that we have here at school and as much as I'm ready for summer, I know I will miss them and worry about them for the next 75 days. Good luck to all of you as you finish up your years!</div>
Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-23840839334972490952013-04-29T13:09:00.000-07:002013-04-29T13:09:18.214-07:00Time Flies!It's been entirely too long since I wrote about life as a school counselor! There have been ups and downs since my last post. Here's a quick catch up...<b>I dealt with my first hostile parent</b> whose anger was directed towards me. I can honestly say that although I'm still a little shaky thinking about it, I'm okay with the fact that not every parent is going to like or understand my role at the school and what I have to do to protect and take care of their kids--and I'm incredibly thankful to have administration that will back me up and support me 100%. <b>I witnessed the most powerful moment in a counseling session </b>shared with two 4th grade boys. It was a solid reminder about the impact that a safe and comfortable counseling environment can have on children. I did nothing but allow them the space to talk and it was amazing to see what happened. These two boys were both dealt some difficult and unfair cards in their hand of life, but together were able to share, cry and support each other through two different yet somehow comparable chaotic life situations.<b> I've wrapped up all of my 7 habits lessons.</b> It was so much fun for me to do my final lesson in each class. I spent a good portion of the time reviewing the first 6 habits and am incredibly blown away by what the kids remember! Also, I'm putting together a book that I'll be sure to post some pics of when it is finished. I told the students that I wanted a scrapbook/yearbook of the school counseling program for this past year and I wanted them to be my authors. Each student got a page to write and color about their favorite habit (and why it was their favorite). It has been a joy for me to read through them and although I haven't quite figured out the best way to do so, I can't wait to bind them all together in a book. I'm thinking a large 3 ring binder and plastic sleeves. :)<br />
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<b>Currently, I am getting ready for testing.</b> In my district, most school counselors are also the state-testing coordinators. It is a huge job that overwhelms me and my time, but this is my second year coordinating the test and I'm certainly better at getting it together while still attempting to maximize the time that I spend each day with kids. Our theme this year is <i>Rock the Test</i>, and I'll be visiting classes to do some testing skills lessons this week. I can feel the school year wrapping up, but I still have a list (although not quite as long) of students who I need to check in with and follow up with. My days have lately been so busy, and I know it won't be slowing down at any point from here on out! Good luck to all of you as you begin to wrap up your school years. I hope the stress and tension of testing doesn't overwhelm you and your school climate! <br />
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PS- Here's a picture of my Rock the Test bulletin board I made. :)<br />
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<br />Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-83740413991661979572013-03-13T07:05:00.000-07:002013-03-13T07:05:40.645-07:00The Telephone Game Over the summer I was able to do most of my 7 Habits curriculum planning with a few other counselors. While washing dishes one afternoon, it came to me to use the game telephone as an illustration for Habit 5: Seek First to Understand and Then to be Understood. <div>
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The game doesn't work unless you first <b>understand</b> what the person was whispering to you and then try to make yourself <b>understood </b>to the next person. We played it twice: the first time with the rule that you could not ask the person to repeat themselves whether you heard correctly or not. The second time, we used our other habits to be proactive and set a goal to see if we could make it all the way around the circle correctly. The class figured out that the only way to make that happen was to allow the other person to repeat themselves as many times as necessary. Still, some classes were not able to accomplish the goal and it gave us a teachable opportunity to introduce the fact that even when we try, we aren't very good listeners a lot of the time. The discussion after the game was the best part because the game very clearly illustrated this habit and some of the roadblocks to good listening that Covey talks about in the Teens 7 Habits book. We were also able to see if the class was Thinking Win-Win and staying quiet and encouraging each other or not. I used this with 3rd grade and that seemed to be a great age for this game!</div>
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-36260833455115170442013-02-18T07:39:00.000-08:002013-02-18T07:39:01.826-08:00Habit 5 in 1st Grade: Listening With Your Heart As a former Communication Studies major in undergrad, I've noticed that my comm. background has heavily influenced my counseling and teaching style when working with my students. I try my best to teach them the importance and benefits of learning to communicate openly, honestly, and positively with each other. We spend a lot of time learning<a href="http://confessionsofaschoolcounselor.blogspot.com/2013/01/conflict-resolution-is-huge-piece-of-my.html"> Heart Talk</a>, but I was even more excited last week to teach them about Habit 5: Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood. I started my lessons in 1st grade with a review of the habits we'd learned so far right up to Habit 4 when we practice Heart Talk. The kiddos know now that they are supposed to use Heart Talk with people when they are feeling sad or mad or someone hurts their feelings. I told them that the next habit would help them listen to their friends if <u>they</u> ever did something that hurt someone's feelings (because we all make mistakes, but we are proactive people and we want to learn from our mistakes and make them better!) <div>
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I told them they would be learning a new word--<b>empathy</b>--and that this habit would teach them how to listen with their hearts instead of just their ears. I read them the book <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-Do-Stand-Your-Shoes/dp/1598500090/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361201058&sr=1-1&keywords=how+do+i+stand+in+your+shoes">How Do I Stand In Your Shoes</a></u> by Susan Debell. </div>
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This book is an EXCELLENT resource if you are trying to teach young children the meaning of empathy! The kids love it and are engaged throughout the entire book. At the end, there are some thoughtful questions you can ask to see what they learned about empathy and how to stand in someone's shoes. After processing the story with them, I planned to have them do a worksheet that they could fill out after interviewing a partner about something that happened to them over the weekend (good or bad). But, I just didn't have time for it because they go to related arts right after my lesson. Instead, I did a short version of emotion charades. I pretended to come into the room very sad and mopey (totally opposite of how excited I always am) and asked them to stand in my shoes to guess how I was feeling. Then, I reminded them of how having empathy was like listening with your heart, and I asked them what kinds of things they could do to help me feel better and to be kind to me if they knew I was sad. We practiced some more feelings: angry, embarrassed, scared and I was so proud at how well they all got it! This is one of my favorite lessons to teach and I was so happy with how well it fit in with Habit 5!</div>
Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-77297128010222008552013-02-13T12:51:00.001-08:002013-02-22T11:42:07.623-08:00Thinking Back...Last night a had a truly cool experience visiting a practicum class at the program that I just finished in last December. My former internship supervisor is the practicum professor (and still a full time school counselor--she's that awesome!) and she asked me to come talk with the group about being a first year counselor. <br />
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I remember not long ago struggling in my own practicum experience. I was uncomfortable in my school placement and feeling (sadly) invalidated for my feelings. Every day I went into my practicum, I felt that this school counseling stuff was less and less for me, and I became less and less confident in myself. I didn't know what I was doing and felt like I was in a place where I could not learn the skills that I didn't even know if I had. I was in a high school (which was where I pretty much knew I didn't want to end up, but still wanted the experience) working in a "guidance" program. 'Nough said. When I did have the opportunity to work in a counseling environment with a student, I was terrified that I was going to mess someone up. I didn't like that I had to actually learn by <u>doing</u>--it made me feel uncomfortable and unprepared. I wanted to watch and listen and observe, but that is just not the way to truly learn in this profession. Somehow, I developed a relationship with a senior student who was bustin' it trying to graduate and plan her life. We were able to meet frequently and I (<i>hope</i> that I) was able to help her make some realizations, gain self-awareness, and plan for life after school. <br />
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Was I a great counselor? Nope. Did I make mistakes, have times where I didn't know what to say to students, and feel totally out of my element? You bet. But in reflecting on that time in my journey to get to where I am now, I realize that despite my feelings of inadequacy and my frustrations of my experience, I did learn something. I learned that although I am far from perfect and confident, I am passionate about helping children. I am a go-getter and completely uncomfortable sitting around and waiting or talking about doing something... I want to do it. Right now. As much as I can. I want to help, connect with, support and love children who need it. I won't let the "there's not enough time in the day" excuse keep me from seeing as many children as I can, visiting classrooms and running groups. The records and testing and paperwork can get done when the kids leave. We have such little time with these precious and amazing children, and I want to listen to each of their stories.<br />
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It was empowering for me to reflect on how far I've come in just 2 years. I am settling into a wonderful school community. I am creating, coordinating and running my very own program-- with lots of help and support from my mentors and counselors that I've been so fortunate to connect with. I am much more confident in my skills (although still working on containing the self-doubt from time to time). Lastly, I am truly excited to be a change agent in this amazing field of school counseling. In my district, so many counselors are part-time and split between schools. That is CRAZY! I see it as my obligation to my students, and students everywhere, to show people how important this role is so that others realize the true impact that we all know school counselors can have. Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-36812607728089637612013-02-13T12:03:00.001-08:002013-02-13T12:03:43.414-08:00Take Time To Be Kind-- RAK 2013 Last year I didn't have a clue when RAK week was, not to mention that I was so swamped with starting a new position in January, that I didn't even try to make it work. However, I LOVE the idea of random acts of kindness week and I was determined to NOT let this week go by again uncelebrated. :) I introduced the week and what it meant on the news show on the last day of Nat'l School Counseling Week. Each morning of RAK week, our anchors have been reminding our students to do random acts of kindness for each other. I've also had so much help from our awesome news show coordinator filming random students talking about ways they've shown kindness. I've been on a couple times as well to introduce a youtube video of a RAK and share kindness ideas with everyone at school. <br />
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I got some great ideas by following many different RAK boards on pinterest. I created this bulletin board from an awesome example on pinterest.<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">At the beginning of the week, I I emailed teachers a few ideas they could use in their class and attached this RAK board that I saw on </span><a href="http://theinspiredcounselor.blogspot.com/2013/01/random-acts-of-kindness-week-ideas.html" style="text-align: start;">The Inspired Counselor</a><span style="text-align: start;"> and know that a few classes have been using it! (I modified a couple of the RAKs to make them make sense at my school)</span></div>
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I printed and laminated these wallet-sized printable quotes about kindness and put them in our staff "buckets" that we usually fill for each other with positive notes.<br />
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There is one class in particular that needed an extra boost of kindness, so after school on Monday, I placed "secret kindness missions" on each of their desks. Their teacher told me that there was a lot of excitement on Tuesday morning when they came into school and found out that they were on a secret mission. <br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">We've also been selling Valentine's Day suckers for .25 cents to go to our beautification</span><span style="text-align: start;"> committee and have been promoting kindness through that. (Help make our school a place we all enjoy being; Be kind this Valentine's and surprise your friend with a sucker, ect.) </span><i style="text-align: start;"> </i><span style="text-align: start;">I made some of the tags for the suckers that said to: You, From: Random Act of Kindness so that teachers and students could leave suckers as surprises for each other. </span></div>
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It has been such a fun and exciting week! Kids are stopping me in the hallway every day to share the kind things they've been doing for their friends, teacher and family. Helping kids learn kindness is a part of my vision and mission here at my school and I am thankful for a week that gives me a reason to promote and encourage it! Happy RAK week to you!<br />
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"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." -Aesop<br />
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<br />Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-21812196147010914802013-02-08T11:22:00.002-08:002013-02-13T12:06:10.817-08:00School Counselor SURPRISE!!!I have to take just a minute to brag on the awesome staff at my school. Today was just going to be a normal day and the last day of National School Counseling Week, but everyone here went above and beyond to celebrate. I was "tricked" into running an errand into the cafeteria this morning and noticed that a long and decorated table was set up on the stage. I though, "hmm, wonder what's going on today?" until I noticed my name in the middle of the table. Confusion was the first feeling that set in, then complete shock as I realized that this was for <b><u>me</u></b>. The staff had planned and prepared a pot-luck feast for us all to join in and celebrate the last day of school counselor week. The craziest part to me is that everyone kept it a secret! I thought I knew everything going on at school-- but this was an incredible surprise and very humbling moment! I am so blessed to be in this place, to be able to do what I love and work with people as amazing as this. School Counseling ROCKS!!! :)<br />
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-57286918595667605152013-02-05T08:09:00.000-08:002013-02-05T08:09:38.206-08:00National School Counseling Week Link Party!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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National School Counseling Week is here!...and it snuck up on me :)<br />
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To kick the week off, I wanted to prepare something to give the teachers thanking them for their support and let them know it was National School Counseling Week. I also wanted them to check out my brand new School Counseling Program brochures that I finalized and printed just in time for this week. <br />
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Beside the computer where everyone checks-in in the morning, I left a Sign that said, "Thank you for your support of the school counseling program. Happy National School Counseling Week! I think you are marvelous and magnificent Enjoy some M&Ms" along with a bowl of M&Ms and a bunch of my brochures. <br />
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I've gotten compliments on the brochures, thank yous for the M&Ms, and a few very sincere words of appreciation for what I do here at school. Today I also filmed a blurb for the news show to be aired on Friday with me talking about my role as the counselor and also letting the whole school know that in honor of National School Counseling Week, we will be celebrating Random Acts of Kindness Week next week. I gave everyone "homework" to come up with ideas of how they can be kind to each other and make our school a kind place to be.<br />
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Last year, I started in January and during my "introduction" classroom lessons with 5th grade, I cut out different puzzle pieces and went into the classes to talk about myself and my role at school. I had them decorate the puzzle pieces for the theme: School Counselors Help Connect The Pieces-- which is an idea I saw on Pinterest. I put up this bulletin board in honor of the week and gave the teachers a note of thanks for the warm welcome and a treat in their boxes.<br />
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I get so inspired by other counselors ideas and I am thankful to be a part of this link party where we can share and celebrate our week together! I heart school counseling!!!!</div>
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<br />Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-88204394770346238522013-01-31T15:15:00.000-08:002013-01-31T15:15:20.310-08:00Peace Promise<br />
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A few months ago, bullying became a buzz word at my
school. Our AA and I heard it <u>all</u> of the
time. We brought in a bully show from a
local community theater group, and I had done various lessons on bullying in
classrooms, so the kids had been hearing the
word “bully” a lot. A lot of the notes I
received from students was thus about “bullying” situations. One thing that stood out to me was
that when I followed up with the letters students were writing me about being “bullied,” many actually turned out to be more about conflict resolution than
bullying. Some of the students just didn’t
know how to get along w/ each other when there was a problem and resorted to
understanding the problem from the language they had been hearing around the
school: I have a problem, so I must be getting bullied. Others it seemed really did have bullying situations going on, and my AA and I felt at a loss for how to stop it all. As a school, we all needed to understand and
be on the same page about the definition of bullying, what it looks like and
how we can choose to be a peaceful school.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, I got together a plan to teach our students and teachers
the definition of bullying and invite a discussion on how to bring peace to our
school. However, there is only one of me
and I didn’t think it made sense for me to switch up my curriculum in the
middle of the year to do a bullying lesson in each class. Instead, I used an app on my ipad called
<a href="http://www.educreations.com/">Educreataions </a>and created a digital storytelling <a href="http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/bullying/2777226/?s=sn87wq&ref=app">video </a>to define bullying. (Educreations allows you to create videos
that are basically like a digital white board.
I used pictures and recorded myself talking and writing.) I emailed the video out to all teachers (with
admin’s blessing) and asked that they find a time to show it and reflect the
discussion following the video in their lesson plans. After they watched my video, I directed them
to a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVcOTlYpPUs">skit of the Juice Box Bully</a> that I found on YouTube. If you have never read this book and you are
interested in promoting peace to end bullying then it is a MUST read <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> I really liked that at the end of the skit,
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So, of course my students needed to sign a peace promise
too! I put up a bulletin board with
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have their students all sign it after lunch the day that they showed the
videos. The students loved it—and it has
been a great tool to help students recognize that bullying isn’t cool or funny,
but terribly hurtful and rude! I think
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-67535318494275645632013-01-18T06:21:00.000-08:002013-01-18T06:21:08.180-08:00The ABCs of Problem SolvingFollowing up from my last post, I've been teaching Habit 4: Think Win-Win to my students this month. I have been doing a lot of research over the past year for an easy to remember problem solving model that will help my students learn those super important conflict resolution skills. I settled on the ABCD problem solving model and created this poster to leave in the classrooms after I taught the lesson. <br />
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I think that it will be easy for them to remember! We practiced problem solving together as a class in 2nd and 3rd grade this week using this model. I wanted to start very simply when explaining it because I didn't want to overwhelm them. I took a soccer ball with me and used two volunteers to "practice" using the model together. The problem was very simple-- there was one ball, but 2 people wanted to play with it. The kids were eager to jump to the conclusion of sharing, but I wanted them to understand the 3 outcomes of conflict first-- win/lose, lose/lose and win/win. The students acted out the different scenarios: win/lose-one person got what they wanted but the other person had to "lose"; lose/lose- getting in a fight over the ball (I was sure to use the words being reactive instead of proactive) and having it taken away by a teacher; win/win- agreeing to share the ball or take turns using it. I also had the students use Heart Talk during the win/win example and explained that it is a way they can be proactive and in control of their feelings rather than reactive like in the lose/lose example. Once the model was demonstrated in an easy way for them, we talked about more complex examples of conflict and did more practice using this model. <br />
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I made one for my office wall too and think that I'm going to give one to our AA. She sees a lot of the student's problems <u>after</u> they have made the more reactive choice. What a great reflection and learning tool to review what could have been done differently to avoid getting in trouble.Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-4034049340322591642013-01-16T13:49:00.001-08:002013-01-16T13:50:36.186-08:00Heart TalkConflict resolution is a HUGE piece of my counseling program at my school. I noticed that it was an issue from the first needs assessment that I gave my teachers when I started last January. Since then, I have spent a lot of my time mediating conflicts between my students. I learned Heart Talk in my internship and was so excited to bring it with me to my school! If you've never heard of it, you might want to check out Diane Senn's classroom guidance lesson book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Puzzle-Pieces-Classroom-Guidance-Connection/dp/1889636428/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358371072&sr=8-1&keywords=puzzle+pieces">Puzzle Pieces</a> because it's awesome and very helpful when planning lessons. Heart Talk was created by Diane and it basically just teaches children to use "I-Messages" during conflict. I love it because it is easy for kids of all ages to remember and use.<br />
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Last year, I spent an entire lesson teaching, role-playing and practicing Heart Talk in every grade level (K4-5th). This year, because we are doing the 7 Habits, I incorporated Heart Talk in Habit 4: Win-Win. For Kindergarten and 1st grade, I introduced the idea of win-win and then very specifically taught them the 3 parts of Heart Talk. It isn't just using nice words (which my friends initially assume because of its name :) In the upper grades, I taught an ABCD problem solving model and we practiced what Heart Talk would sound like as we work together to brainstorm solutions. The kids are already familiar with Heart Talk (they hear me and their teachers say it all of the time AND I gave each class a heart w/ the words on it at the beginning of the year) but they could always use more practice! It also totally fits in with Habit 1: Be Proactive because I explain that using our words when we feel strong uncomfortable feelings instead of reacting to our feelings on impulse can help us be better in charge of ourselves. <br />
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Heart Talk has become the common language of our school and I have gotten such positive feedback from our teachers and administration (and of course, students!). <br />
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<br />Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-22194675047981044382013-01-08T06:59:00.000-08:002013-01-08T06:59:05.475-08:00My Lifesaver!As any school counselor could tell you, things are busy, busy, busy! During internship, I had little difficulty remembering the students I saw and the cases I worked on because that was really about all I was responsible for. Now, I wear <u>so</u> many different hats on any given day at school that it gets truly difficult to remember who I saw when about what. <br />
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There were two things that I quickly realized I was struggling with. <b>First</b>: I had difficulty managing my cases, remembering when to see students and make follow up appointments, and keeping track of who had what going on. <b>Second</b>: I wanted to know how much time in my day was I spending in the classroom, counseling individual students or groups, working in the records room, organizing standardized testing, ect. I know how valuable this information can be in advocating for my role, and I've been determined to keep track of things... but I just hadn't found a system that worked for me. </div>
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So, with my desk littered with post-it notes and my many different to-do lists cluttering things up, I knew I needed a new way to hold myself accountable and keep track of the cases that I'm working on all in one place.<br />
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It turns out the answer was waiting for me in an ASCA tweet chat <a href="http://www.schcounselor.com/2012/11/scchat-transcript-principal-and-school.html">(don't know what that is? Check it out here!)</a> about counselor/ principal relationships. One counselor posted on the chat that she keeps track of what she is doing every 15 minutes and writes it down in a notebook. I figured it was worth a try, so I drafted this sheet. </div>
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I absolutely LOVE it! I keep it in a notebook in the top drawer of my desk and every so often (not usually every 15 minutes because I'm not going to stop a counseling session or go back to my office if I'm in a classroom) block out what I am/was doing at that time. The second part of my notebook is something that I am so thankful for! I think I just made this up, but probably got the idea somewhere in the wonderful world of blogs or pinterest (obsessed). I keep these sheets in a separate section behind the time-tracker sheets and use them to keep brief notes on the students that I see each day. I do keep more detailed notes for most of my ongoing cases, but this allows me to quickly jot down the student's name, when I saw them, why (type of referral) and what we talked about so that I have documentation.</div>
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The notebook has never left the top drawer of my desk, but I still have this in the front in case something crazy were to happen.</div>
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This system probably won't work for everyone, but for right now it seems to be working for me! I still have post-it notes covering my desk, but hey, I guess I just like a good sticky note every now and then :) </div>
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-21568590264327235632012-12-10T14:40:00.003-08:002013-02-07T11:42:09.732-08:005th Grade and Careers!Well, I've gotten back in the groove since my last post--thank goodness! I've been doing a really cool collaborative lesson w/ my 5th grade team that I thought I'd share today. South Carolina uses a career website called SCOIS which has an elementary career site called CLIMB. So, I've been administering a 3 part career lesson with the input of the 5th grade teachers to help the kids learn about career clusters, identify their interests and which clusters they may be interested in as well as put their research skills to work and write a paragraph explaining if a certain career that they research is or is not a good match for them. They've LOVED it!<br />
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The first lesson was during my normal classroom lesson time. We met in the computer lab and I had the students take the interest inventory. Their results came back with three career clusters that they may be interested in pursuing. They used the rest of the allotted time to explore different jobs within each cluster on the SCOIS CLIMB website. The next lesson took place the following day during their class' writing time. We again met in the computer lab for them to research one job that they were interested in learning more about (again we stuck to the same website). I had them use a graphic organizer (created by a 5th grade teacher to crosswalk w/ her standards) to list characteristics of the job they were researching. Beside each characteristic, they had to answer the following question: <i>Does this sound like me? Is this something that fits what I want to do or be?</i> and write either a "Yes" or a "No" with an explanation. This was their pre-writing. The final part of the lesson took place again during their next writing period and they used their research to formulate a paragraph on whether or not the job that they researched would be a good match for them. (Some of the teachers preferred to lead the writing activity and others handed over the reins to me. I'd never taught writing specifically, but with the help of a sandwich model: Intro-bread, details-meat, conclusion-bread- I was able to handle it!)<br />
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The students did a great job! We talked about how it can still be helpful for them even if they decided that the job wasn't perfect for them and how even jobs that are a great fit can still have things about it that you don't love (Case in point-->see my previous post :) I also talked with them about how this research can be helpful in a couple of months when we talk about registering for classes in middle school. They had a blast doing the research and learning about careers and gained a huge insight into themselves and more self-awareness as they decided whether or not each characteristic fit them. Also, it was great for me to collaborate and co-teach with our 5th grade team!<br />
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Thanks for checking in-- good luck to you as you wrap up this crazy time of year and move into 2013!<br />
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<br />Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-59493363088890606802012-11-05T15:18:00.001-08:002013-01-18T11:16:02.151-08:00I Am Only OneIt's true, I've been MIA on the blogosphere world lately... I haven't updated my blog or checked into others to see what is going on in the world of school counseling. I haven't even gotten on Pinterest in weeks! I've been in my own little corner struggling, feeling overwhelmed and under-prepared for the work that I'm doing-- or lack there of, because I feel as if I am constantly playing catch up and only able to half-do everything on my to do list. The worst part of it all is that I feel like I have so much to give and that I'm responsible for and yet, I am constantly responding to situations that arise, that I can't give my all to my <u>students</u>. There is a new need every single day. Today I continued to add to an endless list of students that I am behind on seeing, that are struggling with issues and feeling pain that I can only imagine, that are having problems in class or at home and as much as I want to help them-- as much as I feel called to be there for them-- there is only me. Just me. The only counselor at a title one elementary school of 550 students. The character ed coordinator, the testing coordinator, the HUG coordinator, the records custodian, a Girls on the Run coach, an educator, a consultant... the list truly goes on and on. <br />
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But, I know there are times when everyone feel like this. Like no matter how hard I try and feel so passionately about what I do, I just can't do enough. I came across this quote last week and didn't even realize then how much I needed to read it:<span style="color: #232323; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><b> "I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do." -Edward Everette Hale </b></span></span></div>
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So, tomorrow is a new day. Even though it is a day off from school, I won't be taking the day off, but using it to play catch up. To get everything ready for the testing beginning next week. To send and receive records that are weeks behind. To hopefully find a better system to organize the students that I need to meet with and then follow up with. To screw my head back on straight and find ways to do what I can do rather than allow that helpless, overwhelming feeling to sneak back in and take over. After all, I am only one and I can't do everything, but I certainly can do something and I need to step back, take a deep breath and take that something one day at a time.</div>
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:) Hopefully next time, I'll have something awesome to share that I did with students or a wonderful success story. But today, you get the true confession of an overwhelmed, first year school counselor.</div>
Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-82308217629787512752012-10-11T06:19:00.002-07:002012-10-11T06:19:24.632-07:00Red Ribbon and Character Counts WeekWhew, time flies when you are the only school counselor at a Title 1 elementary school with nearly 600 students! In fact, time is flying so much that I am just now sitting down to plan for Red Ribbon and Character Counts week and it is just over 1 week away. Yikes! Luckily, I follow some pretty great blogs that have wonderful ideas and resources (perfect for us first year and totally overwhelmed school counselors like me!) <br />
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Thank you <a href="http://www.schcounselor.com/2012/10/school-counselor-spotlight-character-is.html">School Counselor Blog</a> for being awesome and sharing such wonderful ideas!! I love the idea of using Character is our Super Power as a theme for the week. Now it's time to get planning. Check out these great ideas for combining Red Ribbon Week and Character Counts Week-- and check back in a few weeks for some pictures and thoughts about how it all came together :)Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-74763928247533232502012-09-21T11:10:00.003-07:002014-06-24T13:34:57.719-07:007 Habits Poster<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Over the summer, I made this poster for my office to refer to the habits with my students! I am so excited to be teaching these important skills to my students.</div>
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com81tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-29979323358253466412012-09-21T05:44:00.001-07:002013-01-18T11:12:41.064-08:00Be Proactive!It's official, I am PUMPED about teaching the 7 Habits at my school. I think in the past 3 weeks I have used the word "proactive" at least a thousand times. To me, if our students can learn, practice and do this first habit, then they are limitless in what they are able to accomplish! I've taught it to all grade levels differently, but everyone has heard my definition of Be Proactive: <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">Being
proactive means that you </span><u style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Airplanes in the Night Sky'; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">take
control </span></u><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">of
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I used the example of someone hating the rain and deciding to just stay home and not do anything they had planned because of the rain. What is in control in that example? THE RAIN! Instead, what could that person bring or do so that they are in control? An umbrella! :) We also talked about the difference in being proactive (like a water bottle) and reactive (like a soda bottle). The kids really got it, and I continued to provide them examples in each lesson. <br />
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My favorite lessons were with the upper grades. I used the circle of control to talk about how we should spend our time and energy focused on things that we actually can control and make better rather than spending time complaining, feeling bad about ourselves, or giving other people the power to ruin our days. Then, in 5th grade, I got a wonderful idea from another counselor in my district. Each student created a Personal Proactive Plan for ways that they were going to be proactive at home, at school and outside of home and school. They folded a piece of paper into thirds and came up with ideas that they could do to be proactive in those three areas. I shared my own PPP to help get them started thinking of ideas. We talked about how it was like a contract with themselves to practice being proactive all year.<br />
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I've caught so many students being proactive since our lesson, and I love complimenting them on it! How have you been proactive this school year? <br />
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<br />Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-91947004404718205772012-09-14T05:56:00.002-07:002012-09-14T05:56:24.417-07:00The 7 Habits of Happy Kids<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This summer, I got together with my fabulous former internship supervisor and another counselor friend of hers in our district and we planned lessons for the 7 Habits of Happy Kids. I am so excited that the lessons have started! Below is the bulletin board that is across of the cafeteria. I like the idea of a tree, but we used that last year at our school for something different and I wanted something that I could use and add to as the year goes on. There are 7 habits and 7 colors of the rainbow so, viola! Each month, I will teach a habit to all grade levels. After the lesson, I will have kids write down on the "gold" an idea they have for practicing that habit and display it so that others can have ideas for how to practice the habits. Stay tuned for more to come about the individual lessons and some freebies of things I've created for the program :)</div>
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<br />Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-17422102101862875242012-09-14T05:45:00.000-07:002012-09-14T05:45:27.397-07:00Individual, Individual, Individual!<u>True Life: It is Hard to Blog During the Week</u>! 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. <br />
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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!]<br />
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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! Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2799316891873007364.post-52962928868864818262012-08-31T12:38:00.003-07:002012-08-31T12:38:40.461-07:00Lat Minute Lesson Change-Up :)Well it turned out to be a busier weekend than I had anticipated and as of Sunday afternoon, I didn't have any of the items that I wanted to use for my introduction lesson to the students! So I had to come up with something quick that would work. I had seen the School Counselor's First Aid Kit floating around on Pinterest and decided that I could make it work for me. I went to <a href="http://musiccityschoolcounselor.wordpress.com/2012/07/30/who-is-your-school-counselor-back-to-school-lesson/">this </a>wonderful blog and got all of the directions that I needed to create my very own <u>School Counselor Tool Box.</u> Yep, you read that correctly-- I made a tool box instead of a first aid kit. I like using the analogy of adding tools to the students' tool boxes throughout the year and I figured it was a good start to teach them about the different "tools" that I use in my job. They got a kick of out me asking them if they thought that I had a hammer and a saw in my box-- of course I don't use those types of tools! I used it with all grade levels (even the upper grades) and it worked so well to help explain my role to the kids. Since the lesson was done in such a short amount of time (15 minutes each) I was able to meet all classes before next week when I will start my lessons... 7 Habits here we come!!<br />
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Here is a picture of my tool box:<br />
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I didn't have time in each class to cover all of the items, but I was able to pick and choose. I used the eraser (to help them fix mistakes), the head phones (because I'm a good listener) and the key (to explain what confidential means and tell them the exceptions to that rule) in every lesson. I only used the star in 5th grade to talk about how I was going to help guide them to middle school and get them through the lonely, confusing, scary times along the journey. I just picked and chose the rest of them depending on the grade level I was with. I made sure to talk about all of all of the points I wanted to make even if I didn't use the tool that specifically represented that (they all tie together pretty nicely).<br />
<br />Also, the most important (and my favorite!) thing that I did, was leave them with with their own tool to solve problems this year. When I came in the middle of last year, I brought with me Heart Talk. It was something that I learned in my internship and came from a WONDERFUL lesson planning resource, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Puzzle-Pieces-Classroom-Guidance-Connection/dp/1889636428">Puzzle Pieces</a> by Diane Senn. Heart Talk teaches the children to use I-messages (I feel, because, please) when they have a problem. In every class I had at least a couple of students fill my bucket by showing me that they remembered Heart Talk! :)<br />
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What did you use for your first lesson with your kiddos? I'm so glad to have met all of the classes and I can't wait to get started next week with my lessons!<br />
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<br />Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06387453762024820419noreply@blogger.com0