Friday, February 24, 2017

Mushy Manners

I've heard a lot of talk about bad manners in our cafeteria. So I pulled together some book resources for our teachers to check out. They can read them during our morning meetings or during a rainy indoor recess.


What is your favorite book on manners?

Saving Sam!

I have an amazing intern this semester! She's really become my right hand man and is a natural for elementary. So it's no surprise that she just created a winning lesson for 3rd grade. We have been talking all year about perseverance, mindset, and goal setting. So this was a perfect lesson to review and refresh on all three topics. 
Here it is:

First, she created an awesome Power Point. It introduces perseverance with a great Bruno Mars video, that even our 3rd graders asked to watch again.


It also highlighted some famous "failures." 

Here are her talking tips: Helpful Tips for PowerPoint…. Who are those people?


Walt Disney: The man who gave us Disney World and Mickey Mouse. His first animation company went bankrupt. He was fired by a news editor because he lacked imagination. Legend has it he was turned down 302 times before he got the money to create Disney World


J.K Rowling The author of the Harry Potter series didn’t magically become wealthier than the Queen of England. Coming from poverty, she wrote the first book in the series on an old typewriter only to be turned down by more than ten publishers. A year later, a publisher named Barry Cunningham agreed to publish her book, but suggested she get another job because children’s books do not typically lead to making a lot of money.

Next we challenged them to play "Saving Sam".

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

It's NSCW 17!

 

It's National School Counselor Week! 

It's time to celebrate to advocate. I had a wonderful plan for the week, and then illness hit and our county closed. So I am celebrating some of this week from home (is there any better gift?). But here is a brief outline of my original plan:



 First, I sent out a newsletter with a daily activity or giveaway for my teachers. I also printed this wonderful infographic by the TN School Counseling Association on the back about how we became the wonderful school counselors we are today.





Monday
School Counselors think their students are soda-lightful. 
 Thanks to the Middle School Counselor for this idea. I set out her adorable sign and some soda's in work room for a treat. 

Parent Workshop- 
I hosted a parent workshop on stress/anger management. Each parent received a goodie bag for coming. The bags included hangouts, brochures, pencils for journaling, stress/fidget toys, bubbles, stickers for reward charts, etc. I also had tons of books for parents to check out. I will follow this up with a thank and you and links to more resources.  








Tuesday
I love ...
I love being a school counselor because my students rock. Why do you love having a school counselor? I put one sign outside my office and printed copies of the sign for teachers to complete with their class/grade level team. Every class that sends me a picture or shares with me will get a special treat.  

Wednesday
Reach Higher
Counselors encourage students #reachhigher! Wear your favorite college gear and ask your students what they want to be during morning meeting.  
I also created this hall display with my amazing intern, about how counselors help during each stage- elementary, middle, high school, college, and beyond. 





 







Morning Meeting Day- 
I will (or had hoped to) visit classrooms during morning meetings this month to read this wonderful book. I hoped to share with them why I love working with them and ask them what they love/are grateful for.
Thursday

 Take time to de-stress. I had bubble wrap from an old move so I created little stress reliving goodies for the teachers.


Counselors "chip" in. I have been very focused on helping my admin. understand my role this year, so I created a little "chip in" handout that explains my job. I can easily staple this to a bag of chips and bam. 

Friday
Mystery Reader

Each month I put a character ed. mystery reader book on our Canvas system, what teachers use to watch the news. I reminded teacher to  watch the Character Education mystery reader video. I asked classes to guess and vote on who they think the mystery reader is for February. If they E-mail their guess (1 per class) and I will put the correct answers in a drawing for a prize or give each class a surprise.  This month our book is One.


 Need more ideas?
Visit the Elementary School Counselor Idea Exchange Group on Facebook.


Check out Pinterest.
And....
Is there any better way to say " I love you" than with a sale?