Treat Yo Self

It's my birthday (and also the last day of testing which is a birthday treat all in itself)! I must admit I am terrible about surfing the web and day dreaming about all the things I would by for myself from a custom dog necklace to office supplies for next year.

My amazing friend Chandra Verbic, owner of C Jayne Teach, must have known I am on a decorating/organizing kick because she just introduced a new line of teacher supplies for next year. Here are just a few reasons why it's amazing:

1) It's cheerful. Even on those awful, terrible, no good, very bad days just looking at her mugs, planners, and notepads will cheer you up. It's impossible to be grouchy around these colors.

2) I am a firm believer in a good morning for our students. As I am asked to tackle behavior more and more I almost always start by looking at a students schedule and morning routine. What are the procedures for morning arrival? Are they arriving to classroom with simple, organized directions for starting the day or do they walk into a free for all? So when she sent me this picture of her new morning tray, I literarily lit up. What a fun way to organize papers, but also help students get in smooth routine for a good morning. I LOVE IT.

3) Customer input is really valued. I love that Chandra really listens to her customers and uses their input as she designs new items. Her "Teacher Anchor" was already top notch, but she has made some wonderful updates based on what teachers think.

Connecting to Common Core Through Socratic Seminars

Today we were asked how has the move towards "Common Core" affected your role as a counselor.
For me the most obvious way is that I feel more limited with my time, it's simply not as easy to take a student out of the classroom even for 15 minutes.

Additionally, I think counselors have been doing "Common Core" for a long time. I could be wrong, but I feel like Common Core is a push towards independent learning and problem solving. Well don't we do that every day? (I won't tell you how to fix this problem with your friend, but I can help you pick and practice an option that works best for you. I can't fix what's happening at home, but I can help you develop coping skills.)

For me the best way to reach my older students, meet Common Core standards, and to really see growth in how my students treat each other is through Socratic Seminars.

I can't encourage enough you to use Socractic Seminars with your students (grades 5 up). Imagine running a small group, but reaching triple the amount of students. Imagine creating a positive classroom environment, tackling bullying, practicing social skills, and encouraging higher order thinking skills in 45 minutes. It's great, but the beginning stages can be frustrating so here are my helpful tips:


Watch, Listen Learn: 
If possible watch a seminar before you venture out on your own. The amazing Angela Bunyi (Academic Interventionist and Teacher) let me watch her in action before we did one together. I was so impressed by how smoothly it ran in her classroom, so I must admit I was a little blind sided when my first solo seminar hit speed bump after speed bump. She taught me a lot! I could never duplicate nor do I want to even try and top her expertise so read her article on doing a seminar here:
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2010/11/higher-order-comprehension-power-socratic-seminar

It's going to practice: 

Socratic seminars take a certain flow and self control. We are asking a lot of our students (and even ourselves). They have to hold their thoughts/opinions until we have asked for them, they must practice discussing not debating, they can't have side conversations, we can't jump in a save them! Seminars bring up uncomfortable feelings, and they need to practice coping with those. For example, at the end of my last seminar I got feedback from several students that they just didn't like it. When I looked closer at the students that said they didn't care for this lesson I realized they fell into one (or both) of two categories: they had stated opinions that differed from the majority and/or they were students that loved concrete answers (they were uncomfortable in the gray they wanted 1+1=2 always). Practice, practice, practice.

Class Decor Finds

Loving this canvas print.

If I could have a "side job" it would be to work with some of the best teachers I know and help teachers decorate and organize their classrooms. I love class decor. I love walking into a room and feeling comfortable and at home. So I often day dream about designing a classroom. Here are some items that have made it into my dreams lately:

Welcome New Friends

Brooklyn and Fidget

Boss making new friends at the "Nuttcracker."

We love making new friends! I also love seeing that people are visiting my blog, which is just a fun way for me to share ideas and of course puppy pictures. Since I have noticed the ticker keeps increasing I wanted to share a few things about Sassy School Counselor with my new readers.

5 Things You Should Know About Me:

Brooklyn hard at work in my office.

1) I have horrific grammar. English was my worst subject from elementary school through college, and it looks like things aren't changing. I started this blog as a fun way to share ideas I have had and the ideas I have begged for, borrowed, and stolen. It's also a fun way for me to write about what I am doing, so in many ways it's like a journal for me. Thus I tend to write my blog entries as if they were my journal entries, which means bad spelling and poor grammar. Worse I have moved away from the amazing E.S. (my former music teacher) who also assisted as a personal editor. So sorry in advance for the spelling and grammar mistakes!

Meeting new friends.

2) Much to the dismay of my friends I often compare working with my students to dog training. The comparison of my baby Brooklyn to our sweet Kindergartners has lead to many a head shake, but I just can't help it. For starters having a dog reminds me of having a toddler- they are always moving, they always need to go to the potty, and they are always learning how to treat others/follow the rules. I have spent hundreds of dollars in dog training and I want to put what I learned to good use. Most of all it connects for me. We are always looking for connections to make with our students and ways to make what we are saying relevant to their lives, and for me looking at a behavior/social problem the way I would look at working with my dog- well it just makes more sense. Please don't take the comparison personal.

Which way are we going?

3) I love finding fun new websites! I remember in the summer of 2010 I was sitting pool side and a friend of a friend said have you heard of this site "Pinterest".  At the time you needed an invitation to join and I thought "huh wonder what that's about." Less than a year later I was addicted. 

I hope will all follow me! (http://www.pinterest.com/sassyscounselor/)