Teacher Organizers Aren't Just For Teachers

Thanks to my friend Chandra over at C Jayne Teach I am getting organized for the new year. My new Teacher Anchor just arrived and I am thrilled. #cjayneteach #teacheranchor

Here's how I am using mine (sorry the pics are blurry my camera phone just couldn't do the Anchor justice):

Connecting our curriculum to Common Core Standards seems to be a reoccurring theme at conferences and meetings I attend. I love that all the standards for K-3 are included in this planner and you can get the standards for other grades on her website. These easy sheets allow me to write down when I taught those standards, which will be easy to fill in as I write my lesson plans and then can use as part of my evaluation at the end of the year.

This fantastic page is at the end of each Common Core section and allows me to write down what lesson I did to meet standards. For example: 5th Grade- Socratic Seminar on fear or 3rd Grade- "Invisible Boy" lesson on friendship (see standards it met here.)

Instead of subjects I broke down my sections into the different parts of my program, including; Individual, Groups, Classroom Guidance,  Program Planning, and Other. Under other I will write down meetings, IEP/ 504 planning, parent conferences, collaborations, etc. 

I love that each day I can write down students I need to see or walk in.  

New Blog Alert

Check out this fun new blog by local Knoxville counselor Miss Mimi!

It reminds me another one of my favorite blog Love, Teach. Both are funny, witty, and make you laugh. We all of those moments in education that just make us stop and giggle and Mimi's blog is full of those amusing times. It's a fun read on a Saturday morning with a cup of coffee.

I've already added her to my Feedly and counseling friends you should follow her too!
Read about more of my favorite blogs here.

Blogs you should be reading!

Look at this very exciting post featuring not only yours truly, but the best school counseling blogs out there. Thank you Career Counseling Guide.

Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest!

The only planner you'll ever need!

My dear friend (and it's not just because of her love of the royal family) is doing a pre-sale of her super cute items for Middle Tennessee teachers. I can't encourage you enough to share her site with your teachers. It's just full of resources to help them with common core, lesson planning, organization, etc. She is a wealth of knowledge! I often found that I learned more from her when we consulted than I think I was teaching her.

Here is a sneak peak of some of the items and the links so you can get your own. I plan on using this binder for my planner this year. It's well thought out, has plenty of room to write, and I think it's great for goal setting.

From Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/7529524349993900/

From Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/7529524349955057/

From Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/7529524349914638/

Shop her Etsy store.

Visit the website.

Follow her blog.

You will be so glad you did.

Prezi's- You Can Be Techy Too!

This week was the TN School Counseling and Administrators Institute, a wonderful conference I look forward to every year.
I learned lots, left with many ideas I can't wait to share, but my favorite breakout session was "I'm Techy And I Know It" hosted by the amazing Greene County team.

Here is why I loved this break out:

1) I actually have more tech knowledge than I thought or give myself credit for. For example, I was one of few people in the room who blogged (yay! and thanks for reading) and also one of the few people with a LiveBinder.

2) I went home and immediately used the info given. I updated my Pinterest site to match my website and brand. Visit it here: http://pinterest.com/sassyscounselor/   and visit Nashville Pittie's page here: http://pinterest.com/nashvillepittie

3) It was practical, informative, and inspiring. While I don't have an iPad (yet) I left with many many ideas that I can do.

For example, do you know about Prezi's? I love it! It's like PowerPoint on crack (sorry but there is simply no other way to describe it's awesomeness.) I have created a few since Tuesday just for practice. I also love that you can download them as a PDF and search and share for other Prezi's (you know I love to beg, borrow, and steal!)
Do you have a Prezi to share? Share Share!! Here are mine thus far:

Middle School Transition (for a parent workshop I am hosting) http://prezi.com/qck4nj9zjoxo/middle-school-transition/
*note I am still building this one!






Pittie Please: http://prezi.com/wsu00ohk00en/pittie-please/



The Prezi that started it all: http://prezi.com/nuu24blefvua/im-techy-and-i-know-it/

Keep checking back as I update with more ideas I learned and implemented!

Dirty Dog

Brooklyn's First Bath!

This week I did a lesson with K on keeping clean and staying healthy. It seemed appropriate after I was out a week with the flu =/

She still isn't a fan

First, as an introducation we watched "Harry the Dirty Dog" via http://www.storylineonline.net/. I have really enjoyed finding dog stories to tie into my lessons and add to my brand. This is an adorable story, but it's read by my personal hero Betty White, so I don't mind watching it over and over again.

There is a related activities section and activity guide for each book, but I didn't use them. Instead we used it as an introduction to talk about the importance of being clean. We brainstormed why we thought it was important to keep clean.

Blue Ribbon Blogs

As much as I love blogging, I love reading a good blog.
I have shared my favorites before, but I wanted to highlight some of my favorites today.

First, unless you live under a rock or this is your first visit to my page I adore animals, especially the snuggly, lovable, kissable Pit Bulls. One of the best parts of 2012 for me was volunteering with NashvillePITTIE, which combines my love of education and dogs.

Show Off Your Goals

One of my new favorite things about the New Year so far is all of my friends that are starting blogs or making a resolution to write more ;)

For example, if you love dogs you have to follow/add to your Google Reader: http://nashvillepittie.blogspot.com/

One of my dear work friends, who is a true inspiration for health and fitness, has a wonderful blog:

mendingbodyandsoul

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Run. Not too hard. Pray A lot.

Organization Through Technology

One of my bucket list goals was to incorporate more technology into my program. Reading and following some amazing blogs has really inspired and encouraged me to do this.

Andrea Burston at JYJ Counselor just turned me on to Livebinders, which is a virtual 3-ring binder.  You can upload videos, images, documents, and more. What a green idea. I re-did my parent resource page to help organize all of my resources and help me cut down or even eliminate the paper I use. See my Livebinder for parent resources! I think this will really help me organize my career day materials as well.

I can't wait to share this with my teachers when school starts, especially this binder on "How To Make Your Classroom A Playground"! 
I wish I had this when I was working at the high school, what a perfect way to organize scholarship, college, job, and career information. You could even upload and organize the schools program of study book, by using a different tab for each subject area.

Brand Me! Counseling PR

I always enjoy going to conferences where I leave with a head swarming with ideas, tips, and suggestions. One conference that always leaves me exhilarated is the Tennessee School Counselor and Administration Leadership Institute. One breakout session this year really got me excited! During the session the speaker suggested branding yourself so that your program is more recognizable. I loved the idea and if you know me you know I am obsessed with the new pup in my life, Brooklyn, so the "theme" for my "brand" was easy- dogs!


So I have spent my summer dreaming of ways to brand myself. Hopefully whenever someone see's paw prints and adorable dogs they will think "Hey, I bet this has something to do with Ms. Filtness!"

 Here is what I have so far:
Vistaprint is a great way to personalize your items and they frequently do sales. Right now they have six items for free, just pay shipping and handling. One of those items is a tote bag, great for carrying my supplies as I visit classrooms. 


I also just paid shipping for these super cute post-it notes.



I also got the idea to rename my PR documents, such as my newsletter, which is now "Brooklyn Barks News" after my beloved Brooklyn. "Brooklyn Bytes" will be a page on my website where I can share Internet/Technology safety tips for students and their parents, Brooklyn Bites will be healthy eating/nutrition tips, and I have renamed my FAQ page to "Kibble and Bits." I also enjoy watching the Westminster Dog Show every year, so I got the idea of using the "blue ribbon" with my students. I created a page for Blue Ribbon Books and Blue Ribbon Resources, which share with my stakeholders books and resources that I have found which provide great information on a variety of topics.

I also decided to tie in the "blue ribbon" idea with my character education. Each month I will ask teachers no nominate students that demonstrated each character word (i.e. courage, honesty) and I will show off those students on my "Top Dog" bulletin boards, which will of course have this frame from the Parent Teacher Store:




I can't stress the importance of collaboration. I am fortunate enough to meet daily with my special area teachers to engage in our PLC (Professional Learning Community). I love my special area team, I can't brag on them enough and what an invaluable resource they each are. This year our INCREDIBLE art teacher did a blue dog lesson and the students created their own blue dogs. I batted my eyes and smiled and got the best end of the year gift of all about 10 blue dog paintings.

This one is hanging in my living room and the rest are waiting to be framed and hung up at school. My plan is to frame some to hang in my office and in our conference room, where I host my parent workshops, and use the rest on my bulletin boards. You know why this is my favorite part- it's student made. The students will get to show off their art work and I can use the pictures to decorate. It's a win-win.

One blog I can't get enough off and love to see pop up in my Google Reader is Savvy School Counselor.
Since "branding" has been on my mind all summer, I was so excited to see Vanessa's entry on counseling PR. She is a great blogger, so it was no surprise when she came up with a list of ways to in enhance a counselor's PR. I don't think you can ever advocate enough for yourself or your position, because we are often overlooked and forgotten, so Vanessa's PR tips were great. She reminded me that I need a new paw covered brochure, so I've got to work on that soon.  It also encouraged me to get these at Vistaprint.


 New business cards to give to parents and hand out at conferences, new note pad, and the last picture is a brand new magnet I can hang outside or inside my office.

Here is my new dream list of fun stuff I want to buy. I am going to save my pennies and hopefully add these items to my  doggie collection:

Loyalty Card- I often get students that wander out of class to visit me or that ask to see me every time they see me in the hall. I have often  made an agreement to see them once a week, then once a month, until they taper off and don't beg to be in my office everyday. I thought these cards would be a cute way to do this. I could check them off when they see me and they know how many visits that month they have left. I could also use these for students who struggle with blurting out or ask thousands of questions. Each time the student asks a question or blurts the teacher can check off a box and the student knows they only have so many blurts or questions left that day/week, etc. This will also be a good way to advocate my role helping teacher's with behavior management.

More letterhead that would be adorable to use.

Thank you cards! I love these cards and between parent helpers, PTA assistance, Student Council, and Career Day I sent hundreds of thank you cards in a year. This way they will remember me and my program when they look at the dog bowl cards.
Stress balls! I work at a school for high-achievers, so I can't run enough stress groups. I thought these paw print stress balls from Inkhead would be great for the students who participate in my "Chill Pill" or "Cool Beans" small groups.

Can you tell how excited I am about my new "brand?" Share all of your doggie ideas!

So,  what do you do to set your program apart and to advocate your role in your school?

Tales Of A Counseling Library

People ask me all the time what is the difference between being a high school counselor and an elementary counselor? Sometimes they add that it must be so much easier now I am in elementary ed (I don't know about that!).

It's a question I dread worse than "when are you getting married?" so much like my answer to that ("when I can afford tickets to Vegas") I came up with a one line answer- "We face the same problems, we just deal with it in different ways."
 

Grief, death, fear, academics, behavior...the problems I tackle at my current school aren't that much different than my last, but it's true I approach them from a completely different place and with different tools. I don't think there is any bigger "tool" for an elementary school counselor than a book! It's true I have about a hundred books, from parental substance abuse to cooperation there is truly a book for everything. (The books pictured above are several of my favorites.) When a student comes into my office I often find myself reaching for a book.

One problem I faced when starting out was coming up with a library system for all of my books. In fact, I am still tweaking my system. First, I was letting students  and parents borrow them whenever they wanted, but I was never getting them back. Second, I couldn't always remember what books I had so I was loosing them all time or forgetting which ones hadn't been returned. Do you have this problem? What do you do? Here is what I have done in the last two years (it's still a work in progress of course.)

First, if you are a Mac user you may enjoy Delicious Library. It allows you to "scan" each of your books and it will place it on a virtual book case. I was first introduced to it by a dear teaching friend Angela Bunyi, who has a sensational blog on Scholastic. I encourage you to visit her blog and to pass it along to all of your teachers.









I used this system my first year, but last year I was encouraged by the amazing Elizabeth Shepherd to try out Shelfari. Like, Delicious Library, it allows you to create a virtual book library with various shelves, but you don't actually have to scan or own the book. Working with Amazon it allows you to search for book titles and in the click of button add it to your library. It also allows you to make notes on your books, let viewers know if you have read it, are reading it, or plan to, and it allows them to see other Amazon reviews. I have used it to add books I want to purchase, have been recommended to me, or that I currently have. Check out my virtual library.



Lastly, I used a good ole fashioned library system- library cards. You can find them at your local parent-teacher store and pay about $2.50 for 50 cards. I found some wonderful bright pockets that allow you to stick them into book easily. I love the paw prints!  I put them in my books and have students/parents check the books out by filling out the card with his/her name and e-mail. I keep the cards in a file box for easy storage- it's ole fashioned, by it works the best for me. 
                                                                      

So what works for you? How do you organize your counseling library?