School Counselor Blog

Are you looking for great iPad apps to utilize with students as a school counselor? Andrea Burston, an Elementary School Counselor in Raleigh, North Carolina and author of jyjoynercounselor , has the spotlight and will be sharing some of her favorite apps she utilizes as a school counselor.   Great iPad Apps for School Counselors by Andrea  J. Burston, Raleigh, NC Blog:  bit.ly/jyjscblog Many of us are now getting and using iPads in our schools.  They certainly make a great addition to our programs!  I now find that I use mine fairly regularly (some days more than others, it just depends on the day).  I'm often asked about which apps that I recommend to school counselors and how they are used.  So here's my list (in no particular order).  Most of these apps are free, however,  for the few apps that I bought, I used an iTunes gift card (put that on your school wish list for next year).  Scribble Press  (f...

It was a pretty awesome sight to see 50+ 4th and 5th grade girls circled up in our school gymnasium for our Diva's Day Out program! To kick off our Diva's Day Out program we spoke to students about relational aggression.  We asked for examples of how girls bully other girls. We received lots of examples, including rolling their eyes, talking behind her back, spreading rumors, not letting her join your group or hang out with you, etc. We explained relational aggression includes ways of being mean or hurtful to someone with by damaging the person's relationships or social status. We talked about different types of bullying (including physical, verbal, emotional, and cyber-bullying) and how relational aggression plays a role. Get Out the Negativity! One of our goals for the day was to help foster positive peer relationships among the girls. We also wanted to do an activity to get out the negativity and reward students for positive interactions. We instructed girls to ...

Life has been crazy for me lately (in a good way!) and I have been trying to play catch up. There are so many things I want to update you on, but I don't know where to start. Diva's Day Out seemed as good of a place to start as any... so... here we go! On May 16th my co-school counselor and I hosted a Diva's Day Out for 4th and 5th grade girls. Diva's Day Out was a big success and girls are still talking about how much fun they had and how awesome it was! Yay! We scheduled Diva's Day Out on a day where we had a half day and received parental permission for the girls to stay after school from 12:30pm - 3:00pm. We had approximately 50 4th and 5th grade Divas in attendance! (Side note we also required all of the girls in our Girls on the Run and Girls on Track programs to participate... more about GOTR later!) During Diva's Day Out students participated in activities focusing on fitness, nutrition, self-esteem, relational aggression, and body image. We mad...

I want to put you in the spotlight! Do you have an innovative idea, creative lesson, or quality resource you want to share with other school counselors? Have you done something to make a positive impact on your students, your school, and yourself? School Counselor Spotlight is a way for you to share your innovative ideas, creative lessons, and quality resources with School Counselor Blog readers! Send your stories, ideas, creative lessons, and/or resources to  danielle@schcounselor.com  with School Counselor Spotlight in the subject line. Please include a description of the idea, lesson, or resource, including costs, inspiration, pictures and how it impacted your students or school! **Photos must be of good quality and unedited.** Chosen ideas and stories will be featured in the School Counselor Spotlight on School Counselor Blog! Comment below,  tweet ,  contact Danielle , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle ...

If you know anything about me, you know I love a great deal! This weekend while my husband and I were doing some spring cleaning I stumbled upon text books from graduate school and my undergraduate studies. I decided to list them on Half.com because they have been taking up precious space and were not being used. That's when I discovered Instant Sale on Half.com ! It has been awhile since I bought or sold a text book and I must tell you I was pretty excited when I found out I could i nstantly sell books back on Half.com . I was so excited to find out that my books were actually still worth something. One of them was worth $20! Shocking! When selling your book through Instant Sale , you have the option of getting a half.com gift card (with a bonus 15%) or PayPal funds as payment. Another perk is that is FREE to ship your books to Half.com. Once you get a price for your book you get a printable shipping label to mail your book. Using Half.com Instant Sale was quick, e...

I have a new post on  Free Spirit Publishing's Blog !  Check out my post about making school more meaningful for disengaged students: Engaging the Disengaged Student .  I started blogging for  Free Spirit Publishing's Blog  in April of 2012! I love  Free Spirit's books  and I am so excited to contribute to  Free Spirit's Blog , "a springboard of ideas for teachers, counselors, and anyone who cares about kids!" Comment below,  tweet ,  contact Danielle , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at  School Counselor Blog , a place where school counselors share innovative ideas,  creative lesson plans,  and quality resources. Connect with Danielle via  email ,  Twitter , Pinterest ,  LinkedIn ,  Google+ , and become a fan of the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page .

When I give new school counselors gifts, I want them to be fun and functional! I want to give them something they will actually use in their work as a new school counselor or school counseling intern. Last year, I gave my school counseling intern a gift of a portable sand tray .  Instead of just giving her a container of sand I wanted to make a gift "basket" of things she could use to get her started as a school counselor. In addition to a storage container and sand  (see the  portable sand tray  post for more details) I used colorful tissue paper to wrap some fun items she could use. First up, BUBBLES! :)  What school counselor doesn't love bubbles .  There are so many ways school counselors can utilize bubbles in sessions with students! Squishy Ball! I got this Squishy Ball at the Target dollar spot (have I mentioned how much I LOVE the Target dollar spot?!).  Balls like this are great for students to fidget with when they are ...

Today is the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week. One week just does not seem like enough appreciation for any educational professional! We need encouragement and appreciation all year round! Way back in February, my co-school counselor and I made decided to make water-bottle gifts for staff during National School Counseling Week . My co-school counselor saw something similar on Pinterest . We purchased bulk packs of water bottles and individual drink mix packets in a variety of flavors. We printed the message "Together we help  'quench' the 'thirst' for knowledge! We appreciate you!" on yellow card stock. We then punched a hole in the top and tied the cards on with embroidery floss.  We used glue dots to affix the individual drink mix packets to the cards. The water bottles turned out really cute and the staff loved them!  They were inexpensive, simple, and quick to make. I love that they look so bright and cheery! These water bottles are a simpl...

Free Spirit Publishing is hosting a Bully Free Bundle Giveaway!  The giveaway ends Wednesday, May 9th at 8:59 CDT!  They are giving away some of my FAVORITE items in two different bundles! Don't miss out on the opportunity to enter this awesome giveaway! To enter the giveaway, visit the  Bully Free Bundle Giveaway  Post or click on one of the pictures below. What are your favorite Free Spirit items? Comment below,  tweet ,  contact Danielle , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at  School Counselor Blog , a place where school counselors share innovative ideas,  creative lesson plans,  and quality resources. Connect with Danielle via  email ,  Twitter , Pinterest ,  LinkedIn ,  Google+ , and become a fan of the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page .

As you know I love to share great finds with you and reward my readers.  With graduations and the end of the school year coming up I wanted to do a giveaway that any school counselor or aspiring school counselor could benefit from. I recently became a Thirty-One independent consultant! I absolutely love that Thirty-One products are both fun and functional! There are so many great products that would be perfect for school counselors, which is why I was drawn to the items in the first place! There are so many great Thirty-One items that would make great graduation gifts and gifts for the end of an internship! I am hosting a giveaway of a Thirty-One Organizing Utility Tote with FREE (optional) Personalization! *THIS IS A $37 value!*  The Organizing Utility Tote is 10.25"H x 15.5"W x 6.5"D with a 12" handle drop.  It features durable laminated nylon and seven exterior pockets (two of which are mesh).  It currently comes in 14 different patterns and one ...

May's #SCCHAT was held on May 1, 2012 at 8pmEST. We chatted about Basics of Legislative Advocacy .   Check out the full chat transcript!  Note: In the tweet chat we used PD to stand for Professional Development and PSC to stand for Professional School Counselor (this helped us save valuable characters!) To access all of the tweets with the hashtag #scchat,  click here . We are hosting a BONUS #SCCHAT on Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 1:00pmEST during the Rhode Island School Counselor Association State Conference! We will be chatting about  Setting Realistic and Measurable Goals. The next School Counselor Tweet Chat is on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 at 8pmEST. We will making plans for the school counselor Tweet Up in Minneapolis, MN at the ASCA National Conference. View the 2012 School Counselor Tweet Chat schedule and transcripts here . For information on how to participate in a future School Counselor Tweet Chat, click here ! Click here for...