School Counselor Blog

Awhile back I wrote a post about requesting college swag and what to do with it .  This year one of my goals is to expose my students to higher education opportunities in the Pittsburgh, PA region.  Over the summer, I sent out emails to admissions offices at local colleges and universities in my county and surrounding counties requesting pennants to display in the school counseling area at my school. In the emails I explained how I would be using the pennants at my school. A few weeks ago I started receiving the pennants! I couldn't be more excited about the response I received so far! Today I hung up the my "All Students College & Career Ready!" banner  and the pennants I received so far. I am hoping to represent all of the colleges and universities in the Pittsburgh area and then expand my efforts to elsewhere in PA and beyond!  Below I included the exact message I sent to Duquesne University, where I am pursuing my doctoral degree.  I thought...

March is Women's History Month. In my latest post on the  Free Spirit Publishing's Blog , I share  3 Empowering Career Books for Young Women . These books are great to highlight during Women's History Month, but can be used in your elementary career lessons year-round.  Do you celebrate Women's History Month at your school? What materials do you use to teach about "non-traditional"careers? I started writing for  Free Spirit Publishing's Blog  in April of 2012. Check out the  Counselor's Corner  for more Free Spirit Publishing Blog Posts by me! 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,...

While searching for materials related to the content of a graduate career counseling course I am teaching, I found the National Career Development Association (NCDA) Website . NCDA is a division of the American Counseling Association. The NCDA website has a wealth of information related to career development and career counseling. The resources page has links to many different online assessments, job-seeker resources, and tons of other great career resources and information. The NCDA website is definitely a resource I can see myself using during the course I am teaching as well as in my work as a school counselor! Have you ever used the NCDA website? How would you use the resources from this site in your work as a school counselor? 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 plac...

Kayla, a second year counselor at a rural K-5 Elementary school, shared how she uses Lunch Bunches to connect with students she serves. Kayla is able to get to know all of her students and build rapport by meeting students during lunch. Kayla wrote: One goal that I have set for myself this year is to get to know the students in my building better. Besides classroom lessons, groups, and individual counseling, I wanted to create a something where I gave each student the opportunity to meet me, regardless of whether there was a problem or concern. So, after brainstorming I decided to put together a program called Lunch Bunch where students could sign up to have lunch with me in my office one time during the school year. Kayla's Lunch Bunch sign up sheet.   Click on the image to download a PDF Lunch Bunch sign up sheet . Students are bunched into groups of 3-4 and are invited to bring their lunch to my office for a special lunch with me. Each class is assign...

School Counselors are often in charge of coordinating Red Ribbon Week at their school. Check out the links below for Red Ribbon Week themes/days ideas you can implement at your school. Many of the ideas are easy to implement. Even if you have not started planning for this year's Red Ribbon week (October 23rd - 31st) you could implement some of the ideas below to kick off your Red Ribbon Week. School Counselor Spotlight - Character is Our Super Power - Red Ribbon and Character Counts Theme Career Dress Up Day Dress for Success Day College, University, Military, and Trade School Day College Door Decorating and School Spirit Day Red Ribbon Week Ideas  - Career Theme Bee Drug Free!  - Grocery Store Bag Decorations How do you celebrate Red Ribbon Week at your school? What themes/days ideas have you used? Comment below,  tweet ,  contact Danielle , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle is a K-12 Certified School...

This is my first post in my effort to share more ideas with you! You didn't think MORE ideas were possible, right? ;) A  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page  fan asked me about an image I shared awhile back. It was a picture of students holding up a chalkboard sign with what they want to be when they grow up. Source:   christinekay.com   via   School Counselor Blog   on   Pinterest I can't remember where I first saw this. I swear I saw it on Scholastic's Facebook page... but regardless I pinned it because I totally loved this picture and this idea! This idea would be great as a bulletin board or display at your school! If I was working in a school this year I would love do to this... but as most of you know I am going back to graduate school to pursue a Ph.D . So.... To create a DIY version of this you could take pictures of students holding a chalkboard, whiteboard, or even a piece of paper with their future career choice written...

Recently I have received a lot of emails regarding college promotional materials. Some school counselors want to know what to do with the materials they have. Others want to know how to get colleges to send them some swag! Last night a School Counselor Blog Facebook Fan from Georgia shared that her son's high school has college banners displayed on the ceiling of their cafeteria. It is an awe-inducing site... If you work at this high school we all want to know how you got all of these banners!!! :) In the most recent  School Counselor Spotlight ,  Jeremy Goldman , a high school counselor in Maryland, shared how he displays college stickers in his office.  This is a great conversation starter for students and helps them become familiar with colleges they may have never heard of!  Jeremy purchases college stickers everywhere he goes! Students have also brought him back stickers when they go on college visits.  Awhile back I shared that ...

While I was at the ASCA National Conference I enjoyed connecting in person with s chool counselors I have interacted with on Twitter .  At the conference,  Jeremy Goldman , a high school counselor in Maryland was telling me about how he collects college stickers to display in his office. (If you are a school counselor who tweets you may know him on Twitter as  @MrJGoldman  or  @PHSCouns ). He even went on a college visit while in Minneapolis to get a sticker to add to his collage.  I thought Jeremy's college sticker collage was a unique way to share college information with high school students, so I asked him if he would share about it for the School Counselor Spotlight .  By Jeremy Goldman, M.Ed., High School Counselor, MD For me, it all started with my own experience with college. I was so excited to go to my first-choice college that when I went for my overnight visit in the spring of my senior year, I bought a window de...

Career Café is an opportunity for students to learn about careers from individuals in their community.  One of my biggest success as a school counselor  has been s tarting a Career Café at my school. Students absolutely love Career Café, it is a blast to host, and it meets  ASCA Student Standard in the Career Domain .   Career Cafe can also be geared toward any level - elementary, middle, or high school! I have gotten tons of inquiries and questions about hosting a Career Café. I am creating a series of posts to explain Career Café in greater detail and provide you with the tools you need to start a Career Café at your school.  Selecting Students to Participate  One the most frequently asked questions I receive about Career  Café is "how do you decide which students you invite?" This answer may be different for everyone who is reading this post! We all work in different size schools with differe...

Career Café is an opportunity for students to learn about careers from individuals in their community.  One of my biggest success as a school counselor  has been s tarting a Career Café at my school. Students absolutely love Career Café, it is a blast to host, and it meets  ASCA Student Standard in the Career Domain .   Career Cafe can also be geared toward any level - elementary, middle, or high school! I have gotten tons of inquiries and questions about hosting a Career Café. I am creating a series of posts to explain Career Café in greater detail and provide you with the tools you need to start a Career Café at your school.  Since starting Career Café I have hosted 13 speakers (8 the first year and 7 the second year).  I was worried at first that I would not be able to find speakers, but in the words of Kevin Costner from  Field of Dreams , "If you build it, they will come!"  Recru...