School Counselor Blog

I am currently running a group for children with a loved one in jail. One of the activities I have facilitated with my group is the kiwi lesson.  The kiwi lesson can be used to address many different topics including stigma, shame, diversity, tolerance, body image, and more.  This lesson is fun and engaging. It worked especially well in the context of this group. The idea for the kiwi lesson comes from  The Freedom Writers Diary Teacher's Guide  by Erin Gruwell.  In the book there is a lesson called the "Peanut Game." I decided to use a kiwi instead of peanuts because of how colorful kiwis are on the inside and to avoid any allergies.  At the beginning of the activity I pass out a kiwi to each child. I instruct students to explore the outside of the kiwi and to make a list of as many adjectives as they can that describe the kiwi.  I recommend having students pair up to do this part with one student recording the words at a time.  After ...

This week, February 7 - 11 is   National School Counseling Week ! This year we are celebrating by raising awareness of our roles as school counselors and thanking staff for their support of our program and the students we serve.  My intern made an awesome brochure highlighting the school counseling program at my school. We are going to give the brochure to all the teachers and administrators.  In addition to the brochure, we are giving teachers, administrators, and other school staff a "thank you." I got the idea to give teachers, administrators, and staff a thank you with a "3 Musketeers" theme from  A Year of School Counseling: Tools and Techniques for K-12 Themes Throughout the Year   edited by Barbara Muller-Ackerman, who runs the   elementary counselor listserv .  A Year of School Counseling   has tons of information and ideas for  National School Counseling Week  including a proclamation, countdown calendar, and ideas...