School Counselor Blog

That's Middle School, baby... Not gonna lie, I have been OBSESSED with finding out all the new Taylor Swift Album details. I decided to make a special image just for middle school counselors. When I woke up this morning to get the Taylor Swift news, I immediately thought of making a "The Life of a Middle School Student" Image using a combination lock. I actually made one and posted a countdown for our first day of school! Combination locks make me think of middle school. They are kind of the quintessential middle school thing... The thing about combination locks though, is that they can be a big stressor! Honestly, I still remember how stressed I was about opening a combination lock in middle school.... and that was back in the 1990s...  A few years ago, I created a "how to open a combination lock" image to help students feel comfortable opening those dreaded combination locks.  I realized I never posted those images here... soooooooooooo without further ado, be...

Editable Friendship Bracelet Style Bulletin Board I have wanted to create a friendship bracelet style bulletin board ever since I saw them all over Instagram last year. I made this simple, customizable, and editable - "In My Middle School Era" bulletin board using my Canva educator account . To create this bulletin board for your school or office, access my  EXACT "In My Middle School Era" Friendship Bracelet Style Bulletin Board  or access the Editable Friendship Bracelet Bulletin Board template . If you use the  Editable Friendship Bracelet Bulletin Board template  you can then change the letter beads to write things like: In My Friendship Era In My "SCHOOL NAME" Era In my Kindness Era ...or whatever you want the letter beads to spell! 😉 To assemble the "In My Middle School Era" Bulletin Board follow the steps below. Friendship Bracelet Style Bulletin Board Letters & Beads I saved the whole file as a PDF and then pr...

If you are short on time and need a quick and easy "Welcome Back" bulletin board, this one is for you! This bulletin board is an idea mash-up of  Dr. Susan Fuller - Entirely Elementary School Counseling "BE" Bulletin Board  and  this inspiring classroom door  I saw on Pinterest. I created the words for this bulletin board using Google Slides. Google has some awesome fonts, and best of all they are free! If you save a copy of Welcome Back Bulletin Board you can add more words, change the fonts, and edit the "Welcome Back" message to state your school's name or acronym. I printed the words on alternated colors of cardstock . I framed the "Welcome Back" message with a l arger piece of black cardstock . Have you created any Welcome Back Bulletin Boards this school year? I would love to see them! Comment below,  tweet ,  contact Danielle , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle is a K-12 Certified ...

I have been struggling to juggle the many things that have been going on in my life. Sadly, blogging has been one of the balls that has dropped. I keep wanting to publish a new post, but haven't known where to even start. I have lots of ideas for posts, but I can't seem to get them out of my head and into a post. Today I decided to just go for it... there is no time like the present. I decided to write about welcoming new students because I have had a few new students in the past few weeks. Looking through my drafts I realized that I had started this post last year and never published it. So, here we go... *** This is an idea that I used last year. This year I did not do the same thing, but I am hoping to do this again in the future for new 6th graders who come later in the year. I am planning to write a new post soon of what I am currently doing to welcome new students! *** Last school year I wanted to try some creative ways to welcome students who come after the school...

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...

Jen, a school counseling intern who graduates in December, gave an organizational skills lesson a creative and interactive spin!  Jen wrote: I was running an organizational and study skills group for 7th and 8th grade students during my field experience at a middle school. In this group, each session focused on a different area of organization and studying. In the session where we focused on organizing backpacks and binders, we played a game where students had to race to find a paper in a backpack. I got this idea from the book Creative Approaches for Counseling Individual Children in the School Setting by Diane S. Senn. However, I decided to make it into a racing game between two students to make the activity more interactive and fun. I asked the group for two volunteers to play a game, and then asked the volunteers to each choose a backpack. I explained that they would be racing to look through their backpack to find a piece of paper with an “X” marked on it. Before...

I was feeling the need to decorate the outside glass of the counseling suite area at my school. I wanted to make it very obvious where the school counselors are located and how we can support students. I have been thinking about this for awhile and then I remembered what a wise school counselor, Andrea Burston told me, "you don't have to reinvent the wheel." I tend to forget that just because I did something in my previous school doesn't mean I can't do it again! I have to remind myself constantly that the students I work with now don't know what I did before so it will be all new to them! So, I got the idea to decorate the large glass windows on the outside of the counseling suite area by revamping one of my favorite bulletin boards that I created in the past, my Feeling PUZZLED? bulletin board . With TONS of help from my co-counselor's intern, Jen, I revamped my Feeling Puzzled? board to make it fit the large window space.  (If you have been fol...

In my latest post for the  Free Spirit Publishing's Blog , Thriving in the Middle  I share tips for parents and educators to make students' transition from elementary school to middle school smoother. What tips do you have for helping students make the transition from elementary to middle school? Please share your comments and ideas in the comment section of my post on the Free Spirit Blog! 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, and b...

This is my #scday1 pic!  Since I started at my new position I have felt overwhelmed, but in a positive way. I have been overwhelmed by how welcoming the other staff members have been to me, not just at my school, but district wide. I have overwhelmed by faculty and staff member's level of caring about students, not just academically, but about students' personal and social well-being inside and outside of the classroom. I have been overwhelmed by how welcoming and accepting students have been to new students coming in to the school. I feel honored to be part of such a caring and welcoming school community! I started my new position on August 8th. This past week was the first week of school for students. I am beginning to feel like I am in the swing of things. I can't wait to get started planning events, classroom lessons, and groups for the year. I can't wait to finish up decorating my office... that will be whole post in and of itself! In addition to my new ...

There is a lot of great discussion happening on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page   Each Friday I share some of the week's most popular posts and fan questions from the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page . Check out the questions below and then visit the links to read comments, suggestions, and ideas from other school counselors! Questions from the week ending Aug 9, 2013 Where to Shop for School Counseling Office Decor: Jacyln is looking for posters and decorations for her new office. What stores and online retailers do you recommend she check out? Click here to read the comments . Intro Items for School Staff: Do you give out anything (trinkets, candy, brochures, etc.) to introduce yourself to school staff? Share your creativity below! Click here to read the comments . Connecting School Counselors with Spouses in the Military: Brandy is looking to connect with other school counselors who have a spouse in the military. She wants to know how o...

Our March #SCCHAT was held on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 8pmEST. The topic was Supporting College Trailblazers.  Jeremy Goldman ( @MrJGoldman ) moderated the chat. I was so excited when Jeremy suggested moderating a chat on Supporting College Trailblazers, which are first generation college students. This chat stressed the importance of starting in elementary school to support and encourage ALL students for college readiness. Check out the  full chat transcript here! There were lots of new tweeps on this chat and we hope to see even more in future chats! To access all of the tweets with the hashtag #scchat,  click here . For transcripts of previous #SCCHATs, schedules for future School Counselor Tweet Chats, and information on how to participate, visit #SCCHAT Info:  http://bit.ly/scchat-info . The next School Counselor Tweet Chat is on Tuesday, April 2, 2013 at 8pmEST. Tabitha Panariso ( @tpanariso ) from Scrapbook of a School Counselor w...

I am working on posting transcripts for past School Counselor Tweet Chats.  A complete schedule and transcripts can be found at bit.ly/scchat_2012 . October's #SCCHAT was held on October 2, 2012 at 8pmEST. The topic was  Vertical Collaboration .   Jeremy Goldman, @MrJGoldman , and Kelly Johnson,  @kelly_counselor , moderated the #scchat. 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 . The next School Counselor Tweet Chat is on Tuesday, November 13th, 2012 at 8pmEST. Marci Newman,  @ARHSCounselor and her principal will be hosting the chat Principal and School Counselor Relationship .  View the 2012 School Counselor Tweet Chat schedule and transcripts here . For information on how to participate in a f...

I have a new post on  Free Spirit Publishing's Blog !  Check out my post Back-to-School Goals for Counselors and Educators  about how a simple gesture can make someone's day. I give some fun low-cost ideas in this post! I also wrote a post on the Free Spirit Publishing Blog about SMART Back-to-School Goals for Students ! 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, and blogger at  School Counselor Blog , a place where school counselors share innovative ideas,  creative...

I am so excited to host the  School Counselor Blog Back to School Giveaway , which is 10 days of daily giveaways starting September 1st and ending on September 10th! Today is day six of the  School Counselor Blog Back to School Giveaway . Today's giveaway for the  School Counselor Blog Back to School Giveaway  is Wings by Christopher Myers . Wings  by Christopher Myers  is a book I have been meaning to write about for a loooooong time. I first read  Wings   about three years ago and was immediately drawn in by the illustrations.  I could not wait to share  Wings  with my students! Wings   tells the story of Ikarus Jackson, a new boy at school. He is ridiculed by the other kids (and adults!) because of his wings and his ability to fly. One student, however stands up for him and helps him see the beauty and ability his wings give him. Wings   is a beautiful story and the artwork is just amazing! Wings ...