School Counselor Blog

Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of the  Harlem Children's Zone , read an amazing poem during his keynote presentation at the  Pennsylvania School Counselors Association (PSCA) Conference . Don’t Blame Me by Geoffrey Canada The girl’s mother said, “Don’t blame me. Her father left when she was three. I know she don’t know her ABCs, her 1, 2, 3s, But I am poor and work hard you see.” You know the story, it’s don’t blame me. The teacher shook her head and said, “Don’t blame me, I know it’s sad. He’s ten, but if the truth be told, He reads like he was six years old. And math, don’t ask. It’s sad you see. Wish I could do more, but it’s after three. Blame the mom, blame society, blame the system. Just don’t blame me.” The judge was angry, his expression cold. He scowled and said, “Son you’ve been told. Break the law again and you’ll do time. You’ve robbed with a gun. Have you lost your mind?” The young man opened his mouth to beg. “Save your breath,” he heard instead. “Your dadd...

I wanted to share a poem that our district's Homelessness Coalition shared with the counselors and social workers. I have it hanging on the wall in my office.  For more information about homelessness and resources visit the Pennsylvania Homeless Children's Initiative website. 7 Hours of Sanity by Russell Valentini 7 hours of sanity, That’s what the school day means to me, A place with heat, water and light, And somewhere to rest after a sleepless night. 7 hours of sanity, That’s what the school day means to me, A place I can get two meals to eat, And every day I attend, I have the same seat. 7 hours of sanity, That’s what the school day means to me, A place to get a band-aid from the nurse, And maybe antiseptic so it doesn’t get worse. 7 hours of sanity, That’s what the school day means to me, A place I can jump rope and play basketball, And see the gym teacher who is six foot tall. 7 hours of sanity, That’s what the school day means to me, A place...

I am facilitating character education with kindergarten through fourth grade. I have a variety of themes I am touching on in the classes. For friendship, I worked with third and fourth grade to create their own "friendship raps." Before creating their raps, I had each class listen a rap "Something for Me, Something for You," found on the CD in the Teaching Tolerance "I Will be Your Friend" educator kit. The students really enjoyed the rap. After listening to the rap, I had the students talk about what they learned from the rap. They learned messages such as "you should respect people," "we should be friends with people, it doesn't matter what color we are," and "you should include other people." I then instructed the students to each come up with a line to make a unique friendship rap as a class. The students were very enthusiastic and came up with some great lines. I had each student raise his or her hand and sha...