Let’s Go Back to School – Together! | School Counseling by Heart

Well, the school dreams have started, and I’m feeling a new urgency to get organized. I’ve even been going to bed a (tiny bit) earlier. The first day of school must be right around the corner. Yay! Ugh! Ack! Yup, definitely experiencing some mixed emotions! One thing that has made going back to school easier over the past couple of years is the knowledge that I take an invisible host of supporters with me. No, I’m not delusional – I’m talking about all of the school counselors all over the world who share their great ideas, encourage me on the tough days, crack me up with their tales of kid hijinks and bureaucratic ridiculousness, and just all-around inspire me. Yeah, I mean YOU! Fellow bloggers Andrea Burston from JYJCounselor and Danielle Schultz from School Counselor Blog have come up with some great ways for us all to connect as we head back to school. (These two really should be named the social “cruise directors” of the school counseling world!)

Image credit: JYJ Counselor & School Counselor Blog

Here are three ways for us all to get together as we go back to school. (Descriptions and instructions are courtesy of Andrea and Danielle.)

Join Us for a LIVE Chat!

Join us on Wednesday, August 7th at 8PM EST for the first ever School Counseling On Air Back to School Chat. (Update: Watch it here.) We will discuss back school tips, best practices, and much more! We have an amazing lineup of school counselor bloggers to represent each school counseling level! The following school counselors will be participating in the chat:

Elementary Level:

Andrea Burston (JYJ Counselor)
Rebecca Lallier (School Counseling by Heart)

Middle School:

Tabitha Panariso (Scrapbook of a School Counselor)
Danielle Schultz (School Counselor Blog)

High School:

Jeremy Goldman (Pikesville High School Counseling Department)
Darrell Sampson (From the Counselor’s Office)

To view the School Counseling On Air Back to School Chat live from YouTube visit the School Counseling On Air YouTube page. The School Counseling On Air Back to School Chat will also be broadcast live on JYJ Counselor Blog and School Counselor Blog.

You can tweet questions on Twitter using the hashtag #SCOA. You can also ask questions on the School Counseling On Air YouTube page.

Tech Phobia Intervention Time: Never done anything like this before? Not sure how it works? Don’t worry, just follow the links and try it. I’ve never done it either, and I’m part of the line-up! It’s probably easier than you think and it’s okay if you make mistakes. Although it’s probably better if you don’t make this particular mistake!

Photo credit: http://doblelol.com/1/computer-broken-funny-animal-pictures.htm

Share Your School Counseling Office!

We want to see your school counseling office! Whether you are still preparing and decorating your office for the school year or are all done and ready for students, we want to see your space! To share pictures or a tour of your office with other school counselors use the hashtag #scoffice on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Vine.

Confession Time: I despise setting up my room! It’s not the actual work that I object to, it’s the fact that I just barely spent half a day taking it all the way apart (for no good purpose – see bureaucratic ridiculousness above.) The reality of another un-airconditioned, windowless summer day spent pushing heavy furniture around and untangling and reconnecting more cords and cables than I know what to do with, when there is actual, meaningful, helpful work to do makes me crazy. Okay, it will only be half a day – but still! Also, inevitably the office mice who are the all-too-often bane of my existence will have pooped in my dollhouse over the summer. So let’s just say I haven’t embraced the excitement of taking pictures of my newly set-up school counseling office in the past. But now those days are over! I’m going to try to remain sunny while pretending to be the furniture mover-IT-specialist-pest-management-professional that I am not. I will take so many pictures that when the maintenance guy with the furniture dolly finally shows up (hours too late) he’ll think I’m a tourist! I promise not to post pictures that shows evidence of the mouse vacation. No, I don’t promise that at all! Let’s just share the wealth, people! We’re in this together, right????

Rodent + device with cord = room set up nightmare!
Photo credit: http://fanny-pictures-site.com/funny-animal-shut-your-mouth/

Even this Grumpy McGrumperson is going to take pictures of her office and share them, so you can too! Lots of people have already done it – go check it out!

Share Your First Day of School Picture!

We want to see your smiling face as you head back to another year or your first year as a school counselor! We also want to see graduate students and counselor educators heading back to graduate school! To share your first day of school picture with other school counselors use the hashtag #scday1 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Vine.

Redeem Myself Time: Despite my Scrooge-ish attitude about putting my room back together, I am totally Tiny Tim on the first day of school! Bless us, every one! I wake up super early, without the alarm, get butterflies, and am practically dancing with excitement when the buses start arriving. Here’s my advice: Take your First Day of School Picture early in the day. By the end of the day, you might look something like this: