My kitchen counter is heaped with kale, swiss chard, basil, blueberries, tomatoes in a variety of sizes, cilantro, radicchio, beans, and, of course, the ubiquitous zucchini after harvesting my garden and CSA farm share this morning. Before I get going on chopping, preserving, and cooking all that deliciousness, here’s today’s harvest of school counseling resources. (more…)
I find great resources all the time, things I use right away or plan to soon, but often don’t have time to blog about them. So I’ve decided to go ahead and share them here in a regular series called Fresh Picks for School Counselors. (Oh how I’d love to say weekly series, but, well, you know . . .) They may turn up again in a later blog post when I’ve incorporated them into a lesson, activity, or have done some serious thinking about them, but until then (if there is a then), here they are as is. I’d love to hear how you use them! I hope you enjoy the first harvest!
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The #ReachHigher Photo Project is a fun and easy way for school counselors to collectively show our dedication to helping our students become successful learners so that they can achieve success in college or other post-secondary training. All you need is a goal, paper and marker/printer, and a camera! Write your goal, which should be specific and related to college readiness, on the paper, have someone take a picture of you holding your goal paper, and email it to the address linked below by July 20, 2014. School counselors at all levels are encouraged to participate. If you are an elementary counselor, do not despair! Tons of what we do is related to college readiness, even if it is not college specific! (more…)
Photo credit: ASCA
Here it is! Your chance to see the First Lady thanking and clapping for you on this video of Michelle Obama speaking at ASCA14! One of the most exciting experiences in my career was being in the audience for Michelle Obama’s speech about school counselors and the work we do. It was (and still is, thanks to video) engaging, moving, and so, so validating! The ASCA staff clearly did a great job of making sure that the First Lady and her staff understood what daily life is like for school counselors and how much our students need us. I laughed, cried, and was simply amazed that this was happening. I think you will be too.
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I am still processing all the wonderfulness that was #ASCA14: amazingly dedicated (and fun) colleagues, inspiring sessions, meeting blog and Twitter friends in real life, making connections for future collaboration, picking up some school counselor swag, oh, and did I mention seeing and hearing Michelle Obama speak about, thank, and REALLY GET school counselors????!!!! I’ll have more to share with you as all the new info and resources settle in and percolate, but I don’t want to wait to tell you about the super-easy advocacy opportunity we have right now. Here’s a simple but powerful way that you can advocate for school counseling to your local stakeholders about the role and appropriate responsibilities of school counselors, and the need for reasonable, effective caseloads and quality professional development and training.
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