by schoolcounselingbyheart | Jan 2, 2013 | This wacky job!
From the Department of “ACK! Get the Counselor, Quick!”
Don’t you just love how the nutso stuff that happens at school somehow always winds up as the school counselor’s responsibility? Nothing like a little discomfort to clear everyone else out of the room, leaving you with . . . any number of situations, but today we’ll be talking about The Strange Things Kids Bring to School. I’d been planning to share my personal dooziest of doozies sometime in the future, but when I recently heard about the unbelievable “gift” a colleague in my district received, I knew this topic just couldn’t wait. (more…)
by schoolcounselingbyheart | Jan 1, 2013 | collegiality
Happy 2013! One of my favorite things about 2012 is that I met so many wonderful school counselors through the blogging world – those whose blogs I read as well as the many readers of School Counseling by Heart who have written to me. I feel so lucky to have such thoughtful, open, and generous people as my new friends and colleagues. I am beyond excited to meet lots of them (you!) in person at the ASCA conference in July! In the meantime, here’s a wonderful new way for us all to connect – the School Counseling Linky Party that Marissa over at Elementary School Counseling is so kindly hosting for us. (more…)
by schoolcounselingbyheart | Jan 1, 2013 | abuse, children's literature, classroom lessons, personal safety
It has been deeply gratifying to hear from so many people about how they have used the sexual abuse prevention lessons and resources that I have written about in various blog posts. I am passionate about the topic of sexual abuse prevention – I have seen such amazing changes in children who are able to report and avoid abuse – and am so glad to be able to help others as they do this important work. To make it easier for people to more easily locate all the posts I’ve written about sexual abuse prevention, I’ve put them all together, with a little help from a friend. (more…)
by schoolcounselingbyheart | Dec 17, 2012 | classroom lessons, trauma
I hope you’re feeling okay and that you are treating yourself gently as you continue to support your students, families, and coworkers. I’m sure that many of us had similar experiences today. Somehow, it helped to know that even though we were miles away from each other, we were all working together in support of our school families, and of each other.
Today was a busy, overwhelming day, but I do feel like we made a good beginning at helping our students feel safe and able to express and help themselves with their feelings. (more…)
by schoolcounselingbyheart | Dec 16, 2012 | classroom lessons, trauma
I’m sure all of you are heartbroken over the tragedy of the shooting at Sandy Hook. I’m also sure that you’ve been very busy trying to prepare for your response at school tomorrow and in the following week. I too have been busy trying to make sure that we have all our supports in place at my school, while also supporting the new elementary school counselors in my district as they plan their responses. And also while trying to care for myself as I process this horrible situation and steady myself for the work I need to do.
One of the things I did was to create a script for my colleagues, outlining how and what I will say when I go into the classrooms tomorrow. In case that is also helpful for you, I have linked to it here. (more…)
