Best Counseling Blogs

Whew, anyone else been super busy?  Of course you have been, a counselor's job is never done.  This recent post on ASCA's facebook page made me remember my blog and I thought it was a great resource to share.

Visit this link for the "Best Blogs for School Counselors" - lots of great links there.

Gender Stereotypes Lesson Plan

A few years ago I decided to cut my hair very short.  When I walked into my elementary school the overwhelming reaction I received from the kids was that I looked like a boy, some even told me I shouldn't have gotten my hair cut like that because only boys had short hair.  The next day at an assembly a big stink was made by the adults about one of the male teachers wearing a pink shirt.  I decided that week I needed to talk about gender stereotypes and how we should respond if someone behaves in someway that we consider out of the norm.  The kids responded well and I quickly noticed changes in their behavior.  Since then I have kept my eyes open for opportunities to teach tolerance around societal gender norms. 

Media Awareness Network has produced a very thorough lesson plan for middle school (also appropriate for high school) that uses some activities similar to ones I have used in the past that the kids connect well with.  I especially like having students identify "boy" and "girl" things and putting them in a box showing how society reinforces these ideas.  It is easier in some places (cultures/countries/religions) than in others to simply say - "be who you want to be".  In some cultures this is very difficult.  However, we can still reinforce the idea that we need to be respectful of all types of people.  Teasing, name-calling, bullying, etc. a person because of how they dress or act is not ok.  We can also help our students recognize that not all people feel like they fit into those boxes and we can be supportive of that in different ways.

Click here to go to the lesson plan: Gender Stereotypes and Body Image lesson plan

Advertising evolution

I always talk about body image with my middle school girls and I've found this video from Dove has particular impact and is a great starting point for a very important discussion.

Classroom management tips

Looking for some new ideas for classroom management?  Is your school trying to be more positive in your approach to rules and discipline?  Here are some resources:

1.  I've been reading the Smart Classroom Management blog and I think it's got some great advice, and would be a great resource to give to your beginning teachers or even student teachers.

Just to give you an idea, the last few posts have been:
How to Be A Better, Happier Teacher By Slowing Down
How To Stop Repeating Yourself And Start Speaking With Power
How To Inspire Classroom Management Excellence

2.  I also really like Love and Logic and have been in a few schools where all the teachers are trained in this style.  I just did a training with some of the staff at my current school and found the Love and Logic website has some handouts for teachers here: Free Resources for Teachers

3. A good book is Lost at School (the same author who wrote The Explosive Child).  I really appreciated the idea that when students can't learn math we teach them, or when they can't read we teach them; we can do the same with behavior.  After I read The Explosive Child I gave it to a teacher friend who worked in our intervention room and though skeptical, she loved it.  I then gave it to my principal who also found it inspiring.

4.  I recently read Discipline with Dignity and found it has some good content.  A quick read and some good reminders about how our approach to discipline can either influence kids to want to behave or scare them into not getting caught.  

Cure the Bullies

Cure the Bullies is an awesome website.  Part of a campaign created by SchoolAid, in partnership with the Vodafone Foundation, this site is certainly entertaining and attention grabbing.  You are welcomed by this warning:

"Cyber health warning!
Have you been online lately?  (like now?)
or on your mobile
Then you've probably caught....
A HIGHLY contagious virus."

After learning about the different viruses you can be inflicted with: Onlookerosis, Commentitis, Forwarditis, Gang-Green, Hasslenza and Slaggermania you are invited to be screened for the bully virus (a short survey including multiple "what would you do" questions). 

Once you receive your diagnosis, you get the virus sucked out of you and then you pickle it for later viewing.

Though light on actually teaching skills, I like that this points out that even students who think they are not bullies probably contribute sometimes simply by looking on or not doing anything to help others.  They have done a wonderful job creating a site kids will enjoy and can take home a positive message at the same time!  The site is flash based which caused some problems on my computer but nothing drastic.  I definitely encourage you to check this out with your students!

Anti-bullying video clips

In updating my anti-bullying lessons I was looking for something that would catch my student's attention.  I found some short video commercials/clips that are very well done and I think perfect for my students.   I like to have my students create anti-bullying projects at the end of our unit and these will be a great inspiration.  They would also be a good way to start kids talking about the bullying that is happening around or to them.

What videos do you love to use for your anti-bullying lessons?

How to Do Homework Without Throwing Up

How to Do Homework Without Throwing Up by Trevor Romain

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I used this book with a 6th/7th grade academic support group - they loved it and related to the things the author wrote. It was a great way to start this discussion of academic skills.


View all my reviews from goodreads

Motivational reminders

As the work starts to pile up (my school is nearing the end of the 1st quarter already!) we sometimes forget to step back and practice what we preach.  I ran across this article on the Search Institute's blog and was thankful for the reminder:   

10 Thoughts for a Meaningful School Year
By: Nathan Eklund, M.Ed, Senior Education Consultant August 27, 2010

1.If you’re going to take care of students, you need to take care of yourself.
Being in good health can’t be something that only happens on vacations and weekends. You need to spend time every day making sure that you’re taking good care of yourself so that you can take care of others.

2.Parents and teachers are each other’s best allies.
You only see your students a few hours out of their day. The rest of the time, they’re in the hands of other adults. Unless you’re on the same page with families, kids can slip through the cracks.

3.You like kids. Remember that at the root of things, you chose your profession because you like kids.
As the pressures and strains of the year naturally occur, make time each day to simply enjoy being around young people.

4.You might be the only positive adult in a young person’s life.
On any given day at any given time, you might be the very adult that gives a young person exactly what he or she needs to get through that day.

5.Sleep is not an optional activity.
Remember in midsummer when you woke up from a great night’s sleep and you felt ready to tackle the world? Remember that? Just sayin’…

6.The smallest efforts have a big payoff.
Take an extra moment to help a student understand a lesson. Offer a colleague a sincere compliment. Speak up when you see a parent providing support for school success. Sometimes your fleeting moments of thoughtfulness stick with people for years.

7.Are you having fun yet?
Yes, working with young people is serious business. There’s a lot at stake. But remember, too, that your job can be amazingly fun and funny. Don’t forget to laugh daily.

8.Put relationships first.
Spending time with your friends and family should not be seasonal activities. They miss you. And what about positive relationships with students? Slow down and make room for “human time.” You’ll all look back on this year and remember the relationships that mattered, not the test scores you achieved.

9.Learn something new today.
When is the last time you took a class or read for pleasure? Lifelong learning isn’t something we suggest to students. It’s something we model for students.

10.Do something today that reminds you why you chose to work with youth in the first place.
You didn’t choose this work because you wanted to go to meetings or to get caught up in the thousands of administrative details. You went into it for a reason. What was that original reason? And what are you going to today to connect you with that reason? Stop reading this list and go do it!

Gender Roles

I work in an international school and so I'm always on the look out for good lessons about diversity.  The other day I found a great one about gender roles for upper elementary school.  Welcoming Schools has created this lesson plan in relationship to media representations of female and male gender roles.  Please check it out and let me know what you think:  Media Sleuths: Examining Gender Roles in Advertising (.pdf).

Wicked Ways to Teach Anti-Bullying

Looking for new and interesting ways to incorporate anti-bullying into your curriculum?  Well here you go!

The musical production Wicked has partnered with BullyBust (a National School Climate Center program) and created a downloadable tool-kit for teachers and a coordinating student packet.  (In case you haven't seen or read Wicked, it is the story of the Wicked Witch before she meets Dorothy.  Because she is different, and green, she is bullied).  The teacher packet includes: The Story of WICKED, What Is “Upstander” Behavior?, Bully-Victim-Bystander, Learning to Empathize, A Look at Appearances, Exploring Emotions, Upstander Behavior in WICKED, and The Stand Up Pledge: Elphaba’s Pledge and Commitment Cards using the theme of Wicked throughout.

The student pack includes information on responsibility, the roots of bullying, what you can do to stop bullying, cyberbullying, etc.  There is also an essay contest - the winning student wins a flight and ticket to see Wicked (only one entry per school).

Simply click here to sign up as a partner school.  It will direct you to the download page.

Managing Feelings: Coping Strategies

The Teachable Moment has a simple but effective middle school-level lesson plan for teaching coping skills for managing feelings:

"Lesson in brief: Working in small groups, students will categorize coping strategies as positive, negative, neutral and time-out behaviors.

Vocabulary: Positive, Negative, Neutral, Time-out

Materials: Coping Strategies handout (below), chart paper and markers for each group"

Click here for the whole lesson: Coping Strategies: Managing Feelings

Update: I have uploaded my version of this lesson plan (with ASCA standards) in .pdf form here: Positively Coping with Emotions

The easy access language and style allows for students to consider if the way they cope with their problems is very effective.  I find this particularly useful for my students who think just calming down is enough to deal with their problems.

What coping skills lessons have you found effective?

CyberSmart! Curriculum

While our students with their knowledge of technology may be able to run circles around us on computers, smartphones, ipads, etc., they still need instruction and guidance about how to use technology in a smart and safe manner.  Whether it is you, the school counselor, that teaches these important life-lessons or a computer teachers, you will undoubtedly deal with issues surrounding technology - namely cyberbullying.

I love the detailed lesson plans Common Sense Media has produced for their CyberSmart! Curriculum.  They range from kindergarten to 12th grade and cover 5 SMART target areas:

• Safety and security online
• Manners, cyberbullying and ethics
• Authentic Learning and Creativity
• Research and information fluency
• Twenty-first century challenges

Do you have other resources for teaching computer safety?  Please share!

National Bullying Prevention Week/Month

October is National Bullying Prevention Month: "Sponsored by the PACER Center—a parent center for families of children and young adults with disabilities—and cosponsored by NEA, the National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education, and National PTA, this event encourages communities to work together to increase awareness of the prevalence and impact of bullying on children".-NEA website

It seems there are plenty of specific weeks dedicated to bullying prevention depending on what organization you are looking at - many of them seem to be in October and others dispersed throughout other months.  Regardless of the time you chose to teach a bullying unit, I'm sure most of us out there find it an important issue to address.  Here are some resources designed to help teach kids about bullying.

1. PACER Center - This site has 2 separate week-long comprehensive educational toolkits geared towards elementary and middle/high school.

• Elementary includes lesson plans, role plays, coloring book, activities, suggested reading list, etc.  Connect kids to the student-centered website: http://www.pacerkidsagainstbullying.org/

• Middle/High school also includes daily lesson plans and activities.    The student-centered website for these kids is: http://www.pacerteensagainstbullying.org/

2. Peaceful Schools International - a whole list of downloadable resources and websites.  In particular I like the first download - 50 Ideas for Anti-Bullying Week (Anti-bullying alliance).

3. Stop Bullying Now! - A very kid friendly site for both students and adults.  Complete with information, videos, games about how to recognize, stop or report bullying.

College Foundation of North Carolina

The College Foundation of North Carolina has created a school year's worth of monthly lesson plans focused around school achievement and going to college for 6-12 grade.  Each grade level has downloadable .pdf lesson plans and activities that go along with the lesson.  I've used many of these lessons with my students at different grade levels and they are effective.

In addition the website has information about the various steps to apply and attend college.

Puzzles, Word Searches and Mazes!

Need a fun activity to add to your lesson?  DiscoveryEducation has a great site that helps create all sorts of puzzles.  Enter your information in, pick your preferences and hit "Create my puzzle!" - easy as that!

Diversity Council

"The Diversity Council has collected resources for teachers to help students celebrate their multicultural heritage, explore their biases, increase awareness, build empathy, and learn respect. This guide includes links to ideas, activities, lesson plans and other resources."

The Diversity Council website includes resources grouped by elementary, middle and high school each including a substantial list of resources - many being lesson plans - ranging from racism to gender to specific cultural information.

Career: What Do You Like?

The BLS Career Information website asks students what they are already interested in, and then recommends jobs based on particular areas. By no means a career interest inventory, it does help younger students (geared towards grades 4-8) see how activities they enjoy could lead them to a potential career option.

"On the kids' site, wording and labor market concepts have been simplified and some statistical detail has been eliminated. In addition, the occupations on the site are categorized according to interests and hobbies common among students. The twelve categories and their corresponding occupations are shown at the end of this Teacher's Guide. To help students continue their career exploration, each occupational description on the kids' site links to related information in theHandbook. The Bureau's Web site for kids is updated every 2 years with each new edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook."

ASCA Scene

Ever wish you had a room full of other counselors to get ideas from, bounce ideas off of or learn about new programs? ASCA Scene is a great place to do all those things. With school counselors from all over the world, it is a wonderful community dedicated to helping students be successful using ASCA's national model.

"This networking site is a professional meeting place for school counseling professionals to share and learn from each other. Get answers to your school counseling questions, share your lesson plans and best practices, become the best school counselor you can be."

Blog: Books That Heal Kids

I love to use books in my classroom lessons, small groups and with individual kids and am always looking to find new ideas.  Books That Heal Kids by Roxanne is a great resource - not only does she give book titles, she talks about why she owns it and what she uses it for.  I included this blog on my google reader and look froward to new posts.

Peace One Day

The Peace One Day website has educational information, lesson plans and videos about Peace Day (September 21).

"Our goal is to provide our Education Resource to every school on earth. With this in mind, we have researched, designed and created lesson plans which we believe will enable today's children to become tomorrow's peacemakers. Our multimedia resources are available FREE online.

The resources are designed to enable students to develop a sense of perspective in relation to our multicultural and interdependent world. Reflective individual and group activities, critical thinking and modern technology are core components of the Resource. Through such experiences students will have opportunities to gain an awareness of Peace Day and what it stands for, as well the sense that they too, as global citizens, have an active role to play.

We recommend the resources be used in conjunction with Jeremy's documentary The Day After Peace. The 32-minute classroom-ready version of the film (with subtitles in Arabic, Chinese [Mandarin], French, Russian and Spanish) is now available to view free online here. The 32 and 58-minute classroom-ready versions and the original 82-minute feature-length film, can all be found on the Schools Edition DVD, available to purchase online from the POD Shop."

Arthur - PBS Kids

In this interactive online game - Arthur About Face - students listen to a story about one of Arthur's friends and have to chose which emotion they will feel.