After fidget spinners came on the scene, teachers began banning self-regulation tools from the classroom. Students misused them and teachers weren’t prepared for them. These tools get a bad rap when not used properly. Without clear usage rules, they can be a disaster and a distraction. With an effective management plan, using fidget tools in […]
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Testing season can be the cause of anxiety and frustration for students and teachers alike. As school counselors, we have the unique ability to help prepare our students for test success in a multitude of ways. In addition to helping reinforce test-taking skills, we can teach students how to handle and cope with the big […]
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High stakes state testing can generate a lot of anxiety for students and adults alike. Counselors are uniquely prepared to support students so they have the strategies to manage this anxiety and do the best they can. Five Confident Counselors share their go-to activities and ideas for testing season.Positive Thinking & Calming StrategiesDuring testing season, […]
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Although our work as school counselors can be very rewarding, it can also be frustrating! One of the things I have always found most frustrating is working with children who don’t seem to care at all about how their behavior affects others. They just don’t seem to realize that their behavior can have such a […]
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Organizational skills are important to a student’s success at any age. That said, it can be a bit of a dry topic. Keep reading how four Confident Counselors teach organizational skills to students in K-8.Make It Real and PersonalLots of our students hear “you need to be organized” but don’t actually know what this means […]
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During the second quarter of the school year, I started talking to my seventh graders about stress. We did a simple self-assessment and nearly all of my students were reporting high levels of stress about things like school work and interpersonal problems. This is of course not unique to my students. According to a study […]
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Classroom guidance lessons can be tricky. You are not in each classroom frequently enough to develop consistent routines, every classroom has their own dynamic, and your lessons might be, well a bit boring. Check out tips from four Confident Counselors about how they spice up their classroom guidance lessons.Get Them MovingTo spice up classroom guidance […]
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In a perfect non-counseling duties would not be part of our schedule. There can be an upside to tasks that do not require our advanced degrees. Keep reading to see how three Confident Counselors make the most our of non-counseling duties.Build RelationshipsAny non-counseling duty can quickly become a chance for building authentic relationships with students […]
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What is mindfulness? Simply put, it’s the ability to pay attention to the present moment, without any judgment. Although it may seem like a simple task, it’s actually getting harder and harder to practice in our digital world. We used to get bored waiting in line, so we would sit and enjoy a simple moment. We might smile […]
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Are you working on creating buy-in for social-emotional learning at your school? This post is for you to share with other educators in your building to spread the word about why Social Emotional Learning is important. Think about the best job you’ve ever had. It could be in your education career, it could be at […]
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