Where does the time go?!

Well, it has been a month since I last wrote. I honestly can't believe how fast this month went. I have been super busy. I have gotten a lot accomplished this past month. I have done tons of classroom lessons on bullying, tattling, friendship, and anger management. I have been meeting with students individually and in groups. I am working on setting up some friendship groups over lunch. It is a challenge to figure out how to maximize the time that I spend with the students. By starting some groups, I hope to reach more students.

My biggest project at the moment is starting groups for students who have an incarcerated parent. The students are so excited about being in a group that supports children of incarcerated parents. They have been great about getting their permission forms back and are eager for the groups to start. Their enthusiasm and excitement about the groups is contagious. I can't wait to get started.

I am also collaborating with the librarian. She was interested in doing a lesson on biographies using laptops with third grade. I asked her if she would be interested in working together so that I could do some career lessons with third grade. We decided we would have the students find a career they were interested in and write a biography of a person with that career. I introduced the third graders to a website called "Paws in Jobland," which is a cute career website created by Bridges http://paws.bridges.com/cfnc.htm. The students took an interest inventory that generated potential career clusters they would be interested in. From there, the students were able to get a more in-depth look at the careers through videos and descriptions on the website. The students loved the "Paws" website. I am in the process of looking for more interactive career websites so the students have additional career information.

It has been an awesome journey so far. I welcome the challenges that each new day brings! I love working with the students. They are truly what my job is all about. Each day reaffirms to me that school counseling is a perfect fit for me.



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Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at School Counselor Blog, a place where school counselors share innovative ideas, creative lesson plans, and quality resources.  Contact Danielle via email, follow her on twitter, and become a fan of the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page.

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