"Plan to be Surprised..."

One of my favorite movies is Dan in Real Life, staring Steve Carell. I watched it over the holiday break and could not help but think of the final quote of the movie with the week I have had so far....

I have been constantly reminded this week that as a school counselor, you can plan, but it is inevitable that your plans will change.

It is ironic that I love to be surprised at school, because in all the other areas of my life I am a MAJOR planner. It makes me anxious when I am not in control of the situation or when I cannot plan things in advance. Outside of work, change, in general, tends to make me uneasy.

In my career as a school counselor, however, I love the uncertainty of my day. Each day, I go into school with a plan of how I am going to spend my day, what students I will meet with, what lessons I will facilitate, which classrooms I will visit, etc.   I know however, despite my efforts to plan, my day will be a complete surprise.  Things come up such as new student tours, student outbursts, unexpected visits from students, or a crisis of some sort.  Sometimes I do not even get to a single thing that I had planned for the day.

I love that I can go into school each day and not know what the day will bring. No matter how challenging the day is, I will enjoy every minute of it. I still like to have a plan, but since becoming a school counselor I have to "plan to be surprised," in the words of Steve Carell's character from from the movie Dan in Real Life.



What do you love about being a school counselor? Comment below, email me, tweet, or share on the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page!

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.

Popular posts from this blog

Take What You Need, Give What You Can Sticky Note Board

Image
Last year, I saw a lot of "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" Bulletin Boards popping up everywhere. I decided to fuel my new found love of printing on sticky notes and make a sticky note version. The idea behind the "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" board is that you take a positive message that you "need" to hear or "give" (write) a positive or uplifting message for someone else to take. I displayed the "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" sticky note board on a window near the school counseling office. A traditional bulletin board could also be used to display this sticky note board.  I created 18 different positve messages to print on sticky notes for the "Take What You Need" side of the board. To make this "Take What You Need, Give What You Can" sticky note board, you will need the following items: A printer Printer paper to print the sticky
Read more

Spring Mindfulness Bulletin Board with QR Codes

Image
I created this colorful, interactive, spring bulletin board for our March & April PBIS theme, mindfulness. I made this bulletin board interactive for students by adding QR Codes with different mindfulness activities. Since most things need to be touch-less right now, I thought using QR Codes would be an easy way for students to access some mindfulness activities. If you are not familiar with QR Codes, QR stands for Quick Response. QR Codes are scannable with a smart device camera (iPad, tablet, or smart phone). you can easily make your own QR codes by using a QR Code generator. You can link the QR Code to a website or online document. When the user scans the QR Code they will be directed to the link. I used  QR Code Generator  to create the QR Codes.  I got the idea for this bulletin board while looking for mindfulness resources. I stumbled upon a New York Times article about "Pinwheel Breathing." This sent me down a rabbit hole of brainstorming a
Read more

FREE Career Interest Games and Inventories on VA Career View

Image
I have been searching for fun and interactive career activities to facilitate with students this year. I rediscovered  Virginia Career View , which has a wealth of computer based and printable career activities. I have used this website many times, but each time I visit I am surprised by how truly awesome this site is. In the K-5 Section of  Virginia Career View  there is an interactive game called  Career Town ! I used the  Career Town  game with some 5th grade students last year and they loved it. Career Town has three levels with different games to learn about jobs on each level.  The  Career Town  has an educators guide  for each "level' of the game. The  educators guide  has ideas of how you can utilize the game to meet standards and includes ideas for extension activities.  In the 6-8 Grade section, there is a career cluster assessment activity called "Who R U?" . It is web-based. The Virginia Career View website also has printable resources tho
Read more