School Counselor Blog

I am so excited to share that School Counselor Blog has been nominated for the 2011 Really Good Stuff Blog Contest! School Counselor Blog prides itself as a place where school counselors share innovative ideas, creative lessons and quality resources. Show your support of School Counselor Blog by voting today! Voting begins July 1st and ends July 7th. Vote by clicking on the "Vote For Your Favorite Entry" picture or by  clicking here! Please share this post with other school counselors and encourage them to vote for School Counselor Blog in the Really Good Stuff Blog Contest! Thank you for your support! 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 Pag...

Space Needle - Seattle, WA The ASCA National Conference is quickly approaching and I am heading to Seattle! At the end of May I announced that I was asked to present at the ASCA National Conference with Julia V. Taylor and Dr. Russell Sabella during their pre-conference session "Using the Internet to Perk Up Your School Counseling Program." I am so excited to make connections with other school counselors and learn new ideas at the ASCA National Conference! I can't wait to share resources and ideas with you all when I get back. Check the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page and Twitter for updates while I am there! If you are attending the conference "Perk Up Your Conference Experience" by downloading the conference mobile application ! Are you attending the ASCA National Conference? Comment below,  email me ,  tweet , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Coun...

My daD; My anchor. Today is Father’s day and Danielle asked me to be a guest blogger.  I am mighty proud.  I have lots to be thankful for.  It’s been a lot of hard work raising children and it is exhausting.  But it is all worth it.  I of course, didn’t do it alone – I had help, as in heaping amounts of it.  Debbie her mother (my wife), her grandparents, her brother, her aunts and uncles all have a hand in it.  Danielle, as you have come to know her, is a work in progress, we think we are close to being done raising her, but I am not sure there is an end.  Just milestones. Danielle, you see, is the sum product of a lot of effort and certainly an extraordinary amount of it hers. We were young parents, as in teenagers.  I was in college and couldn’t pay for it.  I took out student loans.  I joined the Army National Guard to help pay for school and had 2 other part time jobs.  Deb worked as long as she could.  Baby on t...

Are you interested in writing a guest blog post for School Counselor Blog? Do you have an innovative idea, creative lesson, or quality resource that you want to share with other school counselors? School Counselor Blog is currently seeking Guest Bloggers in the following categories:   •   Secondary School Counselors (Junior High and High School)   •   Secondary School Counselor Graduate Students If you are interested in these or future opportunities email Danielle with the subject line "School Counselor Blog Guest Blogger." Include a writing sample or link to your blog in the email. 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 ...

The last day of school was a whirlwind of activity. It was a busy, balloon-releasing , pillow-stuffing , hug-giving, tear-wiping, last day.  (More about the pillow-stuffing soon !) I am glad that students in my grief and loss group wanted to have their balloon release on the last day of school. It was the perfect way to have closure for our group and the end of the school year.  My favorite part of the balloon release is watching the colorful balloons float up into the blue sky.   We made our  balloon release  activity more environmentally friendly by using latex balloons, which are biodegradable and taking the strings off of the balloons before the  balloon release .  Another engaging activity my intern and I facilitated during this group was the  Healing Heart .  Other activities I facilitated during this group include: Feelings Masks Memory Boxes Grief rainbow writing activity Homemade play dough...

My fifth grade self-esteem group ended with a bang today!  Students left group empowered and booming with self-esteem! I used  Firework  to start a dialog about being proud of who you are and being true to yourself. I played Firework for students on my iPhone using my portable speaker . I gave them all a copy of the lyrics and asked them to pay careful attention to the words as the song was playing. Afterwards Firework  was over, we discussed the song and it's meaning. I asked students if there were any parts of the song that stuck out to them. One student stated that  "a paper bag drifting through the wind" feels "lonely and left out." Another student stated that "a house of cards one blow from caving in" would be easily "put down" or "pushed down." Students spoke of times when they felt down or when they felt like the did not have any friends. Students were eager to come up with a message of what the song meant to the...