School Counselor Blog

It was difficult to pick my 11 favorite posts of 2011 considering I wrote 108 posts this year, not counting this post! 2011 was a pretty great year. I had the opportunity to present at the  ASCA conference in Seattle, WA , started School Counselor Tweet Chats , hosted lots of giveaways , made video posts , and much more! I have enjoyed connecting with you in 2011 and can't wait to see what is in store for 2012! Below I outlined 11 of my favorite posts and why they made the list. Serving Up Career Standards Through Community Involvement One of my biggest accomplishments of the 2010-2011 school year was starting Career Cafe at my school.  It has been an amazing ride since implementing it.  Students are so excited to learn about careers first-hand from people in their community.  I am learning so much from the speakers too! Career Cafe  is one of my favorite programs I implement as a school counselor. Many School Counselor Blog readers have emailed me...

Looking for a quick and easy way to meet with EVERY student on your caseload? Keep reading to find out how you can start off the New Year by getting to know ALL of your students. I have been trying to figure out a way to meet with all students I serve.  The school counselor I share a building with, Natasha, suggested we conduct mini meetings with students and call them "Minute Meetings!"  I immediately LOVED this idea and could not wait to get started. We decided to ask students four questions during the Minute Meetings: "How are you doing/feeling?" (personal/social), "How is school and grades?" (academic), "What do you want to be when you grow up?"(career), and "What questions/concerns do you have?" to address any other needs they may have. I made a "Minute Meeting Form"Google Document of the sheet we used to take with us to the classroom. I printed the sheet out on card stock and clipped it to a clipboard. The "M...

Looking for a last minute gift for a school counselor friend or colleague? You can throw together some fun and relaxing items to make a relaxation basket! Every year our area donates a basket to raffle and raise money for a charity. We decided on a relaxation theme this year. Members contributed items such as aloe infused socks, a bathrobe, a mug, hot chocolate mix, wine, a wine holder, wine bottle opener, and an island calendar calendar. Some other items you could include in a relaxation basket are: bubble bath, lotion, soothing music, pedicure kit, spa gift certificate, a noise machine, etc. I love gifts with a theme! A themed gift basket would also be great for a supervisor or intern! What items would you include in a relaxation basket? What other theme baskets have you made? Comment below,  tweet ,  contact Danielle , or share on the  School Counselor Blog Facebook Page ! Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor,...

It has been challenging this year to get all of my holiday preparations done! Thankfully Shutterfly makes it super easy to make adorable cards! I just made this card today on Shutterfly to send out as my holiday card this year. My cats are always a part of my holiday card! :) Colorful Joy Christmas Card Visit Shutterfly.com for classic photo Christmas cards . View the entire collection of cards. Do you send holiday cards? Where do you purchase them? Do you include your pets on your holiday cards?  Comment below,  tweet ,  contact Danielle , 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. Connect with Danielle via  email , follow her on  twitter , add her on  LinkedIn ...

School has been rough this year. Let me rephrase that... School has been VERY rough this year. I usually try to keep my blog positive, however I do not want to give the impression that I never have a bad day and that I never get stressed out.  I get stressed out A LOT! I also have my fair share of bad days! I  am fortunate that I have an amazing school counselor with whom I share a building. We support each other on days that are horrible, wonderful, and everything in between. I am also fortunate to have a supportive family and husband who will listen to me vent. To get myself out of a negative funk, I try to focus on things that make me feel positive and productive. Filling my day with student meetings, groups, and lessons leaves less time for "other duties as assigned." That is how I got the idea for this post... The other day I was so frustrated with things that were beyond my control. I was having a difficult time being positive. I decided that I was g...

I am in a giving mood today and I wanted to show some love to my School Counselor Blog Facebook fans! I need your help in determining my next giveaway on School Counselor Blog! If you let me know what you would like to win from School Counselor Blog you will be entered for a chance to win the item and it could be the next giveaway! Read the instructions below to enter! The Giveaway: One lucky winner  (U.S. only)  will be chosen at random to win an item* that they comment about on the School Counselor Blog Facebook page . The contest for this giveaway will be closed at midnight and a winner will be announced on this item's contest page on Sunday, December 11th. The item that the winner comments about will also be the next item for a giveaway on School Counselor Blog! How to enter: Find a resource (book, product, toy, etc.) I used or mentioned in a previous post on School Counselor Blog that you would like to win. *The must be available for purchase in the School ...

Join  School Counselor Blog  and  SCOPE  for the next #sctweetchat on Tuesday, December 6th @ 8pmEST! We will be chatting about School Counselors role in promoting and supporting college and career readiness ! Kelly Johnson  ( @Kjohnson222 ) will be the #sctweetchat moderator. In preparation for the  #sctweetchat  on December 6th, check out this newly released document by the National Organization for School Counselor Advocacy: Counseling at a Crossroads . For information on how to participate in a School Counselor Tweet Chat,  click here ! Check out transcripts  from previous School Counselor Tweet Chats or access all of the tweets with the hashtag #sctweetchat . Visit   School Counselor Blog  and  SCOPE  after the  #sctweetchat  tweet chat for a full chat transcript. We look forward to tweeting with you! Erin Mason is a former Middle School Counselor, now Counselor Edu...

Looking for a fun and engaging way to introduce students to careers? Starting a Career Cafe will help you build excitement about careers through community members sharing their career journeys! I wrote a previous post about starting and facilitating a Career Cafe .  I recently presented at the Integrated Learning Conference and the Pennsylvania School Counselors Association Conference about  Career  Café  with the school counselor I work with and the school counselor from whom we initially got the idea to start  Career  Café .  Both presentations went very well! I wanted to give you an update about  Career  Café  and provide you with additional information you can use to start your own! Last year we facilitated eight  Career  Cafés  for 5th through 8th grade. Our speakers included an art teacher, bank branch manager, lawyer, chef, cosmetologist, news reporter, humaine society worker, and college basketball p...