March.. TESTING

So I am sure we are all filled with JOY about this month of testing... I know that we will all be ready to get back to the daily life of a counselor and out of our "secure locations"... This time of month organization is KEY for me! I have been blessed with great testing months for the past three years and next to my amazing system coordinator, principal, teachers and staff, ORGANIZATION is the answer/ life saver/ remedy to surviving these months!! 

Each teacher gets a bucket!! 

February Part 2....My own version of the PayDay game...

Ok so I remember playing this game when I was in school and for 3 years have wanted to do it with my students! So I researched online and ordered the game PayDay.. BUT when I got it in the mail, it was not what I expected... Sooo I decided to create my own, better, much more fun, updated version of this life lesson teaching game:) So if you are not familiar with this game, it is used to teach kids about money, budgeting, bills, careers etc. It is a more detailed version of the game LIFE. Ok so here is what I created and used with 4th and 5th grade...the kids loved it and were in total shock that it actually cost money to have power, water, a cellohone, dog etc... ( Because at that age they have no sense of the reality that life brings) This was a fun and eye opening experience for my students!! 

Feel free to create your own version!!

So this is the original game... not good enough :)

The students were each given a career card.. on the career card it told what the career was and then there yearly and monthly salary. I passed these out at random and they varied in amounts! 

After they saw the career card they were then hit with the reality of TAXES! Yes, I figured out an approximate amount for taxes for each career. Then the students listed the amount they were left with for the month on a sheet of notebook paper and we began the game! I also gave them each a calculator to total up the amount at the end.

This is the game board and I had each square covered and took them off one by one with dramatic.. da da da... wonder what's gonna be next moment! Ha the students loved the suspense and then would gasp at the amount that things cost. I gave them the option of buying a dog, cellphone, car/bike, and cable/internet. They also had a choice of housing... I did four various living arrangements. 

Then just to add in we did a weekend trip that matched their career color. (yes I know the amounts were slightly unrealistic but remember it is a GAME) 

So it was very interesting and amusing to the students to see what life is all about and the reality of BILLS! haha Some of them came out in the extreme negative (like -$900) and then some came out with like $1000 over... I am still not sure how they did that...So maybe there is some frugality among some youth today!  Overall, this lesson was an eye opener to them and hopefully made an impact on their thoughts!! I hope this made sense... if I didnt explain it well then just shoot me an email and hopefully I can give you a better glimpse of the game.. 

The Office...

My goal when first coming to this school was to create a kid friendly environment in my office that they would appreciate and feel comfortable in.. My kids love bright colors, pictures, fish(yes I had one until it did not survive the cold winter) and lots to look at.. I also like the concept of posting "words" in my office to hopefully help us all stop and evaluate our mood and actions! So I am sure many of you are blessed with a classroom (this is on my wish list one day) but at our school we are a little space challenged and all have to work together in the space we have!! I am blessed to have a job and an office to call my own, so for that I am thankful... Here are a few pics from my office...

My doors

  Parent Resource Center

 "The Cart"

 I made this to use for a self-esteem lesson.. ha kinda funny that you can see me taking the pic ha

 These are in the school hallway.. I made these to inforce the 3 R's!!

The desk!

 The Work center.. I love all my cabinets!!

 So if you know me at all you know that I am an organization freak.. Ha it's fun!

 Love these labels.. got them at Off Campus Bookstore!



I am so overwhelmed at the amazing response I have had from this blog.. Like I said before I am by no means the counselor guru haha.. I just love what I do and I love to borrow and share ideas... We are all good at different things and I am thankful for that!! Enjoy.. I think you should ALL start a blog so I can learn from your amazing talents.. ok great, get started :)

February Guidance Part 1...

The board... I got Pre-K to help me on this one because who doesnt want to see a cute little 4 year-old dressed up?!? So they have costumes in their rooms so we dressed them up and took their pictures to make the board!! Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, We love Careers, How about you??

So topic of the month is CAREERS...

Ok so for careers I have been wanting to start a career portfolio for all students in my school.. so I FINALLY did that this year.. the folder will stay with them until 5th grade. Each year we will research a career or two and I will keep the work in the folder. Therefore, each year they can look back and see what they did the year before! So for lower grades I chose 5 careers, made a poster with a corresponding coloring sheet, and we discussed them. After the discussion each child could pick one career they wanted to "be" for the day! At this point they colored the career sheet they chose and then told me 3 things they learned about that career!! Super easy!! I am old school so I made the posters myself... a PowerPoint would be easy then each year you could just add to it!! Just a thought...

A sample folder that the student decorated...

 For upper grades I used this amazing book that my principal so kindly purchased me a classroom set of last year... They are great research tools.. The older kids picked one career, researched it in the book, and answered the questions below! I am not a worksheet girl AT ALL, but this was the only way to have them record what they learned!! This will go in their portfolios! I let them decorate their folders when they were finished.. They really enjoyed this.. More than I thought they would!!

Week 2 of guidance still to come....

Idea...

A counselor/a former elementary school teacher of mine gave me this idea one day and I have used it since... It encourages and helps promote that counselor/parent relationship!! Give it a try.. super easy!! I just stick one on each child as I leave the room... I go over with them the topic and ask them what they say if their parents asked them what we talk about in counseling today!! Just a little label :)

January 2011

Ok so for January... We talked about FRIENDSHIP aka the favorite topic of my students when surveyed!

For the Upper grades I used Dr. Poppy Moon's idea for the DING DING game that she shared with us at the ALCA conference. I used a device called the Eggspert. I took the Friendship card game called "Lets Make Friends" and did my own rendition of Family Fued. I had the students say, in their best game-show voice, "LLLeetttss Maaakkkee Frriieenndds." haha.. Anyway, 2 students would come up to the front and ding in if they knew the answer to the question. They had a blast!! I also did the song "Lean on Me" (Jamaican style because this was the most upbeat version on I-Tunes), I taught them the motions and we danced and sang along. I believe the Eggspert can be ordered from Amazon.com!!

Now for the lower grades... I also taught them the song "Lean on Me" and they thoroughly enjoyed dancing and singing! We also read the story "Little Smudge" by Lionel Le Neouanic... Ok when I say I love this story, like I really LOVE this story. It is about a little smudge that gets laughed at and cannot make any friends until his dad fills him in on a secret... You will have to buy it to know the ending :) Anyway, it is a great story about diversity and friendship, which was a great refresher for my students about accepting differences. After we read the story, I gave each student a dye cut of a shape and they had to find the person in the room with their matching shape, at this time they were paired up and were told to find out 1 thing about that friend that they didnt already know! Ok more to come...



Last semester recap....

Ok I am going to go back and add some bulletin boards and lesson ideas from last semester but will then update monthly!! I do a theme for each month and I follow that theme with lessons and the bulletin board outside my office!! So here are just a few from last semester that I happened to take pictures of... I do lessons with Pre-K through 2nd and then lessons with 3rd-5th on an individual class basis. I am in each classroom one to three times a month.. Ok here we go....

I would totally recommend this book for lower grades.. For the month of August I just do an intro and tell them about me and remind them of school rules, 2 R's, etc.

September is always the month I focus on Diversity because my school is VERY diverse! This board was interactive. I took pictures of different students and the students could pull up the sheet and read how the two pictured students were alike and different. They love any pictures of their friends! I used sets of twins and this really and this really had them puzzled :) ahhh!

This is an amazing book that my principal bought for our school and read at a faculty meeting... I read this with ALL classes and did a little activity with each. I also made the board for the teachers as well! With lower grades (Pre-K-2nd) they made the poster above and we wrote the name of one person that had "filled their buckets." Upper grades (3rd-5th) really enjoyed the story too... with them I did a sheet that they were responsible to keep up with and list people who continually "filled their buckets." Finally, the teacher board is a place that faculty and staff can offer encouragement to each other by use of a drop! You must read this story if you have not, it is great!!

In October, we talked about stranger safety.. I used the DVD "Stranger Safety" By: The Safe Side which was created by John Walsh and Julie Clark. I did this in a 2 part series with lower grades. This DVD is a little silly but the kiddos LOVE it and it teaches some really good safety skills!! With the upper grades I developed a lesson from the book, SCOOP by Julia Cook... and the students made a SCOOP card with their name, address, and emergency contact. I then laminated them and returned them to the students to keep. This book really has a great plan for safety and is easy to use!

Ahh my favorite time of the year... I actually developed a PowerPoint presentation for the students this month with the title "WE Believe." We talked about the movie Polar Express and about the "believe bell." Then I encouraged the students to "believe" something for patients in the nursing home and hospital. I had previously taken pictures of some residents of both and had them in the PowerPoint to show to the students. They made the above craft and I sent them to be passed out to the residents of both facilities. This was an amazing opportunity for our students to give back to the sick and elderly! They  really enjoyed it!!