#reachhigher

Michelle Obama spoke at the American School Counselor Association's Annual Conference this year in Orlando, Florida. I was lucky enough to be in the audience for her inspirational speech. She acknowledged the many struggles we face as school counselors, honored the ripple effect of our work, and discussed how school counselors play an intergral role in the White House's Reach Higher initiative.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from her speech:

"I know that you all have one of the hardest, most stressful, most important and most underappreciated jobs of anyone in this country -- and I live with the President of the United States. So frankly, when I think about what you all do on an average day, well, quite frankly, I’m amazed."

"ASCA recommends no more than 250 students per counselor, the national average is one school counselor for every 471 students...And that’s appalling. And a lot of people in this country have no idea about these numbers. They have no idea about all the other challenges you face just to do your jobs."

"So while you might be the most highly educated professional in the building, instead of being allowed to do the job you were trained for, you’re assigned to proctor exams, or monitor the lunchroom, or serve as substitute teachers. And then I understand that on professional development days, you have to sit through yet another workshop on reading strategies or the new math curriculum because there aren’t any professional development units relevant to your job."

"So higher education is no longer just for kids in the top quarter or the top half of the class -- college is for everyone. Every student in this country needs some higher education, whether that’s two-year degree, a four-year degree, or professional training of some sort."

You can view her speech on Youtube here: First Lady Speeks at ASCA14

My new co-counselor and I already planned to incorporate more college and career readiness into our school counseling program at our brand new school this coming school year. Reach Higher fits right into our program goals. The School Counselor Online Professional Exchange is hosting a photo challenge, with the last day to submit photos being July 20, that highlights school counselor goals that align with Reach Higher. See below for my submission.

We tried to get the state sign in there, but it was a challenge to see both the sign and goal print clearly. This is just one of many goals we have for the new school year in preparing ALL students to be college and career ready.

What will you do to #reachhigher?

NBCT School Counselor Candidacy

For some reason I have never given much serious thought to becoming a National Board Certified Teacher (School Counselor!) before this year.  However, when I found out this fall that they were making BIG changes to the process that will stretch the work that can currently be done in one year to a three year process, I knew I had to act quick.  I signed up and got to work.  It's very challenging, but so far it's been fairly maneageble.  I found a fantastic online symposium that covered 3 of the 4 portfolio entries in great detail:  WSU College of Ed.

Good news for those who are interested---there is still have time to sign up under the old rules!  But act fast friends, because this offer expires on February 28, 2014.  More info here:  School Counseling ECYA.  It's a lot of writing, some filming of lessons and individual work, a lot of self-reflection, and piecing together the puzzle of infusing their standards and rubric specifications into your writing.  I hope to complete my remaining 3 entries over the next couple of months, submit my portfolio in May, and take the assessment in June.  I'm excited for the professional growth aspect and more fancy letters to add to the end of my name, but mostly I want the extra $5,000 a year my state provides NBCTs.  Fingers crossed that I pass on my first try!

Are you a NBCT School Counselor?  Feel free to share your words of wisdom here!

Are you a current NBCT Candidate?  How's the process going for you?

Interest Inventory Fun for Upper Elementary Grades

Well, it's been a while, [insert really, really good excuses for not blogging here].  But I'm back with a fabulous resource to share!  In my search for a research based career lesson to use for my National Boards submission, I came across this gem:  My Next Move.  My Next Move is a great career resource sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.  I utilize the Interest Profiler, which is based on Holland's Codes, over a two part lesson with my fourth graders.

Part One:  I read a short story titled Roger the Vet from one of my Marco Products books.  We discuss how Roger didn't do his research about becoming a veterinarian which left him unprepared for the realities of that career.  The students do a "turn & talk" with their neighbors about how a person can figure out the career that is right for him/her.  Inevitably one of my smart students makes the connection between interests and careers which neatly leads us to the interest inventory activity.  I utilize my school's iPad lab for the inventory which my students LOVE, but you can use a computer lab just as well.  Students complete the 60 question inventory and record their results on a handout I created.  They read over the meanings of their high scores and write a quick blurb about whether or not their results surprised them.  They loved this activity!

Part Two:  The second lesson is all about career exploration.  Students get their original handout with their unique inventory results so they can search for careers that match their interests.  O*Net allows you to manually enter your results so there is not need to retake the inventory to get to the exploration section.  So far, I have only completed Part One with students, so I'm hoping the exploration portion goes over just as well or better.  Students will spend the lesson researching careers and recording specific information about their top 3 favorites on the handout.  They will keep the handout which has the website information should they want to do more research on their own.  

Have you used interest inventories with your students?  Which inventories and how did it go?

A Match Made in School Counselor Heaven: Donors Choose & Amazon

Budgets ain't what they used to be.  Educators everywhere have to be creative on how to obtain needed items to help keep our students stay engaged and learning.  Donors Choose is a fantastic resource that allows the public to donate money toward teacher projects.

Luckily Donors Choose does not limit eligibility to just teachers as school counselors can post projects, too.  Since starting my career 4 years ago I have had 5 projects fully funded from Donors Choose (see my completed projects here).  It's super easy to do and there is no better time to try than now as Donors Choose has added Amazon as a vendor.  Previously you were limited to vendors that catered to mostly classroom teachers, but with Amazon the school counselor project opportunities are extensive!  I encourage you to check it out and post some projects of your own.

Do you know of any other grant type resources for school counselors?  Share your comments below so we can spread the word and help fellow school counselors get more tools in their toolbox!

Take a Chill Pill!

OK so perhaps school counselors shouldn't go around promoting the use of drugs, but that didn't stop me and my fellow school counselor, Jenn, from handing out "Chill Pills" to our administration and office staff on the first day of school!  The idea for this back to school treat came to me while waiting in the check-out line at Trader Joe's.  I spied an old-fashioned-looking box of candy called Trader Joe's Candy Coated Licorice.  For $0.99 a box I thought it would make for a cute, inexpensive treat to give.  The illustration of the candy looks like pills and for some reason the old saying "Take a chill pill!" came to mind.

To: ____________________

Here are some Chill Pills for when you need

 a moment of Zen during the first week frenzy.

From Your School Counselors,

________________________

We covered the portion of the box with the name of the product with construction paper.  We use double sided tape to attach the saying to the construction paper.  And voila!  A little something to make someone smile during the stressful high energy filled first week of school!  Our staff is too big to do something like this for everyone so we focused on administration and office staff only for this project.  Do you do any special "treats" at the start of the school year?  I would love to hear about it!  

Move That Bus!

My school has a fantastic theme this school year based on the book The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon.  Check out the book here:  The Energy Bus for Kids.  It's all about positive energy and creating a positive vision for the future.  This school-wide theme fits right into our guidance standards that are centered around academic, personal/social, and career development.  To exemplify the concepts of the book all staff members were asked to decorate their doors with The Energy Bus theme.  Check out the door my new school counseling partner in crime and I made for our school counseling suite...

The book is based on 5 rules:

1. Create a positive vision.

2.  Fuel your ride with positive energy.

3.  No bullies allowed.

4.  Love your passengers.

5.  Enjoy the ride.

There is also an adult version of the book that was required reading for our teachers and staff.  The book is a great reminder to stay focused on creating a positive vision and to avoid negativity AKA Energy Vampires.  What a fantastic lesson for our students!  Check out lesson ideas on this website:  The Energy Bus for Kids Resources.  Is your school on The Energy Bus?  I'd love to hear how other schools are implementing the book's concepts.  

Operation Cute Office: Part Deux

Prepping for a new school, new district, and new student population has made for a few busy summer days.  I've been making progress with converting and revamping my lesson plans from ActivInspire Software to Smart Notebook Software.  It's all coming together as summer is winding down.  Today I got to spend a couple hours working on my office with my Aunt-in-law who worked her magic, once again, on my new office space.  I am super excited to get to know my new students in my spiffy new office.  Check it out!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

I can tell already that it's going to be a GREAT year!  But there are still a few summer days left to enjoy and I will be sure to make the most of them :-)