Have you ever had a student look at you through teary eyes and ask, "What does divorce even mean? Will I still see my parents? Is this all my fault?" With divorce rates skyrocketing during the pandemic, more children than ever before are asking these painful questions, and struggling to navigate stressful family changes. Divorce can be shattering for everyone involved, but seems to hit elementary-aged children especially hard. 5 to 11-year-olds are old enough to remember their family life ... VIEW POST
Helping Children Cope with Divorce
Bullying Prevention Story Books
"He's bullying me!" As educators, this is something that we hear all.of.the.time, but how often is the behavior actually bullying? This word is thrown around so casually, and so frequently, that one-time, mean choices are often labeled as "bullying." My fear here is that real bullying behaviors may go unnoticed or undetected, while educators and parents overwhelm themselves with small, no-big-deal issues that children can solve themselves. This can have very serious, even life-threatening, ... VIEW POST
Success Stories from School Counselors: So Long, Inappropriate Duties!
Can advocating for our role as school counselors be scary, tedious, and a bit overwhelming? Can it be done - and is it worth it? Yes, and YES! In my last post, I shared my four-step process for removing inappropriate duties from our plate, making way for programming and services that best meet the needs of our students and stakeholders. In this post, I share success stories from practicing school counselors to inspire and empower you to do the same. You'll hear from: Nikki, an Elementary ... VIEW POST
Advocating for Appropriate Duties for School Counselors
Lunch duty. Recess duty. Car rider duty. Test coordination. Substitute teaching. School counselors, you know the drill. All of those "little" responsibilities that are totally unrelated to our training or profession, but add up to occupy a LOT of our time. Students have always needed their school counselors, but in these pandemic times, they need us more.than.ever! What if there was a way to advocate for our role as school counselors, and have some (if not all) of these inappropriate duties ... VIEW POST
Meet the School Counselor Resources
Has a student or teacher ever asked you, "So, what do you really do all day?" If they have, you are not alone! Students see first-hand the work their classroom teachers do each and every day, but the school counselor's role can be a bit more mysterious. Many counselors are the only mental health professionals in their building and some of the services we offer take place behind-the-scenes. But, when this sense of confusion about our role is widespread, it can lead to our stakeholders misusing or ... VIEW POST
End of Year School Counseling
A few years ago, a 4th-grade student I had worked with regularly since kindergarten sulked into my office. Her head was down and her arms were crossed. I could tell she had been crying. She had just created a memory book with her classroom teacher when it suddenly hit her: elementary school was really over. Among other big changes on her horizon, she realized that her daily hugs and weekly check-ins with me, her school counselor, were coming to an end. I was "her person" at school, and our ... VIEW POST
