How Can You Protect Kids on Youtube?
It’s possible that everyone already knows this and I’m just late to the party. But friends, did you know that you can share a YouTube link with students that’s free from ads and external clutter? It’s true! There are so many incredible clips available on YouTube. I regularly use videos to teach social cues andContinue reading “How Can You Protect Kids on Youtube?”
How To Become a School Counselor: 7 Things You Need to Know
How Do I Become a School Counselor? Since I started working as a school counselor many years ago, my mother has told me countless times that her “school counselor didn’t do that.” And she’s not wrong; mine didn’t do “that” either. This job has changed a lot over the years. School counselors do a lotContinue reading “How To Become a School Counselor: 7 Things You Need to Know”
Advice for Teaching Online & In-Person
Let’s be clear, there is no magic bullet to teaching both in-person and online, but I do have some experience with this effort now and can give some feedback on what has and has not worked. Let’s start with the dumpster fires areas for improvement, and then we’ll move on to the good stuff. Let’sContinue reading “Advice for Teaching Online & In-Person”
4 Personal Body Safety Books You Need to Add Your Shelf Today
I don’t recall ever being explicitly taught as a child that I could tell an adult “no” if I was uncomfortable with their touch. Chatting with a friend recently, she shared how she was tickled until it hurt, and her family all thought it was hysterically funny. Many of us have experienced tickles and hugsContinue reading “4 Personal Body Safety Books You Need to Add Your Shelf Today”
School Counseling Climate Survey
Have you ever walked into a school building and immediately felt welcomed and invited? How about the opposite? The schools’ culture permeates throughout the building, but it’s often nebulous; you can’t quite put your finger on it, but you feel it, and you usually know within minutes if it has good or bad vibes. WhatContinue reading “School Counseling Climate Survey”
You’ve Never Found an Easier Way to Schedule Appointments
I have gone through every type of calendar possible to schedule my meetings, and I have to tell you that I think I have finally found the needle in the proverbial haystack. I tried using google docs, sign up sheets, sign-in bar codes, calendar invites, and still spent an excessive amount of time and energyContinue reading “You’ve Never Found an Easier Way to Schedule Appointments”
Tools to Counsel and Teach ESL Students
I have found myself in so many classes this year with students who speak zero English. I desperately want to teach and work with these kids, and I’ve been practicing my Spanish using Pimsleur. However, I’m still not proficient enough to communicate any of my lesson material, not to mention that many speak a languageContinue reading “Tools to Counsel and Teach ESL Students”
Get to Know Your Students Activity
Getting to know your students can be tricky–especially when your caseloads are out of proportion to recommended ratios, and you’re teaching virtually. But we all know that building relationships with your students is critical for us to become their “people” when they need us. However, we don’t always know what kind of vibes we’re puttingContinue reading “Get to Know Your Students Activity”
How Do You Adapt Lessons for ESL Students?
I attended a training a few years ago where the speaker gave us a math worksheet in Chinese and then instructed the group (all native English speakers) in Chinese to complete the worksheet. Friends, I am a grown woman who has solid coping skills, and I was incredibly frustrated and overwhelmed. I could see whyContinue reading “How Do You Adapt Lessons for ESL Students?”
These are the Tech Tips That Will Change Everything
I’m surprised by the folx out there who still say that “TikTok is for kids.” If you still think that, I’m about to change your mind with this little post about implementing tech tips I learned from TikTok into my school counseling practice. It has been transformational! I’ve learned quick hacks to speed up myContinue reading “These are the Tech Tips That Will Change Everything”
Teaching in a Pandemic: Your Mental Health
I got a text the week before school started asking, “Do school counselors also counsel teachers?” No, no, we don’t, but that doesn’t mean your mental health doesn’t matter to me. I’m more worried about teachers right now than ever before. The amount of stress and ambiguity they are under is enough to send aContinue reading “Teaching in a Pandemic: Your Mental Health”
The 7 Things You Can Do Today to Improve Your Child’s Anxiety
Growing up, it was inevitable that just before something fun or scary, I would become horribly ill. Every Thanksgiving, Christmas, big family outing, vacation, test, and party was always the same–I was sick. My parents took me to the doctor time and again, but the physicians were never able to say what was happening withContinue reading “The 7 Things You Can Do Today to Improve Your Child’s Anxiety”
The 6 Must Haves On Your School Counseling Website
Having control of the content your school counseling website is critical to the success of your program. If you aren’t able to be in control, you’d better work on your baking skills and make some cookies for you IT person, because they’ll be doing a lot of adding and editing on your behalf. The goalContinue reading “The 6 Must Haves On Your School Counseling Website”
New School Counselor Must-Haves
Congrats on your new gig! If you’re just getting started, this will give you the basics of what you’ll need to get started. I went through my own Amazon list to share my favorites. Basic Supply List Zen Garden I love Amazon as much as the next gal, but a lot of my office toysContinue reading “New School Counselor Must-Haves”
Expert Advice: Teach Young Kids How to Read in 100 Days
Our children who are not reading proficiently by the end of third grade are less likely to graduate from high school, which reduces their likelihood of attending post-secondary education, which reduces their earning potential over their lifetime. That’s a lot riding on one skill.
Breaking Down Barriers to Higher Ed
I’m sure they are out there somewhere, but I don’t know of any prominent female role models who came from poverty and didn’t realize the value of education when they were young. I’ve read the stories and biographies of so many successful women. While they also overcame their impoverished circumstances, they had a leg upContinue reading “Breaking Down Barriers to Higher Ed”
6 Signs School Counseling is the Right Career for You
School Counseling is unlike traditional therapy in a lot of ways because you aren’t able to have the frequency of sessions and depth of processing that you’d have in traditional therapy, school counseling work is more like triage. However, what you lack in formal and frequent sessions, you more than make up for by beingContinue reading “6 Signs School Counseling is the Right Career for You”
The 5 Biggest Mistakes School Counselors Make
We all make mistakes–it’s part of life, but here are 5 of the biggest mistakes that school counselors make on the regular. Mistake #1. You assume you know what is best. You act like every other adult in the child’s life and believe that the young person you are counseling is not capable of figuringContinue reading “The 5 Biggest Mistakes School Counselors Make”
What’s Below the Anger? It’s Not What You Think: 10 Tips to a Calming a Tantrum
Most adults assume that what we see is what we get. I’ve had a number of conversations over the years with teachers (and parents) who were completely perplexed by a child that had “gone off” seemingly without provocation. These poor people were totally bewildered, “I told him to get his book out, and he startedContinue reading “What’s Below the Anger? It’s Not What You Think: 10 Tips to a Calming a Tantrum”
How Do You Know if Your Small Group is Successful?
Most school counselors work so hard to fit everything into their schedule that they often forget to see if what they are doing is actually working. Today we will explore the process for evaluating small group effectiveness. What’s the goal of your intervention? First things first, you must come up with a goal for theContinue reading “How Do You Know if Your Small Group is Successful?”
25 Ways to Help Your Students Become More Confident
The Polk Mentoring Alliance has created an exceptional list of 25 confidence-building activities. Many of these activities can be done individually or in small or large group formats. Most of the ideas are low to no cost and often don’t require many supplies. I have outlined 7 of my favorites below. Positively imagining the futureContinue reading “25 Ways to Help Your Students Become More Confident”
Are You Making This Mistake When Teaching?
Somedays you just need a boost. Today, Rita Pierson is the person to give you that boost you’ve been looking for if you’re feeling disconnected from your profession as a counselor or teacher. No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship. James Comer Sometimes it isn’t about the lesson you are teaching. Children buildContinue reading “Are You Making This Mistake When Teaching?”
Doing This Helps Teens Feel Happier, Less Anxious, & More Productive
For all of my high school and college counselors out there, this could be an amazing project for your students to learn emotional introspection (remotely.) Self-Authoring is an online program that allows students to learn writing skills, develop goal setting, and enhance their self-reflection skills by writing prompts regarding their past, present, and future. WritingContinue reading “Doing This Helps Teens Feel Happier, Less Anxious, & More Productive”
The Best Way to Teach Career Programming for Elementary School
My lesson plan for February focused on career exploration for elementary students. I would imagine that to most laypeople, a lesson on “careers” in elementary school might seem a bit overzealous. However, career education is part of our counseling standards. My goal in teaching elementary-aged students about careers is to help them determine their currentContinue reading “The Best Way to Teach Career Programming for Elementary School”
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About Me
Hi, I’m Elishia. A school counselor, parenting coach, freelance writer, mother, & unwavering optimist dedicated to helping you become the person you most want to be. School Counseling Tribe is for my love of counseling, kids, and sharing my favorite ideas with you.
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