No More of the "G" Word!

Welcome Back!

I'm excited to be returning to Murray for year 6 and at Red Hill for year 17!  I will have an intern working with me this year - Sarah Leidersohn.  She is in the Counselor Ed program at UVA and will be working with us Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. She will be at Red Hill primarily in the beginning, but we hope to have her spend some time at Murray as well.

I have many goals for our kiddos to achieve and do amazing things this year, but on a personal note, I am committing to eliminating the "G" word from the vocabulary of my staff this year. Many years ago, the national organization made a move away from calling us Guidance Counselors and adopted the term School Counselor.  I have happily made the change myself, but haven't always been so diligent in correcting others.  I am committed to stepping that up this year.  I will also no longer be teaching Guidance classes, but will now deliver Core Curriculum.

Why does it even matter? What's the difference?

A few decades ago counselors were introduced into schools to assist students with occupational/vocational choices, college preparatory support, etc. They were teachers that simply took a few extra classes and were then called 'guidance counselors.' Fast forward to today and you'll find that we have state and local professional organizations (The American School Counselor Association- ASCA) that support us professionally and legislatively, standards we're required to follow, a requirement of (at minimum) a master's degree in counseling, and oftentimes counselors have specializations in other areas. A far cry from the persona of those that play counselors on television, in movies, and those that many of us experienced when we were in high school. 

There is a wide array of responsibilities that make up the job description of a professional school counselor and they mainly focus on the proactive, pro-social development of a child. School counselors work with conditions that interfere with a student's social, emotional, and learning process. A school counselor encourages successful academic, career, and personal/social development to ensure every child succeeds. This is accomplished through a variety of methods but mainly through individual counseling, group counseling, and core curriculum. School counselors also work collaboratively with students, teachers, parents, administration, and community members. For more on what a school counselor does, their standards, and why they are an integral part of the school community click here.


I find that many counselors are still faced with the frustrating and oftentimes annoying challenge of being referred to as a 'guidance counselor'. Below are some of the wonderful and BRIEF explanations of why we should be called school counselors and NOT guidance counselors:

* guidance is only ONE component of a counselors job 

* guidance is a service, school counselors provide a program* it's outdated terminology that does not represent the broad scope of what counselors do

* To me I feel that anyone involved in a child's life provides 'guidance' in some way, my expertise allows me to do more than just point them in a productive direction and give a 'quick fix' to a problem their presently working through. My education allows me to assist them in seeing where they've been, what they want to change/keep the same, where they want to go, and help them take the steps to get there. By assisting children through problems they are currently experiencing, it's my hope to teach them the skills and strategies to not only work through their current problem but also those that will present themselves in the future.

So now I hope you have a better concept of the difference between guidance and school counselors. With that said, please stop making us cringe, and stop using the "G" word!  :)

Summer Thoughts

As I begin packing up and clearing out for the summer, I am amazed at how quickly this year has gone.  I had an awesome 5th year at Murray and an equally awesome 16th year at Red Hill.  16 - seriously? Wow. It all just flies.

As I reflect back on CARES, Powerful Peers, Kelso’s Problem-Solving choices, Hunter’s Self Control, Wagner’s Decision-Making, Growth Mindset, Too Good for Drugs, School-Work skills, and Transition Planning I first say “Whew!”  But then I can’t wait to do it all over again next year!

I am going to take some time this summer to relax, re-charge, and re-motivate.  I have several retreats planned to the farm, the lake, and the mountains.  I hope you all will find time to be together as a family and enjoy each other. 

Here are some fun and free (or almost free) summer ideas.  Sometimes the free things actually have the most worth! 

·         Go to the park and pack a yummy lunch

·         Go fishing. Learn about the different types of fish you catch

·         Go biking or hiking (or just take a walk around the neighborhood)

·         Talk about your child’s hopes & dreams for the upcoming year

·         Go to the public library

·         Do community service

·         Cook or bake together (measuring and following  a recipe are great learning experiences)

·         Keep a journal

·         Backyard camping

·         Scavenger hunts

·         Create a small business (lemonade stand, bake sale, dog wash)

Self Control and Managing Impulsivity

First and Second graders at Red Hill are following the story of Hunter and his Amazing Remote control.  Hunter is an amazing kid but gets frustrated with himself sometimes when he acts impulsively.  He realizes he can control his brain the same way he can choose to turn on or off the TV.  He builds a remote control for his brain to remind him all the ways he can use self-control.  We are taking some time to do activities and discuss each of the buttons and at the end of the year we’ll make our own remote controls!

·         The Channel Changer  button reminds us we can change what’s on our brain

·         The Pause button reminds us to take a minute to think

·         The Rewind button reminds us that we all make mistakes but we can learn from them so we do better next time.

·         The Fast Forward button reminds us to stop and think about what could happen

·         The Slow Motion button reminds us to take our time and be smart

·         The Coach button reminds us to use self-talk to encourage ourselves to do  our best

·         The Zapper button reminds us to zap those negative thoughts

·         The Way to Go button reminds to feel good and be proud of ourselves when we work hard

October is Bullying Prevention Month

During Guidance classes we’ll be talking about how bullying is the worst kind of dipping.  The Olweus definition that we use in Albemarle County is that “Bullying is when someone says or does mean or hurtful things to someone else who has difficulty defending their self. It is repeated, intentional, and involves a power imbalance.”  We spend time looking at the difference between a conflict and bullying.  While both can be problems, the response may be very different.  For one, a conflict involves both students engaging in problem solving; while bullying is about consequences and safety.

We also spend time talking about using your lid for self and others.  We explore various strategies for holding on to your personal power and not allowing another person to take that away from you.  And we work a lot on building communities where we take care of each other.  I stress that kids without friends are more likely to be picked on and when we make sure everyone is included, bullying is much less likely to happen.  I encourage them all to be Powerful Peers – a hero friend that speaks up when something is wrong.

In the younger grades, we’ll read the Band-Aid chicken about the one chicken that was brave enough to stand up and say that the pecking will stop with her.  Some classes will hear about the Bully Blockers Club  and some will hear The Juice Box Bully – both stories about a group of children that come together to speak up for all students (because everything is easier when you work with friends).  And older students have discussed my absolute favorite book on the planet – One.  When Red picks on blue and the other colors are afraid to help, 1 comes along and teaches them that it’s important to speak up for everyone (even Red) because sometimes it just takes One.

Ticket to Ride

3rd Graders will be riding the Energy Bus this year!  What's the Energy Bus?  The original Energy Bus is a book by Jon Gordon where the bus is a metaphor for your life and with some simple rules he teaches you how to be in control of your own destiny.    The Energy Bus for Kids is an adaptation we'll be using that shows children how to overcome negativity, bullies and everyday challenges to be their best and share their positive energy with others. Every 2 weeks we will work on one of the 5 rules for achieving your personal best:

               

We'll be working on activities with Goal Setting, Growth Mindset, Bullying Prevention and Assertiveness, Bucket Filling & Caring, Respect for Self and Others, and Optimism. The overall message is: YOU are the driver of your bus.  YOU get to decide where it goes.  YOU get to decide who you have along for the ride.  AND YOU make the choices for how to handle the detours along the way.

Welcome Back!

Murray's Counseling Office

So the summer has flown by and we're off and running on another exciting journey we call a school year!  I am excited to be returning to both Red Hill and Murray again this year.  Red Hill is undergoing  a major renovation.  Beautiful new learning spaces are popping up all over the building.  My space has moved as my old office is now part of the grand new library.  I am next to the conference room and am still rounding up furniture to make it as awesome as all the other spaces.  But it is coming along splendidly and I can't wait to begin sharing it with kids.

Red Hill's evolving Counseling space

My schedule this year is the same:

Murray: Mondays, Wednesdays, alt. Fridays
Red Hill: Tuesdays, Thursdays, alt. Fridays

I will visit the classrooms again this year bi-weekly.  And I am available to meet with students individually and in small groups as needed or regularly.  Feel free to contact me anytime by email or phone to discuss any questions, concerns, or needs you may have.

Let's have an AWESOME YEAR

Career Dreaming

March 31st is Career Day at Red Hill. While this is our Spirit Day to celebrate the food drive efforts, I have been focusing on Careers in Guidance this month.  In elementary school, Career Guidance is not so much about asking students to define their career path, but to develop those all important work success skills, get to know themselves – their interests, skills, passions, learning styles…,  and get exposure to careers they might not even know exist.

With RHU (and 5th graders at Murray), we are working on the Color Quiz.  It’s an elementary friendly version of the Meyers-Briggs – an inventory that helps define their personality type.  We are discovering strengths they have and looking at careers that align with those strengths. It’s been fun to watch them really think and reflect on themselves as they answer the questions. we then took the information and created resumes for their dream jobs.

With 2-3,  we created maps to our future.  We looked at subjects we enjoy at Red Hill, activities we might want to do at Walton, and things we'd like to learn more about at Monticello.  Then we talked about college and all the choices we get about where we go and what we study.  We brainstormed careers that match our interests and passions and ended our map at a possible career goal.

With K-1, we read a book from Julia Cook, one of our favorite authors - What Shoes Will You Wear? 2 kids explore different shoes, imagine themselves wearing them and thinking about what job they’ll be doing. Kids drew pictures of themselves in their future work shoes. Kindergartners at Murray read Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do  and we had some similar conversation.

I can’t wait to see all the fun outfits in a couple weeks and am encouraging the kids to Dream Big! Last year we used the song Career Day as our theme. Kids enjoyed the video.  You can check it out here. This year I will be creating our own Career Day photos. I hope to unveil them next week. Stay tuned!