Be Kind

I usually do not do New Year resolutions, but for 2014 I am determined to keep up with posts.  Thank goodness for Thanksgiving break because it gave me the opportunity to regroup and to be quite honest, I really think the kids needed it too.  This week has been the least hectic week I've had all year and I finally feel like I can cross some things off my list.  With that being said, I am happy to say that we ended our hectic days before Thanksgiving with one of the best events I've had the opportunity to be a part of.  We held our first Be Kind breakfast that honored 20 kind students at our school.  Over the summer, our two AWESOME art teachers approached my fellow counselor, social worker and me about a grant they were writing to support this Be Kind initiative.  Of course, without hearing about what it was all about, I was thinking to myself "Of course I will take part! Anything to improve school climate and spread kindness throughout school and our community." But, I patiently waited to hear what they had to say and then jumped on board.

Last year, our art teachers had worked with the Ben's Bells chapter in Newtown in creating beads for Ben's Bells.  Ben's Bells was originated by Jeanette who lost a son in 2002 on a day that was like any other day.  The therapeutic effects of working with clay and random acts of kindness by strangers who had no idea what they were going through helped them through their healing and in turn the idea of Ben's Bells formed.  On the anniversary of thier son Ben's death, hundreds of bells made out of clay were distributed throughout the community with a message to take the bell home and pass on the kindness.  There are now numerous Ben's Bells chapters around the coutnry and we are fortunate to have one near us.  Ben's Bells has grown and has a studio that is open for people to come in and paint and create parts of a bell.  A finished bell has been through the hands of many wanting to pass on kindness.  These bells are dispersed throughout the community and I hope one day to be lucky enough to come across one for my keeping.

Ben's Bells also works with schools to provide innovative, outreach programs.  This year we implemented the kindness program into our school.  Our art teachers have created Be Kind slips and our Be Kind box in the office that matches the Be Kind symbol below.

When teachers, administrators and faculty members catch a student being kind, the student is given a Be Kind slip to bring down to the office and put in our Be Kind box.  The Be Kind slip says who's caught them, and what kind action he or she did.  Each quarter we will randomly select 20 students to be invited to our Be Kind quarterly breakfast.  Our first breakfast was a huge success.  We had three chefs making personalized omelets, belgium waffles with various toppings and other hot breakfast items.  Along with the 20 students, we had parents, administration, numerous people from the Board of Education, the Assistant Superintendent and the Superintendent.  It was a fantastic event and I was very proud of our students for stepping up, doing the right thing and being kind! At the end of our breakfast all of our students and district guests received kindness coins.  If they see a student or adult being kind, they are to pass the beautifully decorated Be Kind coin along. Our hope is not only to spread kindness within our building but to eventually spread the kindness and coins throughout the community!  The best part is that there was a buzz around school after the breakfast of students inquiring what that awesome breakfast was all about.  Some were asking how they can be a part of it and how often it happens! This is exactly what we wanted :)

I can't wait for our second Be Kind breakfast event! Next time I will take pictures to post.  Remember to spread kindness.  

Please follow @falconbekind to see anonymous messages retweeted by me of students being kind in school!  Using social media in a positive way! 

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. 

~ Aesop

New Students Group

I have around 13 (out of 122) new students to the district this year on my 7th grade team.  I have started a new students group that runs once a week during lunch time.  As we all know, lunch is short.  For us, it is only 20 minutes.  By the time the kiddos get their lunch and come up to my room, we have 15 minutes to complete some meaningful stuff ... and that is if they remember to come! Some of my groups are so good and show up religiously.  This group is driving me nuts because 4 out of the 13 remember each week.  I have passes made for them and have their homeroom teacher or lunch block teacher remind them.  This is an issue I need to address; however, not the purpose of this post. 

Today we did a lesson on comfort zones.  I adapted this lesson from Raising Student Aspirations: Classroom Activities for Grades 9-12  by Russell J. Quaglia and Kristine M. Fox and made it my own and appropriate for 7th graders.

(Comfort Zones - Counselor's Room)

The overall concept of the lesson is for the students to recognize what activities or situations are in their comfort zone, challenge zone or panic zone.  Once all the students have individually completed their zone sheet, they went up to my white board to share.  It was eye-opening for the students to see that some activities and situations were in a comfort zone for some, while in a challenge zone or panic zone for others (see below).  What we really went into detail about was which zone each felt when coming to a new school.  As you can see, everyone's comfort zone was different! The students shared why and how they could move an activity or situation down a zone.  Insightful lesson that went smoothly (regardless of attendance) !!! Feeling accomplished today :)

October

8 months later and I'm back in action. I landed my dream job last winter and started literally the day before state testing. Next thing I knew, it was summer. Now I feel like this year has finally settled down and I can finally focus back on what I wanted to accomplish here.

October is an awesome month for more reasons than just it being my birthday month! This is national SIDS awareness month, breast cancer awareness month and bullying prevention month. We have rolled out our BE KIND program and I could not be more excited.

We have received a grant and some of my fellow counselors, social worker and art teachers have been working hard to program and promote our Be Kind campaign. Teachers and staff can recognize students for being kind.  These students will be recognized by a staff member by receiving a BE KIND nomination slip. When the students receive the slip, the will drop the slip into the BE KIND box in the office.  At the end of each marking period we will draw names from the box to invite and reward those to attend a BE KIND breakfast that recognizes those who have been kind and stepped up to do the right thing. I love the idea of this because it has the opportunity to recognize all students, not only those who are recognized for academics. 

We have also started up a BE KIND twitter page where students and staff who follow @falconbekind can direct message me compliments of students or staff in school (please see @osseonicethings as they have been my inspiration). I will then anonymously tweet these compliments. I am very excited to promote social media in a positive way and spread kindness. 

Yeayyyy to my first real blog post. Sorry it took so long; however, it represents a lot of what I want to do in my role of a school counselor!  Here's to National Bullying Prevention Month! 

Hello! Welcome to my blog, School Counseling Tweens and Teens! I have recently accepted a position as a school counselor in a local middle school, grades 7 & 8.  I have a short, but varied experience in education and finally settling into a position I have been striving towards.  This past year I have been working with incarcerated juvenile males ages 12-21. Prior to that I have been a school counselor and interim dean of students at a technical high school.  I am beyond thrilled to have found a new home in a middle school where I can work with boys and girls in a refreshing and enthusiastic atmosphere!

Here I hope to share counseling resources, the ups and the obstacles of a school counselor working with tweens and teens. Enjoy and please leave comments and/or ideas!