Kissing Elementary Goodbye!

This was a fun "last lesson" for students as they transition campuses.

Campus transitions can be exciting and difficult.  In our final guidance lesson for 5th grade, we talked about the transition to Jr. High (we were going for a visit during the last week of school.)  I made sure to mention who their counselor would be and that she would be AWESOME!

Then, we reminisced about what students would miss about elementary and memories they had on our campus.  I passed out index cards, and they wrote down either a fun memory, or what they would miss.  Then we cut out Hershey kisses (I ran copies on cardstock ~ here is a link to a similar pattern.)  We covered our kisses with foil and glued on the index cards.  I had the classroom teacher write the students names on the ribbons while we worked, and then we stapled them on.  The result:

I blurred out the student names for this photo.

Students and teachers enjoyed reading what the kids had written.  I would definitely do this again.  

Teaching Generosity

This is my "Go To" lesson for Generosity:

1.  Engage:  Ask students if they have ever been given a special gift.  Then introduce the word generosity.  What does it mean?  Giving.
2.  Demonstrate:  I bring my basket of kind letters, trinkets, and pictures students have given me over the years and tell them how even though these are worth much money, they mean so much to me.
3.  Explore:  How can we give?  If we don't have credit cards and bank accounts, what do we have to give?

• Treasures - giving away toys we no longer use, passing down clothing, putting spare change in the Salvation Army bucket, donating canned goods, etc.
• Time - spending time playing with siblings or helping them look for lost items, listening, volunteering, etc.
• Talents - writing a note to someone, helping others who might be struggling with classwork, making people laugh and smile, braiding someone's hair, etc.

4.  Inspire:  We watch two videos about generosity on the YouTube.

Teddy Bear Toss:  This video shows how small acts of generosity 

in large groups can make a big difference!  

This video shows the generosity of giving something special

to a stranger.  And how kindness can spread.

5.  Give!  

• Pennies for Patients through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is a great charity.  A very beloved family member has lymphoma, so this was near and dear to my heart.  It was an easy project AS LONG AS you have a bank with a coin counter.  
• Freerice.com is a great way for kids to practice vocabulary while earning grains of rice for the hungry.  
• Currently, Macy's will donate $1 to Make-a-Wish Foundation for each letter written to Santa.  
• Consider adopting an angel, elder angel, or soldier, hosting a canned food drive, or donating used glasses to the Lion's Club.

6.  Celebrate:  Always follow up by announcing how much money (or whatever you collected) was donated.  

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." ~ Winston Churchill

Sandtray: Talk to Me!

A wonderful activity I discovered at the TCA Professional Growth Conference last fall was Sandtray Therapy.
Difficult student? Doesn't want to talk? Ask him/her to make a scene.  Not a scene like throwing chairs in the cafeteria and yelling the bad words...a sandtray scene! If nothing else, they will think you are nuts and try to satisfy you just to stay on your good side.

This is therapy.

Just running your hands through sand calms the soul. Many of your students have never been to the beach. The sand in your bikini bottoms isn't fun, but running your hands through it is pure bliss. I have had full throttle uncontrollable students go from 60 to 0 in a few seconds just by busting out my sand tray and asking them, "Have you ever been to the beach?" I'm still waiting for one of them to throw sand at me. It hasn't happened...yet...

There are two types of sand tray therapy I utilize. Keep in mind that sand tray is not for young children.  They are unable to use symbolism and will just play. Play is fine for building trust but the sand will fly and you will lose your patience. Around the age of 10, students can use symbolism and will be able to make revealing, therapeutic scenes of their lives.

Sandtray Kit from Amazon.com 

"Make me a scene from your life (or home.)" Very. Powerful. Words.

I have had students show me a favorite memory (titled "Hawaii",) and their living nightmare, a scene of dad getting arrested (titled "Bad Times.") The scene will reveal so much to you and allow your client (student in my case since I work at a school) to talk about his/her problem.

Always ask for a title.  Never put away the scene while the student is with you. And take a picture (out of confidentiality I do not want to post my pictures.)

I learned from this book, the Sandtray Bible.  Order it on Amazon.

The other use for Sandtray is using Solution-Focused Therapy (works better with older kids.)  Have a student set up a scene of his/her problem. Work through the aspects of the problem.  Then ask the student, "If a miracle occurred, and you woke up tomorrow and your problem was fixed, what would it look like?"  Give them time to re-work the scene. Then discuss ways to turn their first scene (problem) into their second (solution.)

Teachers also love sandtray.  I wish I could post some of the hilarious scenes they can come up with, depicting frustrations about ~ well ~ you probably know why teachers might feel frustrations.

Sometimes it helps to have a cool beverage on the beach.
Even if it is only enjoyed symbolically.
(miniatures found on amazon.com)

I am still learning about sandtray, but I have found it to be an amazingly simple. You get to peek in and see what is going on in that complex inner world of your student-client.

What is going on in there?

Red Ribbon Week

Here are some easy dress up days for Red Ribbon Week! Keep it simple!

And these announcements go along with the dress up days!

Enjoy your Red Ribbon Week!  

RAK for 9-11

Because first responders really are #1

The theme this month is kindness.  We discussed why kindness is important, and I asked students to pinpoint when it is hard to be kind.  We watched some videos about kindness, including the ever popular Kid President and I read the "How Full Is Your Bucket" for kids book.
Then, with the anniversary of 9-11 coming up, we decided to do a Random Act of Kindness (RAK) for our first responders.

For the police, students wrote a thank you note on a paper donut (they wanted real ones) and then colored them.

 I compiled these into a fun poster that our SRO (School Resource Officer) will pick up tomorrow.

For the firefighters, I resorted to my old steady, the minions.  Students wrote a thank you from BedoBedo the firefighting minion.

 Which resulted in this:

 And for EMS, I double dipped into the minion category for this cute guy.

 Which resulted in this:

I hate sulking on 9-11.  I feel like it just makes the terrorists win.  So I choose to celebrate Freedom tomorrow!

Molly

K-2 Engagement Cards

I love to start off with "engagement cards" in K-2 guidance lessons!  It gets the kids focused in and gives me a "starting point." Here are the engagement cards:

Counselor:  Greetings boys and girls!

Students:  Greetings Mrs. Morris!

(teach kids to smile and respond when they are greeted)

Counselor:  Carpe Diem!

Students:  Seize the Day!  

(throw fist in the air)

(remind kids that today is an awesome day, get excited and make today great!)

Counselor:  What's your attitude?

Students:  Gratitude! 

(teach them the sign language sign for gratitude)

(what are you thankful for today?)

Counselor:  What's Mrs. Morris's friendship rule?

Students:  You can't say, "You can't play." 

(shake your finger)

(we play with everyone and accept differences.)

Counselor:  What kind of person are you?

Students:  I am good, but I can be better. 

(Hold hand to chest)

(introduce lesson ~ today we are going to learn how being responsible (helpful, respectful, etc) helps us be our very best!)

Counselor:  How do you feel about the word, "stupid."

Students:  It's not kind. 

(shake your head)

(remind students that we don't use that word.)

Counselor:  Bathroom Rules?

Students:  Always flush! 

(thumbs up, or bring your fist in like you accomplished something)

(and wash your hands!)
Counselor:  What to do about peer pressure?
Students:  I like you, but I AM me.  
(only used with 2nd graders, reminder that we make our own decisions.)
Counselor:  I believe in you.
Students:  I can handle life's situations.
(when you forget something or mess up, remember, you CAN handle it!)

Counselor:  Hocus pocus!

Students:  Everybody focus!

(Point to your eyes, reminder to listen and pay attention. We don't want to waste any of our time.)

Jellybean Jamboree!

Can I share with you the most AMAZING curriculum for K-2?

Can be found on Amazon.com

The book comes with a CD with wonderful printables and the book is full of lessons about Angry Arlene, Friendly Francine, Decision-Making Dean, Emotional Eugene, Me - Maurine the Self-Knowing Lavender Jellybean, and everyone's favorite trouble-causing Ornery Ordeen.

Finish each lesson by giving the kids a few jellybeans and you'll have some friends for life!  

Mario Kart Bullying

We have to address the fact that videogames teach kids bullying behaviors.  It's super fun to smash someone with a shell on Mario Kart and race passed them for the win.

However, we cannot allow these behaviors to carry over into "real life" situations where we hurt feelings and think it's funny. (Not HAHA.)

I developed this slideshow to engage in a classroom lesson about bullying.

Here are some samples slides:

Then there are some suggestions for dealing with bullies:

It's a fun lesson to engage kids to talk about bullying in a fresh way!

Can't the Minions Just Get Along?

I was brainstorming a fun way to teach PEACE to kids, and I became inspired by minions.  

Because we have a giant one at our house.  Giant minion = oxymoron or no?

They are literally always fighting!  There are tons of funny videos of them (here's one, here's one, here's one. Do you believe me now?)

They need guidance and counseling, y'all.

They are also super cute and they need our help, y'all!  I developed this lesson to discuss getting along, peace, and conflict resolution.  

I created this little booklet and a slideshow, and my class visits went like this:

1) I showed the videos and we discussed conflict.  There has been and will forever be differing views and ideas in this world.  Conflict is inevitable.  It's how we handle it that matters!  Also, we can laugh at the minions, and at videogames ~ but when real people are involved, it's not funny.  

2)  We talked abut the color white, and how it represents peace.  If you take pure white light and separate it, it makes a rainbow of different colors.  We want to take our differences and bring them together for pure white light.  Peace.

3) I passed out these little booklets I made in Pages and fired up this slideshow .  Examples of my creations:

Avoiding or attacking will make the problem worse!  Mark those two out and circle WORK TOGETHER!

FORGIVE!!!

This was a super fun lesson!  How much do I love minions? 

Current Facebook Profile Pic!

Olaf is my BFF

How much do I love Olaf?

Me, Halloween 2014.  Enough said.

So of course I wanted to make an Olaf bulletin board for Christmas time!  My artsy friend drew Olaf, and I found some sticks outside to complete his hair and arms.  Then I printed these free printables with words like friendship, love, warm hugs, smiles typed on them.  I glued my printables to paper sacks, and added some tissue paper.
Here's Olaf's reminder that "The best gifts come from the heart!"

Of course the guidance lessons in December centered around "Generosity!"

Don't you just love, love, love Olaf?

These Aliens Have Manners

Don't you love that scene in Jerry Maguire where he gets fired and when he leaves the office he shouts, "These fish have manners!"  Cracks.  Me.  Up.

Well, we all know that manners matter.  I found a fun Monster Manners game for the younger elementary grade levels at File Folder Fun (click here) but didn't know what to do for my older elementary kids.  I settled on using Fuzzoodles.  After a discussion on manners, I split the kids into groups of 3 or 4 and gave them some Fuzzoodles.

You can buy these on the internet!  So much fun to make monsters!  

Kids were instructed to create an alien out of their fuzzoodles and to name their alien.  

Then, I gave them one of these papers with different situations (lunch room, meeting a new person, etc) and said, "If your alien just landed from another planet, could you give them the "do's" and "don't's" so they don't embarrass themselves in these situations?  You are so helpful to your alien!"  

It was really fun for the kids to present their alien to the class and a great reminder to USE YOUR MANNERS!  

iLove an Easy Bulletin Board!

Because I know you have tons of time during testing season to work tirelessly on a bulletin board (yeah, right....) Here's a fun and easy bulletin board idea for testing season that you can throw together pretty quickly.
I made these "apps" (click for the link to all the apps!) in Power point and printed them out in color.

Then I made giant iPads out of paper, and glued on the apps.
The title of my bulletin board was iKnow Test Taking Strategies!

Was this perfect?  No...  Was it my original idea?  Probably not (thank GOD for Pinterest...can I get an AMEN!?!)

iHope you have an amazing testing season this school year!