National School Counseling Week Link Party

 Happy National School Counseling Week! In order to celebrate, I've planned a few activities outlined below. My main goal is to advocate for my role as a school counselor and recognize staff members for their role in student success and their support of the counseling and guidance program.

• Monday: I made homemade bags of chex mix with recipe tags attached that read, "The Mix For Student Success Recipe.  Ingredients:  Administrators, Community Resources, Parents, School Counselors, Teachers. Directions: Collaborate often. Happy National School Counseling Week!"

• Tuesday: I gave out Gummi Lifesavers to our secretarial staff and principal that say, "Thanks for being a lifesaver by all that you do to support the middle school counseling and guidance program!"

• Wednesday: Desserts for the staff in the faculty lounge. The dry erase board will say DESSERTS is STRESSED spelled backwards. Happy School Counseling Week! 

• Thursday: Support staff will receive baggies of 3 Musketeers with yet another cute/cheesy saying : )

• All Week Long- I originally planned to read the announcements listed on the ASCA website over the PA system each morning. However, I didn't really think they'd go over well with the middle school crowd. Instead, I've decided to inform students about National School Counseling Week during my guidance lessons throughout the week. This way, I can answer questions and spend a little time explaining what the week is all about. Next year it'd be nice to have pencils or something to give to my students too. In honor of the event, I also tell them that we have some fun team building activities planned. As a class, we've done energy circles where students stand and pass a clap around the circle. The goal is to make eye contact with each clap and to clap at the same time. Gradually, they build speed and can change directions or do the same format with lifting the foot nearest your neighbor at the same time. We play several other team building  games such as counting to 10 as a group, Balderdash with counseling words, or the "what are you doing?" game.