School Counselor Wear to Work Series: Counselor Showcase Pt. II

I've had so much fun and amazing feedback on the wear to work series and I can gladly say that I have even more pictures....showcasing YOU!  You wonderful counselors who serve in so many roles...helping students, staff and parents, chairing committees, advocating, just going beyond the call of duty and all while looking so stylish!  Take a look for yourself!  Also thanks to my counselor friends in my district that "volunteered" to have their picture taken. 

Katie: Elementary School Counselor, Raleigh, NC

Ashley: K-8 School Counselor,  Greenwich, OH

Laurin: Elementary School Counselor, Raleigh, NC

Dentra: Middle School Counselor, Raleigh, NC

Anna: Elementary School Counselor, Zebulon, NC (Anna was my very 1st intern and her style made me step up my dress game)

(left) Raychelle: High School Counselor, Hilton Head, SC (center) Deana: Elementary School Counselor, Ashland, KY (right) just me!

There's still time to send in pics,  I'll be doing another counselor wear to work counselor showcase in the future (yay)!  Email pics to jyjcounselor@gmail.com.  Please include in your email: your name (only first names will be used), the school level you work on, and your city & state.  Thanks again, for making this such a fun set of posts. 

Happy Bulletin Board

I got the inspiration to make a bulletin board based on the song Happy by Mr. Pharrell Williams (whom I've been a fan of since he was with The Neptunes).  It's super catchy and the kids & adults LOVE it (including me).  So to make this display I...

-Typed the chorus lyrics into a Word document and added "Joyner's Happy" since it's the name of my school and I printed on colored paper.

-Took pictures of students and staff around the building being...Happy!  This was so much fun to do, I had many willing participants.

Myself with staff members at school event, don't we look happy!

-I posted the chorus and pictures around.

This was a super easy display to make (5 steps or less) and has gotten lots of looks!

Just in case you haven't had enough of this song.....

School Counselor Wear to Work Series- Counselor Showcase

I've had so much fun and amazing feedback on the wear to work series and here's my favorite part of the series....showcasing YOU!  You wonderful counselors who serve in so many roles...helping students, staff and parents, chairing committees, advocating, just going beyond the call of duty and all while looking so stylish!  Take a look for yourself!

Tonya:  Middle School Counselor, Wendell, NC

Dylan: High School Counselor, Washington, DC

Meredith:  Elementary School Counselor, Garner, NC

Portia:  Senior Administrator, Counseling and Student Services, Cary, NC

Lou Anne:  Elementary School Counselor, Willow Springs, NC

Robin:  Elementary School Counselor, Raleigh, NC

Crystal:  Senior Director, Counseling and Student Services, Cary, NC

Angela:  Elementary School Counselor, Lawrenceburg, KY

Ashley: Counselor Graduate Student & Elementary School Dance Teacher, Lexington, KY

Betsey:  Elementary School Counselor, Nicholasville, KY

Margy: Elementary School Counselor, Paintsville, KY

Michelle: Middle School Counselor, Paris, KY

Angela:  High School Counselor, Durham, NC

Rebecca: Elementary School Counselor, Hillsbourgh, NC

There's still time to send in pics, I just got in some more pictures so I'll be doing another counselor wear to work counselor showcase (yay)!  Email pics to jyjcounselor@gmail.com.  Please include in your email: your name (only first names will be used), the school level you work on, and your city & state.  Thanks again, for making this such a fun set of posts.  I absolutely loved this!

School Counselor Wear to Work Series-Part III Wardrobe Must Haves

For Part III of the School Counselor Wear to Work Series I'll talk about my school counselor wardrobe must haves:

-What pieces of clothing are on your counselor "must have list"?

I am an avid fashion blog reader and especially enjoy fashion bloggers that work in education (I feel like I can relate more to them, since they also work in a school).  Something that I’ve learned from reading these blogs is when purchasing clothes is that items should be able to be worn in many different ways so you get multiple “looks”.  Meaning you buy a shirt and you should be able to wear the shirt with dress pants, a skirt, maybe a dress, layered under a sweater, etc.  Here are some of my counselor wardrobe must haves:

I LOVE cardigans (my absolute favorite type is the Jackie cardigan from J. Crew) they are so versatile and can be worn in any season. 

Some of my cardigans (yes I have more than this...hello shopping diet).  All cardigans are JCrew or JCrew Factory. 

Skirts to me are so versatile and can be really dressed up or be business casual.   If you haven't already noticed I LOVE wearing skirts, they're so fun to wear!

Shirt: JCrew, Sweater & Belt: Gap, Skirt & Tights: Old Navy, Shoes: Bass Weeguns Loafers

Shirt & Belt: Gap, Skirt: Thrifted, Shoes: Anne Klein

Shirt: JCrew, Belt: Gap, Skirt: Banana Republic, Tights: Old Navy, Shoes: Bass Weeguns Loafers

 

Sweater: Banana Republic, Belt: Gap, Skirt: Thrifted, Shoes: Bass Weeguns Loafers

*Also a good belt is a must have (notice that I wore my trusty brown belt from the Gap in all those pics). 

You can't go wrong with dress pants and button up shirts (which are great to layer) in a school counselor environment.

Cardigan: JCrew, Shirt & Pants: Nautica (Belk Dept Store), Belt: JC Penney, Shoes: BP by Nordstrom

Cardigan: JCrew Factory, Necklace: JCrew, Shirt & Pants: JC Penny, Belt: Old Navy, Shoes: BP by Nordstrom

 Fun yet professional dresses and comfy but cute shoes top my list.  I've really gotten into wearing oxfords and loafers which are both comfy and can be worn in multiple looks.  I’m not much into accessorizing (yet), I love how people wear statement necklaces and such, but I'm working on adding that (I've really gotten into scarves though).  

-I need your help and want you to be a part of the last installment of the wear to work series (well unless you'd like me to cover more in the future).  Here's where you come in:  send in a picture of yourself in your counselor work attire.  You can email the pics to jyjcounselor@gmail.com.  Include in your email:

• Your name (only your first name will be used)
• School level (Elem, Mid, High, or even grad student)
• City and State where you live

 The more the merrier!

Even More Counselor Lead Book Club Suggestions

I've received several questions about running a school counselor led book club and I love that so many of you are interested in starting a book club(s) at your school.  I'd like to share a few more tips and answers to common questions that I've gotten:

Tips:
-Since we meet for book club during lunch, I pack a picnic basket with my book club "necessities" which include, hand sanitizer, paper towels, wipes, extra utensils and dry erase markers.  This year the library is being used during lunch so we're having book club in a classroom.   I try to cover all my bases with my students (things that always seem to be dropped and forgotten) and so that we don't leave a mess for the very nice teachers that let us to meet in their rooms.

Book Club Basket

-After we finish each book, someone from the group volunteers to bring in a snack (snack is up to the students) and we have a book club celebration in Dec and in April after our last book.  The students love the celebrations.  Our celebrations are like a pot luck where everyone brings in something (I usually assign items to bring and I order pizza). 

-Take a picture of the group and print copies of the pictures for each student in book club to give at the end of the year. 

 On a side note:
-This year I mixed up the way I do book clubs a little. This year my 4th grade book club is high level readers and I will say that the conversations and discussions about our books are quite interesting.  With my 5th graders, I have all girls in the group this time around and that too has been an interesting change from before (in a good way).

-Here are a few more book suggestions for your counselor led book clubs:

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

Holes by Louis Sacher

There's A Boy in the Girls Bathroom by Louis Sacher

The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angelberger

Do you have any books to recommend for book club?  Please share