Right before school let out for summer, the staff at my school had "homework" which was to take a picture of themselves during their summer vacation in their school shirt. We did a "Oh the Places You Can Go" theme from the Dr. Suess book. Each picture has a flap card, which you have to lift up to see where the person was during their vacation.
Here's my picture:
Flap card (lifted up):
Here's the full bulletin board:
It was so neat to see all the places that staff went during the summer months. It also makes a great conversation piece when talking to students, parents and even visitors in the school. I have a feeling that this will be a back to school tradition at my school.
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Staff morale truly plays a role in the direction and climate of any school. One cool thing that my school does each month is "spotlight" great things that people are doing in the building. Here's what we do:
-There's a bulletin board with the words "Look Who's Been Spotted" with "Spot" the jaguar on it (that's our school mascot). There are spots (just construction paper cut in the shape of a circle) where any staff member can give another staff member a "spot".
-People write their compliment or shout out on the spot and staple it to "Spot" the jaguar. Sometimes people write who it's from, sometimes they don't, that's another cool thing, you never know how what you do affects someone in a positive way (umm hello that's school counseling/working in a school all the time).
-Each month at our staff meeting, we have a time where the principal and assistant principal read the spots and staff members are recognized (we get to keep our spots too). It's neat to hear what nice, caring and thoughtful things our staff does to support each other. I'll admit I actually enjoy this part of the meeting, because as the spots are being read, we clap and cheer for the person being recognized (and by the way it really feels good when it's your name being called).
Poor Spot, has no spots.....
Lots of spots for staff!
I even had a spot, whoot whoot!
This consistent staff recognition goes a long way with us and is a great pick me up.
What ways does your school recognize staff in a positive way?
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This year at my school, we have a bulletin board dedicated to fun facts about our school staff family. The bulletin board is changed every 2 months and we have a "theme" each time around. This time it was my turn, so I suggested a college themed board. Here's what I did:
-I cut out the words "We Went to College & So Can YOU!" using my Cameo Silhouette Paper cutter (at the suggestion of blogger bestie Danielle from The School Counselor Blog I got a grant from my school's PTA to get one, they are absolutely awesome for creating printables). I used the font Simplicity for this cut out. I glued the letters onto paper for backing for the bulletin board.
Letters made using Cameo Silhouette
-Each staff member emailed a picture of themselves in either their college t-shirt, hat, holding a sign, or anything that represented the college/university that they attended. I also offered to take a picture of staff members in their shirts for the bulletin board (which worked out great).
-To enhance the pictures and add the staff's name and university, I used the photo editing site Picmonkey. I used the font "Freshman" and added a border of the school's colors for each picture (for the schools I didn't know their colors, I used Google to find out).
Here's me, I actually took this pic on the campus of my university, I was super excited to go back to campus!
The cool thing is that our staff had some very creative pictures representing their university...
I LOVE this pic!
Here's the finished product.
What a great way to showcase your "college & career" standards...school wide.
After seeing other school counselors share what they did during Random Acts of Kindness week in their schools, I decided that I too wanted to try it at my school. What is Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) you may ask? Well it's when people do kind things to others, unexpectedly. The random act of kindness can be as simple as giving a smile, helping someone with a task or even anonymously leaving something to brighten someone's day. So here's what I did at JYJ:
-Counselor intern Kelly and I did a Random Acts of Kindness themed lesson for each grade level.
-We did a lesson on RAK where we showed examples of how RAK is shown in our school (well I actually had to "stage" the acts done by students so I could photograph them clearly but you get my drift). It was great to get students to participate, we had many willing participants.
Counselor intern Kelly and a 1st grade teacher Anita were so kind to "participate" in showing students RAK.
Another example of showing RAK (of course the counselor shows RAK)
- For the younger grades we read the books Ribbon Rescue by Robert Munsch (thanks to Felicia Carter a school counselor from Louisville, KY for recommending this book to me) or Ordinary Mary's Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson. Each book discusses how one act of kindness can make such a positive impact on so many people.
-For our older grades we showed and discussed a video clip that I saw on the TV show Sunday Morning where an 82 year old man gives free haircuts to the homeless each week (by the way, Sunday Morning is one of my favorite shows, they have the most interesting and insightful stories). We had some great discussions from this clip.
-For each class we had students to tell us ways they've shown or received random acts of kindness.
-Our school display came from an idea that I saw on Pinterest, where for each random act of kindness that students do, they tie a ribbon to a wreath frame and throughout the year we'll be able to see how much kindness was shown school wide! I got the wreath at AC Moore (which always has coupons and offers a educator discount) for $4 and the ribbon was 3 spools for $1 (I was able to get more ribbon from donations from parents). I used a 3M Command Hook to hang the "RAK Wreath". We cut strips of the ribbon and pinned them in a plastic bag in the middle of the wreath.
RAK display
A student ties a ribbon on the RAK wreath for each RAK that they do.
Counselor intern Kelly & I tie a ribbon on our RAK wreath.
-Both myself and Kelly wrote nice notes, gave out bottled water, pencils/pens and stickers for random students and even treats to some teachers on each grade level. I found this free RAK printable on Pinterest from the Make Them Wonder Blog.
RAK bottles of water and pencils that we gave to students.
Here's what the wreath looked like after the 1st week of RAK:
I was so excited to see how full the wreath became only after 1 week!
I can't wait to see what it looks like after a month. If our RAK continues I plan to put up another wreath to keep the RAK going. We've had do many compliments from staff and parents. Students are constantly coming up and telling us what kind things they are doing.
It's a great pick me up, doing RAK's for students, especially for children that go "under the radar" as we say. Actually most people enjoy a pick me up (I certainly do)!
Kindness goes a long way in my book and I hope that it's had a lasting impression for my school family. We plan to continue our random acts of kindness all year long!
If you didn't already know but we're in the midst of Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept 15-Oct 15) and by the way if you wondering what events happen each month of the year click here for the National Educational and Health Awareness dates for 2013-2014. My school is a magnet Spanish immersion school so the students are very knowledgeable about Spanish language and culture. Here are a few things I did to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month:
-Made a bulletin board of famous Hispanics (the banner is from Vistaprint) for display on the main hall (right outside my office). I typed the names in Word and printed a picture of each person (using Google images) also one of the Spanish teachers let me borrow her poster set of famous Hispanics which are also mixed in with the pictures that I printed (these can be found at any teacher supply store).
Bulletin Board
-Made Daily Hispanic Heritage Month Facts to be shown on our school's TV news show. The facts are also shown during the day in the daily announcements. I used PowerPoint to create this.
Fact shown on our school news.
-Made a book display showcasing books written by Hispanic authors or had a character that was Hispanic (the librarian helped me with this, she's awesome).
Each of these things was super easy to do and made a positive impact on our month long celebration.
Are you celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month at your school?
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Most of us have our name on our door in our counselor offices (thanks for sharing your #scoffice pics by the way, it was so cool to see all the creative counselor spaces). At my school in the past couple of years, we've had an acrostic poem with each staff members name and picture printed by our PTA (we write our own poem).
Acrostic poem printed from by my school's PTA (if you notice, I had to cover up the "G" word and put in "school")
This year we did something a little different, based on a back to school display, that the grocery store Trader Joe's had up (TJ's is one of my FAVORITES). The front windows of the store had school pictures of all their employees as children. I actually could match quite a few them up (yes, I go in there that often).
Display at TJ's
So we did something a little similar at my school. Each staff member created a sign outside their door with a picture of them as a child and their favorite childhood book. We had creative freedom of how we wanted to decorate/design our "signs". It has been an absolute hit! Everyone has been complimenting each other on "how cute you look as a child" or "I loved that book too as a child".
Here's my sign (sorry for the glare). I used scrapbook & construction paper for my sign. Notice there's no "G" word!
This also shows a little different (fun & real) side of us to parents and especially our students (somehow they don't realize that at one point we were children too). I also like that this can be adapted for any school level (elementary, middle or high) and other choices other than a favorite book could include: favorite quote, favorite thing about being at your school or cool fact about them.
Do you have common name signs for staff at your school?
At the start of this school year, I went out on a whim and put up my 1st bulletin board. As I shared in my previous post, coming from a high school setting, I wasn't much of a fan of doing bulletin boards but since I started this year I'm hooked! In fact I've changed out bulletin boards quite a bit this year. So what shall I do to store all my bulletin boards for the year? Well I've found an easy way that has helped me organize and store them. Here's what I did:
-I bought zip file bags at the teacher supply store ($1.99 each). I like these because they are large and have handles (that are in different colors).
Zip file bags
-I store pieces of my bulletin boards in each bag. In some cases you could store more than one bulletin board in a bag.
Bulletin board materials stored in the zip file bag.
-If the bulletin board has several items, I store them separately in plastic baggies to place in the zip file bag.
-I also add a picture of the completed bulletin board to the front of the zip bag. I took/printed a picture of each bulletin board with my iPad. I do this just in case I need to remember how I set up the bulletin board/border, background color, etc. for the next time I decide to put it up.
Picture to remind me what bulletin board is in the bag
2 bulletin boards can fit in one bag
I store the zip file bags in my storage closet, you could also hang them on hooks (I don't have a lot of space so it's option #1, for me.)
The month of February is Black History Month where we celebrate the contributions and successes of African-Americans. This year I thought of a great way to celebrate both black history month while using ASCA's career domain by creating a bulletin board of African-American inventors.
-I created this using Word by typing the invention, inventor and included clip art of the invention (I used Google images for the pictures) .
-I also created a bulletin board title using Word. After printing the title, I cut, added construction paper backing for color and laminated.
Title words
What a difference some construction paper can do!
-I printed, added construction paper backing (with a glue stick) and laminated each inventor and posted. I found some cool border at a teacher speciality store ($2.99). While at the teacher store, I also found a set of positive quotes from African-Americans ($6.99) to post around the school.
Inventions with construction paper
Border
Positive Quotes
Here's the finished product:
Finished product!
I LOVE this and found out that so many current things we use were invented by African-Americans, which ties into how regardless of who you are and what kind of struggle you may have, anyone can be an inventor or anything that they choose to be.
I want to share this with you so that your school can celebrate these accomplishments during black history or any month. Click here to download the title letters and click here to download the inventors.
I got this idea after seeing a banner from the school counselor blog store. I created a similar banner from Vistaprint (99 cents on a black Friday sale). I then made printouts of each college/university in NC (my state) using Word.
For the printouts, I typed each school name (in various fonts and colors) and put an image of the school logo or mascot below the name (use Google images). I then cut and laminated all of the schools. I also did something similar with the top 25 best jobs, which I saw under the #schoolcounselor hashtag on Twitter (by the way school counselor is #17). I added a few more careers that came up often from my minute mtgs with my students (I sorted my spreadsheet of data by career to get more career choices). I put the colleges and careers all around the banner (in no particular order).
Banner from Vistaprint
Colleges (sorry for the glare from the camera)
Careers (laminated)
Here's the finished product:
I like this display, pretty simple and easy to make but such a meaningful message!
How do you display career and college ready info at your school?
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Thanks to Vanessa from the Savvy School Counselor Blog for sharing her lesson & bulletin board idea on the book One by Kathryn Otoshi which was my guide and inspiration for this activity.
During my class visits with 5th grade, we talked about how "one" person can truly make a difference. The difference can be in a positive or negative way, but it's amazing how just one person can make "game change". I had a slide (created using Active Inspire for the Promethan board) that showed pictures of people who made a difference. I had pictures of the 5th grade teachers and some pretty famous people that have made a difference in our society.
Screen shot of people that make a difference (I included the 5th grade teachers, because they certainly do make a difference)
We then watched the video of Kathryn Otoshi reading the book One with some students acting out the story (the students really enjoyed the video clip). After the video we had more discussion on how being the "one" takes courage but we all are capable of also being the "one" to make a difference.
I then asked the students to think about one person who has made a difference in their lives. As they thought, I explained how they would have an opportunity to put those thoughts onto paper...I handed out large index cards to each student where they were to write about who the "one" that made a difference in their lives. I made a sample of what kinds of things to write on their index card.
Sample I did
As students finished, I gave them a label that I created (using Avery clear labels) that said "Sometimes it takes just ONE", which is taken from last line in the book. The labels were in the colors mentioned in the book (blue, orange, green, yellow, purple, red). I also had an individual picture of each student to include on their index card for a personal touch.
I used last years school photos (check with someone at your school about getting the disk/file of the fall school pictures), copy and pasted the pictures into a Word document, cut the photos out and separated them by class into plastic bags. To make sure I didn't forget anyone, I checked off names from the class roll. For new students, I took their pictures using my iPad, inserted into Word and printed. I cut & separated by class the student's pictures before my class visits to save time and so that the students could add them on their cards (gives them ownership) during the lesson.
Student pictures printed, cut out and separated by class.
As we finished up the lesson, I told the students that again that it only takes one person to make a difference and that we are all unique and that's what makes it even better. I closed with a video clip from Will.i.am about being yourself, which ties into being able to stand up (know thyself) and be the "one" who can make a difference. The students LOVED this song (it's very catchy).
I put up the index cards that the students wrote with their sharing of how so many people make a difference in their lives on a bulletin board at the front entrance at the school. Students wrote about parents, teachers, friends, coaches, etc. that made an impact in their lives. Reading their thoughtful and caring words, shows that "sometimes it takes just one!"
Finished bulletin board
Do you have a way to recognize people that have made a difference in students' lives? I'd love to hear!
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I'll admit that I wouldn't consider myself much of a fan of doing bulletin boards. My high school level teaching experience just didn't really require me to do so. By moving to the elementary level it was just a matter of time before bulletin boards would catch up to me. So here's my 1st attempt at a bulletin board. I don't actually have a physical bulletin board to decorate, but there's a nice (empty) wall space next to my office that I just made into a bulletin board type wall space. My school offered to get a bulletin board installed for me but I passed up the offer. I wasn't quite sure how this bulletin board would turn out and once you get a bulletin board installed, I'd have to keep/maintain it. If this doesn't work out, it can easily be "converted" back to an empty wall again.
Thanks to the tips and ideas from fellow counselors on various blogs and Pinterest I had the courage to create a bulletin board. My inspiration was from a bulletin board I saw on Pinterest. Here's my finished product:
Counselor bulletin board
So here's what I did to re-create the "Whoo can help you with" bulletin board:
-I typed the list of reasons to see the counselor in Word and printed them on Avery clear address labels. To download the label template click here.
-I used my school dye cutter to cut out pictures of leaves using construction paper and to spell out "whoo can help you with..." letters. I like to laminate the construction paper before using the dye cutter (just easier for the shapes/letters to already be cut and laminated that way, but do what works for you).
Dye cutter blocks (I used a maple leaf)
Dye cutter
Leaves, cut and labeled. There are some blank ones too
I had some of my crafty students draw a tree from brown butcher paper from my school. Another crafty student drew the cute little owl in the tree. I liked the idea of students having a little input in the bulletin board because it shows a them a little ownership in the project (plus students are ALWAYS willing to help).
Student created tree & owl
I had a teacher friend write "Your JYJ Counselors" on a yellow sentence strip (I don't have teacher handwriting by a long shot) and I added pictures of myself and the counselor intern under the tree.
Picture of myself & counselor intern Dhruti
The trick to getting things to stick on (without falling off) concrete cinder blocks is...a hot glue gun! It's also easy to peel off and doesn't damage the walls. Thanks to some teacher friends that let me in on this little secret.
See how easy the glue peels off
I'm pleased with my bulletin board attempt and think that it's a great way for students, staff and parents to know what we do and that we are here to help! I don't feel as intimidated about the whole bulletin board process, so I plan to try more in the future. What cool or neat bulletin board ideas have you done or plan to do?
