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. 



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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.....










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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!

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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! Pin It

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 Pin It

School Counselor Wear to Work Series-Part II Places to Shop

Now onto post #2 on the School Counselor Wear to Work Series where today I'll talk about places where I get my "school counselor work gear".  I also am so excited to have Allison a first year school counselor from The Sequined School Counselor Blog to join in and share her fav places to shop for work gear. Before we get started I do want to revisit the fact that I am still on my shopping diet & closet challenge (very little shopping and wearing what I already have in my closet) but clearly that doesn't mean that I've done my fair share of shopping (which is exactly why I'm on this closet challenge).  So here goes:


-Where are your favorite places to shop for work clothes and shoes? 

 Allison: My favorite place to shop for everything is Target. I would say 50% of everything I own is from Target -- clothing, shoes, housewares, food. It is so easy to get everything at once and they have the cutest things. I also enjoy going thrifting. Some of my favorite pieces have been purchased from Goodwill or Plato’s closet. I love that you never know what you will find and that there are so many options. 

Andrea:  When I was shopping I’d always been a Banana Republic, Gap & Old Navy shopper and have many of my staple wardrobe pieces from there (they also have great sales).  J.Crew & J. Crew Factory offers a teacher discount, (15% off your purchase with your Work ID Badge) and they make the absolute best cardigans ever (the Jackie cardigan at the regular store and the Clare cardigan at the Factory Outlet, I have one in almost every color). For department stores Macy’s and JC Penny are on my (short) list.  Another place I find clothes is from thrifting!  I love being able to find fun vintage pieces from thrifting for next to nothing prices!  For shoes, I don't have one particular store that I buy shoes from, but I do like certain brands:  Nine West is especially great for work wear (I wear flats 100% of the time which are perfect for moving around as a counselor).  

Scarf: homemade (thanks Lynn), Shirt: Old Navy, Belt: Bebe, Skirt: Thrifted, Tights: HUE (Macy's), Boots: Nine West

Here's my first day of school pic (it's certainly not warm enough to wear this right now, sends warm/spring thoughts out):

Shirt & Skirt: Banana Republic, Belt & Shoes: Old Navy

Shirt, Sweater, Skirt: Old Navy, Tights: HUE, Boots: Nine West

-Are there things in your counselor wardrobe that you'd splurge on?

Allison:   I don’t splurge on much. I would say my biggest (little) splurges are on shoes, which I normally will pay full price for. Another splurge was when my sister convinced me to buy some True Religion jeans -- even then I didn’t pay full price! I got them at a department store in Charlotte for $50. They’re high waisted, super long flared jeans and I wear them more Fridays than not!

Andrea:  I'd like to begin with that as educators we aren't paid the big bucks and especially in my state where our salaries have been frozen for six years, therefore I rarely pay full price for anything.  I’ve been known to watch items for months until the price is right (for me) before I buy them.  I also believe that some things are worth spending a little extra on based on quality (because you’ll be able to keep it for years, hence my overloaded closet and hence the “closet challenge”).  I will splurge on shoes and bags (but again I’ll usually wait until a sale for a better price).  Last year I saw a pair of winter boots that I really liked, by the time the boots were the price I wanted to pay it was spring (that's ok, I got to wear them this year)!  See I'm totally capable of waiting for the right price.

Dress: Thrifted, Belt: Gap, Boots: Coach, Glasses: Kate Spade

-What educator/fashion blogs do you read?

• My New Favorite Outfit:  *Teacher Blogger
• Putting Me Together
• Fashionista Teacher:  *Teacher Blogger
• Franish
• Chioma's Evolution of Style:  *Teacher Blogger
• J's Everyday Fashion
• Chic on the Cheap
• Mix & Match Fashion:  *Teacher Blogger

There are also several educators that post their outfit of the day (#ootd) on Instagram where I also get ideas.  
So far 2 months into my closet challenge, it's going well.  I have NOT run out of things to wear and have become quite creative in putting my work attire together (thanks to my fashion blogs and Pinterest).  


Stay tuned for Part III.  Please share some great places you find your wear to work gear.  Pin It

Being Prepared for Your School Counselor Evaluation

Evaluations, yep we all have them but when you meet with your principal/administration team what does your evaluation entail?  Well in NC, this year our school counselor evaluation instrument was changed.  Our standards work directly with the ASCA National Model (but of course) meaning we are to have artifacts/evidence that we're meeting our standards and we have to be observed by someone from administration. If you're interested in seeing our evaluation in NC rubric click here.   So that made me think "how can I prepare myself for this new evaluation"?  So I thought of a way to keep myself (somewhat) organized for this.  Here's what I'm doing to prepare for my evaluation:

-My principal and I met to discuss the new evaluation instrument and how we would work together on artifacts/evidence and the observation (this is also great school counselor PR and lets your principal know all that we do).

-I bought accordion folders from the Target $1 Spot (just got them last week and they have new spring colors, whoot, whoot).  For each tab, I made a label (using a Brother label maker) for each standard (there are 5 standards but some standard objectives overlap).  I keep samples of activities, lessons, bulletin boards, groups, etc that I do by standard.

Accordion file folders from Target ($1 each!)

-I try to take pictures of what I do as a school counselor:  Bulletin boards, (nice) parent emails/notes,  class visit lessons, newsletters, thank you notes from organizations that you may have worked with, school projects that you may have done, professional development certificates, the list is endless.  It's better to have too much than too little to show much you do (although I'm positive that your work speaks for itself, this speaks even louder).   If you have a school Twitter account, that could also serve as an artifact (parent/community communication/collaboration/resource sharing).

Here are a few examples of things I'm using as artifacts (luckily I have this blog to refer to from time to time to remind me of things I do).  I'll also list the standard that it covers (this is for NC but I'm sure you can adjust it to fit your state/school district evaluation).  If you click on the links below each picture, they will take you directly to my original post. 

Your 3 Words Lesson/Bulletin Board:  Embrace diversity in the school community (Standard 2b) & Plan programs for the academic, career & personal/social development of all students (Standard 4b). 

Joyner Gives Back:  Develop, enhance and promote global awareness (Standard 3c). 

ASCA Conference:  Participates in high quality professional development (Standard 5b).

Smore (newsletters):  Work collaboratively with the families & significant adults in the lives of students (Standard 2)

Student & Staff pick me ups:  Establishing a positive school climate (Standard 1b)

Supervising an (awesome) intern:  Demonstrate leadership at school (Standard 1a)

RAK:  Foster a school environment in which each child has a positive nurturing relationship with caring adults (Standard 2)

Are you required to keep artifacts for your school counselor evaluation?  How do you keep track of all that you do, please share. Pin It