Examples of Character and Just Way Too Much Typing....

Hey, y'all!!! I have been pretty busy this summer soakin' up every second with my littles since I go back to work August 1st. It is always bittersweet because I love my job but I absolutely enjoy feeling like a stay at home mom in the summer. I have loved seeing many of you at the ASCA conference and have already read some great blogs on what was brought back. If it weren't for us just going to Disneyworld last year, I would have been there in a heart beat.

Oh.M.Gee! Today, I wanted to share a resource with you all that I LOVE. I used this in elementary and have a couple of ideas of how to use them in middle school this year.

You may have heard of the site, it is called Values.com also known as the Foundation for a Better Life. They run the great commercials full of character lessons and examples of showing respect in everyday life. Many times their quick little clips bring me to tears. Here is one:

In elementary school, I would find ones that were age appropriate and related to whatever guidance lesson I was doing. In middle school, I think they would be great to show sometimes during lunch (maybe one every other week) and have a discussion/mini lesson while they eat.

You can get to the site HERE and they have such neat resources. They have inspirational quotes which can be read on announcements, sent out in a school newsletter, or even put on cute little notes for teachers throughout the year. You can also view the tv commercials from the site and if you click AT YOUR SCHOOL and then REQUEST POSTERS AND DVD'S you can get your very own copy of a cd with the commercials and a some posters to hang on your campus for FREE!!

I think no matter what level you are at and no matter what program your district is implementing, this can be embedded. What I see at middle school especially is that we have a school full of amazing kids but sometimes "making the right choice" or "showing respect in the face of a situation" may not be popular. I think a lot of times kids know and want to do the right thing but the aftermath of it not being the "cool" thing to do overrides that. I think if we can work hard to create an environment where respect and values are the norm, it can help change the culture of a school.

Academic support, emotional support, crisis response, and teacher support are on the top of my list as a counselor but I think creating a respectful culture can help in all areas. I would have to say that is one of my biggest goals this year!!

Don't forget to check out the site and get you some FREE resources. I have a little bit of downtime before volunteering at vacation bible schools and dentist appointments for the whole family. So in between play dates and hopefully getting into my office, my main focus is to create 3 TPT items for sale (oh and I can't wait to post them, they are halfway done), make some newer versions of freebies, and finish some stories to hopefully get published. My husband and I are working on one now together (remember he is a teacher) for children's books.

So, please be on the look out for some fun stuff! All 3 TPT items will be posted by the end of July just in time for back to school counseling shopping and speaking of back to school....Andrea (over at JyJoyner Counselor) and I are cooking up some fun posts!!

Let me leave you with a Stylish Spotlight which I hope to pick back up on!!!

This is on my wish list and a piece I would love to have for back to school! It is the Kendra Scott Rayne necklace and is available in so many fun colors. I had wanted the earrings but sadly they were too heavy for me! : ( You can find a link HERE. If you sign up for the mailing list you can get 15% off your next purchase! Maybe my hubby is reading this!!?

And I am accepting any new counselor questions that I will be answering in my next post. So please leave any comments/questions on this post or on facebook. I met up with our new school counselor this past week and we had too.much.fun!!! We talked about plans for this year but mostly had fun!! Maybe too much fun. This was a great time to just spend quality time together.

We had a nice little lunch at a tea place.

We are Chi Omega sisters (different chapters) and went to check out the new Chi Omega house at SMU!

Then we went to Sprinkles and she introduced me to this amazing place called Swoozies. Oh my word! Love! I may have had a mini panic attack because I was overwhelmed with goodness...haha! I told my sister in law about it because I knew it was her style and she said they have a website which you can find HERE! I love anything monogrammed and stationary so this was like a dream place!

Since we will be co-counselors we just had to get agendas together so we got the Kate Spade agendas and left them to get monogrammed.

I got this Kate Spade planner with a navy monogram.

Liz got this one with a black monogram I believe!

We had so much fun to say the least!! I am going to get to work on those TPT units and don't forget to comment with any new counselor questions or just questions in general. I would love to do a Q&A type format.

I have also been blogging over at my personal blog which you can find HERE!

And check our my sister in law aka blogging buddy Lauren's blog HERE!

Exciting Things to Come!!

I have a little bit of this and that to blog about. I was home on Friday because I had my wisdom teeth taken out!! No fun! I never knew how much of a rascal that is to have done!!

I could join the Chipmunks!!

I wanted to first blog about our Friends of Rachel group on our campus. If you haven't heard of it, it is a group associated with Rachel's Challenge. You can find out more here. Basically, it is a service group. You may have something similar at your campus. When I was at the elementary level I had a Character Council and we won the Character Counts! Campus Award which was really exciting!!

A couple of things that our Friends of Rachel group has done this year:
1. Buckner Children's Home Toy Drive
2. Making cards for teachers
3. Making cards for Librarian week, good luck notes for our principal who was up for a huge award, and thank you notes for our testing coordinator once testing was complete
4. Valentines for Veterans
I love having this group and I think it is such an important part of a school counseling program. I feel like groups like this can be the example set in the school of good character and an extension of your program.

One thing we did at our last meeting was brainstorm for next year, campus needs, and ideas for our Students Serving Others project. Something about seeing kiddos brainstorm makes my heart happy! I love hearing their ideas!!!

If you don't have a group like this on your campus, I would definitely encourage you to start one!! It is also just a great group to have to get input on school needs and what is occurring on your campus!!

The next thing I wanted to share was what I put together for our counseling intern. She is fabulous and we just love her. My co-counselor and I share her and I created a binder for her when she started. Some of you had messaged me about you getting interns and wanted to know what you could put together for them. I didn't have a ton of time since it's that busy time of year! I decided to create a binder with useful info and resources. You can add whatever you feel they need at your campus. I made sure to include procedures and programs on our campus, fun resources, ways to contact me, and basic things that could help her day to day with organization (like my monthly calendar and to do list)!

Programs and Procedures

Bell Schedule and To Do List

Resources from my TPT store

Counseling Log

Encouraging Notes to start building relationships with students

A place to record questions and answers

My work info and blog info

So that is pretty much what I added. You can put in more or less, whatever you feel is important for them to have!!

Next, I wanted to share a couple of exciting things!!!

Andrea over at JyJoyner Counselor Blog and I will be starting a Counselor Fashion Spotlight! We are sooo excited and I can't wait! We will feature outfit ideas on our blogs focusing on a certain piece or theme!! So stay tuned for that. We will have something coming soon!!

Speaking of fashion, I wanted to share a site with you all that has the cutest stinkin' jewelry EVER and is super affordable. It is called Simply Kate! Tell them Melanie at The Stylish School Counselor sent you! You can find their shop here: Simply Kate
A cute necklace or bracelet goes a long way and adds so much to an outfit. I am so ordering these pieces ASAP!

$8.00

$12.00

Need a custom invitation, announcement, or photo card? My super cute sis-in-law has started up LC Designs and can create some pretty adorb stuff. Here is a link where you can liker her on Facebook: LC Designs
Here are some of her invites!

And before I let you all go, I HAVE to give my sweet readers a FREEBIE! This is a countdown until summer. This could be framed on your desk and you could count down with a dry erase marker or could be copied in color and laminated and hung around school (ex: staff bathrooms, workroom, etc) What a fun morale booster!

Get your FREE copy HERE!!

Y'all have a great week! Feel free to check out my teacher appreciation ideas over at my personal blog HERE! 
The ideas I am sharing there are for my own personal kiddos' teachers. With my son having strep last week, my wisdom teeth out, and prepping for their teachers...I haven't thought of anything for my campus... but when I do, I will definitely share!! : )  

Put Ups and Put Downs Freebie!!!

I have a freebie! I actually made this after a lesson today and used it the rest of the day and the kids loved it! It's just a quick activity to reinforce self esteem and how put ups and put downs can affect us. You could use cute buckets but since I did this last minute, I just taped ziploc baggies to the dry erase board and we were good to go!

You can get it here for free! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Self-Esteem-Activity-Put-Ups-and-Put-Downs

Have a Happy Friday tomorrow!! : )

Who's Got Character? I do! I do!!

Today our district Character Counts! team visited schools who were finalists for the Character Counts! Award and we were one of them!!! I was so stinkin' excited and so were our kiddos. Although this is my first year as an elementary counselor, I have been thinking of ideas to implement for a successful character program for awhile now. Some of the things that we have implemented at our campus are:

*Caught In Good Character: Teachers, parents, and students can write who has done something based on the six pillars of character (trustworthiness, respect, caring, responsibility, citizenship, and fairness). I read them at announcements and post them in the hall. The kids LOVE this!!

*Character Council: A service group that does different projects that shine our character and spread kindness to others.

P.S. We even got lil' shirts and the kids were so rockin' them today!

*Bully Police: This is a program where we have Bully Officers in all grades that report bullying that they see. I will do a separate post on this and add the printables for free...but let me tell ya'.....this has been golden!

*Character Word of the Week: I read a character word of the week each day and I do word checks in the hall to see if the kiddos have been listening. I also announce on Thursdays that whichever teacher emails me the character word of the week first, wins a small prize. Love it!

*Teacher of the Month: We vote for Teacher of the Month based on a character word.

We are doing much more but I thought I would share some of the things I was doing on my campus. I don't know if we will win but it was such an honor having them visit our school!


I also just finished a little unit on Self Esteem, which you can find here:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Self-Esteem-Pack

It's a pretty short and simple pack! Don't worry I will definitely be posting some freebies though this week. I am also so excited about this new addition to my office which has already been put to good use today! My sister was cleaning out my niece's playroom and I knew this would have a home with my students!

I hope you all have a great rest of the week. I am super excited about spring break and enjoying it with these sweet kiddos!

Don't forget to like Stylish School Counselor on facebook with the link at the top of the page!

Freebie Posted!

Here are the Rules of Confidentiality freebie I promised, I finally have it uploaded!!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Counseling-Confidentiality-Rules

I have been so stinkin' busy with a little guy with the flu and our recent "snow/sleet" day which turns Texas into shut down mode. It took me 3 and a half hours to get to work yesterday morning and luckily I had some Starbucks, instagram, and some good music to keep me entertained!

Here are some pictures of my office updated:

my character signs you can find in my tpt store (use the above link)

The super cute BE signs that I adore. I can't find the source...so if its yours or you know where it is from, please let me know. I would LOVE to share it with everyone!

This bulletin board set is actually part of an activity packet but I thought it was so cute and great for my younger ones! You can find it here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Way-I-Feel-Primary-Kit-to-teach-about-feelings-and-emotions. It is by www.simplysprouteducate.com and it's FREE!!!

my new confidentiality rules...it seems hard to see but in person it is pretty clear to read

I am gathering ideas and resources as I start up four new small groups and I am so excited!! I would have to say small group sessions is one of my Oh.So.Fav parts of counseling!!! I hope to post some things this weekend but in the meantime, what are some of your go to introductory activities for small groups? Please feel free to share!! I hope y'all have a great, warm week!!!

Character Posters and Back to School We Go!

Right now, I feel excited, overwhelmed, and a little sad all rolled into one! I am excited to get back to work and see my kiddos and take pictures of things to blog on here and just dive into work! I feel a bit overwhelmed with all the to do lists I have to get taken care of when I get back. Of course, I am sad because I have enjoyed every bit of the break with my sweet kiddos and my husband (a PE teacher) so we had a lot of time together and I sure will miss it!

This afternoon, after baking banana bread and catching up on Hart of Dixie (my new fav show), I was brainstorming something cute and decorative for my office that would be meaningful! So I created some character words with super cute chevron and little frames. You can find it in my Teachers Pay Teachers store...for only $1.50. This is my first time to "try" to sell something so we will see. So feel free to check it out here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Character-Word-Posters
Of course, here is a picture of one of them, there are a total of 6 and I hope to make much more!!!

Also, I would like to share with you all my personal blog which has updates on my crazy life:
http://whatshappeningintheackerfamily.blogspot.com/

Have a wonderful week and please be on the lookout for more!

Music and Counseling

I recently went to a counseling conference that my large, urban district put together. It was amazing!!! Two fellow counselors in our district shared a pretty good presentation on using music in counseling. Being a past Kinder and 1st Grade teacher, I often used songs in the class and just sang my lil' heart out! I had used a couple of songs in counseling and I would love to share some with you! I know there are A LOT of good ones out there but these two happen to be my FAVS. These can be used in guidance or small group.....even individual!

I have actually used this with a Friendship group! Along with that we used the Ah-mazing book above Girls in Real Life Situations which I use quite often. You can find it on Amazon for about $38 but it is SO worth it!!

We looked at the lyrics and discussed what we thought she could be talking about (bullying, girl drama, mean friend, boyfriend/girlfriend trouble).  We then talked about a time in our lives when someone made us feel that way. What did we do? How did we feel? It was a great conversation starter for the group!
(NOTE: some of the latter part of the lyrics are a bit inappropriate for my elementary kiddos so I cut the song short and didn't put those lyrics on their sheet...always listen to the song and read the lyrics FIRST. I didn't show the youtube videos, I just played the song and they had a copy of the lyrics)!

Another song that I think is great for counseling is "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson. I had planned on using this song during Character Counts week. My plan that seemed so perfect in my head was that the school would come out of their classes and make a chain of kindness and character while the song played on the intercom. It didn't exactly turn out as planned due to a fire drill and some other events that day but I hope to do it next year!

And before I go, I have to share my goodies from the counseling conference that I went to...I am still figuring out the Kimochi but it seems like fun! And can you believe I didn't have these books? It should be against the law for a counselor to not  have these...haha! I hope to make some fun activities to go with these stories soon!

 Thanks for stopping by and please don't forget to follow and like The Stylish School Counselor on facebook...what are some songs you use in your counseling program???

Winter Bulletin Board

I did want to add a super quick bulletin board idea for winter. I had about 10 minutes to change one of my hallway boards out. I had some of my character council members help me out. I thought it turned out pretty cute and when I get back I hope to add some letters that say, "Falling into Good Character" rather than typed pieces of paper.