This post is part 3 in a series on school counseling core curriculum planning. You can read part 1 on the overall vision here and part 2 on needs assessments here. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I'm particular about my lesson plans. Downright picky. In part, this is because I think the lesson you believe in is the one you'll deliver the best. It's also because I want lessons to be catered to my students. Because I'm picky about my lesson plans, I write almost all of them entirely myself. It's been a bit of trial and error but I'm finally in the sweet spot of feeling like I know wh ..read more

This is the second in a series of posts all on how I map and plan my core curriculum; the first was on my vision for curriculum mapping. I posted a quick pic on my instastories about my needs assessment this year and got a few requests for more info after. Questions about my needs assessment were also the number one thing I got emails for after I presented at a local conference. I cannot claim to be an expert with them but I am happy to share more about how I create mine, what's on it, what's worked, and what hasn't. While I'll use google forms for my pre/post surveys regarding less effectiv ..read more

When I first started as a school counselor, I had no experience teaching. Zero. I didn't even have internship experience because most of my internships had been in school-based therapy positions and one I did while actually employed in my first position. Delivering classroom lessons was TERRIFYING and overwhelming. I saw so much value in it - the prevention/developmental side of the job was what lead me to make the switch from therapist to school counselor - but I wasn't comfortable with it...yet. Now? It's a major passion of mine. I've had the privilege of presenting on this twice now at a lo ..read more

One of the topics my 4th grade teachers wanted me to cover, per their needs assessment results, was responsibility. I've got to admit "Sorry I asked" and "Ugh, boring" were both thoughts that ran through my mind. I put that aside though, and forged ahead in trying to plan engaging lessons for their second quarter unit, starting off with Choices and Consequences. Shout out here to Kid President who had the most perfect video to use as a hook: "Making Tough Choices." While watching, I stopped a few times to ask them: Kid President said we make thousands of choices a day. What are some choic ..read more

This post contains affiliate links. For my classes that needed an extra dose of gossip/rumors, I got to pull out Trudy Ludwig's Trouble Talk. I'd been a little hesitant to use it before because all of the characters are female, but I think some of its themes apply to boys as well. In the future, I think this could even be a great opener to the THINK Before You Speak unit as a whole. I can't rave enough about Trudy Ludwig's books. Can't. Get. Enough of them. While reading, I stopped and asked: Infer the plot based off the cover and title.What does she mean by "big mouth"? Does she mean she ..read more