As a school counselor, managing classrooms can be a challenging task. However, it’s an essential skill that you need to develop to create a conducive learning environment for students. Here are some tips to help School Counselors ace classroom management during lessons: Set Clear Behavioral Expectations: Creating behavioral expectations that are integrated with your school’s MTSS expectations or classroom norms can reinforce expectations and increase student investment. By prioritizing their voice and supporting culturally sustaining practices, you can create a safe and inclusive space for a ..read more

Selective mutism in children is extremely debilitating as it hinders the child’s ability to form friendships, seek help from peers or teachers, and participate in group activities or classroom discussions. This can quickly spiral into poor academic performance, low self-esteem, social isolation, and even other anxiety disorders and depression. Our main objective as teachers and counselors should be to spot these issues at the earliest so that the child can receive proper care and treatment at an early age. In this article, we will address how you can help students with selective mutism. What ..read more

Have you ever wondered how you can use books to teach self-regulation to students? Kids love books and self-regulation is an important part of SEL. But it’s sometimes overlooked.  Yes, counselors often focus on the identification of feelings. But it’s not enough to just teach the difference between sad, angry, happy, or jealous.  Because there’s a next step involved. And that, of course, is self-regulation.  In other words, once a feeling is pinpointed, we should take it one step further and teach students to respond to their feelings. In other words, teach them how to manage th ..read more

With so many myths floating around about Social Emotional Learning (SEL), I felt the need to come clean with what I know about it. As a former RAMP certified School Counselor, I am all about data collection and data driven lesson planning. I have personally witnessed the effects of teaching SEL activities across many grade levels during my classroom interventions. But, I want you to be the judge for yourself. Let’s take a closer look at common questions and the truth about Social Emotional Learning from a School Counselor’s perspective. Hint, it’s pretty much all positive. What is Social Emot ..read more

  Stress in schools is a growing problem in today’s society. It can have a significant impact on students’ physical and mental health, as well as their ability to focus on their school work. Teaching effective calming strategies in the classroom may be easier than you thought. Using these strategies daily can enhance the learning process without disrupting student work. Calming Strategies In The Classroom That You Can Start Using Today Deep breathing: Encourage students to take slow, deep breaths when they are feeling overwhelmed or anxious. They can learn to do these at their desks w ..read more

Kids consume a ton of media every single day. And it’s what they’re seeing online, on social media, and tv that can often dictate how they feel about their bodies. Unfortunately, those images flashing across the screen aren’t always the best depiction of reality for a young person to model themselves after.  So, to help our kids and students learn how to become more body positive, it’s important to intentionally teach them how. Here’s a few easy ways to teach the kids in our lives how to appreciate themselves, just as they are.  Practice Body Positivity Ourselves It should come as n ..read more

You don’t have to be a Special Education Teacher to support students with sensory needs. You also don’t need a diagnosis to have occasional sensory overload. There is an ongoing commitment to identify best practices for teaching & supporting students with disabilities in the regular classroom. And one of the most significant commitments is to ensure that all students, including those with sensory needs, have access to quality education. This article will explore ways to support students with sensory needs in the classroom even if they do not have a diagnosis or an IEP. Anyone can use thes ..read more

While the interweb forums are buzzing with T/F questions about children learning to resolve conflicts by watching adults, there’s definitely an, “Ummm, well yes” aspect to this question.  Children, and their developing minds, are always taking in their surroundings. They’re like sponges, after all.  And when an intense conflict is underway, you better believe that the littles are learning something from the experience.  The trouble is, when we’re in the middle of a conflict, we’re probably not aware of the effect it’s having on any nearby kiddos. We’re too involved in our own s ..read more

Cognitive distortions, or distorted thinking, can be detrimental to a child’s ability to reach their fullest potential when it comes to academics, self-image, and relationships. When children obsess over negative thoughts, those distorted thoughts may suffocate their potential. For example, the comparison game can become quite brutal, and negative self-talk dominates students stuck in this rut.  The good news is, school counselors can help their students reframe their mindset by teaching them how to acknowledge unhelpful thoughts and labeling them as such.  Doing so helps them ident ..read more

There are so many reasons students fall asleep in class. In the weeks leading up to test time, stress relief for students can go a long way when trying to keep sleepy students awake. You see, they’re often overtired due to anxiety over their upcoming exams, finding time to study and a host of other stressors our kids face today. So it’s no surprise that students are in a daze during class, and sometimes, dozing off on you.  It’s frustrating for both teachers and counselors. Luckily, there are a few interventions for sleeping in class that we can try to help perk up our students and promo ..read more