Saturday, September 20, 2014

School Counseling Disclosure Sign Free Printable


One thing that I have found over my years as a school counselor is that things pop up when you least expect them to.  Just when you are not expecting the floods to pour they do.  So, it has always worked out well for me to have a disclosure sign displayed in a prominent location just in case I forget to tell them before they spill everything.  I have found that it helps to build rapport as well.  Students feel like what they are telling me is happening professionally and not for gossip.  Having that sign somehow emphasizes that fact.

I printed off two of these on card stock and laminated them so that you could see the sign front and back when hanging in a window.  I am also a Command hook addict and use the clear backed hooks to hang this on the glass on my door.

Just head over to my Teachers Pay Teachers site in order to grab the FREE Download.  While you are there make sure to check out the School Counseling Daily Calendar. It has really helped me organize on the fly this year.


Tuesday, September 16, 2014

School Counseling Office Decor (part 1)


For those of you who know me, you know that I am starting a new adventure this year.  I was very happy and thankful to be a part of a high school counseling department for 9 years.  It was a great experience and a school that I thought I would never leave.  However, a series of different circumstances led me to make a change that was the best decision for myself and my family.  I now find myself as a single counselor at a brand new STEM focused high school.  It has been amazing so far and has allowed me to use my creativity more (which I am thankful for).  Not to mention, I have been able to make so many connections with the students and the time is much more flexible due to the nature of our school set up.  It really is a dream school!

With that said, our building is a BRAND NEW build which meant that I was starting from scratch.  This was also exciting to me because it was an opportunity for me to purge a lot of the things I no longer needed and start with a blank slate to make the office my very own.  I will be sharing the rest of my office with you soon, but for now, this is what I look at (when I ever sit down).  It is a collection of a few of my favorite instagrams of my boys and husband, a few inspirational messages, our daily schedule, important numbers, important files, note pads, stapler, tape, pens/pencils/rulers and the daily calendar notepad I created!  I'll share more on that later, but if you are interested, you can purchase the template from my Teachers Pay Teachers account for only $2.50!  It has really helped me organize my day based on what the ASCA National Standards set out for us.  This allows me to track my data better and put it all in a spreadsheet when I am ready.  

The cork board are actually cork trivets from Ikea as well as The Kitchen Company.  I painted a few of them to go with the colors in my office and hung them using Command Strips.  The chairs in the office are purple and I am really into gold right now.  I used those two colors to jump start everything else.  I found the gold stapler at Target and the gold note box at Marshall's (my favorite place for all things affordable decor)!

I can't wait to share the rest with you!  I feel like your counseling office should be used as a tool for personal/social, career and academic awareness.  I like to find ways to accomplish this that are aesthetically appealing (not cartoony) and captures the attention of teens.  I would love to see your office as well.  I've been following a few of you on Instagram and Twitter with the #scoffice hashtag.  Keep your ideas coming!