Introduction to the School Counselor Lessons

It's been a great and busy week! This week and last week I went to all PK-5th grade classrooms assigned to me to introduce myself to those who are new and remind those who have been here what my job is as a school counselor. They also learned how to get a hold of me, if they have a BIG problem. In PK-2nd grades I used my Potato Head to describe how all of my body parts help me to do my job as a school counselor. I had students come up and help put the parts on to the Potato Head and think of ways those parts could help me with my job. For example, my eyes help me to see children's faces so I know how they are feeling. If they have a frown, I will know they are probably sad and if they have a happy face, I might think they are happy. My ears help me to listen, which is super important in my job and what I spend most of the time doing. I explained how my job is to listen to kids, teachers, and parents, and help them with any problems they are having or helping them to sort through different emotions and feelings they may be having. We also discussed how if they come to my office, whatever we talk about is completely confidential and I share it with no one, unless the student is being hurt, hurting themselves, or hurting someone else.

In 3rd-5th grades, I used my "School Counselor First Aid Kit" to describe my job as a school counselor. I had several items in my kit that I pulled out and asked what I might use that for. For example, I pulled out an eraser and the kids came up with "erasing our problems, erasing bad thoughts and replacing them with good ones, and erasing bad memories or feelings." I told them that some problems we can completely erase and some we can't. For example, I said, "If your parents are divorced, I can't make them be married again, but I can help you to feel better about it and help you to learn how to cope with it over time." Another item I had in the kit was a big band-aid and a little band-aid to represent helping to heal our big and little problems.
 


This led into a discussion on when you can come to my office to see me individually. It needs to be a BIG problem. I explained that there are over 820 kids in this school and only one Ms. Ahumada, so if I saw every student for every "little" problem they have, I would never get anything done and I wouldn't possibly be able to see everyone. The kids gave me examples of big problems, such as parents going through a divorce or fighting a lot, the death of a family member, friend, or pet, being bullied by someone, being hurt by an adult or wanting to hurt themselves or someone else, being extremely anxious about something, having extremely low-self esteem, etc. Little problems are the problems they will be learning how to solve either on their own, with the help of a teacher, or with the help of a parent. For example, if a student says something mean to another student, or even pushes him/her on the playground. This can be solved by talking to the student, or getting the help of a teacher. I come around to teach guidance lessons every couple of weeks to help them learn how to solve their own little problems.

The referral form below is how students can self-refer themselves to see me and I left a stack of these with each teacher. I already had about 6 self-referrals this week! It makes me happy when they know how to meet with me and are comfortable enough to ask me for help! :-)

Now who is ready for a three-day weekend?!?!? ME, ME!!! ;-) I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Labor Day weekend!