Counseling and Coffee Cups

Tell me you’re a teacher, without telling me you’re a teacher… drop a comment below. Let’s hear it!

Grief is a difficult process. I don’t know about you but, we have had a lot of students and staff experiencing loss this year. That might look like the loss of a loved one, loss of a home due to fire, etc. There are so many types of loss and so many ways to grieve it can definitely become overwhelming. This is one tool I use with students to help them try to vocalize and talk through their own personal grieving process. The students that I have used it with, have said that it helped. I by no means created this idea and I’m not sure who did, but I love it! So, I thought it would be good to share! What are other ways you help your students or children/adolescents process grief?

Counseling during COVID... it’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks since we started back with students! I forgot what it feels like to start the school year off pregnant (I’m 25 weeks) and how tired I would be lol. But, I’m so glad to get to see our students, even if it looks a little different these days. Any ideas on something fun but functional for the bulletin board in my office? It’s still blank and I need some inspo! 😊

First day back to school today! Landon: PK, Chloe: 5th grade, Mommy: Middle School Counselor!

And just like that, Summer is over! Back to work this morning to plan for the upcoming school year! Our teachers come back August 3rd and our students are back August 10th. What an adventure this year shall be with everything going on. When do you go back to school?

Helpful tips from on how to help your child adapt to wearing a mask!

Trying to plan my Year at a Glance (YAG) for this coming year and boy am I having a hard time. I know what I would normally be doing, but this is anything but a “normal” school year. Things will look so different going back to campus this year than in years past. How about you? Are you starting back on campus this Fall? I’m in Texas and I go back July 16, teachers come back August 3, and students are back on campus August 10.

This gem came in the mail today! I bought this for my daughter, who will be entering middle school next year. I also thought it might be beneficial for me to read with her, as I may learn a thing or two that will help me as a middle school counselor! It has tons of tips for new middle schoolers and the layout makes it very reader-friendly! Definitely recommend (from what we’ve seen so far)!! What are you reading?

BOOK ALERT: Currently reading Middle School Matters by Phyllis Fagell. It’s all about helping students navigate middle school and learn the skills they need to be successful. So far, it’s been a great read and would be beneficial for Counselors, Educators, or Parents of Middle Schoolers (or soon to be). I would absolutely love to hear some of your book recommendations for Summer reading! What are you reading right now? 📚

Goodness. It’s been quite a rough few weeks over here. My daughter lost a friend from her class and then our community had two students died, as well (one of which was one of my students). Side note: none of the deaths were covid related. Needless to say, it’s been an emotional few weeks and with emotions sometimes comes behavior. My daughter has certainly had some behavior challenges after losing her friend. But, thankfully, knowing the cause helped me to give her grace and empathy and help her through it instead of react in a negative way. The same goes for our students. Especially, when we finally do make it back to the school buildings. We have to meet our students with grace and understanding, even in the midst of behaviors. Our students may be scared to come back or worried about getting sick. They may have had zero stability/consistency while home and we don’t truly know what it’s been like at home for them. So, things will look different and it’ll take time. But, we have to meet them where they are, love them, and do our best to help them through it! They need grace just like we do 😉

Great reminder! 💙

This right here is so accurate! We need grace during this time and so do our kids!

Got to do my Grounding with the Five Senses exercise today as a virtual guidance lesson! Walked students through the grounding technique and talked about the benefits. Love getting to teach our middle schoolers different ways to cope with stress and anxiety! Especially, with all that’s going on in the world right now.

Happy National Autism Awareness Day! I hope y’all are well and getting adjusted to this new norm we are all navigating through! Tell me, how are you adjusting?

We are doing a GIVEAWAY!! 🥰

I’m partnering with 5 incredible counselors to say THANK YOU to our friends and family in the medical field who help SO MANY PEOPLE every day. Nothing compares to the amazing work you all do especially in the midst of our most recent world news. We’d love to send a deserving healthcare worker a $50 Amazon gift card to say thank you for your continued passion in keeping us well 💕

To enter:
1. Like this post and our pages ☀️ ☕️ 💜 🍎 🌈

2. Tag a healthcare worker you appreciate ⛑❤️

That’s it! We will DM the winner Saturday, April 4th 🎉

We know the mental health field and medical field go hand in hand. We are so thankful for the helpers in the world! 🌎



(Not sponsored by Instagram or Amazon!)

I don’t know about you, but boy this has been an overwhelming couple weeks. Trying to transition to being a “virtual” counselor and also providing my children with time for me to help them get their school work done has been quite an adjustment. Give yourself grace. Give your kids grace. And most importantly of all, if you have to choose, always choose building those connections with your kids! How’s this new online transition been for you?

Mark your calendars! Don’t forget to join the Kindness Campaign for a cheerful check in about feelings and emotions and to enjoy a fun read aloud! We could all use a little positivity during these stressful times!

Love this visual by on things we can and cannot control during this pandemic! It’s so important, for our own well-being, to understand that we can’t control the actions of others.

How are you holding up during all of this uncertainty right now? This is definitely an odd time for students, parents, and educators. What are some things that you’ve done so far that have helped your students through this? I’m trying, myself, to learn how to navigate online learning and how I can support my students!

How is the Coronavirus affecting your school district/campus? Will you be forced to close? If so, how will you implement online class or counseling program delivery? Please share!

Anyone else love using Mrs. Potato head to introduce the role of the School Counselor at the beginning of the year? The littles think it’s fun and we always enjoy discussing the “parts” of a school counselor (ears for listening, hands for helping, high fives, and hugs, etc). What is your favorite way to introduce your role to students?

Absolutely love this visual from about how to use the TBRI principles for kids who have experienced trauma!

Anyone else love using the books with your students? I do! Here’s an example of how I extended the lesson about listening skills... I combined the Learning to Listen lesson with Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen as a mentor text. Students even got to meet my bunny puppet named Howard! We then sang a super fun song about our listening skills and played a game of Simon Says to check for understanding! At the end of the lesson, I helped our students make their very own Howard puppets to remember those lovely listening skills! This is a lesson I love to use at the beginning of the year and then spiral back to this same skill later on in the year, as well!

I absolutely LOVE this representation of the 5 Love Languages in relation to your self-love! Y’all, if you aren’t already following you really should be! Amazing feed!

Happy National School Counseling Week! I’m so thankful for all of our School Counselors out there who continuously help our students with their behavioral, academic, and social emotional needs! Thank you for showing your students compassion and empathy day in and day out! Get out there and advocate for your programs you rockstars!

Self-care is so important, especially as educators, to make sure you are taking time for yourself to avoid burnout! Love this self-care menu from 💕 What are your favorite forms of self-care? My 3 favorites are in my stories!

You know what matters? YOU! YOU are important, YOU are loved, YOU are enough!! And whether or not you see it or realize it, your presence on this earth makes a difference!

What an inspiration he was to so many! My heart goes out to the family during this tragic time.

Heartbreaking news today...

I absolutely love this and all of the work Dr. Karyn Purvis did with TBRI! What are your thoughts on this quote?

Our campus is celebrating kindness week next week with a few different activities. Along with the activities, we will also have announcements each day that challenge our students to complete an act of kindness. Check out some of our kindness challenges for our middle schoolers! Some of the challenges listed were inspired by and their annual Kindness Challenge!

Do you have a calming corner/safe space in your office or classroom? I think they are a great way to promote emotional regulation and help teach kids valuable skills to use during tough times.

Have y’all seen the new Breathe with Me Barbie yet? I love this idea for kids to get to explore the world of mindfulness, deep breathing, and self-care! Swipe to see the description for the doll. How would you use it with your students?

Great information from about trauma-informed care for kids! What a difference it would make for our students and their learning if all of our schools could become trauma-informed!