Since I have not been able to post in a few months I decided to consoldidate and put three wonderful websites in one post.

Child Therapy Toys site is a great resource for counselors. I have had tons of great toys and games that help me create fun counseling activities. One of the many great things about counseling kids is that play therapy is so much fun!!!  

Edmodo is a great educational website and app. It allows teachers and school counselors to create communication groups with students. The educational management system lets students have independence and organization in turn in school work and communicating with educators. 

Dr. Beth Robinson was one of my professors in my master's program. Her experience in crisis counseling is incredible. I highly recommend her website that contains many counseling tools and books that are very helpful. My favorite books are her creative coloring books for kids. :) 

My Wonderful Website for the month of February is Pinterest. I love using Pinterest to find school counseling projects. It is a great way to collaborate with other counselors to share ideas, found or original. I have given you the link to my counseling board. Please feel free to follow me. :) 

I love celebrating National School Counseling Week. I focus on two things during this week, spending time encouraging other school counselors and advocating for school counseling.

Encouraging Other School Counselors

Luckily, I am very blessed to work with two amazing school counselors. They working in the middle and high school, but they both help me a lot. We collaborate constantly, which has been a great learning opportunity for me. I email or mail notes of encouragement to those counselors I work with. This year, I also shared Tabitha's encouraging letter from a blog post on Scrapbook of a School Counselor. 
 

Advocating for School Counseling

Advocating for our profession is so very important. So many people have a misconception about what school counseling should look like. I try to educate my teachers and administration about the job of a true 
Professional School Counselor.

If you would like to participate, click on the button below.

My Wonderful Website for the month of January is Maria Dismondy's website. She is a wonderful children's book author that develops great books for counselors and teachers. Check out my post about Maria's newest book...

I am so excited to be a part of a virtual book tour with many other counseling blogs. I want to start by thanking Maria Dismondy for allowing me to preview her new book, Spoonful of Sweetness. In my current job, I have the privilege to work with children as young as 18 months, so this book will fit into my counseling program perfectly. 

This adorable book is a great way to teach very young children about core character traits. Many adults focus on toddlers' appearance instead of the child's behavior, and therefore, children are often praised for superficial reasons that the child really doesn't have any control over. It is important to teach good character at a young age, and then focus on praising children when we see them expressing the taught character traits. This book is a great psychoeducation tool for young children and parents of young children. It's a fun way to help children have great manners!

I encourage you to visit Maria Dismondy's website by clicking on the button above. Maria is a talented writer that produces great books to help counselors. I have used her book, Spaghetti in a Hotdog Bun, in many counseling groups and lessons. I know that I will do the same with her new book, Spoonful of Sweetness. 

That's Bad! That's Good! On Santa's Journey is a book that I am using to help teach my young students about choice. After reading this story, we talk about the fact that good and bad things happen. Then we discuss making good choices. I play a game with the students called Good Choice vs. Poor Choice. I say a choice out loud, if I say a good choice the students do a certain action and if I say a poor choice the students do another action. Check out the game below. 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a classic book that can help teach children the true meaning of Christmas. After reading this story, the class brainstorms ways to give to others. I use an anchor chart to document the ideas. The poster can hang in the classroom to remind the students ways to give to others. This helps create a great classroom environment while teaching kids the true meaning of Christmas. 

Merry Un-Christmas is my favorite Christmas story. This is a great story that helps teach children not to take blessings for granted.  

This website is for all the Tennesseans reading my blog. We have the opportunity to use the free Tennessee Electronic Library. This website has a lot for awesome attractions for educators. I have used this website to help teach career, counseling standards by using a database that lets the students research different careers. 

Teachers Pay Teachers is a great website for collecting resources. Recently, I have started my own TPT account. I LOVE creating resources that school counselors and other educators can use to help kids. Check out my site...

Here are two powerful videos about who you are in God's eyes. 

Storybird is a website that is made up of electronic books. You can write your own electronic book or search for books others have written. My favorite book is The School Counselor. It is a story that addresses the role of a school counselor. I love using some of these stories during my classroom counseling lessons.