Back and Better Than Ever!

Wow it feels SOOO good to be back :) I am not sure what caused my 5 month hiatus... but the weirdest thing kept happening- I kept getting notifications from Pinterest, Facebook, and Blogger that I had new page views, new followers, and new likes! I would like to say THANK YOU to all who came aboard and stayed aboard even while I was napping on the bridge... ship's bridge... not an actual "over water" bridge...

Anyways...

So obviously a lot has happened in the past few months including I started my new position as a HIGH SCHOOL counselor. Now some of you may have started following because I was an Elementary School Counselor. Well, I was. Sorry... But I am the SAME counselor, just in a different role. I still have great ideas- I just implement them with teenagers :)
Also the blog got a fresh new look. I thought something a little more current would help get me back into it! I still have my Mr. Potato Heads, don't worry... they just help in a different role!

In the next few months I will get you caught up to what's been going on, including Senior interviews, Freshman orientation, testing (boo), Middle School & 8th grade transitions, scheduling, and more. But, this post is just to get me back in the swing and reassure everyone I am back for good lol. 

I do want to take a moment and complete something I started in July and that is a tour of my office. You may remember a post I did in July that showed some before pictures (you can find it here) but I'll refresh your memory...

Here is a before shot looking into my office

It was very bare-bones and cold... not very inviting

Here's looking in now :) over Christmas Break the Head of Maintenance was kind enough to patch the plaster and paint it a tan-ish color (better than the stark white!)

 You may notice some of the stuff and I want to show you it does not cost an arm and a leg to make your space apealing. The rug came from Menards and was like $29.00. An amazing buy on a public education salary. Also the chevron pictures came from Ikea and were about $5.00 for the set. The side table was one from one of my previous offices and was actually a dumpster find from Stein Mart about ten years ago!

This is the corner by the door- where people sit. The problem was people kept standing up and hitting their head on that bottom shelf :(

SO, I took a couple of the shelves off and added- yep! my Mr. Potato Heads! And it's hilarious how many of my HIGH SCHOOL students and staff members love them :) 

 The blue table came from my mom. Her typewritter sat on that table since I was a kid. I remember sitting at it in Elementary School typing reports! The lamp on the table my great grandpa lathed and the shade is half a globe one of my Elementary students and I made last year. The chairs kinda suck but they came with the office and don't look too horrible. And plus I don't have to sit in them!

Since I took a couple shelves down, I needed a bookshelf. This red beauty came from Ikea and was $25.00... and I LOVE it. Plus it helps since our School Colors are Red, White, and Blue!

This is above my desk. The middle painting came from my dad's barn, the "A" is a wine cork holder from home that we were getting rid of, and the "Keep Calm" sign I found in an empty office at school LOL My wife got me the Integrity sign (Always do the RIGHT THING even when no one is watching) to remind me of my Elementary days)

So that's it... my home away from home. And decorated and put together for fairly inexpensive. I think it is really important to create a space that is inviting, relaxing, and not too "officey". 

So if you have any questions, as always you can email me/ Facebook me/ Tweet me/ etc.

Stay tuned for more great things coming at AFellowSchoolCounselor!

-JW

Exciting Week!!

This week has been mind-blowing! So here's a recap:

Last Thursday: our family drove to Iowa to celebrate my sister's 40th Birthday :) She had an 80's theme party and it was fantastic! And what 80's party wouldn't be complete without a sweet 'stache...

It was hard shaving my goatee after having it for 11+ years... I (along with my wife) am now eagerly awaiting for it to GROW BACK

We drove back from Iowa on Sunday night and stopped in our hometown and stayed with my parents (our future home if we didn't find something before our move!)

Monday my wife had an interview and we stopped by my new school (my Alma Mater) to get my keys and some papers. Here are some pics of MY NEW OFFICE!

My desk and a bunch of junk lol

There's a window!... that overlooks a hallway... and a door lol

My new office!!

It's quite a bit smaller... but designed for a different reason. I don't have to have a small-group table (we have a conference room). I don't have to have board games (well, they're highschoolers). I don't have to have Mr. Potato Heads (pssh forget that OF COURSE I DO!)

On Tuesday we hung out with my mother-in-law who, in our desperate house search, decided to be old school and bring a newspaper Classifieds... like, who reads THOSE anymore?! Well, turns out our future house was in it! After talking to the woman and having my dad go look at it (we had already left to come back home) we filled out the Application and got approved on Wednesday! So we have a house!!! (yea, we've never actually been inside of it and only seen a half dozen pics... but it's our new home!!)

Tonight I went out and celebrated with my former Elementary Counseling Team. Two of them left after the 2012-2013 year, leaving me and the Social Worker and two new kids on the block. But we've stayed in touch and I couldn't ask for a better Elementary team! 

Look familiar? 

If that pic looks familiar, check out this picture from my post last July titled The Lone Ranger 

Haha not much changed :)

So today is Thursday. Next Tuesday and Wednesday we are moving and the following Monday (the 4th) is my first day!!! The HS Counselors work 5 days before school starts, to give us time for registration, class changes, etc. So I will be blogging pics of my office (once it's done) and to talk about how my first day went :) Plus I'll be changing my blog around a little to fit the new level so Stay tuned!

-JW

Where to put all these Board Games?!

I'm not sure if any of you have this same problem... but I am acquiring a large amount of board games and only have so much space to put them. At my Wildcat's school it's especially bad- I have one small bookshelf for student to pick off of and one large bookshelf with doors (that I keep all my counseling books, lessons, workbooks, etc.). I have asked for a bigger bookshelf to keep student activities on but have heard nothing... *chirp chirp*.

So I determined if I can't make the bookshelf bigger, I'll make the stuff smaller... Here's how:

I took a second to see where my games are.

Here are the majority of them (the ones students use most)

Here are some more tucked away in my bench seat.

Plus I have ordered four more and have some at my parents' house I was going to bring in. But I am running out of room. So here's what I did during my lunch today... I first assessed which games needed kept in boxes (Don't Break The Ice, Topple, Mancala, etc.) and set them aside. With the remaining games, I took ALL the pieces, boards, and instructions out of the boxes and cut the boxes down. I felt so wrong cutting a game's box :) But I knew it was for a good cause. I kept the top of the box (minus all the sides cut off) and one of the sides. I threw the bottoms and the scraps away.

Here are some of the edge pieces I cut and kept.

I put all the pieces in small Ziploc Bags and put a piece of the edge (from the box) in the Ziploc with it. This way I would know for definite which pieces went with which game.

Chess and Checkers

I only had Snack Sized Ziplocs so some of them had to be separated or clipped together.

The spinner was too big to go in the bag- I'm going to get some bigger Ziplocs to fix that.

Then I put all the Ziplocs in a basket I had sitting around empty in my office.

However, I may need a bigger basket at some point :)

So then I took all the boards and stood them in an empty thirty-one organizer my wife bought me. 

It's a little too narrow so I may look around a see if I can find an empty milk crate or something.

Since some of the boards were black and easily mixed up, I put the top of the original box in front of it. I have a label maker and may label the boards instead of relying on the box's top... not sure yet...

I want to play... um... Chutes and Ladders!

So now I have all my "board games" sitting my my trunk (which is handy, since that is where my kids like to sit anyways)...

Plus it freed up a TON of space on my bookshelf and in my trunk!

Some games stayed but a huge space is empty now!

All the instructions to the games are in the trunk in a file-folder in case we need them!

Useless trash and space I don't need!

So now I'm thinking I may do the same at my Falcons school... and maybe at home! 

Hope this helps some of you clear out a little more space in your offices! Don't be afraid to take games out of the boxes... A lot of them had SOOO much wasted space it was ridiculous. And I need all the space I can get!

Have a great Holiday and a very Merry Christmas!!!!

-JW

Whew!

Wow, what a whirlwind of a month! I realized it had been almost a month since my last post and almost as long since I've been through my Feedly posts. Obviously the past month has been crazy for everyone but here's a quick recap before I go into what's coming up:

Donuts With Dad- HUGE SUCCESS! Plus I got to have a Donut with my daughter ;)

Red Ribbon Week- My favorite!

I had over 450 signatures at BOTH schools ... All pledging to live their lives Drug Free (and yea, I made the banners~ they matched our Ribbons and the theme "Text Me... Drug Free")

We also had theme days such as "Put a LID on Drugs" (Hat Day), "Turn Your BACK On Drugs" (Backward Shirt Day), and "SHADE Out Drugs" (Sunglasses Day). We don't get too crazy with our theme days :( - something I may be changing soon LOL

Falcon's Fall Literacy Day- This is where we take one whole day and create a 40 minute rotation with stations focused on learning in different Fall-themed ways. From estimating seeds in a pumpkin to learning music and sounds to Vivaldi's Four Seasons to running an obstacle course outside. I was in charge of the K-2 Obstacle Course... and since it was the day after Halloween, I wanted to dress up. SO my Obstacle Course was The Justice League and each obstacle paired with a super hero. We also talked about how reading stories gives us a glimpse into how we can be super everyday... guess what superhero I was?...

I "borrowed" this Clark Kent idea from a fellow School Counselor "cedric324" on Instagram :)

Fall Break- for a whole week... need I say more?

Bulletin Board- So last year I BEGGED for a Bulletin Board at my Wildcat's school... well, over summer break they gave me one... in my office. Where as I had meant in the hallway, I took what I could get. And in my excitement at the beginning of the year, I put green paper on it and border and waited for that one GREAT idea... that three months later FINALLY came. I got the idea from Barbara over at The Corner On Character. Her school does an AMAZING job on character and one of her school bulletin boards was a word search highlighting their school's Pillars. Well, we have our RICHER Principles (Respect, Integrity, Caring, Harmony, Excellence  and Responsibility). So, with a little online help, I created a giant word search featuring all the Principles and lessons we teach and created this:

Every month, I'll change the "search word" and put red yarn over the word that has already been found

Office Rearranged- My Wildcat office has never been my favorite. So I have been changing it around. We had a large trunk in our garage (you know, the kind that goes at the foot of a bed) and it wasn't being used. So I took it in, am using it for seating, and slid my table back. Gave me a lot more space and storage! And man, we all love storage. I have also started using my laptop and am thinking about getting rid of my GIANT junky desk and getting a small table to keep supplies on and clearing up more space. Maybe I'll get a couch? :)

Parent University- This is what's coming up. Every year, the Elementary Counselors and Social Worker (the four of us) host an evening of Free Family Pizza Dinner, Free Childcare, a movie, and Free little class sessions for parents where we have different topics they can go a learn about (Anger Management, Discipline, Grandparents in a parenting role, etc.). The event is this Thursday so I will be posting about it later. Pray for us!

Well, that's all for now. I promise not to hiatus for a month at a time... that is if anyone is actually reading this :) Later I'll write about some AWESOME lessons regarding Harmony and how our school does 9 Week Goal setting! Super fun!

Later gaters!

JW

(Second) First Day Back :)

This past week has been CCRRAAZZYY!! And it's a true sign that I have found what I want to do for the rest of my life because, despite being CCRRAAZZYY I have LLLOOOVVVEEEDDD every minute of it!

Our schools started last week and, since I split two schools, I was only able to be at one on the first day. So, the next day, I had my SECOND first day back (at my Wildcat School).

I got to pop into classrooms, do some meetings, meet some parents who just quite couldn't let go of their babies, talk with teachers, and unveil some NEW alien technology (well, more like Google Docs) that the counselor is going to use. And, I am STILL finding awesome things I want to unveil thanks to you great folks!

I will have another post coming soon, but first I wanted to show you all the results of my Wildcats Office.

This was looking in my door before.

This is looking in my door now! Notice I have a lot of the same things at one office that I have at the other office (Chill Out Corner, pictures, posters, etc.)

This is where my desk was. I probably moved it around 4 times last year because I could NEVER get it how I wanted it.

Well now, my desk isn't even on that wall! I wanted people to see a little more friendliness than the back of my head!

My giant cabinet (that I love) but it took up a lot of room right there.

So I moved my desk there. Now I can see out the door at who is coming, confidential info isn't available for someone to see over my shoulder, and I have a whole wall for a command center. This is not done (obviously) since IT had to come and give me a longer cable, and the wall is kinda blank... but that will change!

I actually kinda hate these built-ins because they take up SO much room and our Media Specialist uses most of the space.

However, she let me take one of the cabinets down and I moved the giant cabinet over there. And luckily because once I got it over there I only had about 4 inches of space to wiggle it in! Plus the Media Specialist cleaned out some cabinets and let me use them for crafty things, games, and supplies!

This is my bookshelf where I have my themed books, some games, fidget toys, etc. My board games used to be on the bottom shelf but I ran out of room so they are now in the bottom built-in cabinet.

So this is home away from home half the time. On piece of advice that has saved me a TON of time. I have a lot of books that I need available NOW. And when they were all just chillin' on my shelf, I never could find the one I needed. Our Title I department gave me about 20 cardboard banker boxes. All I did was wrap them in colored paper, make a label on the computer, and sorted the books. There's also a picture on the labels so kids know what's in them.

So, those are my offices. We don't have a lot of extra resources in our district... we have a very high poverty rate, VERY high F&R Lunch rate, etc... but our offices don't have to look like that! It's not an excuse to make your office a dungeon lol- I want my offices to be a safe, warm, inviting place for students to come and lay their burdens down. I hope you do too!

Well, have a great day!

-JW

First Day Back!!- and an office full of pictures!

Today was my first day back at Falcons... and it was FANTASTIC! Maybe part of it was seeing my little girl walking the halls in line, with "duck tails" in back and a "bubble in the mouth" :) But seeing ALL the little girls and boys (and not so little 5th and 6th graders!). 

Most of my day was spent just helping out where needed (helping Kindergarten with pictures, drying tears and consoling parents, popping into classroom to say "hey", collaborating with teachers about setting up lessons, doing "Car Rider's Duty", etc.). I LOVED seeing the kids and I loved having them see me! While that sounds a little conceited, I think having some consistency is very important for them and giving a ton of hugs, hi-fives, and fist bumps was very encouraging. 

However, I did get a chance to snap some pictures of my finished Falcons office! Well... I say "finished" loosely because I always end up adding things but all-in-all I am pretty happy with how it ended up! Here's some before-and-afters for your enjoyment LOL

Looking in the door- remember this is after Maintenance moved everything in so most the furniture was put where I wanted up

This is looking in the door AFTER! 

Here is a close-up of my book shelf and filing cabinet. My books are sorted by topic, making it easier to find what I need. I usually tun most metal cabinets into faux bulletin boards :) On my filing cabinet is my "ABC's of Emotions" that I bought at ASCA in PA!

This is my meeting area BEFORE...

And After--- Maintenance hung my cabinet so I have crafty stuff, paper, colored paper, markers, crayons, etc. in it. This stuff I use most often in sessions.

This table has floated around our house for YEARS... so I confiscated it and brought it in for a touch of home. Don't mind the missing lamp shade (I actually found the lamp in our old boiler room at the school covered in dust and debris)

My cabinet with binders, lessons, counselor books, etc. Before-

And after... My door says "COUNSELING" and has my "Where's Mr. Allen" map on it. The orange sign says "CONNECT". I also now have a sign regarding confidentiality on it (but took the picture before I hung it up)

And behind the door... You can also see my "Chill Out Corner" with ideas posted on the wall of things students can do when they need to "chill out".

I really liked this :)

Here is my command center

Along with my bulletin board with useful information on it!

So there you have it! My office is done and full of color thanks to influence from all of you and my wife (who bought most the stuff for me). 

Tomorrow is my first day back at my Wildcats school... so I will be posting again later this week with stories and pictures of how that office turned out! If you have any ideas or suggestions, let me know!

-JW