It's the little things that count!

So today was my first day back after taking some time off for my daughters birth. And after taking some days to get some rest and relaxation... Rest and relaxation... Wait, what?? Oh yea, I forgot, I have a 5 day old daughter- so rest and relaxation are OUTTA HERE. 

Anyways, while I was off I scrolled a lot through Pinterest and realized there was quite a bit I had pinned over the past two years and had never actually had time to implement. So today with my caffeine-induced energy, I did them! Simple little touches that my students were ALREADY intrigued with. And they cost NOTHING.

The first thing was a quote area. I've seen pictures of offices that have walls covered in quotes and I have some but I wanted them to be visible to ALL the students- not just those in my office. So today I borrowed one of the small dry erase boards I use for my small groups and attached it to the wall next to my door in the hall. Made a sign for above and am going to write an inspirational quote on it everyday.

Already sitting in my office I could hear students talking about the quote. I'm sure it won't effect 100% of my students. But hey, even if we change ONE child we have done our job!

The other thing I had seen on Pinterest was where a teacher had taken black so construction paper and made handprints. They were attached by her door and she would write vocab words on them everyday. Then, when the kids walked out of her room, they would "high-five" the hands and say the word. Well I thought- how powerful is a high-five?? So my small group made handprints and discussed how were all different but all the same. My handprint looked like this:

I hung it by my door walking out of my office.

Seriously, as we all know, there are some kids that just need a little bit of attention. Just some affection or encouragement goes a long way. I want them to walk out thinking that no matter how their day was or what's happening at home or whatever- that they still have the power to be AMAZING!

These little things are so important in the eyes of a kid. A positive word. And fun "high-five". And someone who cares enough to provide them! What have you done to encourage one another??

-JW

It happens to the best of us...

We all do it. We all have a situation come up..., a plan, a goal, a strategy- call it whatever you want to. We all, at some point in life, have a commitment we have set... And then we stumble. Maybe we don't "crash and burn" but we forget and then think "why bother".

Maybe it's keeping track of personal counseling student records. And we forget to write down who we saw or what we talked about. And then tomorrow we let it slide because "well, I didn't write down yesterday's". And then how long do we go before we finally say "okay! I have GOT to write these down!"

Or maybe it's organizing that lesson we need to take care of. Who cares if it's a week late... Or two. Or three. No one really notices.

Or what about that drawer (come on - you know you have that drawer). The one you throw papers in because you're going to file them tomorrow. Or the next day.

Well, it happens to all of us. So don't feel down if it happens to you. Because guess what... Last June I heard two AMAZING people speak at ASCA in Philadelphia about blogging. And I thought- I have a voice... I have concerns... I have ideas and Pinterest and cool lessons I do. I'm going to blog. And I'm going to blog every week.

And I did.

And then January happened. 11 snow days. Several delays. Family illnesses. Meetings. Clubs. Programs. More meetings. And I realized I forgot to write a blog post. But I have so many good ideas I want to blog about... I'll get to it next week. Then next week came and went and I thought... Well it's been this long. What does it really matter. Who really notices.

WE NOTICE! We are School Counselors and we notice. We care. We advocate for our jobs. We communicate. We do Professional Development. And we LOVE reading about new ideas and struggles and concerns and new ideas and office pictures and data. DATA!

So as I am sitting in the hospital because my beautiful baby girl was born yesterday... I open up Blogger and see my blog hit and exceeded 10,000 views. Exceeded it. And I was too busy thinking "who really cares".

Well, as I watch my little girl laying in her bassinet, I know who cares.

The people who are School Counselors. The ones who in six years will be counseling this future generation. And I LOVE IT!

So I will be blogging. Because that's who I am. I am A Fellow School Counselor. And I have ideas. And I fail. And I Pinterest. And I have students who I think "what else can I try". And how will I know if not for people like you reading this :)

So I sit here, on my iPad, and wanted to type out this message for all you reading this. For those of you who have messaged me and emailed me and commented on my Instagram pictures I say THANK YOU :) and I look forward to many more blogs to come!

-JW