My Blank Canvas aka: My First Office

One of the MOST exciting things about your first job is seeing where you will be working. When I first toured my new school, I was chomping at the bit to see where I would be meeting with students, running groups, and spending most of my days. As my Principal was showing the new hires around, he stopped in front of Rm. 15 and said, "And Sara, this is where you will be..". As a new counselor, I had never felt something so exciting in my life. I felt tears swelling in my eyes and butterflies in my stomach. I had met a new friend and it was love at first site...my office. Of course, my automatic reaction was, "I have to decorate!" I want things on the wall, bulletin boards, posters, things from target to make my office inviting to students, etc. Then I was hit with the reality:

1. I am in a foreign country where Target is non-existent. (After only being in Vietnam for about a week at the time of seeing my office, I was unsure of where the nearest grocery store was...let alone a place where I could find some snazzy things for my office). 
2. The only things I brought from the United States are clothes and other things I couldn't use to decorate my space. 
3. I have no idea where to even start.
4. I need help.

Though it was challenging, exhausting, and took quite some time (my office still looks a bit bare compared to other rooms in the building...I finally feel like I can call my space "home" (yes, yes, I know...it's an office but still).

  

We have glass walls at the front of the room so I had to create a private area where I could meet with students one-on-one and during mediation groups. My students actually call this area my "VIP" area.



I know my room is still a work in progress and I am excited to see how different it will look by the end of the year! 

Friendship Group: The Struggle of a New Counselor

I started running a friendship group at my elementary school to build social skills and to help some of the students meet others in their grade level experiencing the same things they are. For some insane reason, I thought it would be an excellent idea to run the same group topic (friendship group) for grades 1-5. I meet with my first grade group on Mondays, second grade on Tuesdays (I think you get the gist...) all the way up to fifth grade on Fridays. Meaning I am running five groups per week. For many seasoned counseling vets, as well as well-organized newcomers, this may seem like nothing. However, I am definitely willing to admit that this has not been the case for myself. Needless to say, this scheduling bind that I have found myself in has kept me busy. I started with a simple outline of the session group topics: 

•Session 1: Introduction/Group Rules/ “Getting to Know You”

•Session 2:  Qualities of a Friend/ “What is a friend?” 

•Session 3: Different kinds of friends/ Making Connections 

•Session 4:  Talking and Listening Rules of Friendship/ Communication Building 

•Session 5:  Friendly behaviors/ Leading and Following 

•Session 6:  Friendly Skills/ Sharing (1-2)                Friendship Blockers/Reputations (3-5) 

•Session 7:  Friendly Skills/Games and Taking turns (1-2)   Saying No/ Handling Rejection (3-5)

•Session 8: Friendship STARS/ Closure 

I found these session topics with a little help from 1. Google and 2. The Awesome PDF Resources Below: 

• Super Helpful Friendship Group PDF- K-2
• Definitely Helpful Friendship Group PDF-3-5

Questions for my School Counselors out there: 

• What groups are you running? 
• How did you decide your topics for each session? 
• Have you ever implemented a free form small group at your school? How was it? 
• What are some excellent FREE resources you recommend? 
• What is a scheduling challenge that you have made before and how did you handle it?