Back to School-Round 2!

A long time has passed since my last post as I was off enjoying my summer back home with friends and family! However, I am already back in the swing of things as my school enters week 3 of the new school year. 

There have been some new updates and some changes with my position at my school this year and I am continuously reminding myself that flexibility is key! Some of the new changes that have gone on include: 

- New administrators at all four of our campuses 

- A High School Counselor was not hired for our HS campus, therefore I am now sharing the role of Personal/Social School Counselor at the High School with the current Middle School Counselor. I am there once every six days and also am first response in the case of a crisis and the Middle School Counselor is there every Tuesday and Thursday. (Are you confused? Yes, me too) 

- New Counselor at our 1-9 Campus 

- 50% newly hired staff at ES campus 

- New Office at the ES campus and shared office at the HS

Even with all of the new changes, I am excited to have some familiarity this year and to begin my second year as a School Counselor. Let's hope I can find balance with the new changes and can make this year a success.  

A day in the life...

Before I became a School Counselor, I wondered what an average day would look like for one. I kept hearing things like, "No day looks the same" and "You never know what the day will hold". To be honest, this is one of the reasons that I became a School Counselor in the first place. The idea that each day is unique and that your job is truly unpredictable excites me. I have found that my days tend to take on two different extremes, therefore I decided to outline the TWO Most Common Types of Days I have as a School Counselor.

*DISCLAIMER: The following is a look at MY own schedule as a first-year counselor. I understand that every School Counselor has a different school dynamic, case load, and schedule.*

Smooth Sailing Days
7:30: Arrive at school, grab a cup of coffee and check-email.
8:00: Head downstairs, greet students and check-in.
8:15: Bell rings (I usually spend this time wishing students a good day and assisting as needed)
8:30-8:50: Individual Counseling (various presenting concerns)
8:50-9:30: Committee Meetings/Admin Meetings/Teacher Meetings
9:30-10:00: Prepare for Small groups/Classroom lessons
10:00-10:40: Classroom Lesson or data entry
10:40-11:05: Have lunch with individual student (this is when I may eat lunch too)
11:05-11:30: Girls Lunch Bunch
11:35-12:30: Individual Counseling (various presenting concerns)
12:30-1:00: Check-in with teachers/admin
1:00-1:50: Small Group
1:50-2:15: Check-in with other Counselors at MS and HS
2:20-3:15: Classroom Lesson
3:15: Bid farewell to students
3:30: Respond to emails
4:00: Leave school!

Crazy Hectic Days 
7:30: Arrive at school, immediately see a child crying in the corner. Check-in with student and try to assist as needed.
7:45: Get to my room, see I have at least 15 unread emails ranging in topics from classroom bullying issues to HR notices to IEPs.
8:00: Go to grab a cup of coffee, get stopped by at least 3 different students saying things like:

• "Ms. Sara, Timmy says I am cheating but I am not cheating! Make him stop!" 
• "Ms. Sara, can I meet with you today? I am having the worst luck ever."
• "Ms. Sara, Jenny is being so bossy. I told her I don't want to play with her anymore but she keeps bugging me!"

and also at least 3 different teachers saying things like: 

• "I meant to email you, I really need you to meet with one of my students, they are driving me CRAZY!" 
• "I notice that my girls in class keep getting into conflicts, I don't know what to do anymore. Do you have any suggestions?" 
• "Did you meet with this student? What kinds of things do you guys talk about?" 

I respond to the best of my ability to all of the above...

8:15: Bell rings, greet students (still no coffee) 

8:18: See a student who is refusing to go to class...respond as needed. 

8:30: Finally get student to class, realize I am supposed to go to a 5th grade class and do a lesson on empathy. 

8:32-9:00: Lesson on Empathy with 5th grade 

9:05: Principal finds me, "I was looking for you, we need to meet about this student..now." 

9:05-9:35: Meet with Principal

9:35-9:55: Individual student who has anger management difficulties 

10:00-10:35: Individual student who discloses she witnessed a domestic violence situation at home, respond as needed. 

10:35-10:45: Grab coffee, finally...See a TA who is in tears over an altercation between her and her teacher. Try to assist as needed. 

10:45: Lunch Bunch with 2nd grade

11:05: Lunch with 4th grade student (eat lunch as well)

11:35: Individual student with social anxiety

11:55: Individual student who is a bullying victim  

12:20: Lesson on Self-Control with First Grade 

1:00-1:50: Small Group

1:50-2:15: Teacher brings in crying student, assist as needed.  

2:15-2:30: Different teacher comes in asking for advice about a student. 

2:30-3:00: Individual student who has self-regulation difficulties 

3:00-3:15: Read-aloud to Kindergarten 

3:15: Realize I have nothing prepared for After-school club 

3:15-3:30: Quickly prepare for club

3:30-4:30: After-school activities 

4:30: Same TA from earlier wants to discuss situation with teacher, support as needed.  

5:00: Check my email one more time before leaving school, realize I have yet to respond to all of the emails from the morning and now have at least 10 more emails added to my list. Including some emails saying: "Please respond before the end of the day" 

5:00-5:30: Respond to emails 

5:30: Go to leave school, see a student sitting by himself waiting for his parents, looking quite down. Join him until parents come. 

5:45: Finally leave school, feeling exhausted, somewhat defeated, yet somewhat excited to have finished the day. 

So these are just two examples of SOME of the many days I have as a School Counselor. I want to know, what kind of days do YOU have? 

Featured on Masters In Counseling Website! DAY-MAKER!

Thank you SO much to Rebecca at MastersInCounseling.org  for hosting my blog on the Best In School Counseling:Our Favorite Websites  post! I am so grateful to be featured on your site along with some of the best bloggers in the field!

Check out the link above to find more blogs and helpful sites for school counselors!

Spirit Week at AIS!

This past week was spirit week at our school and I can confidently say it was one of the funnest weeks we have had this year!

Backwards day! Day #1

Crazy Day! Day #2

The AWESOME AIS staff.

PJ Day (with awesomely comfortable Vietnamese PJs)-Day #4 

Twin Day with Ms. Michelle, Ms. Ahn, and Ms. Mihn! Day #5 

I LOVED spirit week and it was awesome to see our staff get into it so much. We did have quite a few fifth graders who were a bit "too cool" for spirit week though. What does YOUR school do for spirit week?

Where is the MOTIVATION!?!

• "I can't seem to get them to do anything." 
• "I just wish they were excited about learning." 
• "They seem so lifeless..." 
• "It feels like they don't care anymore!" 
• "My students just aren't motivated!" 

As we enter into our final quarter for the year, I have been hearing more and more of the statements above. I had one fourth grade teacher in particular ask me if I would lead a lesson in his class on motivation. I (over-confidently) said, "Yes! Of course!" However, when I began looking for ideas...I couldn't seem to find anything that hooked me. I always strive to have creative, inspiring and worthwhile lessons and so I was beginning to feel discouraged when I wasn't finding much when it came to motivation. 

I took some time to reflect on my OWN motivation and how it impacts my work. I will admit, the start of the fourth quarter has been a little more difficult for me and I even find myself dragging my feet in the mornings. So I found myself wondering, "How am I going to inspire motivation in students if I struggle with inspiring it within myself?" I was even beginning to think that I may need this lesson just as much as the students! 

I looked around my room for inspiration...art supplies, clay, puppets, toys, balloons...BALLOONS! I remembered a lesson I did with my first graders in which we used balloons to talk about emotions and they absolutely loved it! I thought about how I use balloons to teach about Anger and how if we don't release our anger it can make us POP! I decided I was going to use my trusty balloons again to help me teach about MOTIVATION!

HERE IS HOW THE LESSON WENT: 

• I started off by writing the word "Motivation" on the board. I then had students brainstorm about the meaning of motivation and we had a small discussion. 
• Then, I presented two deflated balloons. I said to the class, "I brought some balloons for us to play with today." I then blew up one balloon and tied it. The other balloon, I left deflated and tied it. I then let the kids play with the two balloons for a minute. It was obvious that the inflated balloon was the most popular choice and the students became bored with the deflated balloon within a matter of seconds. 
• I then shared that the inflated balloon was like someone FULL of MOTIVATION (fun, eye-catching, inspiring) and the deflated balloon was like someone who had NO MOTIVATION (lifeless, no energy, a bit boring) . I attached them to the board and had students create a list of what motivates (fills) them around the balloon and what does not motivate (deflates) them around the other.
• Afterwards, I had them fill out their own sheet about what fills-them-up and what brings them down. We discussed how the key to motivation is remembering to fill yourself up and avoid the things that bring you down. 
• We concluded by showing a video by Kid President. 

After the lesson, I found that I felt more motivated as well! Since I work with a 99% ELL population, I found that the concept was a bit abstract for them but I think it was a good way to get them to begin thinking about motivation.

What tips do YOU have to encourage motivation with your students? 

Friday 5: FIVE AWESOME Teachers Pay Teachers accounts for COUNSELORS to check out!

FRIDAY 5: FIVE AWESOME TpT accounts for COUNSELORS to check out!

So I recently have been utilizing the Teachers Pay Teachers website to help me with my Elementary School Counseling Program. Let me just say...I have been pretty impressed! While I have only been using TPT for about two weeks, I have found some AWESOME accounts on there with great products. Here are my CURRENT TOP 5 (in no particular order) accounts to follow!


The Helpful Counselor : I LOVE LOVE LOVE THC's products. I have already purchased quite a few including: Social Skills Conversation Game, Bullying Bingo Game, Friendship Definition Card set, and the Anger Management Card set. I have definitely been impressed with the quality of work put into these products and already have some more of the THC products on my WISH LIST!



School Counseling Is Magical This is a NEW TpT creator and after checking out her products I am very impressed. She has created a "Scooping Up I-Messages" activity pack that is already on my wish list! She also has some freebies on there including "A Bug and A Wish" cards and more! Have an idea for something? Let her know through TpT!




One stop Counseling Shop This counselor has over 87 different products for sale on TpT. The "Coping Skills Card Pack" really caught my eye and it now has a spot on my Wish List as well! There are a lot of different games and activities on the OsCS account. Check it out!





Crazy Days Counseling: While this counselor only has 11 products so far, they are AWESOME products for Elementary School Counselors! Plus about half of them are free! I really like the "Using Kind Words" packet that has four different lessons to choose from (another FREEBIE!). I look forward to seeing more products from Crazy Days Counseling!






Super Power Speech: This creator has some awesome products and bundles especially focused on Social Skill building and conversation skills. Although her focus is on Speech and Language, I still find a LOT of her products to be applicable for classroom guidance lessons and small groups.




So I want to know, what other COUNSELING related products and creators have YOU found on Teachers Pay Teachers? Let me know and comment below!

Happy Friday!

How I got into the World of International School Counseling...

Usually, I get some strange reactions from people when I say I am a School Counselor in Vietnam, especially as a first-year counselor. Understandably so, many people have a lot of questions. So I decided to help answer some of these! I can already tell this is going to be a long post, so take it as you would like.

• "How did that happen!?" Well, I have always loved traveling and never had the chance to study abroad in college. I heard about teachers being International Educators but had never heard of International School Counselors. I decided to do some research by asking some of my professors in grad school. Thankfully, one of my professors had a previous student who was at that time a School Counselor in Venezuela. I emailed her and got some awesome feedback from her perspective. After hearing her story, I decided to do some more research and see if it was something I could do myself. 

• "Where did you start?" I started by researching International School Counseling as much as possible. I found out countries all over the world have School Counselors, mainly in international schools. I emailed some of the leaders in International School Counseling that I could find and just asked them some general questions. I was a bit worried at first, but was very impressed with the feedback I received from them. It really helped shape my understanding of the field and some of the things I could expect. The more research I did, the more I started to realize this was something I wanted to do. 

• "How did you find that job?" From talking to the contact I had in Venezuela, I found out about the University of Northern Iowa's (UNI) International Education Job Fair. To find out more about the job fair CLICK HERE! I signed up for the fair during my last year of grad school. I was still in my internship and was nervous that I wouldn't even get looked at, but I decided to take a leap of faith. After booking my flight to Cedar Falls, Iowa, finishing my portfolio, practicing interview questions, printing off resumes, and more, I felt anxious that I wouldn't even get an interview. I got to the fair and was surprised by the amount of "mail" I had of schools that wanted to meet with me. The fair itself was overwhelming but I am so grateful I attended. After a few interviews for School Counseling and teaching positions, I decided to accept the offer at the American International School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 

• "Why Vietnam?" I will be honest with you, Vietnam was not my first choice when I attended the fair. I had dreamed about going to Frankfurt or Barcelona or Turkey. However, I was also passionate about working at the elementary level and after meeting with the principal from AIS, I just knew. His idea of what the role of School Counselor was aligned with my own views and that of ASCA. He was familiar with the ASCA model and was willing to give me the trust and support to mold the counseling program at the school. I was offered jobs at two other schools, one for a K-8 Counselor in Myanmar and one as a Kindergarten teacher in Shanghai (I have a teaching license in NC). Vietnam stood out to me because of my conversation with the principal and because of the package they offered me. I am definitely confident I made the right choice. 

• "How can I do that?" Trust me when I say, you are stronger than you even realize. If being an international School Counselor is something you really want to do then I can confidently say the odds are in your favor. You may not get a job at your first or second or tenth choice but if you are open-minded and are willing to take the chance then there are opportunities out there for you. I am not saying it is easy, but I will say that for me it was worth it. 

• "Where do I start?" First, do your research, ask questions, email other international School Counselors, and decide if this is something you want to make a commitment to. Discuss it with people you trust and consider their feedback. I had A LOT of people tell me it was an awful idea and that I was crazy and equally as many that told me it was a wonderful opportunity. Your next step is to get a passport. Yes, just go ahead and do it as soon as possible if you do not have one. Make sure your credentials, licenses, and certifications are in check before you go into the process. Research different job fairs and opportunities around you. UNI is NOT the only job fair for international School Counselors. While I had success there, maybe you decide to try some other fairs. Some of the leading search agents for international education jobs aside from UNI are TIE Online and Search Associates. These are some of the top tier search agents for international education.

• "I don't think I have enough money to do that..." Job fairs can be expensive and yes, there are some upfront costs that you will have to pay. This was challenging for me as I was in still in school and was interning full-time and working as a nanny part-time. However, wherever you decide to go, the MAJORITY of schools will reimburse your flight or book it for you, will give you settling in allowance, and will help set you up with housing and/or accommodations. All of the money I paid after I got the job, I was reimbursed. This includes my flight, my notarization fees, visa applications, etc. If you plan ahead, you will be able to afford it and the pay off can be huge.  

• "But, I have a wife/husband/child/family/cat/dog/etc! What will they do?!" While it can be more challenging if you have dependents, it is still possible. Many schools will support you and your dependents and give you an extra allowance to help support them. If you have a spouse or partner who teaches then you can sign-up for fairs as a teaching couple. There are a lot of couples at my school that signed contracts together. They may teach at different campuses, but they are here together and quite a few of them have children here as well. If you have a non-teaching spouse, you can also negotiate that sometimes. It really depends on the contract with the school and many schools will state their policy on teaching couples, non-teaching spouses, and dependents up front. For pets, many times you can pay to have them transported over but this can be challenging, still doable...but challenging. 

• "What are some of the perks?" Again, this is only from MY perspective and my experience. The package here in itself is a great perk for me. My contract allows me to save about half of my earnings (which go towards my student loans) and still allow me to have a very comfortable lifestyle here. My housing is covered as well. I get ample vacations, can travel to many places in South East Asia for cheap, get to experience the awesome Vietnamese culture, meet some wonderful people, make lifelong friends and absolutely love my job. I am very lucky and try to be grateful for every day (even the not-so-good ones). Another perk of the job here is that I can travel to nearby countries and within Vietnam for Professional Development opportunities and meet leaders in the field. 

• "What do you find the most challenging?" It is by no means easy to be a school counselor, let alone an international school counselor. Your support systems can be compromised, you miss your friends and family, your lifestyle, your comforts, etc. The job may look different then what you are used to (although this is the case when changing jobs in general). It may take longer than you expect to adjust to the new culture, this is completely okay. There are good days and bad days. There may be days when you love your new home and job and feel like you could do this for the rest of your life. There also may be days that you end up in tears or feel like you want to hop on the next flight home. You miss major events that go on back home like weddings, births, birthdays, deaths, changes, and more. They still affect you but you can't always be there in person to support the ones you love, this is very hard. There are people who will judge your lifestyle and your choices and sometimes its from people that you never expect would. You lose some relationships, feel disconnected from people back home, and also realize the ones who will continue to make an effort no matter where you are in the world. You are put in uncomfortable situations on a regular basis and your limits can pushed to the extremes. It is not for the faint of heart, but trust me when I say YOU have it in you if this is something you want to do. 

• "Don't you miss your family?" Every. Single. Day. I miss them more than I ever thought I would, but I also feel closer to them then I have ever have. I am reminded of them here and even though we don't talk very much, not a day goes by that I don't think about them. I am so grateful for their love and support throughout this. At the end of the day, I knew this was something I had to do for myself. I had to write my own story and live my own life; this is where it has taken me thus far. No matter where I am in the world, my family will ALWAYS be with me in my thoughts, my actions, and my words. Distance doesn't change that for me. 

• "When will you go back to the states? I have no idea. There is a chance I could finish my contract here and then head back to states, there is also a chance that I end up doing this for the rest of my life and continue being an international school counselor at various schools around the world. I have no clue what is in the cards for me, and I am perfectly okay with that. 

I want to conclude this lengthy post by saying that if you have ANY questions or comments please do not hesitate! I am, by no means, an expert on this... this is just a look into my own experience and I consider myself an open book when it comes to this topic. Please feel free to comment below or email me with questions at sara.roberts@ais.edu.vn

Thank you!

Self-care in times of need...

Hello Counseling friends!

Last semester, I went to a conference called the South East Asian Counsellors Network Conference. It was held in Ho Chi Minh City at the British International School in District 2. Counselors from all over SEA were here to discuss and learn more about counseling and counseling interventions. One of the workshops was focused on professional self-care. We discussed some things we do to make sure we have self-care; some of the things that came up were:

1. Reading a good book 
2. Listening to music
3. Yoga and other exercise 
4. Traveling 
5. Talking with other counselors 
6. Going for a walk 
7. Favorite hobbies 
8. Baking or cooking 
9. Pampering yourself (massage, manicure/pedicure, etc) 
10. Making time for friends and family 

and more! 

However, even though I know some ways to practice self-care, I have had some difficulty doing it lately. I don't know if anyone else experiences this but I can imagine it would be quite common. Sometimes I come home from work and feel like I am not my best self. I try to be my "best self" at work and when I am with students, but for some reason have difficulty doing it outside of work. Does anyone else ever feel like this? If so, what do you do to combat it? What self-care do you practice? Any advice or input would be highly helpful. 

This is me at the end of the day... 

Until next time!

RAK Week- Thursday/Friday and WRAP UP!

So I have been a little late with posting but I thought I would go ahead and include what my school did for Thursday and Friday for Random Acts of Kindness Week 2014!


Thursday Morning Daily News:

Good morning! This is Agent Jayden and Agent Kristoff from the AIS Secret Service. Today is the fourth day of Random Acts of Kindness week. Today’s message is about making and keeping friends. When you are kind to others, more people want to be around you and be your friend!  Being kind to others is one of the best ways to make and keep friends! How will you show kindness to kids in your class today?

Secret Service Random Act of Kindness: 

On Thursday, my agents delivered some bookmarks that we have been making for our First Graders! Our first and second graders do a unit on Bucket Fillers using the book, "How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids" By Tom Rath.  Our Student Council members helped color some of the bookmarks as well! I had them laminated and then we tied in red string to the ends to jazz them up! The Secret Agents delivered them during our D.E.A.R (Drop Everything And Read time) and I think the first graders really enjoyed them! 

Friday Morning Daily News:

Good morning! This is Agent Wendy and Agent Stacy from the AIS Secret Service. Today is the final day of Random Acts of Kindness week. Today’s message is about passing kindness on.  When we do kind things for people, they feel so good about what we did that they often do kind acts for others. Thanks to all the students and staff for helping to make this a great week. Now let’s all work together to pass the kindness on throughout our school and into our community throughout the rest of the year!

-AIS Secret Service

Secret Service Random Acts of Kindness

Since it was Valentines Day, our secret service agents made valentines for our librarians and our ICT teacher (Ms. Jen WHO IS AWESOME!). They delivered the valentines wearing their Secret Agent Glasses and badges. 

School-wide RAKS
For Thursday and Friday, I let the classroom teachers choose how they wanted to conclude RAK week within their classrooms. A lot of teachers had activities to wrap-up the week and help build their classroom community. Some of the teachers had buckets in their room in which they had students write down every time they witnessed a RAK and then they shared them on Friday. Some teachers had some really creative ideas with kindness quotes in which the students reflected on what they meant to them during the week and then had to give away their quote on Friday. Overall, the end of the week was a little less structured but I feel it was a great way to encourage focused teacher involvement. 

WRAP-UP

We wrapped up our RAK week on Monday during a morning assembly. I showed a video of the RAK Week in Review and had some student and teacher volunteers to help me out! Here is the video we showed. 

RAK Week Review

** DISCLAIMER: Although video consent has been received from these students and their parents, this video is to be shared for educational purposes ONLY. Please consider before sharing**

My TOP 10 First-Year Counselor Tools (Elementary)

When I first started out, I was constantly looking for resources and materials to keep on hand in the office. Currently, these are my top 10 favorite Elementary Counseling tools that I use! 

1. Balloons- Having a supply of balloons in my room has helped me tremendously. I have used them for teaching calm breathing techniques, anger management, group games, team building, stress balls, classroom guidance and SO much more. They have truly been a lifesaver!

2. Question Cards- I keep a supply of laminated question cards (business card size) in my room. These have been helpful in group when we are getting to know one another as well as one-on-one when I am working with a student who is a bit slow to warm. I recommend every first-year elementary school counselor have these on hand!

3. Yarn/String- You would be surprised at how much red yarn I go through. It is good to have on hand just in case you need it. Some of the things I have used yarn/string for include: paper cup phones, classroom guidance lessons about getting "tangled up" in lies, and as tops for bookmarks for Random Acts of Kindness week!

4. Chart paper- Chart paper is super handy when it comes to Classroom Guidance Lessons! Plus, a lot of the teachers want to keep the chart paper after the lesson and hang it up in the classroom.

5. Lanyards- I use lanyards for my Secret Service Agents and for my Lunch Buddy groups. The lanyard works as a hall pass as well as a reminder for students. I try to keep at least 10 lanyards on hand, the ones with the card holders work best.

6. Hula hoop- I keep a green hula hoop in my office and have found that I pull it out usually once a week if not more. I use the hula hoop during small group games and team building mainly. There are tons of things you can do with a hula hoop!!

7. Tissues- This seems like an obvious one...However, I have learned very quickly that it is a good idea to have multiple boxes of tissues around your office. I am very lucky to have such a sizable work space, that being said, I try to keep a tissue box at arms length at all times. I also keep some cinnamon-flavored tissues on hand, they are different and the students like the way they smell.

8. Mini dry-erase board- I have a larger dry-erase board in my room but also keep a small one on hand. Sometimes a student will write down something on the white board that they don't feel comfortable saying out loud and then they can erase it. This can be a very powerful tool.

9. Magic Wand- Ahh the magic wand! I have one magic wand now but hope to acquire more! I use the magic wand a lot during small group discussions and individual work. We use it with the magic question, "If you could wave a magic wand and change something, what would you change?" Plus, whenever some of my students see the magic wand, their curiosity is sparked and they are more inclined to open up.

10.  Clay/Playdough- Awesome to have on hand. I use clay with every group I run at one point or another and most of the students become very engaged! Plus using clay or playdough can be a great stress reliever!

What supplies to you LOVE to use in your counseling program? What would you have on your list? Comment below! 

Random Acts of Kindness Week- Wednesday!

Wow. It is already Wednesday of RAK week! I can't believe it! I have already seen such a shift in the attitudes of some of our staff and students. I keep having students come up to me and tell me some of the RAKs they have done or ones they have seen.


Morning Announcements for Wednesday!

Good morning! This is Agent Anna and Agent Elsa from the AIS Secret Service. Today is the third day of Random Acts of Kindness week. Today’s message is about showing appreciation to those who help you. Appreciation is when you are thankful for what someone else has done for you. Try to find the time today to say THANK YOU to the people who mean the most to you. Remember: a simple “thank you” can go a long way!

Our School-wide RAK
Today some of the "Secret Agents" went out during our DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time and chalked our play area. We don't have a play ground and we are located in the city. However, we do have some pavement outside. The agents COVERED the area in nice phrases and RAK week information. Some of the stuff included things like...

- "RAK WEEK 2014"
- "Be kind to others!"
- "Make someone's day!"
- "Respect!"
- "Smile!"
-"You are awesome!"
-"What RAK have you done today?"

Needless to say, it definitely got our students attention! Unfortunately, since that is our only real play area at the school, the chalk has already started to fade away. The "agents" had a lot of fun doing it and got to wear their sunglasses and badges out in the sun. 

Around the school...

I keep receiving and hearing about RAKs from students and teachers and I can really feel the love at AIS. 

Random Acts of Kindness Week- Tuesday!

Random Acts of Kindness Week! TUESDAY!!

Morning Announcements for Tuesday!  

Good morning! This is Agent Cricket and Agent Tiger from the AIS Secret Service. Today is the second day of Random Acts of Kindness week. A simple way to make our school, community, and world a better place is by performing Random Acts of Kindness. How many Random Acts of Kindness can you do today?? Set a goal for yourself for how many RAKs you can do!

-AIS Secret Service 

Random Act of Kindness for our School Service Staff! 

Today, the agents and I posted our heart hands on a display board downstairs. Each of our Service Staff members has a thank you card made on the heart hands. The students wrote "Thank You!" in English and Vietnamese on the cards. We made the hands for our Nannies, Security Guards, Cleaners, and Maintenance Staff. The final product is below: 

Throughout the school...

Already, I have noticed students coming up to me and saying, "Ms. Sara! I have done 3 Random Acts of Kindness already today" or "Ms. Sara, I helped push-in chairs after lunch! I am being kind."  

Random Acts of Kindness Week! Monday!

Assembly Introduction to Random Acts of Kindness Week!

Some mornings we have "Spirit Assemblies". These are used as a way to energize teachers and students and help strengthen our school's community. During these assemblies, we sing our school song and have some announcements. During this week's assembly, I had some of the AIS Secret Service Agents come up in their sunglasses and badges and stand up while we showed a video we created to introduce Random Acts of Kindness. We created this video during our group time and edited it with iMovie (from the App store! AWESOME tool!) 

AIS Random Acts of Kindness Video Link

Check it out! 

The kids seemed to respond well and were excited about the "Secret Agents". 

Morning Announcements for Monday!  

Good morning! This is Agent Dragonfly and Agent Grasshopper from the AIS Secret Service. This week is Random Acts of Kindness week! We perform Random Acts of Kindness when we go beyond what is expected of us and reach out to help another person. There are three simple steps to performing a Random Act of Kindness.

• The first step is to find out what another person needs. For example, Sally has her hands full and she needs to open the door to get to her class.

• The second step is to think about how you would feel if you had that need. You might feel frustrated if your hands were full and you could not easily open the door by yourself. 

• The final step to performing a Random Act of Kindness is to offer your help. Hold the door open and let Sally enter.

There are hundreds of ways to show someone that you care. This week, look for opportunities to show that you care by performing Random Acts of Kindness.

Random Act of Kindness for Teachers!

In order to jump start the week, the students helped post two GIANT paper teacups they created in group. On the teacups they had filled in kind words and compliments for our awesome staff. I donated some tea bags to the Staff lounge and wrote on the board, "Welcome back! AIS is so lucky to have such awesome TEA-chers! Help yourself to some TEA as a thank you for all you do! Happy Random Acts of Kindness Week! -AIS Secret Service"

Classroom Extensions!

I really wanted RAK week to be saturated with information on Kindness and the benefits it has! Up until this point, I have been working with teachers to create lessons for their class that are focused on kindness. Here are some of the resources I shared with them to help spark some ideas! 

"Random Acts of Kindness Week will be here soon! Here are some resources to help your planning and RAK week discussions with your students." 

·         Educator Resources:  http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-resources

·         Character Ed Resource: http://inspiremykids.com/

·         Kindness Videos from RAK:  www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-videos

·         Story of California high school students who gave a bike to an elementary student who had his bike stolen twice: http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?id=9301992

·         Kindness Boomerang: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwAYpLVyeFU

·         How Full is your bucket Video Book (Book also in library): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5R6-2m_qHk

·         Coca-cola ad (don’t let this defer you) that actually shows quality RAKs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPhsJnn_rMk

·         Smiling at others and how it affects others: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TnW0srkpcA

...And the Agents?? 

The agents have been helping me out through the day, mainly during break and recess time to post flyers around the school promoting RAK week. They have a busy week ahead of them but I know they can do it!

Here is to a successful first day of RAK Week 2014!

As always, PLEASE share your ideas and additional resources below! I love feedback!

-Ms. Sara

Secret Service Group Part 2!

Some more of the RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS that the SECRET SERVICE AGENTS have been up to this year....

Our 3-5th grade agents reading to our First Graders!

Thank You Cards for our Service Staff (Nannies, Cleaners, Guards)- The larger cards were hand-delivered prior to RAK Week. The hand hearts will be displayed in a display board in our lobby during RAK week! Each of our Service Staff Members has one!

We also created a mini "Preview" as to what is in store for RAK Week 2014. We showed the video at our Pillar Assembly prior to break to get the kids interested in RAK Week! Check it out!
RAK Week Preview

(This was created using iMovie App. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!

Secret Service Group Photos: Part 1

As referenced in a previous post, I run a Secret Service Group at my school. The focus of the group is to promote Random Acts of Kindness throughout the school. Each random act they complete is titled as a "Mission" 

Some of the "RAK" gifts my students put together for the Teachers right before the Holidays! This was the groups very first RAK! Our Secret Agents delivered the candy canes to our grade level and specials teachers during recess. Two lucky teachers were chosen at random to receive a pack of crayola markers and a book of stickers as part of the RAK. 

This is the Bulletin board where my Secret service group can find updates about the group! We also fill in the squares for each RAK we do. The goal is to fill up the entire board before RAK week!

The "Agents" also fill-in their Mission Journals at the beginning of the week. To reflect on their last mission. This one from Agent Dragonfly truly touched my heart. 

 Here is another excerpt from a journal response from one of my agents. "It made me feel I'm on the top of the tallest trees."

Sometimes as part of the group, I give the students a Secret Message to decipher. This one was in Morse Code. I gave them parts of the code on the bottoms of their chairs and they had to work together to figure it out. To my surprise one of my 5th grade students already knew Morse Code by heart! 

AIS Secret Service Group

I found an awesome idea for a small group online from The Inspired Counselor blog (which I absolutely LOVE). I decided to try and implement my own Secret Service Group at my school using the blog post as a guiding light. The idea behind the group is to promote RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS (RAKS). Well, let me say, this has already been a HUGE success. Each week, my Secret Agents receive their Secret Missions for the upcoming week. They have until the next group session to complete the mission. Each week, we target a different group in the school.

Here is our breakdown: 
Week 1: Classroom based RAK.
Week 2: Home-based RAK (this was over the holiday break)
Week 3: RAK for Nannies, Guards and Cleaners.
Week 4: RAK for Grades K-1.
Week 5: RAK for Canteen staff.
Week 6: RAK "Create-your-own"
Week 7: RAK WEEK!! (Secret Agents will be completing tasks throughout the entire week and promoting RAK week school-wide!)
Week 8: Closing Session (review of the group, celebration, etc.)

The students complete journals every week as well and reflect on their RAK and how it made themselves and others feel. I will be posting pictures and some of their products soon!