School Counseling Simplified Podcast

Are you currently using a calendar to keep track of what students you are seeing, what you are seeing them for, and what tasks you are spending your time on? Let me tell you, if you are not, hearing from our guest, Lauren Tingle, is going to make you realize how helpful collecting data using a calendar truly is!           Lauren is a former high school counselor turned content creator and curricul...

Have you seen some of your kiddos really struggling with stress, worry, or other challenging emotions? Teaching these students some helpful coping skills they can do at school when these emotions come up can be a game changer for them! But how can we as school counselors help them and what types of strategies can we teach them to help them manage their emotions both at school and at home? Janine H...

Happy December! Holiday season is in full swing which means it's a great time to pull some holiday and winter themed activities into your counseling sessions. This is a great opportunity to mix things up a bit, keep students excited to see you, and practice some important skills your students need!           One winter activity idea I absolutely love is a seasonal countdown calendar. With winter b...

As a school counselor, you've likely worked with a student who needed a little sensory support. But how can we help to support these students with sensory issues? Today I am joined by therapist and brain science expert Jessica Sinarski, who is giving us some wonderful insight into the eight senses and helping our students who benefit from various types of sensory input.           Jessica Sinarski...

You know I am all about showcasing your work and impact as a school counselor! And midyear is the perfect time to do just that. One way I love to show the impact that school counselors make is by including student progress data on a data wall that shows how much students have improved because of counseling services.           Now, this may sound a little intimidating especially as you're thinking...

You know I love having other school counselors join me to share their experiences and insight with you! And I thought it would be fun to share my experiences as a school counselor so you can hear a little more about my background and how I got started. Today, I am giving you a glimpse into my path to becoming a school counselor and what my role looked like in my schools.           No two school co...

Can you believe we are getting close to the end of the semester already? As we approach the midpoint of the school year, this is the perfect time to showcase your amazing work! I absolutely love creating a data wall to show parents, admin, and other stakeholders just how much of an impact school counselors have on the students.           Putting a school counseling data wall up in a high traffic a...

When it comes to supporting our kiddos with special needs, there are some things to consider that you may not have thought about. We know these students may need extra support and working collaboratively with the special education teachers can help us understand how to provide this support and ways we can help our students get the most out of our lessons. I am so excited to have Michelle Vazquez j...

At this point in the school year, you are likely seeing lots of referrals coming in for social skills. But, teaching social skills can be beneficial for all students, not just the ones being referred to you. I actually LOVE teaching social skills preventatively as a class lesson and then as needed in small group and individual lessons.           Now, you may be a little nervous about coming up wit...

Teaching small groups doesn't have to be scary! When you have a consistent routine and amazing activities planned, small groups can be super fun to teach. But don't worry, you don't need to figure it all out on your own. In today's episode, I am explaining how you can spice up your group counseling sessions so you can engage your students and make your small group lessons effective and fun!      ...

October is Bully Prevention Month and unfortunately we all know that bullying is everywhere. Regardless of the socio economic status of the school, population, or even the country of the school, there is likely bullying happening. The good news is that we, as school counselors, can address this issue with our students and help to bring awareness to the harm of bullying and hopefully prevent it fro...

It's spooky season which means it's the perfect time to bring some Halloween and fall fun into your counseling lessons! Our kiddos absolutely love when we bring in props and tie the seasons into our lessons. Plus, it makes our lessons more memorable and engaging. And the best part is it doesn't need to be complicated or take lots of time to prepare!           There are super simple and fun ways yo...

We've all heard about how important it is for educators to practice self-care, especially in the past few years. But oftentimes when we hear "self-care" we think of it as indulgent or selfish. What we as school counselors really need is true, radical self-care that will help us prevent burnout. Brittany Blackwell is joining me today to share some incredible insight on the importance of practicing...

Is it really possible to meet with EVERY student in your school? We know it's important to check in with students to see how they are doing but how could you possibly sit down and talk with every single student? Our guest today, Dr. Heidi MacDonald is a school psychologist who uses "minute meetings" to talk to every student in her school and is sharing how you can implement this in your school as...

You know I absolutely LOVE using data as a school counselor! But why is having a data driven school counseling program so important? Well, first it allows us to see if what we are doing is actually working and helps us tweak things when needed. Second, it's an amazing way to advocate for our role as school counselors.           And I know it's early in the school year and you might be wondering wh...

Do you feel overwhelmed when it comes to teaching class lessons? You are not alone! One of the things I hear most often is that school counselors want to feel more prepared and competent when it comes to teaching class lessons. I want to help you to love teaching class lessons so I am sharing how I became obsessed with teaching class lessons!           You may not have any classroom teaching exper...

I made a lot of mistakes when I first began as a school counselor. But, everyone makes mistakes and mistakes are amazing learning opportunities. Obviously, if mistakes can be avoided, we'd all prefer to avoid them, right? So to help you avoid the same mistakes I made, I am sharing four mistakes I made when teaching classroom lessons and what I learned from them.           It's easy to share all th...

How can you easily gather data during class lessons? We know how important it is to collect data during our small group and individual sessions, but it is also important that we gather data from our class lessons as well. The good news is, collecting data from a whole class doesn't need to be time consuming or complicated!           An easy way to collect data from your class lessons is by using a...

Teaching class lessons can be nerve wracking and stressful if you aren't confident in your ability to teach a whole class. But, just because you may not have been a teacher before, doesn't mean that you need to dread teaching classroom lessons! I am sharing my favorite tips for feeling more confident when teaching class lessons.           When you have a better understanding of how to teach classr...

Have you struggled to keep students engaged during class lessons? Over the years, I have tried out many games, activities, and strategies to keep students engaged. Through this, I have found a framework for creating class lessons that are engaging and are also rich in content!           Creating engaging class lessons for your students doesn't need to be difficult. The Lesson Builder Framework is...

How can we possibly meet with every class every month? I get asked this question all the time! Thinking of all the class lessons you need to teach on top of the individual and group lessons can be a bit overwhelming. I totally get it! That is why I am sharing my favorite scheduling tips to help you manage all your lessons this upcoming year.           When it comes to scheduling all your class les...

I think most of us want to get better at being culturally competent and ensuring that our students feel included, welcome, and safe in our classroom and schools. But it can definitely be a struggle if we aren't sure how to make this happen. The truth is that we don't know what we don't know and when we do know, we do better. I am so excited to have inclusion expert Jocelynn Hubbard joining me toda...

One of my absolute favorite tools for scheduling is Google Calendar. There are so many things to keep track of as a busy school counselor and Google Calendar just makes it so easy to keep it simple and organized. Today, I am sharing some of my favorite tech hacks for maximizing your Google Calendar features to simplify your counseling calendar.            There are so many great features and tools...

I know I've said it before but I absolutely LOVE connecting and hearing from counselors with different backgrounds. I feel like they share such an inspiring and different view on school counseling that we can all learn from! Today I am joined by Leslie Jones whose journey to school counseling included being an adult outpatient therapist, youth pastor, and spanish teacher which has helped her devel...

As busy school counselors, our time is incredibly valuable! So how can we ensure that we are making the most of it? We've previously discussed the importance of completing a time audit but there is another way that I have found to be incredibly helpful in finding time to get everything in during contract horse.         We set aside time on our calendars for so many things but there are some things...