New Information

Yesterday and today I spent at the ALCA workshop. I don't know if any of you reading this have every been to, through or heard about ALCA but, it is reall good information. With all the Common Core changes and, here in our state, School Report Card changes, it has been great information of which I was in great need! Yesterday I rode with the new principal. That was a great time for us to visit and get insight into one another's personalities. Today I was on my own. Over the weekend I got a second desk moved into my high school office. I will eventually put a hutch on top of it. This set up sits against the wall, as would I when sitting there. The plan is for my computer to go here. My other desk sits in front of that facing the door. My desk chair sits between the two so I can just rotate to face one or the other. The desk facing the door will be my working desk that I use when others are in the office or I'm not working on the computer. Though I did get everything shredded that needed to be and the extra cabinets and tables out, I still have a lot to do there. I haven't even started on my elementary office. I contacted the elementary principal today to see how her moving out of it was going. She said she had hoped to start moving out last Thursday. We're all in limbo waiting on a new addition to be completed. It's not yet finished so she hasn't started moving yet! Open house is next week! I have things to do in the high school that need to be completed by August 1st. I can work around that office being incomplete, but need time to work in the elementary and really wanted that office to be set to go by open house. It may not make it. After the Thursday, August 1st open house in the elementary, I have high school and middle school enrollment the following Monday and Tuesday. Wow, putting it all down here makes me realize how little time there truly is!

Making Room

After hanging out at home for the last two weeks, I finally made it to school again! I worked in my high school office and with the help of a friend yesterday and made a lot of progress! I got the desk moved over to make room for another (2nd desk) to be placed behind it. I cleaned, a lot, and feel really good about that, now. I got nearly everything loaded in to the office, out of boxes and off the floor. Most things are put away, though I know that will change again. Today I spent a lot of time shredding. There was testing information all the way back to the early 90s! We only have to keep five years! Why oh why do counselors not get rid of old information? I had to do this at my previous school, too. Only there it was testing and student records both, dating back to the 80s! The head maintenance person was in and out several times today and offered to give me the grand tour of the entire campus, so I took time to do that. I'm glad I did because I learned some things about the upcoming year that I wouldn't have known ordinarily and had a great time getting to know a coworker! In the high school I won't have a bulletin board in the hallway that is just mine. There is one that I will share with newspaper clippings and other notifications. However, there is a television mounted in the hallway where every student enters and exits each day. It's right by the main office. I will be able to put informational power points on it for all to see. This will be great during testing season to put out reminders for students. Since it's a high school building I thought I'd use it to introduce myself. Nearly all the teachers are new this year, I might be able to have some join me and put slides in to introduce themselves as well. In the elementary I have two ways to introduce myself in the classrooms (a poster for older grades, Mrs. Potato Head for younger grades). I also thought the power points on the television would be great to promote silly holidays (sponge day, national bubble wrap day) and things like Red Ribbon Week, etc. I've been book shopping again. The Big Test came in for my elementary office. It is such a cute book! I also received The Organizational Skills Bootcamp and The Bully Free Classroom. I'm getting thoroughly excited about the upcoming year and I hope you are, too. Tomorrow I'll being going back to do a few more things in my high school office: cover the bulletin board with fabric, hang some things on the wall and shred, shred, shred!

New Materials (Again)

This weekend was so much fun! While out and about we went to Barnes and Noble. I LOVE Barnes and Noble! I forget how much I love it until I walk in and start browsing. I don't get to go very often, which is probably a good thing. By the way, if you haven't signed up for an educator's card, you need to do that. You can save a lot! You don't have to purchase educational material to get the savings either. I made a list ahead of time in hopes we would be going there while out. Most of my books (for me personally) are on my iPad these days. I have no more room on any bookshelf in my house. So, I was thrilled to go shopping for actual physical books. We have a pool and throughout the summer I relax by floating and reading. It's my favorite summertime thing to do. I can't take my iPad to the pool so I've sort of been at a loss this summer. I still have three books on it I haven't read yet. I found three of the five books on my list. Now, I can kill two birds with one stone, reading in the pool and reading for school. The first one I found was Wonder. I didn't realize it was a NY Times Best Seller! I'd been hearing bits and pieces about it and saw someone on the Today show list it in a summer reading list for kids. So I put it on my list of new books to purchase. As a former special education teacher once I read information about it I was very intrigued. I've just started it and so far it is really a wonderful story! Another book I purchased is Gifted Hands. It is about someone who overcame adversity and circumstance, used a God given gift to do amazing work and be successful in the medical field. The last book I purchased is The Drama Years. The last two I haven't started yet and probably won't until I finish Wonder. Tomorrow is a busy day. I'll be going to the high school building (after doing somethings around home) then to the dentist. If I have time I'll drive over to the elementary, too. Hopefully I'll get to pick up keys tomorrow. I'll definitely be measuring windows for curtains.

Being flexible

Today I went to school to get my keys, discuss a couple of things with the supt., and meet the new principal. I was told he'd be there this afternoon since he had some things to wrap up at his previous school in the morning. The previous counselor was going to do some cleaning (last week before her vacation this week) and get her things out of the office so that I could start moving my things in this week. I guess we're all on summer schedule :) because the principal had been there and gone by the time I got there. He was there this morning not this afternoon. The supt. wasn't there at all today. I couldn't arrange any of my things in my office in the high school building because the previous counselor hadn't taken anything of hers out yet. Since the supt. wasn't there I couldn't get my keys and the elementary principal is on vacation so I can't get my keys to that building or start moving into that office either (which I knew all of this about the elementary principal and building). All I could do was laugh and say, "Oh well." I faxed a couple of things while there and took in the three boxes I'd loaded up. That's just the way it is, might as well go with the flow, right? Over the weekend I made an introduction board to use at the beginning of the school year in the elementary. Those students are not used to having a counselor and therefore, probably don't know what to expect. I read through a couple of blogs, picked out some things I liked and put them together on this board.

I really liked what jyjcounselor had done with her Prezi so I modified it to work on the board. The center is my picture surrounded by pictures of my family, hobbies and interests outside of school. Outside of that are clues to what I'll be doing around school and in the classrooms. It's just a great visual to have while introducing myself and what to expect. Of course, I couldn't pass up the "Happy, Happy, Happy!" (which I placed on the board after I snapped a picture) reference to Duck Dynasty. In this part of the US nearly everyone can relate to that! I plan on going back later this week to (hopefully) accomplish a little more than today.

What's Old Is New Again

Today I have been going through my school and office things that have been packed away here and there for so long. I've had so much fun rediscovering things I haven't seen in a while, finding pictures of former students that have brought back many memories. I've got several things for the upcoming year in my calendar already (Red Ribbon Week, Anti-Bullying Week, No Name Calling Week, National School Counseling Week, etc.) and am gathering ideas to go along with them. While at my previous school I noticed that a teacher had a bubblegum machine on her desk full of erasers. I loved the idea so I stole it! Isn't that the best form of flattery, someone stealing (using) your idea, copy catting you or something you did? I think it is! I found this bubblegum machine at a flea market or trade days event somewhere. Now I'm trying to fill it with erasers! I've discovered that Wal-Mart is the cheapest place (really) to get them. After buying quite a few packages I've decided I need to wait for back to school sales to finish it. I think it will make a great addition to my elementary office. That building is Pre-K through 6th grade. I also discovered a supply of pencils I forgot I had. I am still going strong thinking of bulletin board ideas for the hallways of the two buildings for various times of the year. Creativity is in full force here as I think of ways to begin interacting with students, help make new students comfortable and try to learn the processes of a new school myself.

Contract signed!

Yesterday I went to school and signed the contract for my new job/school. I intended to go, sign the contract, visit with the superintendent about a few things and leave to run errands in town and spend some time with my new grandbaby. Well, the day didn't quite go like that, though I count it all good. When I got to school, the elementary principal (who I hadn't yet met) was in the supt.'s office so I visited with the both of them about some things for the upcoming year. The elementary principal is a former counselor. This is going to be so beneficial! The counselor, who is leaving, was there, discussing testing issues (yes, they're still going on) also. I went with her to the office that will soon be mine. This is a school where I did a portion of my student teaching. I remember the principal's and counselor's offices. They were small, dark and in need of a bad update (think dark brown paneling from 1970s). It was remodeled last year! Now it is light and bright, a little larger and I was thrilled to see it. However, it gets better (or worse, depending on how you look at it, I like to think it's better). I'm going to be working in the elementary a couple of days a week, as I mentioned in my previous post, so they're putting an office in place for me there. I joked when I asked about space, asking if it might be a broom closet, a corner in the front office, maybe just a desk at the end of the hall? They're getting me an office set up with a real desk, computer, shelving, etc. I'm thrilled, though this means I will need to gather supplies so that I have my touch and my personality in both locations. I'm thinking primary colors in the elementary office and a general school theme if possible. This office I will be starting from scratch. The high school office will be more colors I am drawn to such as the soft, fern green, brick reds with some yellow/gold in there. Things I already had in place in my old office. I have fabric for curtains in those colors already, a wall hanging and some desk decorations along with pictures. The supt. and principal are very receptive to all my ideas, which I'm thrilled, because I have many, many more! I met a couple of coworkers while there, and they, of course, were great, too. My mind has been spinning with ideas, I've been reading blogs and researching things almost non-stop since last Friday. I know it will be a lot of hard work, being that the buildings are so far apart. I will have to commit to days or mornings/afternoons in just one location and I am it, the only counselor for the entire school. However, it's everything I've done previously and it is closer to home, making it easier to stay late, go in early or even run down on a Saturday morning. I'm feeling very blessed!

New Job

It has been a very long time since I've written a post. Because I didn't work in counseling during the 2012-13 school year, I didn't really feel I had anything related to post. In fact, the only 'job' I held was teaching my cake decorating class at the local technology center, which is one night a week during the school year only. While I've enjoyed the time off (I haven't had a long term break in over 23 years) I have really been 'itching' to go back to work and to put into place things that I have learned and use resources I've acquired. I am excited to post that I have just been offered, as of today, a counseling position at a rural school, 20 minutes from my home. This is a huge improvement over the 45 minute drive (pushing it to make it in 45 minutes) I previously had. The district has two separate locations (one for PK-6 and one for 7-12. There is a short drive between the two. I will be serving both locations, one or two days a week with the lower grades and the rest of the time with the upper grades. Not only will I be doing character education and individual sessions (groups at my choosing I think like at my previous location, not required), but also academic counseling, scholarship searching, enrollment, district testing coordinator, student council and other things as well. I will have my plate just as full in this district as in my previous one. However, it is closer to home which makes it completely doable, lots of hard work, but doable.