CareerSmarts Task 2: Web-Based Career Exploration

I’m so sorry that it took me this long to find time to blog more details about the CareerSmarts unit, but finally, here are the details about the second task, web-based career exploration. CareerSmarts is a student-directed, technology-based unit that I developed for upper elementary students. I’ve heard from a bunch of elementary and middle school counselors who want to use it in their schools – which is so exciting – and I’m glad to share all the information you need to be able to recreate it yourself. (Check out the links for a unit overview, specifics about teaching the unit’s first two lessons on multiple intelligences, coordinating Career Day , Kid-Created Career Trading Cards, and the culminating avatar creation project.)

“Be Your Own You” Self-Esteem Resource

There’s a new resource in my office, a favorite of my fifth grade girls. It’s BYOU “Be Your Own You” Magazine, which aims to encourage healthy self-esteem in girls. The bimonthly issue of BYOU focuses on a theme: bullying prevention, positive friendships, loving yourself, happiness, etc.  BYOU is a great resource – you can use the magazines themselves in group and individual settings, or as inspiration for classroom, group, and individual activities for girls and boys.

Helping Little Ones Understand Bullying

The concept of bullying can be hard for young elementary students to understand. They clearly recognize when something is mean, but once introduced to the word “bullying,” tend overgeneralize the term. Before you know it, everything becomes “bullying,” even small conflicts in which both participants share equal responsibility! In order to help kids understand what bullying is, you have to provide them with a definition. But figuring out how to translate “is done on purpose to hurt, happens over and over, involves an imbalance of power, AND is upsetting” can be a challenge for the little ones. 

No Time? No Problem! Last Minute Bullying Prevention Month Ideas

 

I’m surprised the truant officer from the Department of Blogging hasn’t been pounding on my door. Yup, I’ve been absent for a long time, but I’m hoping it will be an excused absence. I have been doing my homework, although I haven’t turned it in! If you need help catching up on your “homework” and haven’t had any time at all to plan, it’s still not too late to organize some activities for National Bullying Prevention month. And guess what, if October doesn’t work at your school, you can choose a different month to focus on bullying prevention. (Our Mix It Up Day will be mixing itself into a different season.) See below for some simple ideas and free resources. But first, my excuse.

Bullying Prevention Through (Free) Songs, Posters, Videos, Dance, and More

Just in time to help you plan for National Bullying Prevention Month (October) or classroom or group activities anytime of the year  – some free resources from willUstand, Pacer, the We Do Listen Foundation, and more!

I’ve written before about willUstand, a wonderful bullying prevention initiative started by a middle school student in my district that features Stand, a crowd-sourced music video, and downloadable ($1) song. Now willUstand has added eleven different free, downloadable bullying prevention posters for elementary, middle, and high school settings. (They will be adding more posters in the future.) Here are a few examples:

Nightmare on Back-to-School Street

Despite all my well-laid plans and Pinterest dreams, my back-to-school reality has been what it usually is – far from perfect. I headed back into school to set up my room (ahead of when I’m supposed to be there, of course, so I could get everything ready before things got challenging.  Bwhahahahahahaha, what was I thinking!), only to find that my carpets had not yet been cleaned, my new laptop had not been delivered, and the new phone system does not work. In other words, things are back to normal! But it could be worse. In fact, some years my back-to-school experience has been a bit more like a (literally) take-your-breath-away horror movie, complete with the creeping crud, horrendous odors, banishment, and a party line.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

I don’t even want to think about can’t really remember what it was like before the existence of our wonderful online school counseling community. It’s hard to believe that I used to have to “go it alone” and am not quite sure how I actually survived it. It was a lot lonelier, that’s for sure! It’s so great to know that there are people out there who understand what I’m experiencing, who know what it’s like in the school counseling trenches, and who encourage and inspire me to keep going when things are hard. I learn so much from all of you – from your helpful suggestions, comments, and the questions that really make me think.

Let’s Go Back to School – Together!

Well, the school dreams have started, and I’m feeling a new urgency to get organized. I’ve even been going to bed a (tiny bit) earlier. The first day of school must be right around the corner. Yay! Ugh! Ack! Yup, definitely experiencing some mixed emotions! One thing that has made going back to school easier over the past couple of years is the knowledge that I take an invisible host of supporters with me. No, I’m not delusional – I’m talking about all of the school counselors all over the world who share their great ideas, encourage me on the tough days, crack me up with their tales of kid hijinks and bureaucratic ridiculousness, and just all-around inspire me. Yeah, I mean YOU!   Fellow bloggers Andrea Burston from JYJCounselor and Danielle Schultz from School Counselor Blog have come up with some great ways for us all to connect as we head back to school.

My Multiple Intelligences – The First Stop on the CareerSmarts Journey

Wow! What amazing feedback I’ve gotten after my last post, Creating CareerSmarts! Thank you to everyone for your kind comments and enthusiasm. I’m so glad that other school counselors (and other educators too!) are excited about using the CareerSmarts lessons and that people are finding the info and resources helpful. As promised, here are the lessons about multiple intelligences. They provide a foundation for the CareerSmarts unit, but could also be used on their own for a multiple intelligences mini-unit for classroom or small group use. To find the applicable ASCA and Common Core standards, check here. There’s a lot in this post, but it includes everything you need to be able to teach these lessons yourself.

Creating Career Smarts

One of the things I am most proud of from last school year is CareerSmarts, a new unit I developed for fourth grade, which I’d love to share with you.  CareerSmarts is a student-driven, technology-based unit in which students learn about and connect their multiple intelligences and interests with future education and career possibilities. There’s even a fun gamification aspect – students challenge themselves to move to different levels by exploring multiple careers. While on the CareerSmarts journey, students learn about their own “smarts,” and explore and analyze a variety of careers by