The Spirited School Counselor

Tag Archives: Counseling Techniques


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#ASCA16 Roundup

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Disclosure of material connection: Some of the links in the post below are “affiliated links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item I will receive a small commission. With that said, I only recommend items that I have found useful as a school counselor and educator. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

I was #NotAtASCA16 this year but I tried to gather as much info as I could from my fellow school counselors who were attending ASCA in NOLA this year.

Here are some of the great resources I discovered through TagBoard…

**Collective Notes on Google Docs**

Books:

For Professional Development –

 

To Use with Students –

 

Websites, New Technology & Online Resources:

 

Curriulum Information Websites:

 

So much great information! Thanks to everyone who shared information with the #ASCA16 hashtag so I could learn through your experiences.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

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Mindfulness in Action

Untitled design (2)My last 3 posts have focused on what mindfulness is, what research is saying, and different resources and curriculum available.

Just as I finished the last post, I thought maybe you would like to see how I used mindfulness as an intern.

I completed my 2nd semester internship at a local middle school. While there a great opportunity presented itself. The school psychology practicum student needed to co-lead a 4-5 session group and the counselors and school psychologist thought I might like to co-lead it with her. They were right! We worked in a special education classroom with 4-8 students each week for 4 sessions (attendance varied due to time with the speech therapist, behavioral consequences (suspension/office), and just day to day absences. These students were in mainstream classes for the majority of the day but were placed in a skills lab class for extra academic support. After consulting with their teacher, we realized that social skills is where our main focus needed to be; however, we also wanted to included a mindfulness piece to the group lessons.

As I mentioned in an earlier post – a little bit of mindfulness can go a long way! We spent about 5 minutes on mindfulness each class period but the results were exciting. Students reported being able to often or almost always keep their bodies from getting
tight and tense when they were feeling angry and upset. When we initially asked this question the range of answers was across the scale (never-seldom-sometimes-often-almost always). I wonder what would have happened if we had increased the number of session as well as our focus on this topic. It makes me excited to include this practice in the future.

So what did I do?

On my weebly I posted my 4 session lesson plans (5 lessons total – we combined 2) titled: Mindful Breaths, Social Skills, & Teamwork: Group Lesson Plans. The lessons crosswalk ASCA standards, Virginia counseling standards, and Virginia standards of learning. In the lessons you will notice that we used the same short clip each session. This was to help students get into a calm mindset during our time together, as well as time to practice what we were teaching them. I cannot share the exact mindful schools clip that I used during our group time since its part of their course Mindfulness Fundamentals; however, I found one that is very similar on their website called Mindfulness of the Breath. They also have several other free options on their site, as well.

How are you incorporating mindfulness into your counseling program?

Thanks for stopping by!

-Elizabeth


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Mindfulness in Schools. Part 2: Research Says…

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Disclosure of material connection: Some of the links in the post below are “affiliated links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item I will receive a small commission. With that said, I only recommend items that I have found useful as a school counselor and educator. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

While on vacation last week I found this picture on pinterest. I couldn’t find where the image originated from, but I thought it was a great way to show mindfulness. I know I can relate to the person in the drawing, but I would love to experience more of the pup’s clear mind. I am sure we all would.

Last post I explained what mindfulness is and today I am going to share some of the research.

When I did a simple google search for: “Mindfulness in Schools Research”  I received over 1 MILLION results! Why? Because this is a topic that matters and recently, research has been expanding rapidly.

 

Mindfulness can have a positive impact by (reference is in parenthesis/below):mindfulness

  • increasing attention span (1,3, 5)
  • improved academic performance (4)
  • increased social compliance & awareness (1, 4, 5)
  • reducing depression (2, 5)
  • reducing anxiety (2,4, 5)
  • reducing behavioral conflicts (4, 5)
  • improving immune system  (2,4)
  • increasing brain’s capacity to learn (3)
  • increasing self-awareness (3)
  • increasing self control & self regulation (3, 4, 5)
  • increasing level of compassion (4, 5)
  • increased self-esteem (5)

Dan Siegel, M.D., author of The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind & Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain,  discusses the science of mindfulness and some research on mindfulness:

One of the statements that stood out to me the most was when he talked about how “mindfulness can change the world, literally, one person, one relationship, at a time” because it can have a positive impact by reducing bullying or violence.
Mindfulness is a low-cost way to help students. It is a tool that can “help change the direction of their development for the rest of their lives.”

My professors told us in class this past spring that by practicing mindfulness even a few minutes a day can have a HUGE impact. I am not sure what source this information is from, but I do recall reading it through my intervention course. Hearing that fact, as well as reading it, helped me realize that mindfulness is something that I can actually practice and fit into my day.

Look for my 3rd post soon, which will focus on mindfulness curriculum and resources.

Thanks for stopping by!
-Elizabeth

 

Resources:

1. http://www.mindfulschools.org/about-mindfulness/research/

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mlk6xD_xAQ

3. http://vimeo.com/47294652

4. http://innerexplorer.org/teaching-mindfulness-benefits/

5. http://www.mindfuleducation.org/