Students who are struggling in school can get help quickly if a school uses response to intervention (RTI). Read about the three tiers of support in RTI.

Comprehensive student observations with thoughtful data collection are key to developing effective counseling and behavior interventions.

special education, behavior, behavior plans, BIPs, writing a behavior plan

Don’t get me wrong — I love candy. And, a jolly rancher, a tootsie roll, or a starburst can work wonders in the classroom for student motivation and enthusiasm. So can pizza parties, and cupcake days, and brunch, and…I’ve had so many types of food parties I can’t even keep track! Recently, however, I’ve been […]

What is narrative therapy? Find its approach, examples & key concepts.

5 school counseling activities using string to focus on growth mindset, anxiety, trauma, coping skills, and impulse control.

Check In Check Out is an evidence-based tier two behavior intervention. Here's my best tips, tricks, and resources to help you succeed with CICO.

Response to Intervention-Tier 2 Interventions are classroom based and a challenge to do consistently. I have depending on my case load, helped with Tier 2 interventions. Students who join me are eithe

How do you work with students who lie? School counseling interventions for handling lying behavior should focus on the reason students are lying.

Sometimes as teachers/parents we need specific skills to look for as they fall onto a continuum. This rubric helps you to do just that. This...

There is so much focus on teaching students the basics at the elementary level. Sadly, there are so many high school students who hav...

This behavior intervention guide is for elementary school counselors, MTSS behavior teams, or other educators who need help coordinating and implementing appropriate tier 2 and tier 3 behavior interventions. It provides information, intervention ideas, and tools to use when supporting students with behavior needs. The guide uses three different lenses to conceptualize behavior and behavior support: […]

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) frequently employs the idea of an organized therapeutic setting, which is referred to as a DBT house. DBT is a form of psychotherapy created by psychologist Marsha M.

special education, behavior, behavior plans, BIPs, writing a behavior plan

A blog about school counseling and school counseling resources

Dealing with behavior challenges can be draining. As you begin to empty your toolkit of strategies, that frustration only grows. Many times this leads to referring the student to your campus child-study or MTSS team so you can get additional strategies to support the student. Sometimes these meetings are quick and

This post was originally posted back in 2015 on my blog and has been a popular post since that time. I worked for a decade as a family counselor and elementary school counselor before staying

School Counseling Crafts: 5 ways to use lunch bags in school counseling for divorce, anger management, mindfulness, giving, and grief from Mental Fills.

Present your students with these monthly, graduation or end of year diploma award certificates.

Guess what? It's the weekend! Two glorious days of sleeping in and lazing about (I wish!). And boy, do I deserve them after the week I have had with my precious treasures. :) The first few weeks of Prep (or Kindergarten if you're not from 'round these parts!) are always tough as the kidlets get used to the routines and rules of school. Throw in a handful of boys with 'tricky' behaviour and you've got yourself a recipe for days that feel like they go on forever... during which you use your 'cranky voice' more than once. This week I found myself using a few behaviour management ideas that are truly 'magic' in a slightly desperate attempt to get things in my classroom back on track. Day-to-day I use the famous 'clip chart', known in my room as the 'peg chart', for kidlets to monitor their behaviours. I use the Monster Manners pack from Growing Kinders as a springboard for moving up (to the pink card - Super Kid!) or down the chart. Seriously, you need this pack! So cute and so effective (also helps that it's free)! I refer to my display daily and the kids get it. Within a day, one of my precious treasures said "You sit criss cross, and that's the bottom of the line!" (If you use this pack, you'll understand!) This year, the clip chart was working for about 90% of the kidlets... and those remaining 10% sure were giving me the run around. Bring in the magic tricks! Trick number 1 is a life lesson, as well as a magic cure for some tricky classroom behaviours. All you need are some dollar store bubbles, and you have some 'Self Control Bubbles'! Take your class outside and sit them in a circle. Explain that you are going to blow some bubbles in their direction, and the first time you do they can pop away as much as they want. Go ahead and let them go wild (within reason... I always tell my kidlets their bottoms must stay on the ground). Make sure everyone gets a heap of bubbles to pop. The second time, explain that you are going to blow more bubbles, but this time they MUST NOT pop a single one... even if it lands right on their nose! Explain that the feeling of really, really wanting to do something, but holding back, is called self control. Ask for a volunteer to go first and choose someone you know will resist the bubbles. Praise them for using self control. Then go around the circle and blow more bubbles at each kidlet (I make sure to get right 'up in their face' so they really, really have to control themselves!) - making sure to encourage all of them to think about how it feels to have self control. As the weeks go on refer back to this activity any time one of your kidlets is struggling with those behaviours that require them to practice more self control. They will be able to recall the feeling, trust me! You might like to repeat the bubble activity a few times during the year - my kidlets LOVE knowing that they are pros at something... and self control ain't a bad thing to be pro at! :) Grab this free pack from my TpT store that will help you use this activity in your classroom. It contains an explanation of how to complete the Self Control Bubbles activity, a label for your bubble bottle, and 3 simple recording sheets. And for my second trick... Quiet Spray! All you need for this is an empty spray bottle. I bought mine from Kmart for less than $2. Fill it with water. My spray bottle wasn't clear, but if it was I would have added a drop of food colouring or some glitter to make it look more 'magic'. I also would have taken time to make sure my label was size-appropriate for my bottle... but you live and learn! :) I added a few drops of rosewater to my Quiet Spray... mostly because I wanted lavender, couldn't find it at the grocery store, but wanted my Quiet Spray to smell calming. Here's how it works: Any time you want your kidlets to work quietly (I used mine today before group work), explain that you will use the Quiet Spray to help them work the best that they can. I ask my class to take a deep breath in through their noses and out through their mouths as I mist Quiet Spray over their heads. MAGIC! You could even use Quiet Spray at the beginning of each day along with some relaxation techniques, or for individual students who need some extra magic in their day. :) There you have it folks, some new magic tricks for you to try with your tricky kidlets. :) Please let me know if they work for you! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! :) Lauren

Implementing RTI can be a challenge, especially when you don't have the materials you need. I'm sharing my math RTI notebook in this blost post!

Comprehensive social skills checklist helps identify needs and monitor response to intervention. Use the social skills checklist to plan social skills goals.

How do you end individual counseling services with a student? Termination is an important event in counseling and it might be one that we shortchange a bit. Totally get it. The student is ready, they met their goals. BUT, we have an opportunity in that last session to make counseling progress last. Students need to

Getting students to understand the relationship between their actions and the negative consequences associated with them is a hard thing. Many times students perceive punishments as somethign independent of their actions. These sheet are developed for grades K-2 and 3-5 in mind. The sooner studen...

How to implement school counseling minute meetings. This blog post shares how to touch base with a large number of students in a short amount of time with quick check-in meetings. Minute meetings are an effective tier 1 intervention in your comprehensive school counseling program.

Therapeutic art activities are an excellent tool for school counselors to integrate into group counseling and individual counseling. It allows students to express thoughts and feelings in a different way that is less intimidating and more engaging. How can you integrate art therapy?

I'm student teaching with a resource teacher, which means that I often get to push into other classes and observe what is going on in the ge...

ANT's are automatic negative thoughts that impact our thinking and beliefs about ourselves. Have students write various ANT's in the jar, then have them challenge each ANT with positive thinking outside the jar.

As a school counselor or psychologist, it is necessary to have activities that are ready to go that can be used in individual counseling for a variety of referral reasons. Luckily, CBT activities are an excellent fit for school counselors looking for practical approaches. Here are 7 of my go-to CBT strategies to use in

The Bender Bunch Creating a Behavior Intervention Plan BIP from behavior intervention plan template, image source: pinterest.com

A Bug and A Wish Conflict Resolution for Elementary School Children Our school counselor recently employed a great method in...

A great tool for students to reflect on inappropriate behavior is a Think Sheet. Use it when a student breaks a rule or doesn’t meet expectations for behavior.

30 youtube videos for elementary school counselors to use during class lessons.

Study Flashcards On ASWB Clinical Exam Prep at Cram.com. Quickly memorize the terms, phrases and much more. Cram.com makes it easy to get the grade you want!

Case conceptualizations (formulations) help therapists and clients come to a shared understanding of a problem. This simple CBT formulation worksheet explores the origin and maintenance of a problem.

School Counseling Crafts: 5 ways to use lunch bags in school counseling for divorce, anger management, mindfulness, giving, and grief from Mental Fills.