Finding Balance

Let's start the week off with an inquiry:

How are you at putting perfectionism in its place

 and helping the children in your care find balance?

I was recently tasked with addressing that concern;

click the graphic below to read my guest post at Free Spirit 

and add five concrete suggestions for this issue to your toolbox.

Need even more help with balance or with some other situation?

Why not start with the school counselor. He or she stands ready to listen and assist students of all ages and stages through their troubles, difficulties, and conflict as they learn to become independent thinkers and problem solvers themselves.

Oh, and now there's a book to better explain our role. Check out Mrs. Joyce Gives The Best High-Fives by author (and Texas school counselor) Erainna Winnett. It's about a school counselor and some of the strategies she uses to connect with kids. But make no mistake; Mrs. Joyce does a LOT more than just giving the best high fives. In fact, she's a superhero of the caring kind, ready to come to the rescue and provide a safe place and a sounding board for students in distress. 

Raymond, who's new to Emerson Elementary, doesn't know Mrs. Joyce yet, so he's not sure what to make of her, until he gets a invitation to go to her office and finds out all about this friendly favorite, that is.

Mrs. Joyce explains her role as the counselor

 so gently and eloquently. Check out the book's trailer:

I was especially delighted to find Savvy School Counselor's suggestion in the back of the book that a school counselor (or teacher!) use a Circle Map to introduce yourself and your role to the students at the start of school. 

I could also see reading Mrs. Joyce's story as we close out the school year and reflect on all of the time we spent together and all of the leadership skills we sharpened through counseling classes.

High Fives to Erainna {and her illustrator} 

for this colorful addition to my counseling collection.