Our Philosophy

Elementary School Counseling services are an integral part of the total school program and complement learning in the classroom. A school guidance program reaches every student and will focus on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for successful academic achievement, career development, and personal/social growth. Services are child-centered, proactive, and developmental. Our professional school counselors spend their time working directly with students to maximize the benefits every student will receive from the program. This will be accomplished through the use of School Counseling Curriculum, Individual Student Planning, Responsive Services, and System Support. School counseling services are comprehensive in scope, preventative in design, developmental in nature, and intended to enhance the potential of ALL elementary students.

Therefore, as an educational system we believe we can teach all children and all children can learn. We believe accessing knowledge, reasoning, questioning, and problem solving are the foundations for learning in an ever-changing world. We believe education enables students to recognize and strive for higher standards. Consequently, we will commit our efforts to help students acquire knowledge and attitudes considered valuable in order to develop their potential and/or their career and lifetime aspirations.

Friday, March 16, 2012

FREE! FREE! FREE! Career Resources (published in Montana)


I found these career workbooks on our very own state government website:

For 3rd & 4th grade and teacher guide and "trading cards" (these cards are kind of cool!)

The workbooks, guides and cards can be ordered with this form. They are all FREE!

(I ordered a copy of each one last week and it arrived yesterday - fast shipping!)

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

PTA Presentation

Tonight I am giving an Internet Safety/Media Awareness presentation to the PTA. I found some short, informative videos on www.commonsensemedia.org for parents, educators, and kids. Issues like staying safe, Facebook privacy, rules for parents & kids with regard to Internet/media use. They also have lessons for older kids but I haven't looked at them yet.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/staying-safe-and-smart-online
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/staying-safe-facebook
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/parents-need-rules-too

~lisa

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Angry Birds!

After I posted the iPad apps last week I checked out the Angry Bird link. Not an app but a cool lesson on anger management posted by a mom! Her site, http://thehometeacher.blogspot.com/, has some really fun ideas for younger kids. This month at Beartooth we're working on Conflict Resolution, the first week about how to handle your anger. I'm going to do a follow up lesson this week with the booklet/posters/lesson below. Check it out!

http://thehometeacher.blogspot.com/2012/02/dont-be-angry-bird-lessons-on-anger.html
http://thehometeacher.blogspot.com/2012/02/dont-be-angry-bird-free-printables.html



Friday, March 9, 2012

A Good Career Exploration Website for Younger Students


Paws in Jobland is a free online website created by Bridges Transitions Inc. The career inventory on the website asks students a series of questions about things they like to do, things they are good at, or things they are interested in, and then presents the students with a list of jobs that they may enjoy. Students can explore jobs they may be interested in on the website by clicking on different buildings in "Jobland". Videos explain responsibilities for different jobs and show real people doing them. There's also a fun multiple choice game that challenges students' knowledge about various jobs. As an added bonus, the program reads the questions and gives directions out loud for students who are not strong readers. There are also supporting worksheets and lesson plans to go along with it.

I'm thinking about using this with my 3rd graders. :)

~ Tanya



Thursday, March 8, 2012

iPad Uses in Elementary Counseling

Hi All!  We've all been so busy lately, no one has posted anything for days!! I am putting the finishing touches on my Education Foundation grant application for an iPad and have been blogging with other counselors on ASCA Scene to get their take on how they implement their iPad in counseling. Here is a response I just got today. I so excited to start using it!


ASCA Scene

New Discussion Response

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL
Join in this discussion or
Don't notify me on future replies
Think this reply is off topic?
Tell the Manager
Profile Image for Katrina Beddes
Katrina Beddes posted the following response

Re: Apps related to elementary counseling for Ipad 2

I am so lucky to have an i-pad to use with my counseling at school.  First of all, I love it as a time saver because when I am waiting for a class who is running late, I can quickly catch up on e-mails or notes. 
It is great to use for kids simply because of the immediate buy-in.  Some of my favorite apps. . .

Noteshelf-  I now create with the students during counseling their own notes on Noteshelf.  This saves me from having to file as every student has an individual notepad and it can be locked so others don't have access to it.  It allows us to quickly review what we've been talking about in the beginning.  They can write on the i-pad in their notebook or draw what we've discussed.
 icounseloranger, icounseloranxiety, icounselordepression, icounselorocd are all helpful in helping the student do some cognitive restructuring and relaxation.  I think they were $.99 a piece.
There are many illusions apps that are free.  I use these to talk about perspective and being flexible.
Fun with Directions lite, this has the student listen and follow multi-step directions.  I use this as a fun activity with my adhd kids before we talk about listening skills.  I first have them do it without distractions.  Then they have to do it while the others are trying to distract them.  We talk about the difference in their abilities depending on their focus. 
Angry birds:  I use this before talking about anger.  I got a lesson using angry birds as a means of teaching kids about the ways their anger gets out of control from thehometeacher.blogspot.com
Behavior breakthroughs is one I just got but haven't explored yet.  It is for use with parents and I think could be used with teachers.  It creates simulations for them to practice skills to manage challenging behaviors.
Behavior Tracker Pro is awesome for tracking behavior in classrooms.  It is written for extreme spec. ed. students but I use it when doing observations for adhd or other behaviors.  It is pricey though.

spin the bottle can be used in lieu of dice when playing a game in your office.
Those are just a few that I have used.  I'm happy to have heard some of your suggestions to use this fun technology in counseling.