Looking back on this past year as a school counselor it is very important to acknowledge all of the challenges we have overcome and think about all of the accomplishments we have made in such a difficult, unprecedented time.
Even now, we may be thinking what if my school forgets all about National School Counselor week because they are trying to plan to reopen schools that have been virtually learning? What if they are just so preoccupied with all of the paperwork that seems to be piling up, missed phone calls, and meetings?
Here is your reminder to get the word out to your administrators that National School Counseling Week will be honored. National School Counseling Week is February 1-5th, 2021. This week is not about the school counselor itself, it is about the work we do, the program, the differences and all of the challenges we have overcome to build the program at our schools. We are here to promote our profession, celebrate our work, our vision and duties. We are honoring this with to advocate for ourselves and our students.
This year’s School Counseling Week’s theme is All In For All Students, which is highly appropriate for the times that we are currently living in. We may feel worn out, underappreciated, and defeated as we navigate counseling students virtually, or hybrid, or in person with masks on, 6ft apart, constant sanitizing and handwashing, however now is the time to take the lead and show our school community what School Counselors are made of even if it is through a computer screen or masks because after all, we are All In For All Students.
During this week promote your program, use ASCA resources to help the school community fully understand your role! Acknowledge your fellow school counselors in your district or school community. Show how much you appreciate your students and families by putting together something fun for them to see each morning in their virtual classrooms or classroom. We may have to think outside the box this year as many schools are all in a different place, but we are still All In For All Students and can make this week AWESOME!
I have put together a list of activities and ideas to use to promote your role as a School Counselor during this week. These ideas can be adapted for in-person, hybrid or virtual learning!
First, check out the American School Counselor Association website activities and events, webinars and promotional items.
Click here: National School Counselor Week.
Here are the American School Counselor Association Photo Challenge Prompts:
- Monday, Feb. 1: I’m All In for students because…
- Tuesday, Feb. 2: I’m All In for my professional development because…
- Wednesday, Feb. 3: I’m All In for collaboration because…
- Thursday, Feb. 4: I’m All In for building an equitable and inclusive school because…
- Friday, Feb. 5: I’m All In for school counseling because…
Start thinking of how you best want to represent your role as a School Counselor to your students, staff and families! You can take a picture with the PDFs that the ASCA website provides for you and post to your schools social media, send out to teachers and families throughout the week so they can see the importance of your position as a School Counselor.
Along with the ASCA, I have put together some small ideas to get you thinking about the week, how to best promote and advocate for your position and most importantly ways to make it fun!
Here is a list of some other ideas:
Morning Announcements – If you are in person, have a motivational quote or a fun fact about your role as a school counselor or YOU! If you are virtual you can have the teachers post a video clip of your morning announcement each day in their virtual classroom, or you could post on their virtual classroom yourself.
Join Morning Meetings – Students ALWAYS love to see the counselor in their morning meetings! Bring a social skills story along with you and do a mini-lesson. Teach the students any of the skills that you teach throughout the year so they can see hands on some of the skills you teach to your students. You can do this virtually as well. Schedule a time to go into the zoom rooms in the morning, read a story and do an activity by sharing your screen.
Counselor Kahoot (or game like it) – Challenge your students’ questions or a game that gives that more insight of your role as a counselor. You can do this virtually or in person!
Earn lunch with the School Counselor – Have teachers pick a student or class to earn lunch with you! You can do this by having a student join you on zoom and you will have your lunches, answer their questions, give some fun facts, play a game, do a go noodle together (through zoom can be silly and fun!), whatever it may be, incorporate the importance of your position and make it KNOWN!
Dress up as your School Counselor Day– Have students dress up as you! This can be very funny and entertaining! Have the teachers reach out if any of their students dressed up as you, so you can surprise them in their classrooms, in-person or virtually! Have the families or teachers send you a picture. You can even make a collage and put it on your schools social media with hashtags to promote Nation School Counselors Week.
Have Open Office Hours – The school community can come on to your zoom link at a specific time for informal office hours where they can learn more about you and your role at your school. This can help build rapport with the families, especially ones who may not have known you well.
Small Snack Thank You to Teachers – Don’t spend a lot of money, but get some treats to give to your teachers to show your appreciation! Write silly puns on them! (Example: Build your own smores -“Build better humans by giving S’MORES options when people find their life in pieces.”) Virtually, you can send them a little treat such as an egift card to Dunkin’ (I “donut” know what I would do without you!)
Enjoy this time celebrating, promoting and being the leader that you are as a School Counselor!
