Overwhelmed, Excited, Mentally Drained, but YEP I am STILL EXCITED!

Hey guys, I am so tired, but so blessed and so thankful. I got to tell you I began training this past Monday and I was so busy that I did not get to post anything until TODAY. I have been doing professional development for the past four days and it has been so helpful. Today was so beneficial because I got the opportunity to meet with my mentor and she shared so much valuable information. I am on brain over load, but I feel so comfortable about S Team meetings and the information that I have to present. I am excited about presenting, but of course I was thinking about having to create everything from scratch. Thank God my mentor was able to help me out a bit. We discussed things such as new student orientation, professional development for staff, the three domains that counselors must cover, parental involvement, how to decrease disruptive behavior, how to increase attendance and a whole lot of other pertinent things. We talked for four hours and I learned so much. I am thankful for her because without her I know that my transition would not be as smooth as it will be. She is so encouraging and she continues to reassure me that I am in good hands. I know that with God, my mentor, my elementary school counseling supervisor and my principal's support - which is amazing - I will be just fine getting adjusted this school year. Oh I forgot to mention, the team that I have the privilege of working with is fantastic. Of course, we all have different personalities and we learned that during an icebreaker (I'm a melon, LOL), we will work together pretty well to reach our common goal - STUDENT SUCCESS.

The back to school event is going forward. I sent out the flyer to confirm with everyone and so far so good with a few issues that I am working on and certain that it will work out well. I can't wait. I am so thrilled. Let me tell you I have decided to do more physical games such as hula hoop contest, dance contest, relay race, jacks (I am a pro!), hop scotch, to name a few. I will post pics to share with you really soon.

Another thing that has me going is simply balancing my new career, my family and ME. I gotta keep it together and I will do just that. I know that after this first year all will be a breeze. Much of my stress is due to the fact that I am building a new program from the ground up. My goal is a RAMP. Hoping that I can begin this year. I know I CAN DO IT. I can do anything that I put my mind to.

A few things that I would like to encourage new counselors to do are as follows:

1. Get a mentor
2. Start out with what you can handle. Don 't volunteer for everything. I know you are anxious and excited.
3. Network with other grade level counselors.
4. Create a schedule and stick to it. You may deviate from a few things some days, but do what you say you are going to do.
5. Follow up.
6. Give assessments.
7. Look at the school's data.
8. Share your goals with the principal.
9. Get to know the staff well.
10. Build community partnerships.

I have listed these tidbits in no particular order, but each one is vitally necessary. We all have one common goal and that is STUDENT SUCCESS. Let's make a difference.

Our flyer for the Back to School Event

I must have a desk calendar to keep it all TOGETHER!

More like NEWS YOU CAN USE!!! I had to be creative since I did not have any border. I used hands that I cut from the die cut for the border. Of course, those hands in the pic are my hands. 

My first trip to Knowledge Tree. Accompanied by the love of my life, Chance Imani, my baby girl. We had fun. She was putting things in the basket that I certainly did not need. Gotta love that little kiddo. 

Preparation for my first day of training

Hey everyone, I hope you are as excited as I am about beginning the new school year. I am sure some of the more seasoned educators are having mixed emotions. I know it is hard to let go of the bed, but yes you have to get back into the swing of things. Well, I am officially a part of the local school district. I attended my screening and I have an official school email address. How exciting is that! It has been a long time coming, but I am sure that this will be a school year full of growth and development. I am ready to learn as much as I can about my school, community, students and parents. One of my strong passions other than the children are the parents. I want to develop an impactful advisory board. I really believe that parents have a major influence on their children's future. Parents are their children's first role model, be it negative or positive.

Tomorrow is my first day of training and I am super excited. I am expecting to learn as much as possible. My motto is, "It's about the kids." So whatever it is that I can learn to help the kids, I am WILLING and oh so READY!

I will let you know how training went tomorrow. Happy Counseling!

Last night as I prepared my daughter for bed I thought about my classroom. So many things went through my mind. I felt so overwhelmed. I was anxious about getting to the school the next day to get my room in order. I had so many ideas going through my mind.

Well this morning when I got to the school I got some things rolling. I finished up a bulletin board and began another bulletin board. I used stem wire tape to wrap my ink pens and flowers together to create a floral arrangement. I covered my book shelf in butcher paper, which I have to put finishing touches on it tomorrow. I chit chatted with the art teacher about some things for his department. I believe I am off to a good start.

Oh, I forgot to mention, that I met a few of the other staff persons on Monday. My school's staff feels like a family already. I am so excited to see what is in store. I am expecting good things this school year. I plan to build strong relationships with the staff, students, parents and stakeholders. I can't wait for the first day of school.

Also, on Monday, I spoke with the librarian, who happens to be my Soror, about Career Cafe. We are going to intertwine Career Cafe with her idea to do something with the students on Fridays in the library. It will be along the lines of literacy and careers. There you have it, something else for me to be super hyped about in regards to this upcoming school year.

Goodies for my Good students - positive reinforcement treasure chest

Ink pen anyone?

A neat way to teach about self image and motivation!

Rock the Lot - Back to school event

I am always ready to plan. I love putting events together and then watching it all come together. Most of all I love to see the faces that benefit from my hard work.

My principal thought it would be a good idea to begin to annually have a back to school event. The back to school event is a community initiative that will encourage parental involvement, excite our students about the upcoming school year and invite stakeholders to our school environment.

First a list of things needed was composed. In addition to food and activities for the children, we thought that a great way to get parents involved would be to provide resources that were geared specifically to the betterment of them as individuals. Below is the list:

Food

Cookies

Hamburgers

Hot dogs

Hamburger buns

Hot dog buns

Ketchup

Mustard

Relish

Sodas

Napkins

Plates

Ice cooler

Moonbounce

School Mascot 

Vendors

Home ownership

Investment solutions

Health screens

Girls Inc. of Memphis

Southwest TN Community College

Lemoyne Owen College

The University of Memphis

Tennessee Technology Center

Strayer University

Federal Student Aid

Legal Consulting

Library JobLINKS

Christ Community Health Center – Medical and Dental resources – Outreach for Women

CoverKids

Voter’s Registration

Bullying Sessions

Literacy Sessions

Parenting Sessions

Face painting

Games

Prizes for Games

School supplies

 So what did I do after composing the list?

 1. I contacted the school adopters and solicited donations. We received donations for food, water, sodas, chips, cookies, a disc jockey, a water slide, prizes, face painting, and school supplies. 

2. I contacted my sorors in my sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated to come out and volunteer in various areas. It is important to use resources wisely. People are eager to come out and disseminate knowledge and literature. 

3. I created a flyer and we are scheduled to canvas the neighborhood and invite the students, parents and stakeholders. 

4. We return to school two weeks before the event. I will present the back to school event to the staff. The staff will work the back to school event. We will all be uniformed so that we can be easily identified. The committees include: games, food, hostesses, photography and vendors. 

5. Thank you letters will be written and/or drawn for the volunteers and mailed to them after the event to show our appreciation. 

Setup for the back to school event

The event will take place on the lawn at the elementary school. 

Tables will be on the lawn for vendors.

Balloons and streamers will be tied throughout the lawn and the front of the school.

Each vendor's table will have a poster displaying the service offered.

 A sign will be displayed on the classroom door where each session is held i.e. bullying, parenting, literacy. 

A list that reflects what is going on during the back to school event will be created to inform parents and stakeholders about what is being offered at the event. This document will be given out at the back to school event.

Happy Counseling! I sure am happy about it!

Transitioning from High School to Elementary School

I am so thrilled to be transitioning from a high school to an elementary school. At first I was sort of nervous about going to elementary school because of the major change. I am used to high school students and I have so many resources. Many people have shared with me that I need to stick with high school because I am resourceful and helpful to the students, staff and parents on that level. I agreed that I have been in the field for six years and I have built many relationships with stakeholders. I have afforded many opportunities to the students that I have served.

I must say that I am excited about elementary. One thing that I desire mostly is to have a great working relationship with my principal and I must say thus far it is awesome. I, jokingly, shared with her that I was a bit scared of her because her expectation is high. Of course, I am eager to meet the challenge. I got the opportunity to have lunch with my principal, which is one thing that I have always said that I would like to do twice during the school year. We discussed her "wish list" and a lot of great ideas that I have for the comprehensive school counseling program. During our next lunch date, which will be at the end of the school year, we will discuss my performance.

During my interview, she mentioned that she wanted to have a back to school event and several other things additionally. Well, I am a planner. So I called her a week later and asked her about the event. She told me that she would love for me to plan the event. Certainly, I got to planning. I want to share with you some of the things that I have done thus far in my beginning planning stages. I want to share with you the importance of building relationships and showing appreciation towards stakeholders. I want to share with you the importance of community building and how to encourage parental involvement.