School Counseling Simplified Podcast

Latest Episodes:

113: Proactive Bullying Prevention: Conflict Resolution Strategies Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

We know how important it is to prevent bullying in our schools and we are continuing our focus on proactive bullying prevention topics. Last week we chatted about creating a culture of kindness and using resolution circles as bullying prevention. Today, we are talking about conflict resolution beyond resolution circles.

Being able to resolve conflicts in a respectful way is an important skill for students to learn and we're sharing ideas for how to help teach them these skills. In this episode, we are looking at 3 ways to teach conflict resolution in a class setting, ideas for teaching these skills in a small group, and what to do when a pair is referred to you for a conflict. We know our students need to be able to respectfully resolve conflicts so issues do not escalate into bullying and finding effective ways to teach these skills is key to bullying prevention.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/conflict-resolution-strategies

Resources Mentioned:

Episode 112: Proactive Bullying Prevention: Creating a Culture of Kindness: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/culture-of-kindness
Conflict Resolution Counseling Group - From Pirates to Peacekeepers: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Conflict-Resolution-Counseling-Group-From-Pirates-to-Peacekeepers-3389446
Bullying Prevention Editable Guidance Lesson: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/BULLYING-PREVENTION-Editable-Guidance-Lesson-Video-and-Activity-3143641
Bringing Restorative Practices to Your School By Laura McClure: https://www.edutopia.org/article/bringing-restorative-practices-to-your-school-laura-mcclure
Check out the Kelso music video on YouTube: It's Your Choice Baby: https://kelsoschoice.com/zxxy572/
Join my school counselor membership IMPACT: https://www.stressfreeschoolcounseling.com/impact

Connect with Rachel:

Shop: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Bright-Futures-Counseling
Blog: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightfuturescounseling/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2473191466030095

If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/school-counseling-simplified-podcast/id1534494971

112: Proactive Bullying Prevention: Creating a Culture of Kindness Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

October is Bullying Prevention month which has been my thing since my first year as a counselor. This month, we are covering bullying prevention adjacent topics. So what does that mean? It means I'm going to be sharing topics for you to cover with students and by covering these topics, you'll be promoting bullying prevention.

In today's episode, we are looking at how to create a culture of kindness and how we prevent bullying by doing this. We are covering the benefits of morning meetings, how restorative practices help foster a culture of kindness, a fun school-wide activity you can do to spread kindness, and ideas and insights on how to implement these practices for counselors and teachers.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/culture-of-kindness

Resources Mentioned:

Bullying Prevention Editable Guidance Lesson: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/BULLYING-PREVENTION-Editable-Guidance-Lesson-Video-and-Activity-3143641
Morning Meeting Discussion Cards: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Morning-Meeting-Discussion-Cards-3326795
Feelings Check: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Feelings-Check-2827761
Bullying Prevention School Wide Activities - Fall and Halloween Activities: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bullying-Prevention-School-Wide-Activities-Fall-and-Halloween-Activities-3411872
Bullying Prevention Classroom Guidance Lesson for Elementary School Counseling: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bullying-Prevention-Classroom-Guidance-Lesson-for-Elementary-School-Counseling-8292067
Ep. 61. Non-Boring Bullying Prevention Month Ideas: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/bullying-prevention-month-ideas
Bringing Restorative Practices to Your School By Laura McClure: https://www.edutopia.org/article/bringing-restorative-practices-to-your-school-laura-mcclure
Join my school counselor membership IMPACT: https://www.stressfreeschoolcounseling.com/impact

Connect with Rachel:

Shop: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Bright-Futures-Counseling
Blog: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightfuturescounseling/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2473191466030095

If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/school-counseling-simplified-podcast/id1534494971

111: Social Skills Strategies for Individual Counseling Sep 27, 2022

Show notes

How can I teach social skills in an individual lesson? Don't I need their peers for them to interact with? If you've found yourself wondering how to engage a student in individual lessons for social skills, this episode is for you!

We are wrapping up our September social skills focus with actionable ideas for teaching social skills at an individual level. We're looking at ideas to teach engaging friendship skills, manners, and conflict resolution lessons, why individual lessons should be a collaborative effort, and the importance of observing your student in various situations.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/social-skills-strategies-for-individuals

Resources Mentioned:

Social Skills Individual Counseling Curriculum - Primary: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Social-Skills-Individual-Counseling-Curriculum-Primary-7853875
Join my school counselor membership IMPACT: https://www.stressfreeschoolcounseling.com/impact

Connect with Rachel:

Shop: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Bright-Futures-Counseling
Blog: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightfuturescounseling/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2473191466030095

If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/school-counseling-simplified-podcast/id1534494971

110: Social Skills Strategies for Small Group Counseling Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

Are you looking for strategies for teaching social skills to Tier II students that you can use right away? This week, we are continuing to focus on social skills by looking at strategies that you can easily implement with your small groups!

In this episode, I am sharing some tips on how to engage your Tier II students in social skills lessons. We are covering four strategies to use when teaching social skills to younger students, four strategies for teaching social fluency to upper elementary and middle school students, and ideas and tips for implementing all of these strategies. Plus, I am sharing resources you can use to implement these strategies and more with your groups right away without tons of extra planning and prep!

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/social-skills-strategies-for-small-group

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Rachel on social media:

If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

109: Social Skills Strategies for Class Counseling Lessons Sep 13, 2022

Show notes

Class lessons can be tricky for school counselors especially when it comes to a topic, like social skills, that's easier to teach in a smaller setting. If you're unsure where to even begin when planning your tier one social skills lessons, don't stress! I'm sharing 3 great activities you can easily implement to teach your whole class social skills lessons!

In this episode, we are taking a look at tier one social skills lessons and how to reach a wide range of levels of understanding. I am sharing three different actionable strategies for teaching social skills that you can implement right away, examples of each of these strategies, and resources to make using these strategies stress-free!

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/social-skills-strategies

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Rachel on social media:

If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

108: How and Why You Should Teach Social Skills Sep 06, 2022

Show notes

We all know how important social skills are and it is very likely that you will get a lot of referrals for social skills. That is why we are doing a mini series all about social skills this month. We are going to do a deep dive on how you can support your students with their social skills through all three tiers!

We are kicking off this mini series with an introduction to social skills. We are talking about what explicit social skills are, why you should be clear about the titles of your social skills sessions, and the role of the school counselor in helping students with social skills.

Be sure to check out the upcoming episodes where we are looking at how to deliver impactful preventative social skills class lessons, tier two small group social skills lessons, and individual counseling sessions for tier one support.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/teach-social-skills

Resources Mentioned:

Check out the social skills info from ChildDevelopment.com
ASCA: The School Counselor and Social/Emotional Development
Social Thinking Curriculum
Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here!

Connect with Rachel on social media:

If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

107: How School Counselors Can Help Kids Feel and Deal with Anger with Jessica Sinarski Aug 30, 2022

Show notes

It is so common for school counselors to work with students who struggle with anger and wouldn't it be amazing if you felt confident and prepared to successfully work with these students? Jessica Sinarski, LPCMH, is joining us today as our "resident anger expert" and is giving us so much useful information on how to best work with students who struggle with anger.

In this episode, we are chatting with Jessica Sinarski on how to help kids feel and deal with anger. She shares strategies for talking to kids about the brain science behind anger, tips for working with students with trauma, how to support parents of these students, and easily applicable anger management strategies for counselors. Jessica is a wealth of knowledge on supporting these students and is sharing so much helpful information and resources to help us better serve our students who struggle with anger.

Jessica Sinarski, LPCMH, is a highly sought-after therapist, speaker, and change-maker. Extensive post-graduate training and 15+ years as a clinician and educator led her to create the resource and training platform–BraveBrains. She makes trauma-sensitive brain science practical, helping parents and professionals unlock resilience in themselves and their students. She is also the author of the award-winning Riley the Brave series, Hello, Anger, and more.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/help-kids-with-anger

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Jessica:

Connect with Rachel on social media:

If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

106: How School Counselors Can Help Newcomers Adjust with Beth Vaucher Aug 23, 2022

Show notes

There is an increase in newcomers and ELL students all over the country. As school counselors, we of course want to serve and help them as best as we can! Today, I am joined by Beth Vaucher who has some wonderful insight into how school counselors can help new ELL students.

School counselors can play a very important role in helping newcomers adjust to a school in a new country. In this episode, Beth is sharing the importance of building a strong relationship with these students, tips for how to help them feel more comfortable, and how to support ELL and newcomer parents.

Beth Vaucher is the founder of Inspiring Young Learners. She is an ESL-certified homeroom teacher with over 10 years of experience teaching in the US and internationally. Her background of M.Ed in ESL and Curriculum and Instruction, combined with her experience, has led her to develop a bestselling newcomer curriculum that has sold in over 90 countries around the globe. She brings a different perspective to teaching ELLs from her years of teaching, living abroad, and working with ELLs from around the world. You can find out more resources to support ELLs on www.inspiringyounglearners.com or in her Teachers Pay Teachers store, Inspiring Young Learners.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/school-counselors-help-newcomers-adjust

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Beth:

Connect with Rachel on social media:

If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

105: How to Use a Meet the Counselor Lesson to Engage Students and Advocate for Your Role Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

It's officially back to school season! That means it's time to start planning your Meet the Counselor class lessons. Are you unsure where to start or are you looking for fresh ideas for Meet the Counselor lessons? This episode is packed full of great ideas and tips to make your first classroom lesson of the year amazing!

Your first classroom counseling lesson of the year is so important to build relationships with students and to make sure everyone knows your role and how you can help. In this episode, we are doing a deep dive into Meet the Counselor lessons. I am sharing 3 engaging activities you can do with your students, 3 tips for teaching your Meet the Counselor lessons, and how to increase your impact with these lessons. Plus, I am answering questions from counselors on how to have successful Meet the Counselor lessons.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/advocate-for-your-role

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Rachel on social media:

If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

104: How to Get Back to School Ready With a 30,60,90 Day Plan! Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

Are you looking for a way to break down all that needs to be done in the first few months of the school year so you feel less overwhelmed? The 30, 60, 90 day plan may be just what you are looking for! Today, I am sharing a training I did for the IMPACT members on how to utilize a 30, 60, 90 day plan to map out what you need to accomplish in the first 3 months of the school year.

In this episode, we are going over what you should be working on in the first 3 months of the school year to reduce stress and start the school year off on the right foot. We are looking at what to accomplish in month one including conducting a needs assessment and setting up your referral process, what month two will look like including establishing your caseload and planning small group curriculum, and how to implement the services you've been preparing and planning in month three. PLUS, I am giving you tons of tips on how to use this plan and a FREEBIE to help work your way through this 30, 60, 90 day plan.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/back-to-school-ready

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Rachel on social media:

If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

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