Posts by Lynne Watts
Create a Positive Back to School Mindset
foxtale1Tackling Those Back to School Blues…
It’s back to school and there is excitement in the air! As the school counselor in an elementary school, the beginning of school was always a mixed bag of smiles and tears. I frequently spent lots of time comforting crying children who missed mom, dad, brother, sister or their second cousin once removed. It was always interesting to me that I didn’t often have crying children on the first day but for the next week or so, I usually had several. What’s going on? Why cry on the second day but not the first?
Read MoreHow do you change a child’s behavior?
Changing a Child’s Behavior Educators wonder how to get children to apply themselves and care about learning the prescribed curriculum. School counselors wonder how to get children to change negative behaviors into positive ones that serve the both the child and their peers. Parents wonder how to do all of the above while managing to…
Read More7 Questions to Measure Success
Here’s a quick survey for you: Being an elementary school counselor can be Exciting Fun Fulfilling Lonely Frustrating Overwhelming All of the above Other: My guess is that on any given day you could answer: All of the Above. As employees of a school system, we of course have yearly evaluations regarding our success at…
Read MoreIs It Possible to Motivate Kids?
Kids and Motivation In today’s educational environment, we are more aware than ever that student motivation and engagement is essential for lasting learning. I can’t tell you how many times as a school counselor, I had discussions with teachers, parents and kids about being motivated. However, I’m afraid we rarely discussed how important intrinsic motivation…
Read MoreTeaching Kids Leadership and Problem Solving Skills
Preparing Kids for the Future If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be. ~ Johann Wolfgang Goethe Every child needs to…
Read MoreUse Brain Science to Change Behavior
Teach Lessons that Change Behavior Back in the day when I was teaching lessons to children regularly as a school counselor, I was always trying to determine the best way to engage children in the lesson as well as make sure that they could actually learn and remember it later. Lucky for educators and parents…
Read More