behavior management
How to Raise Responsible, Self-Reliant Children
Helping Kids Develop a Can Do Attitude I often hear teachers and parents alike lament that the students today have little intrinsic motivation and initiative. Certainly as a school counselor, I often presented lessons on being responsible. When asked what it means to be responsible, children usually have a good idea. They would identify tasks like…
Read MoreTop 3 Mistakes School Counselors Make
And how to correct them No matter whether you are in small school or a large one, a public school or a private one, school counselors often make the same mistakes. How do I know? I was a school counselor for 20 years and I’ve made them all myself. The problem is that these mistakes…
Read MoreConnection with Kids
Connection with Kids In her book, The Good News about Bad Behavior, the author, Kathryn Lewis, identifies three steps that are taught in the Parent Encouragement Program. It will come as no surprise to counselors of all types that the first step is connection. Establishing rapport with a student is always the first necessary step…
Read MorePicking the Topics for Elementary Small Groups
Small groups are a great way develop relationships with students and teach meaningful lessons, all while maximizing your time by serving several students at once. What’s the downside? For me it was developing an effective system that I could repeat over and over rather than re-creating the wheel every year. The first question to tackle…
Read MoreWhat to Do About a Student with Angry Outbursts
Angry Outbursts: Prevention and Coping Skills On a School Counselor Facebook page, a school counselor asks for help with a 5th grader who regularly has angry outbursts over such things as forgetting his work at home or his Chromebook is missing from the class. During sessions focused on helping him calm down, he’s still very…
Read MoreWhy you can’t motivate kids…
Why you can’t motivate kids… Do your school work! Where is your homework! Clean up your desk! Follow directions without reminders. How many of your referrals are for kids who are too stubborn, won’t cooperate and don’t do their work? How much of your time as a counselor is spent trying to motivate students? What…
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