School Counseling Simplified Podcast

I have exciting news! The doors to my Stress Free Class Lessons Course are now open! Inside this bonus episode, you'll hear more details about what this course is, who it's for, and a breakdown of all five modules. The doors to this course are open for a limited time. Enrollment ends on August 2, 2022 at midnight. When you join you'll gain lifetime access to all of the lessons! Check out the course here: https://www.stressfreeschoolcounseling.com/classlessons

We've all made mistakes, right? Well, let me tell you, a lot of mistakes were made when I started teaching classroom lessons as a new school counselor. I want to share these mistakes with you and what I learned from each one so you don't have to make these same mistakes! Today, I'm being a little vulnerable and sharing some mistakes and learning experiences I had when teaching classroom counseling lessons. I am sharing what happened when I didn't prioritize classroom lessons, why I was stressed every month trying to schedule lessons, how I would lose control of my class, and how I was scrambling to plan lessons. The good news is that I learned from these mistakes and I am sharing my solutions with you, too! Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/mistakes-made-teaching-counseling-lessons Resources Mentioned: FREE live masterclass: Three Mistakes Counselors Make in the Classroom and What to do Instead Episode 98: How to Teach Counseling Lessons When You Have a Huge Caseload Episode 100: How to Teach When You're Not a Teacher! FREEBIE! Class Lesson Cheat Sheet 15 Strategies to Engage Your Students Cheat Sheet (FREEBIE!) Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Keeping students engaged is a great preventative classroom management strategy. But maybe you're asking yourself, "How could I possibly keep an entire class engaged for the whole lesson?" Today, I am sharing some of my favorite engaging activities for you to do with your students! In this episode, I am breaking down how to use 3 tools that are fun and engaging for your students. I am explaining how to effectively implement scoot games, escape rooms, and game shows into your lessons to keep your students engaged, learning, and on task. These lesson ideas take a little more prep but are so worth it to see your students interact and enjoy your lessons! Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/keeping-students-engaged Resources Mentioned: FREEBIE! Class Lesson Cheat Sheet FREE live masterclass: Three Mistakes Counselors Make in the Classroom and What to do Instead 15 Strategies to Engage Your Students Cheat Sheet (FREEBIE!) Self-Regulation Scoot Game Mission: Meet the Counselor Meet the Counselor Game Show Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Does the thought of teaching class lessons overwhelm you? Maybe you don't have classroom teaching experience or you aren't comfortable managing an entire classroom while trying to teach a lesson. I know how you feel! Today, I am sharing a few tips I have learned that will help you in the classroom. In this episode, we are diving into four things you can do to feel more prepared to teach classroom counseling lessons. We are talking about classroom management tips, how to get some insight on a class before you step into a classroom to teach your lessons, and how to feel more confident when teaching. I am giving you examples of how to use these tips and sharing why they are useful. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/teach-when-not-a-teacher Resources Mentioned: Enter the giveaway! FREE live masterclass: Three Mistakes Counselors Make in the Classroom and What to do Instead 15 Strategies to Engage Your Students Cheat Sheet (FREEBIE!) Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Are you unsure what to teach during classroom lessons? Is coming up with ideas for meaningful and impactful lessons overwhelming? This episode is for you! As counselors, we have A LOT on our plates and coming up with lesson ideas for each grade for the entire year can seem daunting and stressful. Today, we are diving into ways to come up with lesson ideas stress free and simple! Gone are the days of wondering how you will think of topics for all of your classroom lessons! I am giving you seven places you can get ideas for lessons from, tips to implement lessons from these sources, and my favorite ways to utilize these lesson idea sources. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/classroom-lesson-topics Resources Mentioned: 15 Strategies to Engage your Students During Class Lessons Second Step - FREE cheat sheet! My Mouth is a Volcano Inch and Miles Needs Assessment Meet the Counselor Lessons Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

How am I supposed to find time to plan and teach classroom lessons on top of individual and small group lessons? Have you asked yourself this question before? Doing it ALL can be overwhelming! But the good news is that there are ways to make it all less stressful. In today's episode, we are doing a deep dive on classroom counseling lessons. We are looking at small, actionable steps that you can take to meet your goal of seeing all the students on your caseload with as little stress as possible. I am giving you 3 simple steps to help with scheduling and teaching lessons, tips on how to easily complete these tasks, and a way to outsource some of your workload! We all want things to be less complicated and more efficient, especially when we have a huge caseload, and this episode is loaded with tips to help! Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/lessons-with-huge-caseload Resources Mentioned: Freebie: 15 engagement strategies cheat sheet ASCA conference Sign up for the IMPACT Summer Summit here Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

We all want to use the summer to spend time with our family and friends, rest, and prepare for the upcoming school year. I know that preparing for the school year is so important and I love giving you tips to help make the school year easier, but today, we are focusing on taking time for self-care this summer. So many people talk about the importance of self care but what does self care even look like? Today, I am giving you my 3 favorite summer self care tips to help you relax, rejuvenate, and refresh so you are ready to take on the school year come fall. I'd love to hear about some of your favorite self care practices and activities! Send me a message on Instagram and share your self care go-tos. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/summer-self-care Resources Mentioned: Episode 84: Spring Resource Roundup The Paper Palace The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body Healing of Trauma InsightTimer App Oak App Headspace App Sign up for the IMPACT Summer Summit here Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Have you ever gotten to the end of the school year and panicked because you don't have enough data for your reports? Today we are doing a deep dive into data collection sources! Don't worry, these are likely things you are already doing in some way that you can adjust to use for data collection! In this episode, I am giving you an inside look at one of the quarterly training sessions we had inside the IMPACT program. We are looking at ways to collect data starting at the beginning of the year so you aren't stressing when summer is near! We dive into 9 ways to collect a variety of data in a less intimidating and overwhelming way. I give you tips on how to easily record data using Google Calendar, spreadsheets, counseling logs, observations, and more in a way that is easy to refer back to at the end of the year. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/collect-school-counseling-data Resources Mentioned: Episode 95: How to Incorporate Journaling into your Counseling Sessions with Literacy Specialist Megan Polk Episode 94: Classroom Management Mistakes You May Not Know You're Making with Kindergarten Teacher Kristina Harrill Sign up for the IMPACT Summer Summit here Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Are you looking for a way to incorporate journaling into your classroom and group activities or give your current journaling practices a revamp but aren't sure what that could look like? We are diving into all things journaling today! I have a special guest who is here to share some of her great tips and insight on journaling. Megan Polk of The Literacy Dive is here to share with us how she has used journals in her classroom. She gives us tips for journaling and talks about the benefits that come along with journaling for students. She explains how to use journaling for both academics and as a safe space to get personal things out for students so they are better able to focus. Megan also spills how she gets students who don't want to write, excited about journal time. Good news - It's easy to implement! You don't want to miss her insight on the best time to journal, illustrating during journal time, different prompts, honoring student privacy, and how to improve journaling with your students! Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/journaling-into-counseling-sessions Resources Mentioned: Sign up for the IMPACT Summer Summit here Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Megan: TpT - The Literacy Dive The Literacy Dive Podcast Website Instagram Facebook TikTok Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Everybody loves tips and tricks for making classroom management easier, especially when you're working with a range of grades. Kindergarten classrooms are a completely different world than upper elementary classrooms. Oftentimes, these students are in a formal school setting for the first time. This brings unique challenges to specialists, like school counselors, who may only be in these classrooms one or two times a month. Today, I have a special guest sharing her best advice on how to have successful lessons when you're going into early elementary classrooms. In this episode, I am talking with Kristina Harrill. Kristina is a former kindergarten teacher with wonderful insight into classroom management. She has seen what works and what doesn't when teaching little learners. Kristina shares what is important for specialists to consider when going into these classrooms the first few times and gives some great tips on how to build rapport and be successful when teaching lessons in kindergarten classrooms. I hope you'll take the easy-to-implement tips she gives and use them next school year to make your lessons with little learners be the best they can be! Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/classroom-management-mistakes Resources Mentioned: Visit the ASCA website Sign up for the IMPACT Summer Summit here Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Kristina: Sweet For Kindergarten Website Instagram Sweet For Kindergarten TPT Store Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Data is a powerful tool. The more data we can collect on our counseling programs, the more effective our programs will be and the more students we will be able to serve and impact. All month, I've been sharing my favorite data tools that I've found super helpful in my own program, and I've been joined by guests who have shared how they have used these tools in their own programs. In episode 89, I interviewed Jessica Weinberg about how she uses Behavior Surveys to transform her program. Katherine Guerrero joined me in episode 90 to discuss how she uses the End of the Year report, and in Episode 92, I shared how to create an End of the Year Report. Episode 91 was all about how to use attendance data to form school counseling groups. I hope you've had a chance to try out some of these data tools and see how you can use them to help you in your school counseling program. I have one more data tool I want to share with you as you're wrapping up your program this year and starting to look toward next school year. In this episode, I discuss how you can use Parent/Teacher Feedback Survey data to modify your school counseling program. The feedback survey provides valuable information about how parents and teachers feel about the counseling program in general and if it has been beneficial to their child/student's life now. I hope you'll be inspired to create a simple yet effective feedback survey for your program that will help you make your counseling program even better next year. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/parent-teacher-feedback Resources Mentioned: Get the School Counseling Editable End of the Year Report Read my blog post: How to Create a School Counseling End of the Year Report Visit the ASCA website Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Clarity brings purpose. A lot of times people don't really know what a school counselor does, and there's a lot of confusion around the role of the counselor. The more clear we can be about who we are, what we offer, and how we help students, the more purposeful our school counseling programs can be. One of the ways we bring clarity to our role is by sharing data that we've collected about the services we've provided and the progress our students have made. Data can help us modify our school counseling programs so we are more effective. We can also use data to show teachers, administrators, parents, and the community the important work we do. No one can argue with the cold, hard data. Today, I'm sharing with you my all-time favorite school counseling data tracking tool…the End of the Year Report. I'll do a deep dive on what the End of the Year Report is, what to include in your report, and how to use it to help you transform your counseling program so you can better serve your students and advocate for your role. I also have an editable template you can use to make creating your End of the Year Report super simple and will give you a way to share all of your hard work and data-driven results with a year-long reflection of your comprehensive school counseling program. Be sure to grab your copy of the School Counseling Editable End of the Year Report here. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/end-of-year-report Resources Mentioned: Get the School Counseling Editable End of the Year Report Read my blog post: How to Create a School Counseling End of the Year Report Visit the ASCA website Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Attendance is important. You may be surprised to learn that even a small number of days missed can put students at risk of struggling academically. Even though we know it's important, sometimes it can feel like we're fighting an uphill battle when it comes to improving attendance for students who struggle. Beyond offering incentives, what more can we as counselors do to help? In today's episode, we are talking about how to use attendance data to support students. As counselors, we need to do a little work to uncover why students are missing school and then intentionally address those issues. This crucial information helps us form groups and create individualized programs that can improve attendance and give our students a better chance for academic success. When you're able to show parents, teachers, and administrators how your counseling program is impacting student attendance, they will become some of your biggest fans. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/attendance-data Resources Mentioned: Visit the ASCA website Read the article: Types of Data to Measure School Counseling Program Success by Eric C. Dafoe Get the School Counseling Data Wall Bulletin Board Kit Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

What if you had a simple, easy-to-use data tool that would help you make improvements to your program and give you a visual display you can show to your administrators and teachers so they can actually see the impact your program is having because of the work you do? This month, we are talking about data tools, and I have a special guest with me today to talk about one of my favorites. In this episode, I interview Katherine Guerrero. Katherine will share her experiences as a school counselor. She also shares how she uses the End of the Year report to analyze her program's progress as well as how she shares those results with her teachers and administrators. As a member of my school counseling membership IMPACT, Katherine shares how being a part of the community has helped her as a school counselor. Katherine is a 3rd-year elementary school counselor in Southern California. She loves to see her students light up when they have that "ah-ha" moment and she can tell that they understand the concepts they're working on. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/end-of-year-reports Resources Mentioned: Save your seat at the FREE training: How to Use School Counseling Data to Improve Your Program and Advocate for Your Role Get the School Counseling Editable End of the Year Report Read Violeta by Isabel Allende Find books by Taylor Jenkins Reid Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Learn more about ASCA Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Data collection is key to making improvements to your counseling program and advocating for your role. This month on the podcast we're talking about data tools that I love to use. Today, we're kicking it off with one of my all-time favorites, the behavior surveys. Joining us for this episode is a special guest, Jessica Weinberg. Jessica is a member of IMPACT, my membership for school counselors. Today she shares about her journey as a school counselor and how she uses data tools in her own school counseling program. I love hearing about how she is using the behavior surveys in her program. She will also share how being an IMPACT member has helped her as a school counselor. We would love to have you join us in the program. Learn more about it here. Jessica has been an Elementary School Counselor for just over 2 years. Prior to that, she was a Special Education Instructional Aide and a Preschool teacher. Originally from Aurora, Colorado, she now lives in Salinas, California. In her free time, she likes to read, cook and exercise. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/behavior-surveys Resources Mentioned: Save your seat at the FREE training: How to Use School Counseling Data to Improve Your Program and Advocate for Your Role Join my FREE bootcamp for new school counselors Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Learn more about ASCA Read The School Counselor's Guide to Surviving the First Year: Internship Through Professional Development by Heather Couch Get the School Counseling Behavior Surveys Read More Than Enough: Claim Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

All month we've been talking about the interview process. First, I shared my own interview experience as a school counselor in episode 85. In episode 86, Lauren Tingle joined me to talk through questions and we did a mock interview. Last week, in episode 87, we learned about resume must-haves from Carol Miller, the go-to resume person for school counselors. Whether you're a new counselor looking for your first job or an experienced counselor wanting to brush up on your interviewing skills, be sure to go back and listen to all the episodes in the series. In this episode, I'm sharing 4 tips you can use to strategically select internship experiences that will build your portfolio. To wrap up this series, I'll help you think about yourself in the future interviews you're going to land and guide you through things you can do during your internship to gain hands-on experience with students. When you maximize your internship, you'll feel totally prepared and confident in the knowledge and skills you have gained, and you can stand out from the competition. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/internship-experiences Resources Mentioned: Join my FREE bootcamp for new school counselors Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Learn more about ASCA Episode 86, Mock Interview Questions with Lauren Tingle from Counselor Clique Tune into Episode 87, Resume Must-Haves with Carol Miller from Counseling Essentials Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Today, I interview the go-to resume person, Carol Miller. This episode is full of advice and wisdom from someone who knows exactly what school districts look for when they are going through resumes. According to Carol, only 1-2% of resumes she has seen are what would be considered "quality" resumes. Most of the resumes she sees are "really, really awful." Tune in to find out exactly what you can do to make sure your resume stands out in a good way so you are chosen for interviews, getting you one step closer to landing your dream job. From resume must-haves and no-no's to the type of paper you should use, Carol covers it all. She even goes over her best interview tips that will have you feeling confident and prepared. Carol is currently an elementary school counselor, and she is the face behind Counseling Essentials. She has been a counselor for almost three decades and has worked as an elementary, middle, and high school counselor. She has also spent time helping other districts go through and review resumes, and she has helped people put together resumes. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/resume-tips Resources Mentioned: Enroll in Boost Join my FREE bootcamp for new school counselors Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Tune into episode 85, What I Learned Interviewing as a School Counselor Episode 86, Mock Interview Questions with Lauren Tingle from Counselor Clique Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

If you're a recent graduate who is looking for your first school counseling job or if you're an experienced counselor who is looking for a new job and you need to brush up on your interview skills, this episode is for you! Today I am joined by guest, Lauren Tingle. Together, we go over some of the common questions you may encounter in an interview for a school counseling position and discuss how we would answer them. These questions come directly from the ASCA website. There are so many questions on the website, and we only had time to cover a few, so I encourage you to go check them out for yourself and find a friend to practice with! Not only does Lauren bring her perspective as an experienced high school counselor, but she has also sat on the other side of the table asking these questions to interviewees, so her insight is priceless! Lauren is a former high school counselor turned content creator and curriculum writer. She is the high school counseling hype girl behind Counselor Clique helping other high school counselors energize and breathe life into their programs through creative and engaging counseling resources. She's also the host of the podcast High School Counseling Conversations where she brings value and fun into high school counseling! Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/mock-interview-questions Resources Mentioned: Join my FREE bootcamp for new school counselors Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Listen to Episode 9, Small Groups at the HS Level and Tik Tok with Lauren Find all the sample questions on the ASCA website Tune into episode 85, What I Learned Interviewing as a School Counselor Get the 3-Day Video Challenge for High School Counseling Interviews Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Are you looking for a school counseling job? Whether you're getting ready to graduate and trying to land your very first school counseling position or you're a seasoned counselor who is looking for a new position, interviewing can be stressful. This episode comes straight out of my Stress Free School Counseling Bootcamp program. It's totally FREE to join! If you're an intern, just graduated, or recently hired, this bootcamp is for you! You'll get the tools, inspiration, and support you need to transform your counseling program and hit the ground running from day one. In today's episode, I'm sharing 5 steps that will have you feeling totally prepared to rock the interview process. I was super disappointed when I didn't land the job of my dreams my first year out of grad school, but I didn't let that disappointment stop me from gaining invaluable experience and preparing myself to land my dream job the next year. I want you to learn from my mistakes and experiences so you can have a stress-free and enjoyable interview process and land the job you want! I decided to do this episode after a listener reached out to me and told me she and other students from her cohort were stressing out about upcoming interviews. I love to hear from my listeners, so please reach out to me on Instagram and let me know if there's a topic you'd like me to cover. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/interviewing-as-school-counselor Resources Mentioned: Join Stress Free School Counseling today! Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Search for jobs on Edjoin.org Find jobs on Indeed.com Read the article from ASCA: Coping with Student Anxiety Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Spring is finally here, and we can get outside and enjoy the sunshine! I love springtime because it's like a fresh rebirth. Spring is one of those times of the year when we emerge from our black holes and get rejuvenated and refreshed. In today's episode, I'm sharing my favorite spring resources and some fun and unique ideas that you can implement this month in your school counseling program. I hope you'll find these really helpful and that you'll feel inspired to try something today with your students. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/spring-resource Resources Mentioned: Join Stress Free School Counseling today! Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Submit your school counseling story! Episode 80, Anxiety Counseling Crash Course Episode 81, Anxiety Strategies for Class Counseling Lessons Episode 82, Anxiety Strategies for Group Counseling Lessons Episode 83, Anxiety Strategies for Individual Counseling Visit Wild Ideas Worth Living with Shelby Stanger Get the Countdown to Spring Break School Counseling Activity Pack Get the Positive Affirmations Easter and Springtime Self-Esteem Activity Read the article from ASCA: Coping with Student Anxiety Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Providing counseling in a one-on-one setting is so powerful for our students who are experiencing extreme anxiety. Today, we are wrapping up our anxiety series with 4 effective strategies you can use to help your students cope with anxiety. If you missed the last three episodes, go back and check them out. In episode 80, you'll hear me talk about what anxiety is and how we might see it show up in students. Episode 81 is all about strategies you can use to address anxiety during class counseling lessons, and in episode 82 I share strategies you can use to address anxiety during group counseling lessons. This series has been designed to give you quick, actionable takeaways that you can implement in your own counseling program right away to support your students who are experiencing anxiety. You can find some of my favorite strategies in my Anxiety and Worry Individual Counseling Curriculum, including student journal activities and grounding activities. This curriculum is really helpful for simplifying your counseling life and includes everything you need, even the data tools! Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/strategies-for-individual-counseling Resources Mentioned: Join Stress Free School Counseling today! Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Submit your school counseling story! Episode 80, Anxiety Counseling Crash Course Episode 81, Anxiety Strategies for Class Counseling Lessons Episode 82, Anxiety Strategies for Group Counseling Lessons Journal and grounding exercises found in my Individual Counseling Curriculum Read the article from ASCA: Coping with Student Anxiety Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

All month we've been talking about anxiety, and today I'm going to talk specifically about how you can help students with anxiety through an anxiety small group. If you missed the last 2 episodes, be sure to check out episode 80 where I did crash course on anxiety, and episode 81 where I shared strategies for class counseling for anxiety. Small group counseling is a great place for students to practice using the strategies they're learning and identify situations when they may need to tap into those strategies. In this episode, I'll give you 4 ideas you can use with an anxiety group. Let me know if you try out some of the strategies I've shared. Share a picture and tag me on Instagram @brightfuturescounseling. I'd love to see them in action! Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/small-group-counseling Resources Mentioned: Join Stress Free School Counseling today! Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Submit your school counseling story! Episode 80, Anxiety Counseling Crash Course Episode 81, Anxiety Strategies for Class Counseling Lessons Grab my Worry and Anxiety Boom Cards Pinterest Circles of Control visuals Stress Management Counseling Group Stress Busters Stress Management Group Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

I'm a big fan of doing class lessons. It's a great way to plant seeds with students and teach them strategies they can use going forward that can empower them to be proactive instead of being reactive. In last week's episode, we had a crash course on anxiety counseling. Today I want to give you three ideas of things that you can do in a class lesson to help teach students about anxiety and how they can manage their anxiety. I hope you'll find these strategies to be helpful to you in your school counseling program. I'd love to hear from you! If you try out any of the strategies I've shared, take some pics, tag me on Instagram, or just share with me how you're using these strategies to teach your students about anxiety. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/anxiety-strategies Resources Mentioned: Join Stress Free School Counseling today! Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Submit your school counseling story! Episode 80, Anxiety Counseling Crash Course Grab my Worry and Anxiety Boom Cards Episode 76, What Do I Do During Individual Counseling Sessions? Episode 78, How to Build Genuinte Rapport in Individual Sessions (beyond Jenga!) Episode 79, 3 Must-Have Data Tools for Individual Counseling Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Most students experience anxiety at some point in their lives. As school counselors, it's important that we understand the different ways anxiety can show up in students and how to best support them. Typically, I give you counseling strategies and tools that you can use generally across topics, but I thought it would be helpful to go deeper on a specific topic and give you some quick takeaways that you can easily implement in your counseling program. So all month, I'll be talking to you about anxiety and how we can help support students who are struggling in this area. Today's episode is an overview of what anxiety is and how to determine which students really need support with anxiety. Sometimes students are unaware that what they're experiencing is anxiety or they just don't have the ability to label it. So it's really important that we provide screenings that help us identify who those students are. Of course, it's not our job to diagnose, but it is important for us to be aware of the signs of anxiety so we can get them the support they need. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/anxiety-crash-course Resources Mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Join Stress Free School Counseling today! Reserve your seat for my FREE live training: How to Use Individual Counseling Curriculum to Engage Students and Effectively Track Data Submit your Counselor Stories with this Google Form Check out the Medline Plus definition of anxiety Read what Mayo Clinic says about Anxiety Disorders Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Collecting data is so important for our students and our counseling programs. It helps us answer questions like: How can we teach this material to help the students better understand? How can we present this in a different way to help the student grow and to learn these coping strategies? How can we provide outside support or other resources to really ensure that the student is getting the support they need? We can do all of that by looking at the data. When we have solid data, we're not just guessing or shooting in the dark. Instead, we have concrete evidence-based proof that we can use when we're trying to figure out how to best help students. In this episode, I'm wrapping up our individual counseling series by sharing 3 data collection tools you can start using today. If you missed Episode 76, be sure to go back and listen because I talk about how to plan your individual counseling sessions. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/3-must-have-data-tools Resources Mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Join Stress Free School Counseling today! Grab my new Individual Counseling Super Bundle. Episode 76, What Do I Do During Individual Counseling Sessions Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Don't get me wrong…playing games like Jenga can be a fun and effective way to build relationships with students. To make the greatest impact in the lives of our students, we've got to build rapport with them. While playing games is great, it can be easy to get stuck when it comes to finding new ways to relate to our counseling students and get to know them on a deeper level, especially since we only see them for short amounts of time. In today's episode, I'm sharing 4 things you may not be doing that will help you build rapport in your individual counseling sessions. These tips I'm sharing today are simple and most require very little prep work. My hope is that these strategies will be useful to you as you develop deeper relationships in your individual counseling and that you'll see how simple it can be to incorporate these into your daily routine. Don't stop playing Jenga! Just add these into what you're already doing. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/rapport-in-individual-sessions Resources Mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Join Stress Free School Counseling today! Grab my new Individual Counseling Super Bundle. Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Let's celebrate! It's National School Counseling Week! You are doing meaningful work, and you deserve to be recognized and celebrated. If you're feeling awkward about bringing attention to yourself or you're just not sure what to do to celebrate, I've got some fun ideas for you in this episode. Instead of thinking of this week as a way to promote yourself, look at it as a way to bring awareness to the profession and to your counseling program as a whole. This is the perfect time to spread awareness to teachers and parents about what services you offer and how those services are impacting students. Today, I'm sharing how you can spread awareness with fact sheets, shoutouts, data walls, parent letters, and even teacher training. I would love to see how you're celebrating National School Counseling Week. Take a picture of your cupcakes, your data walls, or whatever you decide to do, and tag me on Instagram @brightfuturescounseling. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/national-school-counseling-week Resources Mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! ASCA National School Counseling Week Photo Challenge and Activities Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Do you ever feel like you're just winging it during individual counseling sessions? When I first got started in individual counseling, I felt overwhelmed and unsure of what I was supposed to be doing during sessions with my students. I felt comfortable and confident during group sessions, but when it came to one-on-one sessions with students, I always felt like I was doing it wrong. I wanted to be confident that I was meeting the needs of my students during individual sessions, but I just felt a little lost. Fortunately over the years, through lots of trial and error, I've developed some systems and planning strategies that really work when it comes to individual counseling. In this episode, I share step-by-step how you can plan out your individual counseling sessions so you can feel confident and prepared that you're making an impact and a difference as a counselor. We'll discuss how to create simple, yet effective, strategic plans that align with the ASCA standards. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/individual-counseling-sessions Resources Mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Grab the Individual Counseling Super Bundle American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Website Check out my various board game templates. Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

You guys want more data, and I am here for it! I thought I had talked about data enough, but after doing a poll to find out what your New Year's goals are as school counselors, there were a few people who wanted to work with data more effectively and keep more data. You may be reluctant to start data tracking because you don't really know where to start. Maybe you're tracking data already but you could be a little better at it, or maybe you just need confirmation that you're doing it correctly. In today's episode, I'll be talking to you about how to get started with data in a way that will not make you feel overwhelmed. This is a great entry-level data teaching for you focusing mainly on two data tools that can help you easily track student progress. I'll also be sharing some amazing tools you can use in your school counseling program Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/data-collection-without-tears Resources Mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! FREE Stress Free Counseling Toolkit. Watch my Video Tutorial: How to Create a School Counseling Data Hub Using Google Sheets Grab my School Counseling Data Tracking Tools Bundle - Data Driven Counseling Program Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

This month I'm focusing on sourcing topics based on the feedback you gave me on your goals for the year. I had one of you say that their goal was to run at least five counseling groups this spring semester. This is a wonderful goal and totally doable. So, I want to share a few organizational strategies when it comes to small groups. Specifically, tips that will make your counseling life just a little bit easier and will make managing and running those groups more simple. All of these solutions are practical and doable ways to simplify your group organization. However, they do take a little bit of effort. I promise they are worth it though! If you get organized with your small groups, this allows you to spend less time planning and prepping and more time counseling kiddos. That's our passion at the heart of it and why we're in it, right? We want to help as many students as possible. Getting organized allows you to do that. Lastly, I have a freebie for you! It has three components - scheduling, organization and data collection. There's an organization toolkit inside that I think you're going to find very helpful! You can snag that freebie here. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/small-group-organization Resources Mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! FREE Stress Free Counseling Toolkit. Caseload Spreadsheet Template Feelings Check Freebie Episode 73, How to Create a Schedule That Doesn't Overwhelm You Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

I recently put a poll out to find out what your counselor goals, or resolutions, are for 2022. I used your answers to plan for my podcast episodes for the month of January. One of the topics that came up a lot was creating an efficient schedule. We all know the feeling of creating a schedule and then experiencing all kinds of interruptions that completely throw us off track. So, this week I am going to talk to you all about my favorite scheduling secrets. I'll share some practical solutions to streamline your schedule and make your counseling life easier. Planning your schedule intentionally, and eliminating disruptions as much as possible, will allow you to meet with your students and maintain your commitment to them and your scheduled times. Lastly, don't forget that at the time of this recording, we are in the middle of a site-wide TpT counselor sale. We have $2 deals and products that are 50% off! We only do a discount this large twice a year, so run and check out the Counselor Deals here or search #counselordeals on TpT for the sale. Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/create-a-schedule Resources Mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Download my FREE Stress Free Counseling Toolkit. Grab my Self-regulation Coping Strategies Journal. Grab my Size of the Problem Activity Pack. Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Happy 2022, school counselors! I hope you had a restful holiday break and are ready for what the next 12 months have in store for you! Do you enjoy this time of year, or not so much? I know people have mixed feelings about what comes with a new year, such as setting resolutions. Personally, I love setting goals and planning for what's to come. Overall, I have wild optimism at the beginning of a new year. I hope you're feeling some excitement as well! I've decided to do something different for today's episode. It's kind of a mash-up of two different topics. First I'm answering some questions that I received in our free Facebook group, Bright Futures School Counselors. In the second part of the episode, I'm sharing some New Year resolutions that fellow school counselors shared with me on Instagram. If you haven't set a resolution yet, maybe these will give you some good ideas! Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/ask-me-anything Resources Mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Join the Bright Futures Counseling free Facebook Group Sign up for the FREE Stress Free School Counseling Bootcamp Meet the Counselor Activity Bundle Meet the Counselor Digital Game Show Meet the Counselor Escape Room Meet the Counselor Boom Cards Episode 41, How a Crisis Response Team Protocol Can Transform Your Counseling Program Episode 23, Grief Counseling in Tier 2 & 3 Episode 22, Grief Counseling: A Tier 1 Approach Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

What comes to mind when you hear "self-care"? We all know self-care is important, but what about self-care at work? There are actually ways to practice self-care at work that can make your life a little easier and relieve stress…and they have nothing to do with bubble baths and essential oils. In this episode, I'm sharing unexpected self-care tips for the new year, specifically for school counselors. These tips will make your counseling life a little easier and your time spent at school more productive. These are things that you can begin to implement at the beginning of a new year, or anytime! Resources mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Episode 70, How to Conduct a Mid-Year Data Checkup Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/unexpected-self-care-tips Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Tracking and collecting data throughout the school year is a must. In this episode, I'm sharing how you can conduct a mid-year data checkup so you can continually make changes to your program to better serve your counseling students. Sending a needs assessment to students, parents, and teachers is a great way to see how things are going with your program. It's the perfect time to make changes in your groupings and student lessons. Not only will you be better equipped to meet the needs of your students, but it's the perfect time to advocate for your role. Being able to show your principal and administrators the impact your program is making with students at the time of year when they are making decisions about funding is crucial to showing just how valuable your role as a counselor is. Resources mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Grab my School Counseling Data Tracking Tools Bundle. Check out the 5 Small Groups to Start in January Blog Post Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/how-to-conduct-a-mid-year-data-checkup Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

What are some of your favorite memories from elementary school? It's important for kids to have positive experiences around school and for our counseling students to have positive counseling experiences. Holiday parties are a great way to add some fun to counseling and build relationships with your counseling students. In this episode, we're keeping it light hearted as I give you ideas to plan a Counseling Holiday Party that you can host even without a classroom. These ideas work great for groups of students or individuals and can be done during group time or as a drop-in system. Break out the holiday music and festive snacks and get ready for some fun! Resources mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Episode #68: Countdown Calendar How to Plan a Fun Elementary School Counseling Christmas Party sELF-Control Christmas Games Dress an Elf With I-Statements Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/host-a-counseling-holiday-party Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Happy December! The countdown to winter break is on. I absolutely love this time of year. Everything is so fun and festive, especially at the elementary level. I'm always trying to think of ways that I can put a seasonal twist on counseling activities to keep your students (and you) engaged. At the same time, I always had the problem of "frequent flyers" popping up. You know the ones. The kids who are always stopping by wanting to chat instead of going to their classroom. I used to think I just needed to rush them back to their classroom as quickly as possible. However, I realized over time they were stopping by to see me for a reason. They wanted to build a relationship with me and I didn't want to dismiss that. While I wanted them to feel welcome in my office and comfortable with me, I also wanted to make our time together purposeful...especially if they were missing class. Over time, I thought of some fun ways that I could accomplish this. Since it's the winter season, I created my "Countdown to Winter Break Interactive Calendar". In this episode, I'll explain exactly how this calendar works and even how you can DIY one. If you create a countdown calendar of your own, snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @brightfuturescounseling so that I can see the final product! Resources mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Grab my Countdown to Winter Break Counseling and SEL Activity and Game Pack Read the blog post, Countdown to Winter Break with School Counseling Activities Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

The first episode back after Thanksgiving break is the final episode of the Team Player Series, focused on students. I have spoken about how to collaborate with other stakeholders in the last few episodes and couldn't possibly leave out the kids we work with day in and day out. The ideas I share are action items that can be done from the first session you have! It goes without saying that it is so important to build rapport and trust with students from day one. While you may consider playing games to establish a connection with the student, I will share activities that are twofold. Not only will your students enjoy themselves and have fun, but you will also gain insight into their thoughts and feelings. And if you've been listening for a while, you know I love doing feelings checks! Resources mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Episode 66, Team Player Series: Admin Episode 65, Team Player Series: Parents Episode 64, Team Player Series: Teachers Episode 62, Ideas for School Wide Initiatives Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

All month I've been talking about how you can collaborate with your stakeholders, and this episode is dedicated to principals. Your administration can really dictate how your program runs, so this is a very important topic! Some principals can micromanage while others don't want to be involved at all, hopefully your principal is somewhere in the middle. These strategies can allow you to be in control no matter how involved, or not involved, your principal wants to be. One of the easiest ways to do this is by communicating with them that you have all your student's needs met. This way you will be a breath of fresh air amongst the chaos! What better way to advocate for your role than to show your principal that you've got everything under control? Resources mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Episode 65, Team Player Series: Parents Episode 64, Team Player Series: Teachers Episode 62, Ideas for School Wide Initiatives Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

For this week's Team Player Series episode, I will share how to get parents on board. I'm sure each and every one of you listening right now has experienced backlash from a parent at some point in your career. If you're like me, you probably realized if you had communicated more in the first place some of those situations never would have occurred. Basically what I'm saying is to communicate, communicate, communicate! There is a caveat of course. The expectations, communication style, and feelings of parents are all going to be different. These tips I provide will be helpful no matter what the parent needs from you when collaborating about their child. Join me next week for another episode in the Team Player Series! Resources mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Episode 64, Team Player Series: Teachers Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

As we approach the holiday season I hope you take time to rest and reflect on how you feel about the first few months of school. I know some of you have probably felt really alone and isolated in your school building full of teachers. It's just as bad, if not worse, if you have been getting push back from your class lessons or recommendations. Believe me, I've been there. That's why I decided to create this team player series for developing a strong team in your school. Whether the staff at your school is young or established, I will be providing you with strategies to break through any barriers and create a cohesive team amongst your staff. If you're anything like me you likely want to share your ideas as much as possible, but you also need to consider that your suggestions may add to the laundry list of tasks teachers need to do. These strategies will allow for a fun, respectful, and collaborative environment. Resources mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Pre-Referral Intervention Manual Calendly Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

To wrap up one of my favorite months, I decided to do a seasonal episode in the spirit of Halloween! I'll be sharing some fun activities you can do with those Halloween buckets you've probably gotten on Amazon or in the Dollar Store. I love providing you with low-cost and simple ideas and these are no different. If you've been a listener for a while, you know that I try to create simple activities that don't require a lot of planning or materials. If you have paper and pumpkin buckets you're all set. There are so many topics you can create sorting activities with such as problems and zones of regulation. Head over to my Instagram and let me know what grades or topics you used this activity for! Resources mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Have you ever taught a great lesson only to have your student forget everything the next time they walk through your door? Teaching students truly takes a village, so it only makes sense we take advantage of our resources. I'm talking about peers, teachers, custodians, and more! Think about it. When you explicitly teach a topic and then another staff member refers to it in the hallway, on the playground, or in the lunchroom then your teaching has extended far beyond your lesson. The more your students see and hear the terms and visuals you teach them, the less you'll be reacting to a crisis. Once you put these strategies into action, I'd love to hear how you got your school community involved! Resources mentioned: Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Did you know that October is Bullying Prevention Month? It's truly one of my favorite topics to discuss with my students. It is so important to work on those preventative measures and teach our students skills at a young age. The earlier you teach them about bullying, the more control you'll have as they get older. There are so many different ways to teach your students to be kind and aware of what to do if others aren't. These activities can range from individual to school-wide. Each of these ideas will educate your students on what bullying is and how to communicate if they experience or witness something troubling. It's our job to make sure all of our students feel safe and bullying prevention month is the perfect time to do that! Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Resources Mentioned: FREEBIE Bullying Prevention Scenario Cards Ideas to Spread Awareness During Bullying Prevention Month Bullying Prevention Salad Bowl Game Bullying Prevention Bundle Blog post on YouTube videos Ned Show on how to be an upstander vs. bystander For the Birds Pixar Film Stopbullying.gov Kidstakeonbullying.com Commonsensemedia.org Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Can you believe it's already October?! What's more exciting is that we are celebrating ONE YEAR of this podcast, School Counseling Simplified! I wanted to do something special to celebrate this milestone, so this episode will be a bit different than the others. I've created a mash-up of the top 5 most popular episodes from the show! Be sure to stay tuned in until the very end for a special announcement. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for supporting this podcast by listening, sharing with friends, and writing reviews. It truly means the world to me! Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Resources Mentioned: Free resource library Download the FREE Stress-Free School Counseling Toolkit YouTube Mock Small Group Session Coping Strategies Journal Episode 2: How to Form Your Caseload Episode 20: 5 Things I Wish I Knew When I First Started Counseling Episode 22: Grief Counseling: A Tier 1 Approach Episode 36: How to Facilitate an Individual Counseling Lesson Episode 44: I've Got a School Counseling Job: Now What? Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Today is extra exciting because we have a veteran counselor on the show, Terry Foytek. Terry has been a school counselor for 25 years and is a student in my online course, Stress Free School Counseling. This goes to show that Stress Free School Counseling is not just for new counselors or for counselors with 3-5 years of experience. It's for any school counselor because we are all constantly learning new ways to grow and transform our counseling program. Terry's favorite part of being a school counselor is doing whole class and small group lessons. She found that she needed some great ways to track her student data, which is one of the main reasons she joined Stress Free School Counseling. She's sharing her experience with my course and how it has helped with several aspects of her counseling program, including advocating for her role. Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Resources Mentioned: Head to stressfreeschoolcounseling.com to join my course, Stress Free School Counseling! Stress Free School Counseling Admin Letter Stress Free School Counseling Bootcamp Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

If you have been considering joining my Stress Free School Counseling course, then this episode is for you. I don't have guest episodes often, but I had to introduce you to one of my Stress Free School Counseling alumni, Kaylena. I hope any questions you have are answered after listening to her real-life testimonial! Like many of you, this is Kaylena's first year as a school counselor. She has experience in the classroom but has quickly learned how different the daily operations are of a school counselor. She will walk you through her reasons for becoming a member of Stress Free School Counseling and how it has allowed her to easily transition into this new position. Whether you're a first year counselor or have been in the career for years, you won't want to miss this LAST opportunity to join Stress Free School Counseling. Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Resources Mentioned: Head to stressfreeschoolcounseling.com to join my course, Stress Free School Counseling! Stress Free School Counseling Admin Letter Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Do you constantly feel like you are putting out fires rather than preventing them? Or maybe you take work home regularly to catch up because of all the distractions throughout the day. In this episode I will give you a solution to these never-ending problems. It all starts with scheduling, and I don't mean when you see specific students. I want you to think about how you are organizing your time throughout the day. You are not doing yourself any favors if you don't allocate time for bathroom breaks or traveling from one building to another. You have to be realistic about what you need to do and make sure your students and staff can rely on you to be there when you say you will. Creating these clear boundaries and time slots in your schedule will help you increase your impact and advocate for your role. Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Resources Mentioned: Sign up for my free live masterclass: stressfreeschoolcounseling.com/3secrets Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

There are two things I suggest you focus on first and foremost as the school year begins. The first one is data collection, which I talked about during my last episode. The second is organization, which may not come so easy to school counselors. I feel like teachers tend to have this under control with their flair pens and post-its, but after this episode they'll be asking you for tips! As counselors we wear so many hats and can be pulled in different directions all throughout the day. Our time is so valuable and the last thing we should be doing is sifting through notes and papers while our students need us. I promise if you take the time to create these systems now you will see the benefits all year long! Don't forget to send me a message on Instagram to let me know if you're on team messy or team organized! Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Resources Mentioned: Sign up for my free live masterclass: stressfreeschoolcounseling.com/3secrets Stress Free School Counseling Toolkit Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

By now, you may know how much I LOVE data collection, and there's a good reason for it! Collecting and sharing data is the best way to measure growth and advocate for your role as a school counselor. I know what you may be thinking right now - It's only September. Why are we already talking about data? Here's the thing, even if you've only just started the school year, it's not too early to begin data collection! In fact, it's the perfect time to get started. With everything else going on at the beginning of a new year, data is one of the things that often gets overlooked. Even if you're a first year counselor, or don't have data from the previous year, you can still collect and display data right away! In this episode, I'm sharing how to break your data down into two areas: services provided and student progress. After listening, I hope you feel empowered, not intimidated, to begin tracking and sharing data this year! Starting at the beginning of the year truly is such a great habit to get into. It's going to give you a wealth of information so that you can be able to see the impact you made on your students and get the recognition you deserve by displaying your data proudly! Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Resources Mentioned: Stress Free School Counseling Toolkit Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

With a new year upon us, there are always changes that are made in the public schools. This can be new students, new staff or administration, a new school placement or even a new district. Not to mention new protocols or procedures that may impact the program that you intended on using. These inevitable changes are one of the many reasons that school counselors have to be flexible. They're also a reason that you have to be proactive about getting your school community on board with your goals. There are many ways you will do this throughout the year by helping your students, but you must remember to communicate your successes with your school community as well. You deserve the recognition for all your hard work! Join my school counselor membership IMPACT here! Resources Mentioned: Stress Free School Counseling Toolkit Free Facebook Group: Bright Futures School Counselors Show Notes: bright-futurescounseling.com/podcast Connect with Rachel on social media: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!