Speaking of change... I FINALLY have my room almost the way I want it! I am still wanting to incorporate 'The Lorax' theme somehow into my office, but that can wait. So I had this bright idea of getting a whiteboard for my office. I had one in Baraboo and loved using it to brainstorm and play Hangman. As I researched prices online, my lovely coworkers found a brand-new whiteboard still in its box. Talk about fate!
Can someone please tell me where September went? I feel like I blinked and *poof* it was gone! We are settling into our routines here at school and for some students the honeymoon period is over. However, I was informed today that our Office Discipline Referral numbers were down from last year. Go PBIS! We are still trying to promote the use of our new Minor Violation form, but like all new things- it is slow to come. Speaking of change... I FINALLY have my room almost the way I want it! I am still wanting to incorporate 'The Lorax' theme somehow into my office, but that can wait. So I had this bright idea of getting a whiteboard for my office. I had one in Baraboo and loved using it to brainstorm and play Hangman. As I researched prices online, my lovely coworkers found a brand-new whiteboard still in its box. Talk about fate! I had the whiteboard propped up against the wall for about a week. I was so anxious for it to be put up so that I could finish beautifying my office. I had a stack of awesome posters/quotes that I printed off of Teachers Pay Teachers (Please check it out! Just like Pinterest except you can actually download things that other people created. I stuck with the freebies!). I printed the posters in color and mounted them on colored paper. It was a race to get them all mounted before the laminator was shut off for the day! But I finished them in time and was so excited with how they turned out. And then they sat. They waited and waited for my whiteboard to be put up. And I waited and waited. Finally, last Thursday I caught the custodian and again, it was fate. He had some time to come in quick and put it up before I had a line of students for the day. I was really glad I left the construction up to him- because who knows what would have happened if I put it up! The whiteboard was up, followed by the posters. Awesome! Now that my final wall is complete, I can focus on blogging about something other than cleaning and decorating my office... And maybe I will actually be able to find time to blog. Who am I kidding- I hardly have time to eat lunch! I am looking for getting away for the weekend and heading 'home' to Minneapolis/St. Paul. They say that you leave a part of you in every place you've lived, and I totally agree. Happy Friday, all!
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OOPS! This was supposed to be posted last Friday... Can't you tell it was crazy?? What a week! Uffda, I'm beat. We have survived our first full week of school/work, and you can tell! Kiddos are wired and in need of fresh air and exercise, and the staff is moving slowly thinking 'is it naptime yet?' Or maybe that's just me... But it has also been a fun week! I have met all of the 3rd graders (who are new to our school this year) and seen lots of familiar faces in the 4th and 5th grades. I feel so bad when I don't know a name and I have to ask, but I keep reminding myself that I didn't spend any time with most of the 3rd graders and hardly any time with all of the 4th graders last year. It's a valid excuse, right? I do have to say, though, there are some names that I know very well and hear often. It's much easier to prevent or stop a behavior when you know their name ;). This week has been a lot of organizing/planning/coordinating, and not so much kiddo time. I'm going through withdrawals! And then I look out my window on a sunshiny, beautiful day and I see kiddos in phy ed. I love my view :) I am so looking forward to spending more time with these kiddos that I get to watch grow up. I get to see them succeed. I get to help them achieve their goals. I love my job! While most of my office cleaning, organizing, and decorating occurred this summer, there are still a few things that need to be done. One major task was the two smaller desk drawers that served as the catch-all drawers for the past number of years. And I just could not bring myself to clean them out. I did manage to empty them into a cardboard box and cleaned the actual drawers themselves. But that's it. That's all I could handle. I don't have a high tolerance for icky, grody (how do you spell like, "Ew- that's so gr-o-dy?"??), and unorganized things. So I had this box of junk that I just wanted to dump. I figured that way I could start fresh and know exactly what was in my drawers. But I'm an educator- we don't throw ANYTHING away. I thought to myself, "how can I get this organized without actually having to do it?" And then I had an "Aha!" moment. Our special education teacher is always looking for meaningful work for her students. Well this would certainly be meaningful work that would help me out a bunch. So I sent the box up (I didn't get a before picture, but just imagine finding someone else's junk drawer and dumping it in a box.) and it came back like the above picture. Beautifully organized in extra plastic organizers that I had lying around. Makers were bound together in a rubber band, and all stickers and notepads were in a container. AWESOME! I decided to have a few things floating freely in my drawers, but most of it stayed in the containers that they were sorted into. Thank you kiddos! It's officially the first day of school! Where did summer go?? I sure hope I'm ready... The first thing I did when I got to school was race down to the gym for school pictures. I haven't done that in years! 8 to be exact. I knew I would be running from one end of the school to the other all day, and of course I wanted my hair to be in pristine condition. Yea right, who am I kidding? But nonetheless- those are out of the way! The second task of the day was to find someone to help me hang my Miller Park picture. I just so happened to run into one of the special ed aides, and voila- success! Now my office is almost complete. All that is left is my biggest area of wall space... To Pinterest I go! As the day goes on, I am seeing lots of new faces and quite a few familiar ones. The current 5th graders will be my most familiar group, but I have to keep reminding myself that they are in FIFTH GRADE now! They grow up so fast :). I like how the district has it set up where the parents bring their students in for an hour to attend an informational meeting, meet their teachers, and drop off their supplies. But I don't know how convenient it is for parents. I suppose taking a day off to spend it with your child wouldn't be that bad of a deal! I wonder how the teachers do it though... I absolutely love this 'Keep Calm' saying and would love a poster version for my office! As I sit here (it is now the end of the school day), I am trying to mentally prepare for the craziness to take off. I should probably get started on 3rd grade curriculum. Maybe tomorrow... Right after the final bell rang, I heard a tapping on my table. I turned around to see an EA putting these beautiful flowers down. SO cool! I never get flowers! I opened the card to see the beautiful words of my mom. Made my day! And since I have been battling a sinus headache all day- I'm heading out a little earlier than usual. I need to be well-rested for the full force of tomorrow!
This photo does not do it justice!
As of now, I have officially survived New Teacher Orientation! Although it seemed kind of weird that I knew everyone but the other new teachers... I feel like I've been here forever already! Fortunately we were able to get some in-classroom (office) time today- I was productive! Okay, given my time frame I feel like I could have accomplished a lot more. BUT I have my quote from Karen's Cafe on One Tree Hill finished and in the laminating pile. Soon it will be up next to my giant picture of Miller Park. For those of you who don't know me well- I do not have my own house/apartment and am gratefully living with a friend from high school who bought a house in McFarland last summer. Therefore, the only logical place for my giant Miller Park picture is in my office. (Because let's be honest, it CAN'T be stored away in my parents' basement!) Now to get the head custodian to help me put it on the wall... *Imagine your dream. Create your happiness. Live your life.* Absolutely LOVE this... *Shoot for the Moon. Even if you miss, you'll land amongst the stars.* Again, love love love this. Not to mention this was a gift from my favorite baby sister. I am so glad that I can finally display it! It is the beginning of week 2 (out of 3) before school starts, and it's already off with a bang! We had our final placement meetings this morning to put new students into classes and to change a few current students around. I am SO excited to meet the new kiddos, two of whom will be on my Girls on the Run team. The discussion of organizing our donated school supplies began last Friday with a delivery by a parent who received a box of supplies at a business conference. Included in said box was: calculators, pens, highlighters, headphones, pens that allow you to speak into them (adaptive technology), and a Microsoft Tablet. How awesome is that! So the principal purchased a large quantity of plastic organizing containers. For those of you who know me, organization is my specialty. I was all over this project. At first it was great. I gathered the existing supplies that I knew of and this new box of supplies. As I was dragging everything into my office, some Lions members dropped off four boxes of brand new supplies. And then when I thought I was finished, the school psychologist and her mentee came to 'go shopping' for her school supplies and showed me even MORE items to organize. WOW- do we have a lot of stuff! This just goes to show you how giving the community of McFarland is! Now I better get going so that I can pack for a few days at my parents' house in Portage. We have a PBIS Leadership conference at the Kalahari in the Dells for two days- excited to spend some time with my little sister and dog Oliver! Happy Monday!
It is Friday afternoon, and as I type this I can hardly keep my eyes open. It may be because of the long week of meetings and trainings after a month or so of no schedule. Or perhaps it's because my little sister and I ate lunch at Texas Roadhouse and I'm STUFFED. The perks of having a job with an employee discount! Either way, I think I'm going to head home soon. It is Friday after all, and I only have one more left to enjoy!
As the week progressed, I reflected on what it felt like to sit through classes from junior high, to high school, to college. I remember 45 minute classes in junior high seemed to drag on. And then after the 1.5 hour classes in high school, that was a breeze. And then I started getting into 3 hour classes in college, and longed for them to be 1.5. And now as a professional, I sit through day-long trainings and think 'wow, that day flew by!' I think a lot of it has to do with having more control over what classes I took as time went on, but I also think that time is moving faster the older I get! Anyone else? But in all seriousness, this week has really reinforced my choice in profession. I am confident when I participate in meetings. I feel like I make quality contributions to team/committee discussions. It is funny to look back at where I was a year ago and remember the feeling of dread that I faced as the school year approached. "Can I do this? Can I truly do this? What if I fail? What if this wasn't what I thought it would be like?" Oh, do not worry. Those feelings are gone now. Most of them faded away when I started in Baraboo, but now they are even more of a distant memory as I prepare to become THE counselor at Waubesa. I am not a substitute. I am not sitting in anyone else's office and using anyone else's materials. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of MY students and seeing them grow over the years. That thought crossed my mind the other day- I get to watch my students grow up. I get to see them succeed (hopefully!). I get to see the changes that they make, and possibly the effects that my services have had. Another happy note from this week: I finally found a pathway to present my idea of a Kindness Club or A-OK Club (acts of kindness). SO excited. I feel like that will have a great impact on our children and on our society. We need to provide children with avenues to create kindness, to feel kindness, and to feel the effects of being kind to others. I will keep you updated! It's hard to believe that this is the last week of my summer! Next week I will be back at it with trainings and meetings. I am slowly wrapping up my summer work and preparing for team/committee meetings next week. I feel confident about all of my meetings except for PBIS Tier 1. Still not sure about what the PBIS Kick-Off entails at Waubesa. It probably would've helped if I hadn't lost my notes from the last PBIS meeting that told me who I should be working with and what we need to accomplish. OOPS. Owell, if that means extra work for me before school starts, so be it. If there is one thing I've learned in my 25 years, it is that everything that needs to get done will get done. I might have to put some things off until a later date. I can't do everything my first year, and I've already accepted that! School was a little busier today. Teachers are bustling about and office staff members are continuing the work that was put on hold for a few weeks. I do have to say, my to-do piles have dwindled slightly. I'm taking that as a good sign! I did take some time this afternoon to cross something off of my personal (non-committee related) to-do list: a Toss 'n' Talk Ball! So excited for a fun activity to engage my students! How awesome is that? I would have preferred to recruit someone with neat handwriting, but I don't think I did too bad. As long as my students can read it, right? Along with my new ball, I also got my first Angry Bird and an awesome fidget toy that I had during my long-term sub position in Baraboo.
My Saturday freak-out session resulted in 4 organized piles for my four summer commitments. Plus a few extra piles, go figure. I walked into my office on Monday morning feeling refreshed and EXCITED! I got right to work on planning curriculum for Anger Management groups, per the work order of the district guidance/psychs. Fortunately I was able to find plenty of resources in my office and on the web. I have a finalized Curriculum Overview and a rough draft of a Learning Plan, which are the newly required formats for curriculum that are placed in a district-wide folder on my computer. How crazy is it that my counter-part at the primary school can remote-access my curriculum for an Anger Management group when necessary? Sometimes technology just blows my mind! Oh, and did I mention I purchased some materials from Amazon? Can't wait for the mail to come! I will hopefully be able to finalize my curriculum and activities soon! Today I came in with the intention of getting started on bullying-victim interventions for the Climate and Asset Building Team. But I had to have a little fun first! Last night my friend/roommate Sharyn and I went back to our hometown of Portage for our friend Nicki's birthday dinner. Well, yesterday I got the bright idea of bringing my Cricut back with me and putting it in my office! How awesome! Now, I received my Cricut as a gift from my parents. The sad thing is, I can't even remember when I got it or for what celebration. I'm thinking my 24th birthday, so only a year ago isn't so bad. It has remained in the box and in my parents' basement. How depressing, to not even be able to use a gift for so long! Oh wait, I still have pots and pans from my 21st birthday that haven't been used. The agony of not having my own place... Moving on... After opening my new toy (tool) and checking out how AWESOME the yellow flower design is, I decided it was time to see if it would fit in my file cabinet or not. Fingers were crossed! And alas, it fit! So exciting, isn't it? After putting away my Cricut (sad face), I decided it was time to start researching interventions for students who are victims of bullying. Oh wait- I needed to find some items for my Cricut on Amazon before I could go any further. Fortunately, this segued nicely into searching for intervention resources also. And before I knew it, I had 13 items for $125 in my cart. Oh boy- lots of mail will be coming for me! I am SO excited! Sidenote- I just had to sign for a UPS package because I am the ONLY person here. Happy Saturday, all! I hope this post finds you well! I know as I write it that I am recovering from my mid-night crisis that I had at 2 AM. I came to the realization that summer is flying by, and I still have a mile-long To Do list. As I laid in bed crunching numbers of hours needed and number of hours available, I knew I had to come into school on a Saturday morning just for some piece of mind. And here I am! I have organized my four piles and discovered that I only have a grand total of 20 hours of documented work that I need to get done in the next few weeks. Totally manageable, right? I sure hope so, otherwise I'm in for more Saturday morning work sessions! I do have to say, though, that I have a list of things to complete that isn't even included in my 20 documented hours. Ooftah!
On the bright side, I was really excited to come visit my clean and organized office that I haven't seen since July 1st. And I do have to say, all of my blood, sweat, and tears were worth it! Okay, maybe I only put sweat into it. And time. There is still a lot I want to do with decorating and placement of things, but that will come in time. You can't do everything your first year, right? At least I have my Brewers Shrine all set up! :) Missing in my picture is my hanging Rally Towel and my Bernie Brewer that was given to me by a 5th grade teacher. After many hours (over 25!) of gutting, cleaning, and organizing, I FINALLY feel like the School Counseling office at Waubesa Intermediate School is MY own space! Everything has been gone through, and now I am more familiar with all of the amazing resources that have been added to this office. I cannot wait to use some of the games and books with my students! There is still a little bit that needs to be done, but most of that entails me bringing in my personal resources that I have gathered over the past few years. On the plus side, I have plenty of room for those things! (at least four empty file drawers) The rest of my summer work will be creating posters and items for my white walls, as well creating a door decoration that will help create a warm and welcoming environment for my students. (I'm thinking The Lorax from Dr. Suess.) I can't wait for my students to come back and say how different it looks! I decided to move my computer from the corner of my desk so that 1. my back wasn't directly opposite the door and 2. so I can look outside my gigantic window! Phew- this is such a large weight off of my shoulders. Now maybe I can enjoy my summer! (Who am I kidding- so much summer work left!) |
AuthorMs. Ruhland's tales about life as a school counselor- enjoy! Archives
November 2014
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