No Longer an Intern...

As of this past Saturday I am no longer a student, I graduated with a M.Ed. from North Carolina State University.  This feels quite strange as I have been a student for the past 19 years of my life; I went straight into graduate school after I finished my undergraduate degree.  However, needless to say, I am enjoying the freedom that I have found in the absence of my internship and classes. 

 I will, without a doubt, miss North Carolina State University and Joyner Elementary.  Yet, I have realized that my time at these two places is over.  I have accomplished what I hoped to, changed forever and am now a school counselor (without the intern label).  That is, a school counselor without a job.  So, the tireless job search has begun.  I set fourth on this journey with the confidence that my program at NC State has forever changed me and allowed me to fully believe that I have the ability to grow into the effective school counselor that I want to become.    

One day at a time, one step at a time, one breath at a time everything will fall into place, of this I am sure. 

Blurry picture of me receiving my diploma....yay!

Character Ed Night

Now that I am attempting to become more diligent in my blog keeping and beginning a journey to capture my experiences at Joyner, I will digress to January. Back in January, the students at Joyner were given the opportunity to participate in a night dedicated to character development.  Character Ed Night, a tradition at Joyner, enables students to participate in various services projects at the school for various community agencies.  I had the honor of helping to plan, organize and carryout this monuments event.  This year students...


Crafted musical instruments for the Tammy Lynn Center:

Compile care packages for the Ronald McDonald House:

Assembled bag lunches for the Raleigh Rescue Mission:

Created dog toys for the SPCA:

Put together backpacks for Backpack Buddies:

This event is a fantastic means of encouraging students to reach beyond themselves, to recognize the misfortunes that surround them and the power they have to make an impact on their community.  Young children are not often enabled to understand their own power to make a difference, this event plants that seed.

Not your Mom's Book Club

A “Book Club” as part of a counseling program? Absolutely!  Since the beginning of the year Andrea and I have been running two book clubs, one for 4^th grade and the other for 5^th grade.  The purpose of the groups is to introduce the students to topics which they may be unfamiliar with or topics that may challenge their perspectives.  For instance, this year the 5^th graders have read: Shiloh, So Be It and A Long Walk to Water.  This year the 4^th graders have read Journey to JoBerg, How to Steal a Dog and 11 Birthdays. 

I am currently running the 4^th grade book club and we are just finishing 11 Birthdays.  This book has relevant undertones of friendship conflict depicted through the eyes of 10 and 11 year old children.  The students have been able to relate to the children in the book and the social problems that they are experiencing . It has been my experience that students often readily assume that their problems occur in isolation and that their peers are not experiencing issues akin to theirs. This book, in particular, seems to have given the students reassurance and comfort in the fact that other students experience friendship difficulties and sheds light on the means through which they choose to resolve or address them.

In general, it is our hope that these books have given the students an opportunity to step outside of their world and empathize with other children their age that grow up in circumstances vastly different from what they know.  

 

First Grade Lunchtime Wisdom

For Andrea and myself, each day at Joyner lunchtime looks, feels, smells and sounds vastly different.   This variety is due, in part, to Lunch Bunch.  Most days during the week Andrea and I have lunch scheduled with a student who is then able to bring two friends along.  First grade lunches are often full of laughter and giggles.  Fifth grade lunches are typically calmer, but I use the word “typically” with caution.  Whichever grade the students are in, the lunches are always entertaining and enjoyable.  Students tend to feel comfortable enough to let their hair down in the counseling office, as they should, and thus there personalities thrive.  I have many fond memories and stories related to these lunches.  This is something, among many others, that I intend to keep as part of my future counseling program.

To sum it up, as one 1^st grader said last fall, “It’s so loud in here, I can’t even taste my smarties!”

Minute Meetings...

Throughout January and February, Andrea (my fantastic supervisor at Joyner) and I conducted “Minute Meetings”.  These Minute Meetings consisted of short meetings with each student during which we asked four or five questions.  Questions asked students to reflect on their school year thus far, what they want to be when they grow up, if there are any issues they need to speak with Andrea or myself about, etc.   

As an intern and still fairly new to Joyner, these minute meetings were extremely valuable in terms of getting to know a wide range of students and allowing the students to get to know me...now I just have to remember all of their names!  

Also, as a school counseling technology trainee (Andrea is highly knowledgeable when it comes to all things related to technology and school counseling) I was enlightened as to the endless posibilities of google docs during this experience.  Andrea created a survey through google docs for each of the grade levels.  We then setup shop outside of classrooms, pulled students one-by-one and allowed them to use iPads to answer the survey questions.  Google docs then compiles data by grade level and question, oh the possibilities!  

   

Beach Ball Ice Breaker

When searching for an icebreaker to use with a girls group that I began running a couple of weeks ago, I thought back to a game I played during orientation at Elon University.  Our orientation leader used a regular beach ball, like the one here, and wrote various questions on the surface of the ball.  In our orientation group, we would toss the ball to one another and answer the question that our left thumb landed on when we caught the ball.    

I borrowed this same concept for my group and created a ball with questions ranging in their level of depth.  Questions range from “What do Martians do on Mars?” to “What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever done?”  The girls in my group appeared to thoroughly enjoy getting to know one another using this playful and non-threatening game.  The ball has also become a popular item among students in the counseling office!!

      

Happy School Counseling Week!

When I walked into the school counseling office last Friday afternoon, I was greeted with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  The assistant principal at Joyner, Leslie Taylor, was so gracious to give flowers to Andrea (the school counselor at Joyner) and I in honor of School Counseling Week.  I have been very lucky in many ways to be an intern here at Joyner.  The staff, parents and kids have been absolutely wonderful to me and very supportive!!