Confidentiality Poster

I LOVE my confidentiality poster! I mentioned it in my last post about my 2nd and 3rd grade intro lessons. I wanted to pass on how you can also get one.

This banner came from Vistaprint and is the smallest size (1.7' x 3'). If you wait until they go on sale, you can get a great day on a decent sized, sturdy poster. I like this so much more than just a sheet of paper posted because they are so much easier to see for the kiddos! I frequently point it out to students in my office to remind them the rules in my office. 
The design on mine is a Vistaprint design. Simply choose "Browse Our Designs" and your size and it will take you to the design options. 

I looked under education under the industry category ones and found several that would look great in any counseling office, but any of them would work. Once you pick a design (or upload your own if you'd rather), put in the text you want and order! 

I will warn you, some of the banner styles won't be formatted well for a banner like this one, but there are many that work very well.
Sometimes they mark their small posters down to $5. Those might also work if you are on a tighter budget. Another money saving tip! Google coupon codes for Vistaprint before ordering. You may or may not find one, but if you find a code you can put in at checkout, it can knock some off your bill.

2nd Intro

One of my second grade teachers asked me to do my intro lesson early in her room. She had some sad babies that needed to know me and what my job at their school is! So here is how my 2nd and 3rd grade lessons work:

I start by introducing myself and telling them what my job is. Many of them also did not know what a school counselor does. I use a powerpoint for this one. The kids really enjoy the pictures. I try to make it fun like a game. 


This lesson is also adapted from The Inspired Counselor. The powerpoint has 12 slides with pictures of different parts of my job. This list is based on the list of objects on The Inspired Counselor blog:

• "Finding Nemo ("just keep swimming") [I used Dory]
• Dumbo (great listener)
• puzzle pieces (help put the pieces together)
• heart (care about all of the students)
• Frozen characters ("Let it go!")
• Star (reach for the stars and achieve goals)
• angry birds (anger management)
• happy face (help you be happy to be at school)
• tissue (dry up tears when you're sad)
• Bandaid (help when you're hurting)
• Funny glasses (think about things from a different perspective) [I used a mask]
• eraser (cant change your past mistakes, but I can help you make better decisions next time)
• lock (I keep your secret, unless the secret will hurt you or someone else)"

On the secrets page, I also include a photo of the poster hanging in my office with the limits to confidentiality. 

Check out my post on my confidentiality poster here!

I also include pictures of my office and discuss with the students how to get to my office.. I tell them they can leave me a note or tell their teacher if they need to see me. I finish by telling them that they are never in trouble when coming to my office. Mine is not the office they go to if they are in trouble! 

I finish this lesson with an activity sheet. I use this to determine not only if the students learned anything, but how effective my lesson was in teaching them about my job. The blank where they can say something they want to talk about can help identify students that need to be seen.

A FREE copy of the powerpoint and my lesson plan is available and can be edited to fit the needs of your lesson. The activity sheet is also available as well as a copy for use with older kiddos. Check out my TPT store to snag these!

Intro to Intros!

I started my introduction to the counselor lessons this week. They are off to a great start! The bulk of my lessons won't start until October, but I had some kindergarten teachers ask me to come do a tattling lesson. Once offered to all the kindergarten teachers, of course they were all interested in it. So kindergarten is getting intro lessons early!


For kindergarten, I use one of my favorite kid's books. The Rainbow Fish!

There are all sorts of lessons you could use this book for, but it also works for an introduction to what I do as a counselor. Adapted from The Inspired Counselor, I begin by telling the kids my name and what my job is. I ask them if any of them know what being a school counselor means. Most do not, especially in kindergarten! Then I tell them that's what we will learn about today!
Read The Rainbow Fish to them. I always stop and talk about how unkind Rainbow Fish is to the little blue fish and how sad he is when he has no friends. I ask the kids what happened in the book when I'm finished. Then I ask who helped the Rainbow Fish. Of course the octopus did! I tell them I am like the octopus. I am a helper at their school. I am here to help them so they can do their best learning while at school. Next I do an activity similar to The Inspired Counselor and have eight random students draw a card out of bag with a picture on it. My pictures are very similar to her worksheet for this age. I try to point out that an octopus has eight legs when I tell them about the objects. I ask the students what they think it means. They do have some great ideas! I make sure I explain what each one means. 
I have them touch their nose so I can tell they are listening to hear two very important things about my job. I tell them they are never in trouble coming to see me and tell them the exclusions to confidentiality (in kindergarten language of course). 
We finish with a coloring page. The Inspired Counselor also has a great worksheet/coloring page for K-1, as well as older grades, in her TPT store. Check it out!
Such a fun lesson for little ones! I love her idea about using objects instead of cards. I may do that next year. The kiddos seem to enjoy the lesson and seem to understand the lesson.
I have a FREE copy of the lesson plan completed on the ASCA template for this lesson in my TPT store. Credit given to The Inspired Counselor and ASCA on the lesson plan.

Welcome to the world of elementary school counseling!

Hello! I am a new school counselor working in rural Georgia. Be on the lookout for ideas for lessons, organization, and more!