Finding a little time to relax....

Yesterday, I realized that I just needed to take a moment and regroup. The week has been crazy....we had over a foot of snow here in Juneau which made driving scary and dangerous, many of my 'high needs' kids at work were in crisis, talk of major budget cuts within the district has weighed heavy on the minds of so many of my co-workers, friends and family members have been sick and on Friday I had to take my cat to the vet. I'm sure I could write a sappy country song if I really wanted but instead I decided to head out to the Airport Trail with my dog in order to unwind. It was beautiful out there and as I fought against the chilly wind I found the craziness of the week slowly disappearing.

A sneak peek into my work life....

A fellow school counselor and blogger, Danielle, wrote a "show and tell" blog about her school counseling office and invited others to do the same. I thought this was a great idea and wanted to join in on the fun. I've been having a great time reading her blog and following her on pinterest and facebook. It's been fun sharing ideas with other school counselors who are just as excited and in love with their jobs as I am.

With that said....welcome to my room!

This is my "play" area complete with books, a dollhouse, castle and rice bucket.

This is a resource board for teachers which has information about different types of behaviors and interventions that they can use in the classroom.

Each class comes to my room for 45 minutes once a week. In order to try to manage behaviors every class has a star. Once they earn 5 stars they can have free choice in my room and then they move on to a different colored star.

This is the area of my room where I do most of my teaching. Kids come in and sit on the lines for the lesson then we get up and move around for the activity. In order to save space I do not have any tables or desks set up for the kids. They use clipboards and lay/sit on the floor when we do writing or drawing activities.

My desk...I keep lots of photos on my wall to remind me of how lucky I am to have such great friends and family in my life, a large cup of coffee nearby to give me enough energy to keep up with the kids and a box of tissues on my desk because.... well...because I'm a counselor
 ;-)

Problem solving board. When kids come to talk to me about a problem we often look at the board and I help them choose which solution they'd like to try.

Photo board outside of my classroom. It says "MRCS Eagles are doing great things!". This is where I post all the pictures of our students that have been in the local paper.

This resource board is also outside of my classroom and is intended for teachers and parents. The folders contain  Big Brother/Big Sister applications, a list of activities to do in Juneau, a list of local counselors, homeless information and other community resources. On the right hand side are brochures from Yardsticks which list the average behaviors and milestones children should reach in each grade (K-5).  

Thanks for visiting my counseling room! I hope you have a chance to check out Danielle's blog as well.

Great way to end the week!

Friday couldn't have come soon enough! After a long and exhausting week all I wanted to do was head home and put on some sweats but it was the first Friday of the month and in Juneau we have what's called First Friday or Gallery Walk. It's a day where local artists can display their artwork in some of the downtown stores. It's a great time for Juneauites to meet up with their friends, check out the artwork downtown and catch up over appetizers and drinks.

Last night our adventure took us to one of my favorite stores in Juneau (Trove) where we saw a few  of my students from school. One of the students was excited to show off her new Parrot and let me hold him. After that we headed to the Hangar for some appetizers and drinks. It was a great way to end the week and kick off the weekend!

Polar Bear Dip ~2012~

Today, Jody, Molly and I decided to do the Polar Bear Dip along with about 100 other Juneauites. It was our first time but apparently the tradition has been going on for 20 years.

It wasn't as cold as we thought it was going to be but it was still pretty darn cold!

 

I think I might have to make this a yearly tradition- who's joining me next year??! Happy 2012!!

Happy 2012!

Lately, we have spent a lot of time talking about how fortunate we are in every aspect of our lives....we have great jobs, wonderful friends, a supportive and loving family and we count our blessings every day. 2011 brought with it many tragic events for the world, our community and a few of our closest friends. However, it also brought us closer to the ones we love, reminded us to live every day to the fullest and to appreciate the people in our lives.
We look forward to a new year that is full of love and happiness. Happy 2012!!