Year 1 In Quotes

I made it! First year as an elementary school counselor in multiple buildings is COMPLETE! Well, the kids are done, anyways. :) 

Many of the great educators in my life frequently utilize quotes.  Over the past year, I have also made frequent attempts to incorporate them into my daily work with students. In fact, I've been tossing around the idea of adding a "Quote of the Week" with our normal "Word of the Week" next year. Wheels are turning...

Needless to say, I decided to do a little self-reflection on the past school year. With quotes as my inspiration!

1. 

I learned this pretty darn quick. We have ~8 hours a day to show these kids that someone cares. 

This can be as simple as a hug or a "What's new with you?"

2. 

Coming into a district that didn't have elementary school counselors for a very long time, teaching students the concept of empathy was high on my priority list. I even plastered reminders around the school using templates such as this one, courtesy of School Counselor Blog. 

 3.

Who are we kidding? There are days where we have 567 other things on our minds, or days that we would have loved to stay curled up in bed for a few more hours. This quote served as my reminder to be completely, 100% present with every student, group, teacher, etc. that I encountered...

4.

We learned this in probably every counseling course we ever had. However, what a great reminder! Our job is to be there for our students in need. To listen, to comfort, to motivate, and again, empathize. One of my fellow 1st year teachers had a similar end-of-the-year reflection: "I wasn't aware that we'd also be a parent, counselor, nurse, podiatrist, etc, etc...." :)

5. 

Again with the A.M. motivation. Are there mornings where we want to just do the messy bun and glasses? Absolutely. 

But when we look better, we feel better, and we're more ready to fulfill Quote #3.

6. 

There were several instances this year where I was so hard on myself because a lesson could have gone better, or I thought of a prompt for a student 25 minutes after our session. Ugh. This quote reminded me that I'm only human, and that future success isn't possible without beginner's blunders. 

7. 

This immediately makes me think of working with parents. One of my biggest fears entering into this job was encountering an irate parent and clamming up. However, it didn't end up to be so bad. Did those parents call/stop in? Definitely. And some really did know what they were talking about! But this quote reminds me to remain calm, and if all else fails-kill 'em with kindness :)

8. 

I love this one. This really weighed on me this year due to having three buildings of students. I constantly wanted to attend to every student need that was brought to my attention...which made me feel like I was constantly doggy-paddling. I'm going to focus on the optimist perspective next year.  

9. 

There are there lots of other things I'd love to "give" my students to "fix" things for them & ensure they have all they need to succeed and thrive. But realistically, these are the important things that we can "give", and for very little cost.

10. 

This should be our end-of-the-day checklist. With data to prove it, of course. :)

11.

I was inspired every day this year! Wish they knew this! 

Hope everyone had a great 2013-2014 school year. 

I am so thankful for a great first year in the most wonderful profession.

I encourage you to utilize quotes to inspire your school counseling practice!