I am NOT a Guidance Counselor. I AM a School Counselor.

What's the difference? A Guidance Counselor is a term from the dark ages of school counseling. A Guidance Counselor is a person who had little training in the role of a counselor. Their job duties included "guiding" students in their college applications and high school course selection. A lot has changed in the field of counseling and the modern School Counselor has a Master's Degree specific to School Counseling. School counselors must be able to handle a wide variety of counseling issues, from suicide and ideation, grief, LGBT, cutting, absenteeism, social skills, relational aggression, technology, academic, career, giftedness, special education, group dynamics, and family relationships. School Counselors also develop a comprehensive school counseling program that focuses on 3 domains set forth by the American School Counselor Association. Those skill sets include Personal/Academic Development, Career and Decision-Making Skills, and Interpersonal Skills. Professional School Counselors develop lesson plans aligned to the common core and present on a wide range of topics. At the high school level, college planning and course selection, are a major focus of the job, but fall within these categories. At the middle and elementary levels, the focus shifts slightly. Issues regarding bullying, interpersonal skills, and academic success are the predominate areas of support, coupled with promoting a culture where all students are career and college ready.

Lunch Bunch is continuing to work on friendship lessons, learning bullying statistics, and creating our own Mean Stinks video. Recently kids finished an affirmation book, where each LBer wrote something nice about each of their peers, which was then compiled into a book for each student.

See the video below to take a look at what has happened over the past year.

Ernest Hemingway has said that he wrote his best piece of work in just 6 words. "For Sale: Baby shoes. Never worn." After discussion the possible meanings of what Hemingway meant, the 6th grade girls' Lunch Bunch were asked to write their own memoir in just 6 short words. After their first round of writing (which included memoirs like, "I really Heart this green squeaky frog.") the girls talked about the legacy they would leave behind. What did they want others to know about them, and how were they going to define themselves.

The girls did an excellent job with this project. In fact, many wrote more than one memoir. You can see their project via Haiku Deck below. In Fact, the girls did such a great job with this project that even Haiku Deck took notice and their slideshow is in their gallery of Most Popular Decks! Congrats girls!

I know that a lot of middle school students are interested in joining, if not already a member of many social media sites. While technology is growing in leaps and bounds of being able to connect people who share similar interests, talents, and learning opportunities it has great potential for pushing us beyond our own expectations and boundaries. It is these boundaries, however, that we must protect. Twitter, Instagram,YouTube, Pinterest, Instant Messenger and Facebook are just a few examples of the many sites out there that attract young people. As a parent it is important to talk to our children about Social Awareness. Many colleges, universities, and employers often look at social media sites when reviewing applications. For employers, there is a certain credibility for applicants to be using social media, but it must be used correctly. Informing teens about digital imprinting is important. Teens need to know that as they use online communications they are leaving traceable trails leading to themselves. It is important for kids to know never to share their passwords with anyone else, to block and report anyone who sends them inappropriate communications, and to remember not to believe everything that they read online. Having a social media contract and setting parental controls on your internet helps to send the message to children about the dangers and impact of their actions on these social sites.

For more information check out these sites:

• OnguardOnline.gov (which includes a guide for adults called Net Cetera: Chatting With Kids About Being Online)
• WiredSafety.org
• TRUSTe.org
• ConnectSafely.org
• NetSmartz.org