Tag: teaching

Counsellor Talk : Connecting Through Creative Counselling Techniques

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It has been a process, to say the least in creating this book, but we are so happy it is here. So much learning as we did not hire anyone to help us. We look forward to sharing Counsellor Talk with you and are so grateful for all the input from others.

We believe our book is real and relatable, and we hope it will be truly inspiring. We invite you to explore a multitude of ideas that we hope will get your creative juices flowing.

Get ready to embark on a journey where we will share several tips, tools, and techniques to empower you in finding your path, and discovering what works best for you and your clients.

As psychologists, we understand the power of connection. The therapeutic alliance is the foundation upon which healing is built, the glue that binds us together in our shared humanity. In “Counsellor Talk,” we’re offering you the tools to deepen those connections, breathe new life into your practice, and embark on a journey where healing isn’t just a destination. You will use many of the ideas as jumping-off points to meet the needs of your particular clientele.

So, grab your favorite mug, brew a cup of your preferred beverage, (we prefer a cup of calming tea), and settle in. Let’s explore together, heart to heart. We hope you will rediscover the magic of counselling, not as a clinical exercise, but as an art— a place where ideas flow to meet the needs of those entrusted to your care. 

Throughout “Counsellor Talk,” you’ll find practical tips, creative exercises, handouts, and ways to integrate technology into your practice. From mindfulness techniques to expressive tools via the arts, from narrative therapy to using technological tools —we’re here to help you expand your toolkit, inspire you to think outside the box and embolden you to make a real difference in the lives of those you serve.

 “Counsellor Talk” isn’t just about the nuts and bolts of counselling—it’s about the heart and soul behind the practice. It’s about rediscovering the joy in your work and rekindling the passion for helping others which is the first thing that drew you to this field.

What inspired us to write “Counsellor Talk” was you—the counsellors, the school counsellors, the therapists, and the healers who devote their lives to helping others. This book has been over 30 years in the making, but life got in the way. So here we are finally sharing some of our ideas and inspiration with you by never giving up our goal and publishing our first book. The journey continues as we go on the road to support you with in-depth workshops based on our book Counsellor Talk.

As two psychologists with over 60 years of combined counselling experience, we wish to inspire the next generation of counsellors as well as rejuvenate those seasoned professionals.

In writing this book we hope to pass on our passion and love of counselling. It has been the best part of our professional lives.

AI and You: The Journey Is Just Beginning

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Are you ready to embark on a journey of discovery and exploration into the exciting world of AI? Whether you’re a visionary who dreams of what’s possible or a pragmatic problem-solver who likes to get their hands dirty, there’s a place for you in the AI revolution and in our mini MOOC.

As we navigate the ever-evolving landscape of technology, it’s important that we keep humanity at the forefront of our conversations. After all, the decisions we make today about AI will have a profound impact on the future of our children and grandchildren.

That’s why we invite you to join us in #ETMOOC2, where we’ll dive deeper into the complexities of AI and its intersection with our lives. This mini MOOC is a unique opportunity to engage with peers from around the world, share ideas, ask questions, and learn from each other.

You may just be starting to think about AI and its impact on you and the world. Wherever you are on this journey we’d like to have you join us.

So what are you waiting for? Register now for #ETMOOC2 and join the conversation about artificial intelligence and you. Let’s work together to create a future where AI serves the best interests of humanity.

Open Educational Resources for Educators and More

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“Education is inherently an enterprise of openness and sharing and generosity.”

– David Wiley

Sarah Weston – Director of Instruction & Technology – Mountain Heights Academy

sweston@mountainheightsacademy.org

License: Mountain Heights Academy: Sarah Weston Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International  Adapted by Susan Spellman Cann @sspellman cann

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

OER Basics just for you Cue 16 OER for Teachers

Counselling

OER Resources

  • Curriki includes thousands of OER materials vetted by educators and searchable by subject, grade level, and learning standard.
  • EDSITEment features OER materials for the humanities.
  • Edmodo.com use the spotlight feature
  • Gooru.org lesson plans and more. You can find full courses that can be downloaded.
  • OER Commons includes a vast collection of OER materials searchable by subject, grade level, and learning standard.
  • ShareMyLesson includes a host of “open” lesson plans.
  • Smithsonian Learning Lab features more than a million images, recordings, and texts that can be reused, shared, or adapted.

Teaching

Open Educational Resources publishing an open textbook

OER Passport

OER How To Courses

OER Content Resources

OER Building Resources

Other OER Resources

Math

  • Algebrahelp.com is a collection of lessons, calculators, and worksheets created to assist students and teachers of algebra. Algebra Help – Calculators, Lessons, and Worksheets
  • BrainNook is a new online game that helps kids develop Math and English skills while exploring the Earth and playing safely with others. brain nook
  • Calculus: A Comedy, is an awesome post from a great teacher and blogger, Shawn Cornally.Shawn Cornally
  • Construction of a Golden Rectangle using SketchUp digital photography
  • Digital Photography Resource Digital photography 
  • Estimation 180 daily estimation challenges
  • GeoGebra  is a resource for teachers GeoGebra has loads of lessons and sample videos using GeoGebra.
  • Glean search for quality math and science videos on this site.
  • Graphing Calculator Desmos graphing calculator
  • Illuminations is designed to provide standards-based resources that improve the teaching and learning of mathematics NCTM illuminations
  • Math games, lessons, practice, puzzles, books (Geometry, algebra, pre-calculus) Cool Math
  • Math nrich Lots and lots of math resources from this publisher’s site (many middle and elementary resources as well)
  • Math Munch an amazing blog with new math connections, ideas, and activities daily. Inspiring love of math.
  • MPCC: Math   Open Minnesota Math Course Collection
  • Mathematics Vision Project (MVP) Mathematics Vision Project
  • NLVM The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (NLVM) is an NSF supported project with web-based virtual manipulatives or concept tutorials, mostly in the form of Java applets, for mathematics instruction (K-12 emphasis).
  • SketchUp Sketchup
  • The Federal Government produces an immeasurable amount of data each day. DataMasher helps citizens have a little fun with that data by creating mashups to visualize them in different ways and see how states compare on important issues. Agen SBOBET
  • Visual Patterns What is the next step? Here’s step 43…what is the equation?
  • Would You Rather? “Would you Rather?” daily math challenges…usually money related.

Language Arts

  • A teacher’s guide to genius This educator version of an otherwise possibly inappropriate site may be more higher-ed appropriate…but the ability to annotate texts digitally, including already hyper annotated texts like Shakespeare’s plays and The Great Gatsby are worth checking out, if only as a teacher resource!  
  • Become a writer with Storybird Storybird Example: the power of friendship
  • Breaking News English is a free current events based lesson builder. New lesson every three days. All lessons are based on stories currently in the news – as the world’s news breaks, teach it.Breaking News English
  • Book track classroom listen to or create the soundtrack for your favorite books!
  • Create tag clouds Word Art Tagul
  • Dictionary, word of the day, etc .Merriam Webster
  • eeiioo Very highly rated grammar app with a modern diagramming feel. 
  • Fluency Tutor many leveled passages, students record and download. Teachers can then complete running records from recordings. Free for basic functions. Premium includes online analytics and online running record support.
  • Get a single word and 59 seconds to free write...quick and creative? http://oneword.com/
  • Google trips Literature resource using Google Maps:  google trips 
  • Great site for emphasizing detail and complex sentences. Create expanding sentences: http://www.telescopictext.org/write/ and see a sample of a finished product here:Telescopic Text
  • Hemingway Editor Amazing writing review program…have students review their work here first?
  • Level It Books scans a book’s ISBN number and gets the reading/lexile level.
  • Loyal Books makes the world’s public domain audiobooks available for browsing in a visual and entertaining way./Loyal Books
  • Multi Language dictionary Elovivo
  • Primary Source Sets | DPLA Primary source sets from the Digital Public Library of America. Super resources curated by literary work, date, topic, and more.
  • The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience.Poetry Foundation  
  • VoiceThread Voice Thread

Social Studies

  • Atlapedia Online contains full color physical maps, political maps as well as key facts and statistics on countries of the world. Atlapedia Online
  • American Battlefield Trust from a rather generic looking opening page, dig deeper to find free BattleApps for your iphone or android device, 4 minute videos on specific topics (in4), animated maps and more.
  • Ancient Egypt reference from The British Museum Ancient Egypt
  • Awesome Stories is a gathering place of primary-source information. Its purpose is to help educators and individuals find original sources, located at national archives, libraries, universities, museums, historical societies and government-created web sites. Awesome Stories
  • Bomb Sight an amazing view of the Blitzkrieg in London.
  • Digital Vaults Create a movie or poster using the National Archives Digital Vaults. 
  • DPLA Primary Source Sets | DPLA Primary source sets from the Digital Public Library of America. Super resources curated by date, topic, and more.
  • Earth Cam provides webcam content, technology and services EarthCam
  • Games, videos, animals & pets, photos, countriesNational Geographic Kids
  • Google Arts & Culture The Google Cultural Institute includes amazing exhibits from museums re: history, art, and world wonders. Teacher tools are available.
  • Hip Hughes History includes brief, fun, explanatory vids re: government, us history, world history, civics and more. Hughes History Youtube Check the 30 second bill of rights here: The Bill of Rights — How to Remember the Amendments in 30 Seconds 
  • History Animated History Animated: excellent narrated, animated maps and vids.
  • Ken Burns (PBS) Ken Burns PBS
  • Measuring Worth lots of economic tools and resources on comparing the worth of a dollar or pound (or a few other currencies) over extended periods of time, as well as many other tools and data sets.
  • Mission US Mission US…a story-based interactive game about various aspects of US history.
  • Overlap Maps overlay a country, state, or body of water over another to compare sizes.
  • OER Project
  • PBS Teachers PBS learning media
  • The Library of Congress American Memory
  • The Library of Congress Library of Congress
  • The National Archives – DocsTeach DocsTeach

Science

  • An online, interactive Periodic Table of Elements Chemical Elements
  • Another Periodic Table Ptable
  • Biology Pop amazing resources for biology teachers.
  • ClassroomEarth is an online resource designed to help high school teachers include environmental content in their daily lesson plans.Classroom Earth
  • Computer animations of physical processes Physics Animations
  • CyberSurgeons simulation provides an authentic way for high school and college students to apply science knowledge and skills.Cyber Surgeons
  • EarthSky has science interviews and other audio and video content available via both broadcast and Internet outlets.EarthSky
  • Edufy provides a free platform to find, share, and edit high quality learning activities shared by other teachers with a focus on STEM education.Edufy
  • eSkeletons Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin.
  • Glean search for quality math and science videos on this site.
  • Human Biodigital interactive, 3D anatomy tool with great graphics
  • JVSC  Japanese Science and Technology Center includes some incredible video lessons in several areas, including the “Mind Lab” on perception, the “Earth Guide” regarding planetary science and geography, and “The Human Genome.”
  • Knotebooks provides users with the tools to create, collaborate on and share customized, self-guided physics lessons. Knotebooks
  • MIT A Slower Speed of Light – MIT Game Lab MIT online physics game which illustrates conceptually challenging physics and math concepts.
  • Nanospace Molecularium The Molecularium: view, learn, and play with many different activities, molecular explorations, and more.
  • NASA Kids Club NASA kids club games
  • Nature Lab Conservation game and many other resources from the Nature Conservancy
  • Rocket Science 101 (also apple and android apps available) NASA external flash 
  • Scientific Research Publishing Scientific Research: amazing resource for vetted research and access to many journals. Robust Android and Apple apps are also available.
  • Shatters The free space simulation that lets you explore our universe in three dimensions. Celestia runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. Shatters
  • Smithsonian Science Education Center | Smithsonian Science Education Center (great interactivities and more!)
  • Stellarium Full-featured astronomy application for all platforms – MacOS, Windows, Linus, plus mobile devices
  • What is fat? – George Zaidan | TED-Ed Ted Ed lesson: What is Fat?
  • Who Pooped Funny but surprisingly informational game about scat…”On the Farm”, or “In Africa.”
  • Youtube The Periodic Table of Videos Periodic Videos provides amazing slow motion science videos, and many other unique YouTube located chemistry resources.

ELL and World Languages

Music and Art

CTE

Multiple Subjects

High School and College level

  • Book on pressbooks Teaching In A Digital World 3rd edition
  • CosmoLearning has tons of courses, vids, images, units and more, all available online for free Cosmo Learning
  • Connexions open source content chunks for HS and college courses.CNX 
  • Merlot, open source content resources, geared to university level courses. Could easily be used by higher level HS courses. MERLOT
  • MIT Open Courseware for High School MIT high school
  • MOOCS Coursera: Coursera , edX: EDX moocs Udacity: Udacity, Udemy: Udemy
  • Open Courseware Consortium. Another open source course resource. Again geared to College/upper high school.OCW
  • OpenLearn is the Open University…free college level courses Open Learning
  • Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University: Independent Learning  Course
  • Open Source College Textbooks.Open textbooks
  • OpenStax resource for open source college level textbooks
  • Open Yale courses Open Yale Courses
  • P2PU College level course content P2PU
  • Saylor Academy has free and open college level courses.
  • Tufts Open Courseware Tufts

Middle /High School

  • CK-12 CK-12 Foundation: Exceptionally well organized and usable. Free standards-aligned and customizable educational resources. This non-profit foundation is an amazing place to start your search for open source content.
  • Curriki has f2f and online lessons and lesson plans for k-12 Curriki
  • Debategraph: visual maps on nearly any debate topic. Public, constantly growing perspectives on hundreds of topics.Debate Graph
  • Discovery Streaming: Discovery Channel content available online.Discovery ed
  • Khan Academy has a VAST collection of video lessons, practice sessions, and review activities covering math from basic addition to advanced calculus. Also includes some additional subjects.Khan Academy
  • Open Culture has just a ton of material (courses, books, movies, lessons) that is freely available for educators 1700 free online courses
  • Opened IO catalog of educational videos, games, and assessments that you can browse by topic, grade level, or Common Core standard. 
  • Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards Aligned System Portal: Karpeles documents with e-reader, lessons, PhET simulations, and much more, aligned to the PA Common Core standardsStandards Aligned System

Elementary Level

  • ABCYa.com Educational Computer Games for kids. Amazing volume of resources for each grade level, in multiple subjects. Don’t miss the animation program!ABC ya
  • Audio and video storybooks, activities, karaoke, and much, much more for elementary students.   Learn with Homer
  • Curriki has f2f and online lesson plans for k-12 Curriki
  • FluencyTutor many leveled passages, students record and download. Teachers can then complete running records from recordings. Free for basic functions. Premium includes online analytics and online running record support.
  • K-2 Student Interactives – UEN and 3-6 interactives Utah Education Network: lots and lots of resources and interactives.
  • Kinetic City from the American Association for the Advancement of Science provides games, activities, challenges geared to elementary students.Kinetic City
  • Opened IO catalog of educational videos, games, and assessments that you can browse by topic, grade level, or Common Core standard. 
  • Planet Nutshell Short video resources in Math, Science, Net Safety, and more. For Teachers – Planet Nutshell 
  • Teacher LED Whiteboard/ipad resources for elementary and middle school. Mostly math. Some primary letter/number material.Teacher led

200 Educational Resources

Research

Determining if a Resource is OER, Creative Commons Licensed, or Public Domain

  1. Look for the Creative Commons button somewhere on the page,
  2. Look for a link to the Creative Commons website in the page’s source code (in Firefox do CTRL-U to show the source code and CTRL-F to bring up the “find” dialog – you’re looking for a link that includes the creative commons  domain and the phrase ‘rel=”license”‘), or
  3. Look around the website for the copyright or terms of use statement (hopefully this will include Creative Commons or the public domain), or
  4. If worst comes to worst, find contact info for the author and email them to ask about how the content is licensed
  5. Use the Public Domain Calculator to determine if a piece of work is in the Public Domain

Please be aware that if no copyright information is given on a resource, it is still copyrighted.  You cannot cut/paste/copy material from websites and use it on our courses unless it is OER, Creative Commons licensed, Public Domain.  If a resource is copyrighted, you can always link to it.  Linking externally to materials does not violate copyright.

Attributing Resources

All current CC licenses require that you attribute the original author(s). If the copyright holder has not specified any particular way to attribute them, this does not mean that you do not have to give attribution. It simply means that you will have to give attribution to the best of your ability with the information you do have. Generally speaking, this implies five things:

  • If the work itself contains any copyright notices placed there by the copyright holder, you must leave those notices intact, or reproduce them in a way that is reasonable to the medium in which you are re-publishing the work.
  • Cite the author’s name, screen name, user identification, etc. If you are publishing on the Internet, it is nice to link that name to the person’s profile page, if such a page exists.
  • Cite the work’s title or name, if such a thing exists. If you are publishing on the Internet, it is nice to link the name or title directly to the original work.
  • Cite the specific CC license the work is under. If you are publishing on the Internet, it is nice if the license citation links to the license on the CC website.
  • If you are making a derivative word or adaptation, in addition to the above, you need to identify that your work is a derivative work i.e., “This is a Finnish translation of the [original work] by [author].” or “Screenplay based on [original work] by [author].”

In the case where a copyright holder does choose to specify the manner of attribution, in addition to the requirement of leaving intact existing copyright notices, they are only able to require certain things. Namely:

  • They may require that you attribute the work to a certain name, pseudonym or even an organization of some sort.
  • They may require you to associate/provide a certain URL (web address) for the work.

If the resource is in the public domain, please include at attribution at the bottom of the page that specifies the URL the item was pulled from and “Public Domain”

Examples of Attributions

Example 1

Attribution: Egyptian Architecture Egyptian Architecture – Karen’s Whimsy in the Public Domain

Example 2

Saint Marie-Bernarde Soubirous (born Maria-Bernada Sobirós; 7 January 1844 – 16 April 1879), was a miller’s daughter born in Lourdes. From 11 February to 16 July 1858, she reported 18 apparitions of “a small young lady.” Despite initial skepticism from the Catholic Church, these claims were eventually declared to be worthy of belief after a canonical investigation, and the apparition is known as Our Lady of Lourdes. 

Attribution:  Bernadette Soubirous – Wikipedia.  Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.

Example 3

The Big Idea

The universe has many remarkable qualities, among them a rather beautiful symmetry: the total amount of motion in the universe is constant. This law only makes sense if we measure “motion” in a specific way: as the product of mass and velocity. This product, called momentum, can be transferred from one object to another in a collision. The rapidity with which momentum is exchanged over time is determined by the forces involved in the collision. This is the second of the five fundamental conservation laws in physics. The other four are conservation of energy, angular momentum, charge and CPT. (See Feynman’s Diagrams for an explanation of CPT.)

Key Equations and Definitions

Attribution:  ck12 People’s Physics Book, James H. Dahn CC-BY-SA 3.0

Lessons for A New School Counsellor

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IMG_3759

What do I believe are some important lessons for a new School Counsellor to be aware of ? These lessons will not be in order of importance, but are all lessons I feel are worthwhile for you .

Lesson #1: We can’t help everyone, but we can sure try to help the ones that come to us or are referred to us (and yes sometimes we need to go to them).

Students will often disclose very serious issues that you as School Counsellors need to address. Sometimes when you disclose to parents that their son or daughter is thinking of suicide or some other life threatening concern (the end result might be the student may never return to see you). Hopefully you have connected the student and their family to resources that can improve and indeed in some cases save their lives.

It is important for you the new school counsellor to not get discouraged if a student does not return to see you (don’t personalize it). You may have helped the students tremendously and yes indeed you may even save their life,  but they will be unaware of just how at this present time in their life. Know that students have stopped me in stores and other places years later to let me know what a difference I made. So hang in there knowing that you did what you needed to do. It would be great to help all students , but unfortunately even if you do everything correct sometimes we lose a student and this will be absoltely devastating. So make sure you always debrief and get help for yourself.

It is also important to be self-aware, so always run by big concerns with another counsellor and see if indeed there was something else you could have done or ask what if anything could you have done differently. Remind yourself that you are in a process of learning.

Consult… consult… consult… a lifelong lesson for ALL School Counsellors.

It is also OK to recognize that you are NOT a match for every student. Hopefully there are other counsellors in your school or outside agencies that you can refer your student to if this happens. I let students know that they have a choice when it comes to counsellors and they need to see the person they feel most comfortable and safe with. Hopefully, that will be you , but if that is not so that is OK too.

Lesson # 2: We need to base what we do on theoretical perspectives that are useful and helpful. Humanists like Carl Rogers and Victor Frankl have impacted me, but so too have others in the field of psychology like Albert Ellis, Irvin Yalom, Fritz Perls, Ed Jacobs, David Burns, Virginia Satir, Donald Meichenbaum, Claudia Black

and Mary Pipher to name a few. There is no one right approach. You need to discover what you believe and make sure the theories work for you and your students.

Each theorist has impacted the way I interact and help students. Along the way I have also worked with some amazing school counsellors , educators and supervisors who have also influenced me in a positive way. Thanks especially to Ed Jacobs, Diane Williams, Deana Helton , Erin Mason , and Helen MacKinnon.

Lesson #3: Find great mentors and learn from them. One of my all time favorites is Ed Jacobs. Ed is a genuinely helpful man as well as being a great therapist. I love how he interacts and works with young and old people alike and makes a positive difference in the lives of others. Check him out on YouTube here:

 

Lesson #4: There are so many people and resources you can learn from that can impact students in a positive way. I think Leo Buscaglia  has the best lessons that can be used in counselling students. I can honestly say I loved Leo . He was and still is an inspiration to me. Which brings me to an extremely important lesson … lesson #5

Lesson #5: Continually professionally develop yourself. Keep learning and learning and learning. One of my new favorite ways to do this is to connect with other school counsellors worldwide on twitter. See my past post on amazing school counsellors and what they are doing. My twitter handle is @sspellmancann. If you are not on twitter sign up TODAY! Join us in #scchat on the first Wed. of every month at 6:30 MT 8:30 ET. Post to #scchat anytime and there is always great resources there for you to access for free.

Lesson #6: Read great counselling books . A few I really like are : Impact Therapy by Ed. Jacobs, Creative Counselling Techniques by Ed. Jacobs, Group Counseling Strategies and Skills Jacobs, Masson, Harvill, Letters To A Young Therapist Mary Pipher, The Gift of Therapy  Irvin Yalom, and Mans Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl.

As I think about the lessons I believe a new counsellor should be thinking about I realize that there are some practical considerations that a new counsellor might want to implement. Here are a few:

What are some basics that could be helpful to you as a new school counsellor? 

  • Write an introduction letter to parents letting them know who you are and what you do and post it on the school counselling and school website. (If  by chance your school does not have a website design a letter introducing yourself and put it in the school newsletter ( put it in the newsletter anyway.Tweet this out to students on the school twitter account and post it to the school Facebook account.
  • If you engage on social media please remember that NOTHING is PRIVATE ( even if you think it is ).  Digital citizenship is a lesson we all need to learn.
  • Introduce yourself to as many teachers as you possibly can. In a large school, this will take time.
  • Plan to meet with your administration team at THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR and least once a month. Celebrate what you do and how you are doing. Discuss what the expectations are of a Comprehensive School Counselling Plan and how you can work together to accomplish this.
  • Counsellors and admin should be joint leaders in any school.
  • Show initiative. Everyone in a school will benefit. If you have some great ideas don’t be afraid to share or try out your ideas.
  • Discuss limits of confidentiality with every student. You might want to put a poster of the limits on your office wall.
  • Visually make your office a space students want to be in.
  • Develop a monthly calendar of things to do and check off when you complete them.
  • Have a plan when meeting new students.  It is helpful to get a cell phone number so that you can follow-up.
  • It might be helpful to keep a notebook of all the things you need to know especially if you are in a new school or counselling a new age group.
  • You will want to find a simple and easy way to curate information. I use livebinders and pinterest. They can be extremely helpful tools for new counsellors as well as those that have been around for a while.
  • You need to be a positive PR person for the school counseling program , so find many ways to connect with students. Brainstorm with your colleagues ways to make connections with students so that they know who you are and what you do.
  • Connect with parents. Let them know through parent council or other means what you do.
  • Ask for help. You are not expected to know everything. Utilize the professionals inside and outside of your building for support.
  • Learn as you go about the many community resources that are available and put them in a binder or livebinder.
  • Don’t be afraid to share your innovative or creative ideas with your counselling team ( if you have one). They and you will benefit!
  • BALANCE we all benefit from taking care of ourselves. Don’t burn yourself out in the first year. Practice self-care.
  • You have a big learning curve. BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF.

I am adding one of my live binders called school counsellor resources. Please as in all my livebinders  take what you like and leave the rest.

For all of you who are new to school counselling have a wonderful experience and know that what you do absolutely matters.

My next Lessons for a new School Counsellor will be posted soon.

Welcome to the best profession in the world School Counselling.

Reality #IMMOOC

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I love #IMMOOC and all the learning and connections in it, but keeping up isn’t easy in a MOOC and it is not supposed to be. The reality of everyday life kicks in. School gets busy, family responsibilities and life gets busy especially in the fall. We are all back to reality.

The nice thing about a MOOC is you can take what you like , do what you like , connect with people that you like ,when you like, how you like.

There are no failures!!!! Learning for the sake of learning is your option … without guilt.

I am grateful that I can particpate on voxer because it suits me to check in anytime from anywhere.

I also like that I can choose when to respond and where to respond and that I don’t have to do it all ( although I am tempted to want to ). So step into the reality and enjoy the learning along the way. If you learn 1 new thing or 100 new things it does not matter. Enjoy the process.

My goals:

  • Connect and share on voxer .
  • Read at least two blog posts and make comments.
  • Join in the live sessions as much as possible.
  • Blog once a week.
  • Put into practice somethings I have learned at work.
  • Follow the twitter and facebook feeds and learn from the posts.

Thanks to all for sharing . I especially love the live posting on twitter. Voxer peeps you rock , love all the learning. Amazing job Emily Clare @EClare_AHS for organizing and keeping the learning going.

Reality : No matter how much or how little you do in #IMMOOC  … YOU MATTER … YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE . You are taking the time out of your life as an educator and person to learn and help others knowing in the end that you will help students … How great is that?

For any of you who are School Counsellors , I know that this week you may have saved a students life that is your reality … so thanks just in case no one has noticed .

Enjoy your reality …

There Is An Artist In All Of Us

Published on by SSpellmanCann2 Comments

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Five years ago I did not paint and now thanks to great friends and my experiences in ETMOOC  , I have more confidence and find it one of the most rewarding , therapeutic experiences that I can imagine. I take mini courses and I watch lots of youtube videos to get tips. It is so much fun.

I have keratoconus a progressive eye disease, ( I was diagnosed later in life ) so I think partly that diagnosis has driven me to create visually in case my vision ever gets really poor. Painting is therapeutic and healing for me. I have played sports all my life and I absolutely love to read,  both which can bring me flow , but nothing brings me the kind of flow that painting does.

Painting brings me flow the kind of flow that was discovered by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.  Fifteen hours can feel like five minutes for me. I love that it brings me joy and that I am completely absorbed in the process. It is fun and easy and yes I think anyone  can benefit from art and painting.  If I can you can too.

 

I plan on using the painting that I did above,  thanks to the online instructions from theArtSherpa ( see below) with our students. Art and Counselling definitely go together . Paintings tell stories often times with hidden messages.

Process for students:

Today we are going to embark on a journey of letting go of any negativity and go with the flow. For the next two hours you are not allowed to say to yourself I can’t . If you hear yourself speaking those words take your note pad and write I can … I will.

So let’s begin this process by being mindful and breathing. Lead students through a short mindfulness process to begin. Let them know that they are going to create a special painting today and that there are no mistakes. They can create their trees and painting anyway they like even if it is different from the paining they see. Like mine birch trees do not produce multi coloured leaves , but I did just because I wanted to visually and I  love the effect.  This seminar is about being yourself and letting go.

If they would like to follow the step by step instructions here they are:

  1. Write messages of hope and their dreams for their future in pencil on their canvas.
  2. Ask students if anyone would like to share their hopes and dreams with others.
  3. The size of canvas it up to the student. Have students bring the size of canvas they want to work on.
  4. Divide your canvas into six equal sections. They don’t have to be exact and you don’t have to measure them. Tell students they can estimate.  So begin by saying Today we are going to create . We are going to start by painting a rainbow with trees, you can use any method you like to paint your colors on your canvas. I used upwards stokes, but really any would work. Start with red, orange , yellow, greens,  blue and purple.
  5. Guide students through the process being as creative as you like in explaining what they can do next. Constantly remind them it is ok to make mistakes ( really there are no mistakes, but they may perceive them as such). Remind them that their perceived mistakes lead to more creativity and it is ok to be as creative as they wish going with the flow and what their heart wants to paint.
  6. Trees can be very symbolic and you can discuss this with students.Trees are strong and unique just like each of them. Birch trees can mean new beginnings. You can discuss with students what they believe their trees mean for them. I chose nine trees, but they can choose any number that means something to them. I also chose to add flowers and really birch trees have no colorful flowers, but I like the effect. The lovely thing when you create art just for the sake of it is that there is no right or wrong . There are no mistakes. It just is … creative , how wonderful and freeing.
  7. The rest of the directions are below in the video. You can watch and create your own instructions.
  8. Most importantly have fun and trust the process.

Check out the video below for detailed instructions:

If you decide to do this process with your students , please share your creative ideas with me @sspellmancann.

Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life

Pablo Paccasso

Lessons from Leo

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One of my all time favourite educators and authors is Leo F Buscaglia. I started Hug Days in my school district because of Leo in the days when it was ok to hug students. I still believe it is ok to hug students , recognizing boundaries and always being respectful of students and their boundaries.

What did I learn from Leo that I still think applies to students and myself today? Here are some of the lessons i learned from the amazing Leo Buscaglia:

  • Be passionate
  • Love learning , love life, love yourself, love …

“Perhaps love is the process of leading you gently back to yourself” Saint -Exupery

  • Make yourself into the best person you can be, because you are all you have
  • Schools should be the most joyful places in the world
  • Be spontaneous
  • Live fully alive

“Oh God , to have reached the point of death,only to have found that you have never lived at all ” Don Quixote

  • Leo wanted us to live fully to enjoy every single moment of life

from another Leo more wisdom comes …

“I think the purpose of life is to be useful,
to be responsible, to be honorable, to be compassionate.
It is, after all, to matter: to count, to stand for something,
to have made some difference that you lived at all.”

Leo Rosten

  • Accentuate what is right instead of focusing on what is wrong
  • Feel free to make mistakes and learn from them
  • Believe in change
  • Every time we learn something new we become something new
  • You control your destiny
  • Stop looking for or striving for perfection
  • Life isn’t always easy, but rise to the challenge to face life head on

“Everyone needs at least one person  to love them no matter what ” Leo Buscgalia

  • Be that someone for someone
  • You need a path with a heart
  • Be real , be you
  • There is so much more to know, to be, to do

A favorite question Leo liked to ask was … If you only had five days to live, how would you spend them? With whom? 

We need to always reflect on this and live … fully live.

  • Death teaches us what love is
  • Ask yourself “What are YOU giving to life?’

If you have never read Leo Buscaglia’s books do it now.The lessons are timeless. These lessons are from Living, Loving and Learning by Leo Buscaglia. Stay tuned for more lessons from Leo.

Hope : A Message We All Need to Hear

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The following post was written by Vince Fowler a Business Coach, Speaker and Veteran in Calgary . He allowed me to share it with you. I think it is one of the best posts I have read, thus I am sharing it with you. You can follow Vince on twitter @VinceFowler

It would appear that the lives of most people who actively post on Facebook  are somehow living the perfect life – a life filled with laughter, with joy, money, friends, love, appreciation, amazing holidays, best job ever, best opportunities ever, etc … etc.

At times, it just might seem to you that everyone around you is having more fun than you, that their life is somehow better, more fulfilling and more rewarding than yours.

That’s just not reality.

Everyone has challenges. Everyone has fears. Everyone has pain … and I truly believe that we all have our own demons & skeletons kept secretly in our closets … under the proverbial  lock and key.

“Help” is something that way too many people have a hard time asking for … and when issues go un-addressed, people begin to lose hope. And when all hope appears lost, the only available decision left in the room seems to be the exit-life door … and then they’re gone… just as Robin Williams is gone.

Sad. So very sad.

Please – do not feel that my life or anyone else’s – celebrities included – are better than yours. Everyone is a little messed up in their own way … I know I am.

Just because I post my joys, doesn’t mean I don’t experience sadness. Just because I post my excitement, doesn’t mean I don’t experience boredom. Just because I post my successes and aspirations, doesn’t mean I don’t experience pain and failure.

I wish Robin Williams were still alive. He was funny beyond belief. He shared his talents with so many for no other purpose than to make them laugh. Sure, he was rich and famous … not because he discovered a way to monetize his talents, but because people actually valued his art and his craft.

That said, Robin Williams clearly had issues – which means Robin was a human being … which means he was just like you and me. Sadly, he wasn’t able to deal with those issues. Because he was loved and appreciated by millions, millions are now mourning his loss.

I once heard many, many, years ago … a man can live 40 days without food. He can live 4 days without water, but he cannot live 4 seconds without hope.

I don’t judge Robin Williams … I will miss Robin Williams.

Thanks Vince for saying what so many of us feel. Teens are particularly vulnerable at this time and we want to make sure they are safe. Your message is a message for all!

If a person believes there is no hope in winning a game,you can visibly see their efforts drop

If a person believes there is no hope in a relationship improving, they sometimes immediately break up

I challenge you to look around and observe on your own

As long as there is HOPE , even a glimmer of HOPE, people keep trying

By Vince Fowler 2014

I want a future where we treat all human beings with dignity, respect with understanding and compassion. I want a world where we have better treatments for mental health disorders and a world where there will be no future losses due to these illnesses. I want a world where all people are not ashamed or afraid to reach out for help. It is more than OK to reach out for help there are many places and people where you can. There is hope and I have hope that we can help .

Susan Spellman Cann

Resource for teens in Calgary : Hearing Youth Helping Youth 403-264-8336

Adults can also call the Distress Centre : 403-266-4357 403.266-HELP

Resources to assist with hope: 

Click here: Livebinder on depression

Click here: Mental Health resources for teens

Click here: Suicide prevention resources

Click here: Depression Resources : High School Counselling

Click here: Haiku Deck on hope

Lessons For A New School Counsellor … Lesson 11

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Lesson 11:

Lessons 1-10 can be found  here.

Engaging the students and staff is critical when it comes to school counselling. There are many ways to engage the students whether it is one to one or in groups. At the end of every session I check in with the student to see how the session went. I will often ask something like how are you feeling about what we talked about and did in session today? What is the one thing you will use as a result of our time together? This allows me to gage if I have been helpful and if there is something I said that the student connected with.

It is also very important to develop relationships with your staff. If they feel you are helpful they will most likely refer a student to you. We are all working together to enhance the success of all students so if students see us collaborating in their best interest while always maintaining confidentiality we will best be able to help them.

Engaging Staff. Get to know your staff. Take time to have lunch with them. It is good for you to take a break and get out of your office. Assisting students can be very draining at times especially if you are addressing more serious issues, so get out of your office and make time to recharge. Self- Care is important.

What are your ideas for student and staff  engagement ? Please share below.

Canadian Coalition of Self-Directed Learning 2013

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Click here for my @haikudeck   :   CCSDL Haiku Deck

Self- Directed Learning

“The basic assumption of SDL is that from birth to death, we live lives of learning: we first learn to function, then to live well, and finally to make a difference. Maurice Gibbons

What’s going on inside the building of Bishop Carroll is not only exciting, but innovative, educational and engaging. Not only are the halls of Bishop Carroll High School buzzing, but inside the offices of several educators learning is taking place.

Bishop Carroll High School , the oldest SDL school ( over forty years)  is a part of the Canadian Coalition of Self- Directed Learning.

Bishop Carroll works together with other members of the coalition to improve the self-directed experience of all the learners. These schools meet together on an ongoing basis as well as convene at a yearly conference to look at ways of improving the model for students.

As a staff member in a self-directed school I have never been in a school where so much focus and dialogue on instruction takes place on a regular basis. In fact, our staff has biweekly professional development meetings to ensure that we are able to collaborate on best practices and share new ideas. Teachers are continually focusing on how they can make things better for students in a self-directed learning environment.

This past week I attended the Canadian Coalition of Self- Directed Learning Conference in Edmonton. While I love learning about ways to improve what we do, I so love connecting with other educators face to face.

What are conferences about for me?

Celebrating: For me the best part of CCSDL conference is the students and what they gain from attending a SDL school. I loved the opening ceremony which celebrated students. It was very moving and reminded me of why I do what I do.


Here are some great videos from some SDL schools :

No Glory without effort:

Dancing Like A Model

Re Imagine High School

Check out the great video from Thomas Haney

Bishop Carroll Over 40 years of SDL

 

Connecting with our staff as well as others: Often times I am so busy with my day I get very little time to connect with other staff members. Conferences can be a time to do just that wind down and connect. I had so much fun with the thirteen people who attended the whole conference from my school. We laughed, had fun, shared and connected. I know this experience will assist us in being better at what we do in our school. We now have some great shared experiences that we would not have otherwise.

Twitter also allows me to connect with other great educators who work in SDL schools. A special thanks to @EricDemore for tracking me down . We had a great conversation and I look forward to staying connected. Also thanks to my new SDL twitter pals @CarmenGartner and @mrs_haddad

Collaborating: I was able to share ideas with staff from other schools as well as my own. I am sending this out on a google doc so that as many as want to can contribute at a later date.

Continually Learning: I have yet to attend a conference where I am not able to take back some ideas and use them. This conference was no exception. I loved some of the ideas that came from attending Garfield_Gini-Newman.



 

Collecting Resources: one of the absolute benefits of attending a conference is the resources you get and I love this resource from twitter:

 

A gigantic thanks to St. Joe’s for their books and treats and so much fun! I know how hard it is to organize a conference and you were all amazing. Kudos to you all for the hard work and allowing us to have such a great time.