Mrs. Lane's Office
My primary goal when I started decorating my office was to create an atmosphere that was warm and inviting; a place where students felt comfortable and engaged. I wanted to hang motivational quotes and posters around the room to encourage positive thinking. I love using visuals in counseling! They assist greatly with discussing students' goals, both positives and negatives, about a situation. I have and use a variety of manipulative within my office for student's engagement: stress balls to help students feel less tense, a box of tissues to aid with their emotions, therapeutic coloring activities to deepen the conversation, and journals to guide their thoughts to name a few.
Dealing with different situationsIt is important for students to understand there are situations that they can control while there are others that they can. It maybe be difficult for some to understand this concept. It is essential; however, when handling and working through problems.
Students can do something personally to aid in dealing with some situations, but not all. I use a visual aid, as such, to help students see what they can and ca not control. This method assist when determining different options on how to handle the situation as well. |
Goal SettingGoals are important because it allow for individuals to see growth and keeps students motivated. Together individuals and I set goals. This is a great visual to help students set goals for themselves and self-reflect. In each counseling session, we are always working for an end goal: getting better grades, building positive relationships, dealing with divorce, etc. This visual holds each individual accountable.
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Play-DohThis activity works well when dealing with issues that the student can't control. I give the student a container of play-doh and ask them to create anything they want for one minute. After that minute is up, I then ask the student to change what they just made into something else. Then I hand that student a rock and ask them to create something with the rock. After they realize they can't, I tell them that some things in life we can control situations, some times in life we can change situations, and some times in life we can't control situations. But, we do have the power to change and control our emotions.
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Average time spent per student: 10-15 minutes (Sometimes longer, depending upon the situation)
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