Recently, I've been hearing a lot of push back on the idea of Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) as a framework for tiered behavior support. I was kind of curious, because really, if you are implementing MTSS, you aren't far from being a "PBIS school." So I asked around. The biggest complaint? Reinforcers. Lots of people think PBIS and they think tickets/dollars/dojos with school stores and big huge individual reinforcement initiatives. 

Guess what? Nobody has time for that. I mean, I guess they do, but I was never up for it. At the schools where I've worked, we've implemented Class Compliments. Just like it sounds, classes can earn compliments for any whole-class behavior that happens outside of their classroom: walking in the halls, time in specials, cafeteria, playground, etc. When the class earns 100 compliments, they earn a reward like pajama day, extra recess, or lunch outside. Easy peasy.

To introduce, we had the counselors and administrators go to each room for a "kick off." We explained the system, gave each class a compliment card, and hyped up the rewards. The compliment cards changed through the years but always had 100 squares/stars/circles that could be colored in when the class returned to the classroom. Anytime the class was out and about, they could earn compliments. To help you out, I've included one at the bottom of this post (may not be visible on mobile). 

We also had to hype up the program with our staff. Compliments are only fun if you earn them! We had to get in the habit of saying "Mrs. Atkins, your class is walking so nicely down the hall." We wanted the compliments to be specific to the positive behavior. In specials, classes could earn up to 4 compliments each class. All of the specialists had different procedures for how this was handled. My favorite was to have a compliment for four specific behaviors and give the compliments specifically for those behaviors. For example, cooperating with your classmates. 

Over the years we got creative! We had a bulletin board that had a football field. For every 100 compliments, your team player would move to the next yard line. Classes that reached 1000 compliments would have their jersey retired. The jerseys were cut out of poster board, had the class' photo on it and all the students got to sign it. About 4-5 classes out of 41 had their jerseys retired each year so it was a big deal! I sure wish I had a picture of it for you, it was super fun.

​How do you support schoolwide behavior at your school? I'd love to hear some new ideas!

Groceries to get, emails to respond to, to-do lists, phone calls to make - does this sound like your brain? Me too. It's the same for kids too. They are thinking about mom snapping at them this morning, the assessment coming up, what they'd rather be doing (lunch), what they should be doing, friend drama, home drama - the list goes on. We are in such a go, go, go moment in the world, it's no wonder that we are all kinda crushing under the pressure. 

That's why I love the new book from Julia Cook, Be Where Your Feet Are. While mindfulness is the underlying concept for the book, it differs from other favorites because  it really focuses on mindful action. There is no sitting in a zen pose and deep breathing. I may be a yogi-wanna-be but I don't always want to zen out and, for some kids, I think this approach is much more relatable. 

So what exactly is mindful action? I thought I made it up but a quick google shows some other great minds out there ;) When we are in action, particularly actions that are more rote or when we have high levels of feelings related to the action, our minds are elsewhere. We're thinking about the future, the past, the where-we'd-rather-be, or we are ruminating with self-talk about our feelings. 

What if we didn't? What if we thought about what we're doing? Say you're washing the dishes. It doesn't take a lot of thought and you might even have some strong feelings about the dishes or the people that left them for you. Thoughts are all over the place. Focusing on the actions that we are taking both in the mundane and in the intense can give our brains time to rest and allows us to do better.

In the book, the boy has distracted thoughts all over the place that cause him to forget permission slips, mess up on a test, and play a different trombone song than the rest of the band. He can't focus long enough to do each thing well. His mom helps him to learn how to "be where his feet are." She suggests he breaks his time into chunks and give each thing all of his brain. 

It's a great perspective and I think kids will respond to the drawings and humor within the book. The text is slightly long for younger readers so you may have to support their attention with some "be where your feet are" practice. For example, on page 26 the book says "Give yourself a mindful moment and make your feet and brain a team," it might be helpful to take kids through a short mindful movement. I like to have students move slowly and feel the way that the air feels on their skin, the earth feels on their feet, and the words sound in their brain. Kids really like it too!

Be Where Your Feet Are also has a great solution focused counseling example when the main character's mom asked him about the one thing he had done well that day and helped him to find an exception to his area of concern. Overall, I think you'll really like it. In the next book, I would love to see Julia Cook add more racial diversity in her characters, especially the protagonists. You can see more about the book and hear from the author on the National Center for Youth Issues website and on her author page.

To celebrate the release of the book, NCYI has given me 3 copies to give away! Like all giveaways, members of the VIP list are automatically entered. If you'd like an additional entry, leave a comment below about Mindful Action. I'll choose a winner on Monday, August 6, 2018.

Picture me doing the happy dance over here. I am so excited to share my Counselor Planner with you! Make sure to read to the end of the post for a free download!

What's Included:

• This Planner belongs to... page
• Color coded calendar at a glance
• Program Goals Page
• 6 curriculum pages
• 2 Group Plan pages 
• Weekly Schedule and To Do list Pages July 2017-June 2018
• 6 Individual Counseling Log pages
• Lined Notes Pages
• Unlined Notes Pages
• Mandala Quote Pages for Coloring
• Printing Instructions 

Note: This product (and post) have been updated for the 2018-19 school year. This year, I decided to try out a notebook style but in the past, I've done a spiral version.

Plan out your year long program goals on one page at the front of your planner to keep you accountable all year long! 

Include your curriculum plan in your planner so that you know which lessons are coming next. There are 6 pages for a total of 66 lessons. There is plenty of room to write notes if you write on the small side. I included a few reminders in my plan. Interested in any of these lessons? Check out my K-2 Curriculum Plan and 3-5 Curriculum Plan. 

I like to run a lot of groups. That's great but sometimes I get confused on who meets when and what class the kids are in. I used to make boxes like these using markers on white paper. For the planner, I've classed it up a bit and given you a spot to write who, what, where, when for all your groups!

Here comes the calendar! Each week includes a two page spread. The appointment page is on the left and the to-do list page on the right. All pages are dated by week and include a weekend box at the bottom. 

Depending on the meeting, I like notes pages with lines or blank so I can sketch it out. I've included both types of pages! 

The individual counseling log is super easy to keep up with. Just write the student's name, their teacher and grade, and the initial time you saw them. After that, simply place a tally next to their name so that you can track your total sessions. Saves paper and the time consuming counting. 

The entire planner has lots of doodling and art areas including mandala coloring pages with quotes. Helps when you're sitting in those super long staff meetings!

I've also included the color "codable" year at a glance calendar. Color the circles to correspond to workdays, vacations, early releases, etc. Click on the photo below to download the freebie!

Go ahead and purchase the planner today so that you can start off the year organized!

Starting a new school can be intimidating and scary for students. I went to 9 schools by the time I was in 9th grade and I remember the feeling well! I am happy to welcome a guest blogger, Erainna Winnett, to share her clever idea for welcoming students! Erainna was a classroom teacher for 15 years before becoming a school counselor. She saw a need for newer resources in the field and self-published her first book Mrs. Joyce Gives the Best High Fives . Find out how to win a free copy at the end of this post! 

When new students arrive on our campus, I always go to their classrooms and introduce myself. I generally pull them into the hallway, tell them who I am, explain our Kindness Climate (we are part of Rachel’s Challenge), and walk them to our banner where they sign agreeing to show kindness and compassion daily. I also give them a pencil and walk them back to class leaving them with a high-five. To continue our relationship building, I send them a Welcome to Our School postcard. Students rarely, if ever, receive mail. When their parents hand them something addressed specifically to them, I believe it’s meaningful and memorable. 

Order inexpensive welcome postcards online or print at school using heavy cardstock. The first year I worked with our registrar and hand wrote a welcome message to each child the day they enrolled. This ensured they would receive the postcard the next day or the day after that. At first, about a third of my postcards would be returned undeliverable. After
talking with the post office, I discovered that most apartment buildings will only accept mail with the leaser's name. Remember, I want this to be special to the child and this particular piece of mail is FOR THEM. So, I began writing the child’s name, then c/o the parent’s name. This alleviated the problem. I’ve had several parents come into the office to thank me for just a unique greeting.

Our principal LOVED the idea but wanted to tweak it a little. She wanted to have our fourth graders (the seniors on our campus) write the welcome message. We had a contest where all fourth graders wrote a two to three sentence welcome. Next, we selected three winners and those are the messages new students receive in the mail.

One year, we were on a little stricter budget, so I addressed the postcard to the student and the teacher’s classroom name and number and delivered them when I went to introduce myself to the new student. Ensuring a successful transition for new students I think receiving this Welcome to Our School postcard is unique and lets children know they truly are welcome to THEIR new school and they’ve got a friend in the school counselor.

Thanks Erainna! What a great idea for welcoming new students with a personal touch! If you would like to win one of five copies of Erainna's book Mrs. Joyce Gives the Best High Fives, sign up for the Counselor Up VIP List! Five of our superstar VIPs will win a copy of the book on Friday, August 11 at 4:00pm, sign up before then! It's that easy - no rafflecopter, no form, just VIP treatment - and I promise to never spam you! If you'd like an editable Welcome to Our School template, I got your back too! UPDATE: This giveaway has now ended. You can check to see if you were a winner on Instagram and Facebook! 

Do you use hall passes at your school? We have tried a million different ideas over the years but I find that hall passes in elementary school tend to fizzle as the year progresses. Let's not even talk about passes that get taken to the bathroom. Ew. No matter what, you always have a few friends that need a note to let their teacher know exactly when they left your room. Some people are wonderers, what can we say??

One of my lovely readers suggested the idea to me to make a cute pass. I've always used post-it notes but love this idea. Something fun to keep on hand to add a little brightness to your day. Download the Back to Class Pass right here and view it below.

Love you, mean it. ​Mwah.