Regaining Confidence

With exactly one week left of summer before I am back in my office for my second year as an elementary school counselor in Vermont, right up until my shower (where I do some of my best reflection) last night, I was feeling even more overwhelmed than I was last year at this time. As my fantastic co-counselor/mentor/friend/lifesaver, Rebecca, pointed out, this was because last year, I was oblivious. I didn't know what I wasn't prepared for. This year, I'll have about 40 additional students, more responsibility, and as Johnathon, a "fellow" school counselor so aptly pointed out on his blog, less room for error. As he wrote, "Last year was new and shiny. If I made a mistake, it was easy to revert back to the ol' 'oh I'm new- whoops!'" I also have the weight on my shoulders of everything that I didn't get to this summer. I had a long, unrealistic list of things that I wanted to accomplish this summer (including two 4-day conferences and course work for 4 credits), not recognizing that I would really need the time to decompress and re-energize after a challenging (but fulfilling) first year.

Once I accepted the fact that I would be going into the school year with that long list of things to do (okay, I'll be honest, there's actually at least 4 lists) still hanging out in my folder, I also had to remind myself of my own blog post from February, and Rebecca's "pep talk" from the School Counseling on Air Back to School Chat (which I'm literally watching AS I write this blog post (multitasking queen)).

My current workspace
(note the broken laptop monitor --
apparently the year took a beating on it too).

I do A LOT. And even on days that I don't feel like I got a lot done, I was there, and I was a comforting person, and I gave a boost to someone. So I may not have written up my Drugs and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Unit for Rebecca to use this year, or decided on a way to keep notes on students, or prepared for our presentation at the VT School Counselor Association conference this year, but I am going to be there on the first day of school, refreshed and ready to give hugs and high fives to my "old" students, dry my new kindergarten students' (and parents') tears, and calm nerves, just by being a familiar, helpful face.

There were so many awesome moments at the end of the school year last year that made me realize that just being there is enough, from thank you notes and hugs from parents and my 5th graders, to a little moment at field day, when one of my neediest 1st graders was looking around for someone to help him open his popsical wrapper and when he locked eyes with me, he said to himself, "Oh, yeah, Miss Wheeler. She always helps me because she's nice." It wasn't particularly grand or eloquent, but for some reason, it really hit me. I'm nice, and I help. And if that's all my students learned from me last year, that was enough.

And with that, I'm ready (and excited) to start my second year. Maybe I'll even remember to take time to blog :-).

Favorite Moments So Far

6) Talking Indy racing with the 5th grade boys -- totally gave me street cred.
5) Greeting students and parents at the front door -- only one kindergartener had to get carried in.
4) Helping out in kindergarten lunches and recesses -- so interesting to watch their interactions.
3) Hearing one of my new 1st grade friends said, "Hey! Where were you today?" as he walked out to the bus because I spent most of my day with 3rd and 5th graders -- it's nice to be missed!
2) Giving out my first Otter ticket (part of our PBIS program) to a student who was unexpectedly doing an "expected" behavior -- walking down the hallway even though no teacher was supervising him. And when that same student chose to work cooperatively with the new girl in his class and discovered the benefits of teamwork. And then when I happened to get to speak with that same student's mom and step-mom (on separate occasions) and relay the good news.
1) Watching the new student in 3rd grade that I had in a lunch group today win Diary of a Wimpy Kid Uno fair and square just as our time was up and beam from ear to ear -- I had been secretly hoping he might win!

I had a great first two days, and I'm back for more tomorrow. Then, back to NY for the holiday weekend!

First Day Tomorrow!

First day with students tomorrow! Very excited! My office is (mostly) all ready!




And lastly, one of the bulletin boards for the hallways, idea taken from Entirely Elementary School Counseling.

A Sampling of My Current To Do List

(to be done hopefully before Tuesday... eek!... and this is only a smattering of my list)

- look through all of the new students' files/call some of their past counselors if need be/prep to help them on the first day
- finish going through all student files
- decorate two small and one large bulletin board
- schedule at least 3 more lunch groups into my week
- review the curriculum
- "UPS note health insurance" -- NO idea what this means, written in my chicken scratch on my list of things to do... any suggestions for what this might mean would be appreciated...
- learn about social thinking
- practice on the Smart boards
- finalize lunch groups

...I thought survival mode wasn't supposed to start until October/November...

Kindergarten Open House in the morning :-)

10:47pm On the Night Before My First "Real" Day

... is not the best time to decide to start a new blog. But after a little nudging from some friends and colleagues, I decided to bite the bullet and plunge in.

I am starting as a first year elementary school counselor at a small elementary school in Vermont, and couldn't be more excited. I'm fresh out of grad school, and was fresh out of undergrad when I went to grad school. Consequently, I'm young and inexperienced. I decided on the name for this blog to remind myself to be confident despite my age and lack of experience. I was well prepared for this job through my graduate program and internships, and I know I can do it. However, I also know that this confidence will undoubtedly waver many times throughout my first year, and beyond.

Tabitha from Scrapbook of a School Counselor recently wrote a letter to her first year school counselor self. Her words are ones that I will keep with me during what is sure to be an exciting and challenging first year: "You are so much more capable than you think you are. Be bold, follow your heart, and know that you are doing things the very best that you can."

And with that, I begin my first day of in-service training with the teachers tomorrow morning. My alarm clock will be sounding all too soon from now, so I'm off.