By Laura Driscoll | Individual Counseling , Social Emotional Skills
In counseling, you work with students to develop coping skills. You introduce different strategies. They practice them perfectly in role play. Then when they actually need these coping strategies, they don’t use them. They didn’t stick. Part of the reason they didn’t stick, is because we didn’t teach them effectively. With so many social emotional skills, […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Behavior , Individual Counseling , Social Emotional Skills
I couldn’t touch my toes for years. Yoga is not a part of my life unless you count the pants. But even I know the value of integrating yoga in schools. Studies have shown that it helps decrease symptoms of anxiety and impulsivity, improves self-esteem and classroom behavior. The benefits hit home for me during my first […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Social Emotional Skills , Teacher Consultation
Responsibility and choice is the degree to which teachers allow students to make responsible decisions about their work in their classroom.Why It’s ImportantMaking student responsibility and choice a part of your classroom helps students:gain a better understanding of themselves as learners, struggle and plan in a controlled setting, and stay engaged with their work.It does not mean […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Individual Counseling , Social Emotional Skills
Kids are terrible at apologizing. Heck, adults aren’t much better. I’m sure, like me, you have found yourself demanding a child say sorry to another child only to have them not show the least sign of remorse. Putting the words in their mouth doesn’t seem to be working. So let’s try directly teaching them how to apologize. More […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Individual Counseling , Social Emotional Skills
Many of the students I have seen for counseling have been referred because they are struggling to control themselves when they get angry. As counselors, it can be tempting to create a behavior plan, practice some deep breathing with the student, and give their teacher a list of strategies. Voila, anger management intervention.How often has […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Cognitive Behavioral Therapy , Individual Counseling , Social Emotional Skills
Research has repeatedly shown that programs claiming to increase a child’s or teen’s self-esteem have failed to do so. These programs have opted for activities full of superficial affirmations, rather than activities that discover the underlying causes of self-esteem and target interventions there. Think of it like this. Say you run over a nail with […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Social Emotional Skills , Teacher Consultation
I walked into a classroom one day with a teacher telling a student they looked like a slob because his shirt was untucked. Not the kind of words that build up and encourage a child. We’ve all said something or been present when something is said to a student that makes us cringe. It can […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Individual Counseling , Social Emotional Skills
You have students on your caseload and you want to make sure they are making progress and you are being effective. Social and emotional skills aren’t always the easiest skills to measure though. I found at least one solution to my problem though. I explicitly set goals with students. This allowed me to have data […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Group Counseling , Individual Counseling , Social Emotional Skills
Understanding who you can count on is a key social and emotional skill we can teach early and reinforce through high school. Students benefit from knowing who is in their support system, when to access them, and how to access them. It is so powerful for a child to know that when they are upset […]
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By Laura Driscoll | Social Emotional Skills , Teacher Consultation
Student-centered discipline is the classroom management strategies that a teacher uses that are developmentally appropriate for their students and motivate their students to want to behave in the classroom. It is one of the 10 key teaching practices identified by The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL) that support social and emotional learning as […]
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