BLOG & PODCAST · SMALL GROUPS & LESSONS
Small Groups & Lessons
Small group counseling, classroom lessons, social emotional learning, and bulletin boards.
60 posts and episodes, newest first. Each one opens on counselorclique.com.
Podcast · Episode 167 Life Skills Your Students Should Master – Part 3: Healthy Communication From awkward group projects to job interviews, communication is the life skill students will use daily, but rarely get taught. In the final episode of my “Life Skills…Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 154 How to Set up a Peer Leader Program in Your School What if you could create a program that not only helps your students grow as leaders but also strengthens your entire school community? That’s exactly what we’re diving…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 148 Developing Cultural Competency to Better Support Your Students with Jocelynn Hubbard You may not realize this, but you have a unique superpower in your role as a high school counselor! You have the ability to nurture your students and walk them through…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 146 The School Counselor’s Role in School Safety and Crisis Management with Brandy Samuell When you work in a school, there are a million and one things to think about every single day. School safety is at the top of that list, and might even be one of the…Small Groups & Lessons, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 144 How to Host a College Application Day As school counselors, we know that not all of our students are going to go to college after graduating. However, for the students who do have college in their future…Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 124 Ready for Summer? Close out These 3 Things to End the Year as a High School Counselor Even though for some of you, summer might feel so far away, in reality, it’s just around the corner. I know I was always ready to leave and start relaxing, but there are…Small Groups & Lessons, Advocacy & Data
Podcast · Episode 121 7 High School Counselors Share Their Inspiring Wins I’ve said it before, but this time of year is one of the most stressful with graduation, wrapping up the school year, and so many other things that consume your school…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 118 6 High School Counseling Classroom Lesson Ideas As high school counselors, doing classroom lessons is part of the job and helps us stay connected to students and their needs. However, most of our lessons tend to focus…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 117 How Do I Start Taking Action on Classroom Lessons As a High School Counselor? Have you been wanting to start classroom lessons in your high school counseling program but haven’t taken the plunge yet? You’re in the right place because I have some…Small Groups & Lessons
Blog 3 Creative Ways to Boost Social Emotional Wellness in High School Students With ever-growing caseloads, pressures from administrators, and responsibilities that feel counterproductive to our overall counseling goals (a sad, but often true…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 114 How to Collect and Share Data for Your Small Groups You’re ready to start using small groups in your high school, but you need to be able to measure their effectiveness and have something tangible to show for your…Small Groups & Lessons, Advocacy & Data
Podcast · Episode 113 Getting on Board with Small Groups in High School Counseling Do you have mixed feelings about counseling small groups? Today’s episode will pique your interest and get you thinking about incorporating them into your high school…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 108 How Maritza Cha Obtained Her Doctorate and Supports School Counselors Have you ever considered going back to school to get your doctorate? You may have wondered how doctorate school counseling could benefit your career. Well, you’re in…Small Groups & Lessons, Counselor Growth
Podcast · Episode 102 Support Strategies for Meeting Your High School Students’ Mental Health Needs As high school counselors with large caseloads, it can feel like a lot of pressure when it comes to trying to handle the mental health needs of students on top of…Small Groups & Lessons, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 100 100th Episode Q&A: Podcasting, Prioritizing Your To-Dos, Landing Jobs, Counselor Challenges, and More! WOOOOO! We’ve hit the 100th episode on the High School Counseling Conversations Podcast! It’s existed for almost two years now, which is wild for someone whose…Small Groups & Lessons, Counselor Growth
Podcast · Episode 99 How This High School Counselor Planned an Unforgettable Student Wellness Day with Tylee Resetich Our high school students are so busy and surrounded with pressures of classes, college applications, sports, friendships, and more. With everything they have going on…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 94 Create a Community of Raving Fans for Your High School Counseling Program Wouldn’t it be nice to have a community of raving fans for your high school counseling program? You know, those people who are not only aware of the amazing work you’re…Small Groups & Lessons, Advocacy & Data
Podcast · Episode 69 Senior Decision Day: Creating Lasting Memories for Your Graduates The end of another school year is quickly approaching and I know that the deadline for diplomas can be so stressful as a high school counselor. However, there are some…Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career, Supporting Students, Programs & Systems
Podcast · Episode 68 4 Ways to Repurpose Student Pictures to Celebrate Your Seniors As a high school counselor, you know that graduation is a major milestone for your seniors, and you’re feeling the pressure to help them successfully cross that finish…Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career, Supporting Students, Programs & Systems
Blog 6 Ways to Overcome Obstacles and Execute Effective Counselor Classroom Lessons Counselor classroom lessons often get overlooked or pushed to the side because there are a lot of obstacles to pulling them off. First, you have to get your teachers on…Small Groups & Lessons
Blog Pro Tips for Classroom Lessons: Target These 6 Teacher Types to Increase Reach Classroom lessons should be a regular part of a comprehensive counseling program. Unfortunately, there are REAL barriers and challenges to getting space for counselors…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 66 Maximizing Your Reach with Classroom Lessons (and How to Get Teachers on Board!) There are so many things we do as school counselors to support and impact as many students as possible. One of the best ways that you can ensure you’re maximizing your…Small Groups & Lessons, Advocacy & Data, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 64 CTE Teacher and High School Counselor Partnerships with Khristen Massic If you’ve been a listener of this podcast for a while, then you know how much I encourage you to build and nurture relationships with staff members in your school…Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career, Advocacy & Data
Podcast · Episode 62 Achieve Small Group Student Buy-In With These 4 Ideas Did you catch last week’s episode? We talked all about the benefits of running high school counseling small groups. This week we’re continuing on the small group trend…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 61 The Power of Small Groups: Unlocking the Benefits at the High School Level Between the endless paperwork, phone calls, emails, and some more paperwork, there may be days when you feel like you don’t actually get to ‘do counseling’. But there’s…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Blog 3 Ways to Incorporate Social Emotional Learning Into High School Classroom Counseling Lessons You and I both know social emotional learning is important. With your high school counselor training and experience, this is right in your wheelhouse. However, with the…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 43 All About Advisory Programs and Social Emotional Learning with Leslie of Informed Decisions Advisory programs are large-scale school interventions that lead students through social emotional lessons. With this week’s guest, Leslie of Informed Decisions, we hear…Small Groups & Lessons
Blog 4 Creative Mindfulness Resources to Engage Your High School Students As high school counselors, we know that mindfulness resources can help lower stress levels and increase academic engagement for our students. However, we don’t have the…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 15 Why Building Relationships is the Hidden Key to Unlocking Classroom Lessons- an Interview with Rebecca Joyner of It’s Not Rocket Science® Join me and my bestie, Rebecca Joyner of It’s Not Rocket Science®, as we cover SO many things pertaining to high school counseling classroom lessons and the importance…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 14 3 Ways to Build Your Confidence with High School Counseling Classroom Lessons I’ve got what you need if you’re ready to grow your confidence instead of being nervous in your core curriculum classroom lessons! If you’re looking to be more…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 13 How to Bring Social-Emotional Learning into High School Core Curriculum Don’t just stop at academic lessons in the classroom. Dive deeper and bring social-emotional learning to your students… because we all know how important this is for…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 12 Why Knowing Student Names Can Make a Relational Impact On Your Counseling Classroom Lessons Every student wants to be seen and known. Knowing student names is a huge part of making that happen. When you remember a student’s name, you’re developing relational…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Podcast · Episode 11 Part 2: 6 Tips for Facilitating Small Groups in the High School Setting Let’s jump back into talking all about facilitating small groups in the high school setting! It’s time to talk strategy with your small group counseling topics, ideas…Small Groups & Lessons
Blog 4 Benefits of Small Group Counseling in High Schools Even if we don’t currently run small groups in our high school, we can probably determine a few benefits of small group counseling in our school’s setting. It can be…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 10 Part 1: 6 Tips for Facilitating High School Counseling Small Groups How confident are you in facilitating high school counseling small groups? Do you just feel stuck when it comes to jumping in and getting your small groups off of the…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 9 3 Ideas for Starting High School Counseling Small Groups from Scratch Are you new to this whole small groups at the high school level thing? Wondering where to even start? Here are 3 ideas for starting high school counseling small groups…Small Groups & Lessons
Blog 3 Ways to Successfully Introduce Small Group Counseling to Your High School Are you a school counselor at a high school that doesn’t believe in small groups? Is your administration against the facilitation of small groups? Do you get push back…Small Groups & Lessons
Podcast · Episode 8 Finding Success in High School Counseling Small Groups Before You Even Start In Episode 8, I’m talking about 3 ways to find success in high school counseling small groups BEFORE you even get started. This episode will give you a few ideas to…Small Groups & Lessons
Blog 3 Compelling Reasons to Use Small Group Counseling to Promote Career Readiness in Your Comprehensive School Counseling Program Small group counseling often gets overlooked especially in the high school setting. Small groups take the most strategic planning of any of our initiatives and involve…Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career
Blog 4 Ideas for Getting Impressive Student Buy-In for High School Counseling Small Groups One of the biggest roadblocks to running high school counseling small groups with students (besides lack of time) is getting these students bought in. How do you find…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Blog 3 Tips for Starting Small Groups Out on the Right Foot in Your High School Counseling Program Do you ever dream of starting small groups but then get halted in your tracks? You want to make sure you move in the right direction AND be sure you’re running something…Small Groups & Lessons, Supporting Students
Blog How to Confidently Communicate with 3 Main Stakeholders While Planning High School Counseling Small Groups It’s important for students, teachers, admin, and parents to be on the same page about the high school counseling small groups you’re running. If you want your small…Small Groups & Lessons, Advocacy & Data
Blog 7 Tips for Running Small Groups at the High School Level It can be really easy to ignore running small groups at the high school level altogether… you have to find out how to make it work for you and your school. Once you find…Small Groups & Lessons
Blog How We Hosted a Memorable Mindfulness Day at Our School As a school counseling department, we decided to try an every-other-year approach with two major events because they require a lot of manpower to organize, facilitate…Small Groups & Lessons
Blog 3 Quick Wins by Using a Mindfulness Bulletin Board in Your High School Mindfulness seems like a buzzword in the counseling world, but it’s because it’s something our students are truly needing help with… so we’re hearing it a lot as high…Small Groups & Lessons
Blog 4 Things I Pack in My Counselor Crisis Bucket What should you pack in a counselor crisis bucket for your school counseling program? Be able to respond on a dime to suicide, death, or other crisis with ideas for…Small Groups & Lessons
- Blog All the Steps for Hosting a Successful College Application Day After I posted a picture of my College Application Day “exit ticket,” I got numerous comments and direct messages about tips for holding such an event! We’ve done this…
Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career
- Blog Counselors on Point Bulletin Board Our lobby bulletin board needed an update, and I’m really loving Astrobrights cardstock… hence my new creation! We liked the idea of the students and parents getting to…
Small Groups & Lessons, Programs & Systems
- Blog What I Grab When Working With Grieving Students Unfortunately, I have had to deal with grief at the high school level too many times to count. I have run numerous small groups for grief, and I am so encouraged to…
Small Groups & Lessons
- Blog Get the Scoop On Careers: A Bulletin Board For Your Career Fair We have our first career fair (since I’ve been at my school for 6 years) for our high school students! We are giving away free ice cream to participants, thus… this…
Small Groups & Lessons, College & Career
- Blog “Oh The Places You’ll Go” Bulletin Board This was one of my very first bulletin boards in our school counseling lobby when I first started at my school. Seeing how it went pretty viral on Pinterest was the…
Small Groups & Lessons
- Blog How To Inspire a College Going Culture… with College Application Day Pennants I made these “college pennants” for our College Application Day! This is a school wide celebration to promote a college-going culture. Our seniors can sign up for 45…
Small Groups & Lessons
- Blog How To Look 2 Months Ahead with a Master Calendar: Part 2 Two years ago, we created a white board master calendar, so we could see two months out what our days as a department would look like. (See the old blog post on it…
Small Groups & Lessons
- Blog How to Advocate for Your School Counseling Department Using a Data Wall Some feedback from our end-of-the-year Advisory Council meeting came in the form of “I didn’t know all of the great things you were doing!” especially from parents and…
Small Groups & Lessons, Advocacy & Data
- Blog School Counselors Can Do It! Bulletin Board We kicked off our National School Counseling Week with a new, very visible bulletin board! It’s fun how creative you can get when your whole department sits down and…
Small Groups & Lessons
- Blog Looking Ahead to Summer Time has slipped away as most of you would probably agree with me. The end of the school year is a whirlwind! I have some summer goals, but are they too lofty?Some of my…
Small Groups & Lessons
- Blog DIY Hack: Simple Senior Bulletin Board A VERY simple and fun way to involve your seniors and their power of influence on underclassmen… A SENIOR bulletin board! When our senior counselor was visiting senior…
Small Groups & Lessons
- Blog How to Celebrate National School Counseling Week — Day 2 For day two of National School Counseling Week 2015, check out our decor around school. I threw together this bulletin board to put out in a main hallway this week. Easy…
Small Groups & Lessons
- Blog How To Look 2 Months Ahead with a Master Calendar: Part 1 Inspired by a need for a big group calendar and a desire to incorporate more washi tape into my life, our department decided an oversized, easily updated calendar would…
Small Groups & Lessons
- Blog DIY Hack: Rock Your Tests Bulletin Board Long time, no update. The initial shock of the school year is settling in, and we’ve hit the ground running. Counselors still work in the summer, but we somehow still…
Small Groups & Lessons