Highlights of February Advisory

 As I mentioned in my last post, this month has been crazy for the counseling department as we completed course registration for next school year.  As a first year high school counselor, this was a new and slightly stressful experience for me- although I also really enjoyed the experience.  Honestly, there is a nerdy, secretary that lives in my soul who loves to make lists, cross off boxes, form spreadsheets, etc.  Registration fed that part of my soul.  Plus add in all the student and family meetings,  the graduation requirements "puzzle", and all my day to day activies- it was a bus month.  (And I am not going to mention the 3.5 days missed due to snow during all of this!)

So with that said, I did still give out a variety of Advisory Lessons this month.  I will highlight my top 5:

1.  Our groups are continuing to do the Your Turn To Lead activity on Wednesdays.  We are about 1/2 way finished, and I have to tell you that I really like this activity.  As always, a lot depends on the Advisor- but for the ones who put forth even a tiny bit of effort, the pay off was amazing.  I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the students lead their team building activities.  (and it bought me a ton of time during scheduling!)

2.  Are You Smart Enough For the ASVAB:  We are trying to encourage our students (especially Juniors and Seniors) to sign up for the ASVAB.  I created this lesson to help students understand what types of questions are on the ASVAB and hopefully generate some interest in taking the test.


3.  Stand By Me:   This is one of the Friday Film Clips lessons which I adapted from The Source for Youth Ministry  (I think I already mentioned how much I LOVE this site for finding youtube clips and discussion questions for advisory.)  This lesson points out the importance of standing by others BEFORE you need support yourself.  I love the video

4.  College Bound:  This is a lesson adapted from Common Sense Media, a free resource for media related curriculum.  Check out their site if you haven't already for lessons on a variety of topics.  This lesson deals with how a student "digital footprint" can affect college admissions, scholarships, and employment. 


5.  The Happy Secret:  This is a TedEd adapted lesson originally created by Sonya Terborg   Students watch Shawn Achor's 12 minute talk on the secret to happiness and then discuss the difference between happiness and success. 

February Newsletter

Here is the newsletter I put out to my Freshmen/Sophomore students and families for February.  It is packed with information about this month's course registration for next year, top 10 Freshmen/Sophomore mistakes, and the reasons to begin a College List now.  Click on the photo to see the newsletter:








Once registration is over, I'll have time to post highlights of this month's High School Advisory lessons!