School Counselor Top Posts from 2015

Three years ago, I started my blog as a side project to record my thoughts and reflections as a high school counselor. As 2015 comes to an end, I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect back on the most popular reader choices from the year.  Over this last year, the most popular posts have included topics regarding technology, teen sexting, self injury, Red Ribbon Week, the advantages of coloring books for teens, and much more.   So, take a minute over Thanksgiving to look over some of my posts from the past year!  Enjoy!

175 High School Counseling Websites 
This has been my top post for the last three years. Check out the cornucopia (pardon the Thanksgiving pun) of high school school counselor websites, school counseling blogs, school counselor associations, and much more!  Lots of sites for you to find ideas and resources.

School Counselor Bucket List for High School Seniors
After reading an article in the Huffington Post about bucket lists, I decided to create my own senior bucket list as the school counselor.  This list contains 50 practical and outlandish activities for students.

The Ultimate List of School Counselor Forms 
In this post, I expose my compulsion for school forms of every kind.  Some are borrowed and others I created for school counselors to use.  

Self Injury Resources for the Clueless School Counselor 
This post discusses my experience or lack of experience with self harm since becoming a school counselor.  Also, I have included tons of information about the science behind self harm and resources for school counselors.

My New Counseling Tools for 2013-2014
I love technology and this posts showcases the tools that I fell in love with during the 2013-14 school year.  At that time, my new favs included Google Docs (still rocks), Twitter (I still love), Remind (use it all the time), Livebinder (I still use daily), and some other tools that I don't use as much (but really like!). 

Dangers of Teen Sexting 
Featuring a blog talk radio program about sexting, Pattie Porter and Raychelle Lohmann expose the dangers of sexting among teens.  In addition to this program, I included several additional resources that may be useful to school counselors.

Out of the Box Red Ribbon Week Ideas 
This post includes some of the most out of the box Red Ribbon ideas I could find on the web. Some examples include exposing the economics behind the drug trade, helping staff members to identify a drug sale, showing how the brain and drugs don't mix, giving parents information on how to set guidelines for safe parties, and preventing parents from becoming accidental dealers by showing them that it is important to lock up their medications.

Coloring for Teens: Coloring Books for High School Students 
After a morning of reading Parade Magazine and eating breakfast at Denny's with my grandson, I found out that coloring is a helpful activity to help children, teens, and adults relax.  This post includes some information about the benefits of coloring and includes printable coloring resources. 

Becoming a Tech Savvy Counselor in 2014 
This blog post features the remarkable Dr. Erin Mason and her awesome site called SCOPE (School Counselor Online Professional Exchange).  Dr. Mason hosted a series of  Google Hangouts on some of her favorite technology tools including: Twitter, Livebinder, Google Drive/Forms, Smore, and Remind.  

Creating Your Own Counseling Whiteboard 
After a couple of days in the hospital with my son, I discovered how useful the whiteboard was for nurses and the patient.  It kept my son updated about his medical staff, his care plan, and his pain management. I took this concept and decided to create a prototype counseling whiteboard.