Vista Print

VistaPrint is such a great resource for counselor. Pretty much all of the school counselor blogs that I check regularly have talked about it. The great thing about VistaPrint is that they are constantly having sales or discounts. If you sign up for their emails, not a week goes by without getting some kind of discount or coupon. I don't think I have every paid full price for any of the items I have created. In fact, I came across a great deal a few weeks ago and only had to pay shipping and handling. I spent a lot of time creating some great posters and tools to use in my counseling office. Here are a few. 

Confidentiality Banner. I ordered a small (3' x 1.6') indoor vinyl banner to explain confidentiality and its limitations. I got the idea from Danielle at School Counselor Blog. She sells posters that she created on her blog if you don't want to make your own. 

 Small group Expectations. Again, I ordered a small indoor vinyl banner, this one going through the expectations I created for my small groups. When I begin meeting with a new group, we go through the expectations and talk about what each one means. We review it regularly to help keep everyone on track. 

 Counselors are... I created this small poster to express the different aspects of a counselor. If I could do it over again, I would change the second "O". Right now it states "offers suggestions", which if you read it as a whole sentence ("Counselors are... offers suggestions") it doesn't really make sense. I got the idea from a tote bag I've had for a few years. If I come across another good sale, I might reprint it, but for right now it will work just fine. 


Classroom Guidance Expectations. I wanted to have a poster to bring along with me when I visit the classroom as a reminder of what I expect from the students and hopefully what they will expect from each other. Visiting each classroom once a month is one of my favorite things, but it can often be a classroom management issue. I wanted to have a visual reminder for the students about how we should be conducting ourselves during classroom guidance lessons. I plan to take this with me to each classroom lesson. 

My school counselor says... stickers. I ordered these cute stickers, which are actually return address labels, to give out to students with little recognitions of their good deeds, hard work, and friendly behaviors. I've seen a lot of idea of using buttons that say things like "Ask me about the good choice I made today!" I couldn't find any inexpensive buttons, so I'm hoping to use these stickers to say "My school counselor says... I made a good choice/ I helped another student/ I showed the virtue of responsibility/ etc". 

To the Parents stamp. I find myself writing over and over again "To the Parents of John Smith" on envelopes or permission slips. I got tired of writing the same thing, so I ordered a return address stamp to do the job for me. I have been using it a lot the past few days as I am sending out small group permission slips.