Back to School: Home Edition

It looks like Back to School at my house too! My husband just rolls his eyes, but I love decorating for everything! Decorating for back to school helps to get me pumped up for the new school year.

The whole mantle. I found the flash cards at an estate sale this summer. My sister-in-law found the tiny desk at Goodwill. I think it might be for an American Girl. The school birdhouse came from Joann's several years ago. 

 The Dr. Seuss books are from a garage sale. I found the little globe in the Michaels dollar section. It was cream so I "blue washed" it with a little craft paint to help it stand out a little more. 

I love these vintage letter blocks and ruler star.

We randomly found the G-man book at an antique shop when we were on vacation in Michigan a few years ago. The girls scout handbook is from a garage sale. I'm not afraid to admit that I was a girl scout through my senior year of high school (read: dork!), so I just had to get it!

 More garage sale finds.

I made the pencil vase for a back to school event at my previous school. I made them as center pieces for a luncheon and they were a big hit. I managed to keep one for myself and it has kept up pretty well over the past few years!

Finally, a cute quote from Dr. Seuss.

Back to School 2013 and Goals

I can't believe that my last post was from the beginning of LAST school year! I am going to try to do better - I'd even be happy with one update a week!

This year there are a lot of changes - several new faculty members, a couple teachers changed grades, almost every single classroom physically moved, the addition of two Junior Kindergarten classes, and I (with the help of a wonderful committee) am launching a new virtue-based program school-wide!

My office stayed in the same location - in the basement, still no window - but the middle school (grades 5-8) moved downstairs with me. It's very different being close to the "big kids". I have a few friends that stop by to say "hi" or wave as they walk by, but other than that, they are more concerned with carrying their heavy loads of books and changing classes. I guess that's a good thing but I always enjoyed waving to all the little ones as they passed.

 I added a new sign to my door - My door is closed... Please leave me a note - right above the handle. I am still pumping after lunch for my almost 10 month old daughter, so I'm hoping that this will help some of the "Mrs. Polan??? Are you in there???" *knocking, handle jiggling, more knocking*

I have also included some "Let's Talk" notes next to the door (pink sheets). Most of the younger grades get the sheets from their teachers, but I figured the middle schoolers might prefer to pick up their own when walking by. And my office is right across from the bathrooms (so glamorous), perfect for middle schoolers wanting to stop by without making a scene.

 The inside of my office is pretty much the same. I did get a "new" chair for in front of my desk. I thought that it would be nice to have an adult sized chair for parents and teachers to sit in when we meet. When I meet with multiple adults, we have to sit at the table, but if just one stops by, I like to have options. I always let the parent decide where they would like to sit.

My desk and individual counseling area haven't changed very much. A few new posters and my "new" parent chair, but other than that - same ol', same ol'.

My bookshelves. The left side holds all of my counseling resources, binders, grad school books, and counseling publications. The right side has picture books, craft and game supplies, coloring supplies, and a rice tray. I got the small crate from a teacher that was leaving last year. It was a faded maroon color and had math curriculum stickers all over it. I spent WAY too much time trying to get the stickers off. After a lot of Goo Gone and some elbow grease, it was finally clean and I gave it a nice coat of turquoise spray paint. I used the same paint to spray a thrifted frame, added some yellow/white chevron fabric, and an adorable picture of my little girl.

I asked for a drop ceiling for my office over the summer and really thought that I was going to get one. But I got an email from the maintenance supervisor over the summer saying that they could not put one in. So my office still has exposed pipes and duct work. I'm not a fan of the "industrial look" but I have to make do with what I have! 

Goals for the 2013-2014 School Year

• Update my blog at least once a week!
• Do at least one Pinterest inspired project for every 10 that I pin - especially for school and home improvement projects. 
• No school outfit repeats - this is a goal every year, but I'm hoping to do a better job of mixing pieces rather than repeating the exact same outfits.
• Provide at least one parent educational opportunity - I've already got this one in the works!
• Provide four rounds of small groups for grades 1-5. 
• Revamp my middle school small group curriculum. I have one group that has been successful in the past but I would love to include a new one. It's hard to get the parents AND the students on board at the middle school level. 

I'm sure there will be more as the year goes on, but that's what I'm starting with!

Here's to another great year! My 3rd at my current school and my 6th as a school counselor!

Back to School

Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year! We have been in school for about 3 weeks now, so I figured that it was time to update my blog. 

As always, I'm hoping that this school year goes smoothly and that I am able to assist my students in any way that I can. This year will be a little different, though. I am expecting my first child in November, so I will be out on maternity leave for a few months. I have been working very hard to get everything organized for my absence. I have also been combing through my calendar, trying to optimize the time that I will be in school, fitting in as many lessons, groups, and individual meetings as possible. 

My office is virtually the same as last year, with a few additions. Thanks to my nesting sprees, I have been organizing my filing cabinets and shelves. I have also created several great office items on VistaPrint (more on that later).

Here is my door. I still have my "Mrs. Polan" sign that I made last year and my "counselor" window cover. I found some great posters on Pinterest and made a counselor poster on VistaPrint. I'm hoping that my door is inviting and makes the students want to come in. The door is usually open unless I am meeting with students. The younger students love to wave to me if I am at my desk when they walk by and I often get a few drop-ins who just want a check in. My office is in the basement, along with 3rd, 4th, 5th, a computer lab, and the Spanish classroom. All classes have Spanish at least once a week, so I do get the opportunity to see the students as they walk by. I would love a more centrally located office, along with a window, and a drop ceiling, but the office works just fine for me and the students. 

 Here is a view of my desk and one filing cabinet. This is probably the cleanest my desk will ever be. I spent some time right before school started to organize my small filing cabinet attached to my desk as well as both of my larger cabinets. I also found a cute little magnetic chalkboard at a garage sale this summer. It needed a fresh coat of spray paint and a fun ribbon. It holds the school monthly calendar and any notes and reminders. 

 In front of my desk is my group counseling table. I can fit myself and 6 students at the table, although my middle school students make it a pretty tight squeeze. If I am meeting with a middle school group, I usually borrow a classroom so that we have a little more elbow room. You can also see two banners that I created on VistaPrint. I am just about to start my lunch groups in all grades. I am hoping to get one round in before I go on leave and hopefully two rounds when I get back.  

Here is a view of my desk and individual counseling area. Same rug and chair as last year. You can also see my shelves in the background. I would love some hidden storage, but the open shelving helps me to keep everything organized. I keep all of my counseling supplies in bins, baskets, and binders. I am also working on cataloguing all of my counseling books. I'll have another post on that once I get that project underway. 

So that's my 2012-2013 office. I'll go into more detail about my VistaPrint orders, book cataloging, and some counseling documents that I created over the summer to help me stay organized. 

Off to a Good Start

Week one is almost officially over! It's hard to believe the school year has already begun. I am really looking forward to trying out some new lessons and activities this year. I am also getting involved in an afterschool group for girls in grades 3-5. I have also agreed to be a member of my districts crisis team. Our school is also going through it's re-accredidation this year, so I will be involved in that. It is going to be a very busy year, but I am excited about it!

Here are some pictures of what I have been working on the first two weeks back.

Here is a picture of my office, nice and organized. Let's hope that it stays that way. On the right I have two large bookshelves. One holds all of my classroom and student resources such as picture books, workbooks, and lesson plans. The other holds parent and teacher resource books and my college and grad school textbooks. I have a very large "kidney bean" table that my principal bought me last year. I love it because I can sit in the "cut out" and be able to see all of the students.

Here is my nice and tidy desk (today I left it in shambles because I was working on a project that I didn't finish). I have a small filing cabinet under my desk where I keep confidential files. I have projects that I am currently working on in a file divider on the corner. The large filing cabinet holds all of our standardized testing supplies which I completely rearranged at the beginning of last year only to find out that we would be ordering new materials this year. Oh well, it will give me something else to organize! On the right I have two good sized filing cabinets. The far one holds standardized testing scores and statistics. The closer one holds all of my files for just about every topic imaginable from A-Z.

We are going to focus on the same virtues as last year so I put up a bulletin board with all nine virtues on it. This one began it's transformation today and will get finished tomorrow.

I also acquired another bulletin board in a more centralized location in the school. It was a last minute addition, but I am very happy with the way it turned out. Each of the apples names the nine virtues we will be learning about this year. This one came down as well today to make way for our September virtue - Responsibility.

Back to School

Well, it's that time again... Faculty and staff came back to school last week and students arrived this past Monday. The first week of school is almost over and it is making me really excited for the rest of the year!

I was so excited about the start of school that I decorated my house in a "back to school" theme.

Here's the front door with a homemade back to school wreath.

And the mantle with some back to school accessories.

And I made these centerpieces for a faculty/staff workshop. Now one is sitting in my office.