Well, here we are again with a brand new start to the school year! Like most other educators and counselors out there, I return with mixed feelings- excitement to see all my kids again and start a fresh school year, and….a little bummed that all those 8am wake-ups and lazy weekday trips with the dogs to the park are over. Oh well…as with everything in life, you’ve got to take the good with the bad. So let’s get motivated with five inspiring tips on how to tackle the first month back to school!! As always, I’ve included some helpful resources- just click on the green links which will take you right to an article, video, or product you can use.
First, here are Bilingual Learner updates…
NEWSY & NOTEWORTHY
- Guess who is the newest member of the Youthlight Publishing family?? This Girl! Several of my former group counseling guides are currently being upgraded into an exciting book, Get Your Group On: Multi-Topic Small Group Counseling Curricula for Children, that will be available later this summer!
- I will be taking the next few months off to set up my sister website, schoolcounselorstephanie.com. Once it launches in the fall, the new website will be the main site for all my school counseling resources and tips. As a result, this Bilingual Learner website will be solely dedicated to bilingual/ESL/EFL teaching topics.
- Brand new Bilingual Learner guidance lessons, group guides, and counseling program resources are available on my Teachers Pay Teachers store:
- Bilingual Group Counseling Bundle- Stress and Anger Management in English/Spanish
- Drug and Alcohol Prevention Awareness: A Guidance Lesson
- Goals Make the Man: Small Group Counseling Guide for Boys
- The Girl Project: Smaill Group Counseling Guide for Girls
- Meet Your Counselor: Beginning of the Year Guidance Lesson
- Yearly School Counseling Curriculum and Weekly Schedule
- Taking the Bully by the Horns: Guidance Lesson on Anti-Bullying & Cyberbullying
- Promoting Healthy Relationships Lesson for Teens/Preteens
- Start SMART: Making Academic SMART Goals
- The just-revised lessons guide, ESL for Beginners, is ready! I provide free revised editions of all my Bilingual Learner guides to customers who request them- just email me at bilinguallearner@hotmail.com with your name, the name of the guide, the date you purchased it, and where you purchased it from (our website, TPT, Amazon, etc) and I’ll get an electronic version of your revised guide emailed right out to you!
- I am proud to be a part of a group of counselor-leaders nationwide who came together to share their best with you. Check out this amazing counselor ebook where every single page has a freebie counseling resource.
AND SAVING THE BEST NEWS FOR LAST:
- The Bilingual Learner Sitewide Super Sale!!! I have an August Back to School buy-one-get-one-free deal going on ANY of my teaching or counseling eguides such as:
- Relajate: Bilingual Stress Management Group Counseling Guide with Spanish/English Activities
- ESL for Beginners Lessons Guides with Activities
- ESL in the Middle Lessons Guides with Activities
- Thanksgiving in America: Bilingual eBooklet & Funquiz
- ESL Survival Skills: Exploring US Culture (with Halloween activities!!)
- ESL Diagnostic Test with Scoring Key
- Charla Entre Chicas: Bilingual Girl Empowerment Group Counseling Guide
- Cope Into Hope: Grief Counseling Guide
- Be Cool: Anger Management Group Counseling Guide
- And More!! So head on over to my product page and get your freebies today. (Once you purchase your first eguide, just email me at bilinguallearner@hotmail.com with your receipt number and the title of the eguide you’d like for free and I’ll email you your freebie right away.)
READY, SET, GOAL!! TIPS FOR THE FIRST MONTH BACK TO SCHOOL
1. Set up your Space- don’t spend a ton of time on this since it will probably change as the year progresses. For now, just make your classroom or counseling office comfortable to work in.
2. Meet with Colleague/s- Meet with your co-counselors or teaching team to sketch out your yearly curricular calendar (explained in next tip). Also, start brainstorming ideas on your first 2 weeks of ESL or guidance lessons that you want to teach. Set a weekly or monthly planning time to continue meeting regularly with your colleagues throughout the school year.
3. Plan your calendar- Do your long-term planning for the year, aligning your activities with objectives and goals from your governing agency, such as the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) or Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL). Here is a link to a sample counseling calendar for you to use.
4. Meet with Admin- Set up a meeting with your principal to discuss what your governing agency recommends that you do, what amazing things you are actually doing or would like to do, and what your principal needs for you to do. Show a draft of your curricular calendar so you can elicit principal feedback and modify accordingly. This is also a good time to set up weekly or monthly meetings with your admin to give progress updates and plan next steps. Also, if you are a school counselor, sign the ASCA Annual Agreement with your principal at this time.
5. Start lesson planning- Now you are ready to start the fun part! Armed with your yearly calendar, your amazing ideas for new activities, and all the fabulous resources you’ve compiled, start planning those lessons! Here is a link to a sample ESL/EFL lesson plan that you can use as a template to plan your own lessons. Happy Planning!
That brings me to the end of this month’s post and some exciting news! As mentioned above, I won’t be blogging over the next few months as I set up my sister website, schoolcounselorstephanie.com. So, check back here again in a few months for tips and resources solely dedicated to bilingual and ESL/EFL teaching! As always, you can find out about Bilingual Learner’s latest promotions, free stuff, or my counseling/ESL adventures by following my Facebook Page, Twitter Page, Pinterest Page and Instagram Page!
Source: Bilingual Learner
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