Counselor Johnson

Isolation, Uncertainty, Boredom, Grief, Anxiety, Stress, Fear...... TRAUMA This week, we learned that our students will not return to our school building this year.  Instead, we will finish the year through virtual learning.  They didn't get to say goodbye to their friends or teachers.  We didn't get to have our end of the year awards ceremony, kindergarten or 5th grade graduation, field day, and so many other annual traditions.  It's heartbreaking for our school family (kids, parents, teachers) and we are all grieving and grief is a process (more on that in another entry).  Right now, everyone is very focused on the present (and we need to be), but as a school counselor and the only full-time staff member at my school that works with students' mental health, I have to be planning for the day we return and the impact of current events on the mental health of my students. In the fall (or whenever we return), I will have 400+ young people returning to the home away

Parents, your mental health, sanity, safety, and family time are more important than your child's NTI/distance learning/virtual learning (whatever it's called in your state). Do what you can. Have your kids do what they can. But, if it's causing you stress, your child's anxiety, etc. it shouldn't. It's okay if you don't get to it.  Educators, if you think you are going to replace the learning kids would do in a physical school building with all of the staff we have in sch ool and all of the resources we provide kids to be successful, then you are greatly undervaluing what we do each day. You can't expect kids to perform at the same level working from home in high stress with siblings, sharing devices, parents working from home, people getting sick and dying, not being allowed to do the things they love, etc. Adjust your expectations.  Don't be the teacher (principal, counselor, school district, etc.) that your students and their families remem

"Trauma Informed" has ben the topic of focus this year.  A majority of the professional development in our district has been centered around being more trauma informed.  Trauma used to be the counselor's area, only.  It was part of my training for my Master's Degree and when there's trauma, usually teachers and administrators turn to me for guidance.  But, now, we are training all educators to be more informed about trauma and I believe that helps us to serve our students better.  Not only the students that are processing major trauma, but all students.  It has started to inform everything we do from assessments, school programs, behavior interventions, etc. as we begin to look at everything through a trauma lens instead of labeling students as students with "trauma".  Especially, since we can't always see trauma and we don't always know which students are dealing with trauma.   Our state has passed legislation requiring trauma informed training,

"Nobody gets me because nobody else in this school has autism!"  one of my sweet students yelled in my counseling office one day.  I froze for a moment and sat down on the futon in my office.  "You are not the only student in this school with autism."  "Who?!  Who?!  Just tell me who!" he continued, still agitated.  In that moment, I knew two things.  I needed to find a way for my kids on the spectrum to not feel so alone.  I needed to find ways for them to connect to other students with the same challenges.  I also needed to do more to educate all students about different disabilities in my school. They don't understand people that are different from them.  They don't understand a kid with ADHD, if they don't have it.  They don't understand a kid with an emotional behavior disorder, if that's not something they have experienced.  The hard part is that students and their families are protected by confidentiality under FERPA (Family Educ