Superflex and Perspective Taking

Since I spend so much time navigating social conflicts with my students, as well as behavioral challenges, I also spend a lot of proactive time teaching about perspective taking. Now perspective taking, being able to put yourself in someone else's position and think from their point of view is a very challenging skill, even for adults! You have to be able to read someone's facial expression, body language, and the contextual clues to try and figure what they may be thinking and feeling. And even more challenging, you have to step outside of your own thoughts and feelings about the situation...you have to step outside YOURSELF, which is really hard to do.

In teaching about perspective thinking and social thinking, I primarily use the Superflex Social Thinking curriculum.

My groups do lots of activities and role plays around the notion of Superflex, a superhero who helps show people how to think about other people, and his Team of Unthinkables--the "villains" who are trying to get you to only think about yourself and your own ideas. This hero and villain framework really connects with my kids across multiple grade levels and is an awesome way to developmentally frame the idea of perspective taking.

Since we talk a lot about these villains "invading our brain" when the students are having a hard time in different areas, I wanted to pass along the list of villains and their traits to parents as well. The kids really respond well to this language. For example, if a student is continuing to play after the teacher has asked multiple times for him to begin cleaning up, she may then say, "It seems like Rock Brain may be trying to invade your brain...what would Superflex do?" Rock brain is a villain who makes people "get stuck on their own ideas" and not be flexible thinkers. Generally the students will remember the strategies that we have discussed and will follow the direction saying, "Superflex would say that it's time to clean up now and maybe there will be more time to play later."

If you are interested, you can find out more about Superflex as well as the rest of the Social Thinking curriculum (there are many books and activities) here.

Problem Solving Strategies

Helping to resolve peer conflicts is a huge part of my daily job as a guidance counselor. With over 500 students under one roof, all of whom are still learning how to navigate social relationships and expectations, it's inevitable that conflicts will occur. And when they do, they are generally excellent teaching opportunities!

I have found that the vast majority of social conflicts occur because of miscommunications, not because of intentional meanness. Yet regardless, when they do occur, regardless of the reason, students are often upset. Therefore, we spend a lot of time talking about how to calm down, make good choices, and attempt to resolve the conflict on their own first, depending on the nature of the conflict.

We brainstorm a lot of different strategies and often use this visual as a nice reminder that we always have LOTS of options for how to respond!

What does an elementary guidance counselor do?

Whenever I am meeting new people and the inevitable question, So what do you do? arises, I am generally met with a polite smile and confused expression when I answer, Oh, I'm an elementary school guidance counselor. Inevitably they ask,

So what does an elementary guidance counselor do?

Always a great question.

Let's see how best I can answer it. 

In any given week, I have a set schedule of responsibilities which include the following:

•  Teaching whole class lessons on topics such as empathy, problem solving strategies, friendship skills, self-esteem, emotional awareness, etc.
• Seeing kids in small groups for counseling. Oftentimes these groups are based on building social/friendship skills, though sometimes they have a different focus such as self-esteem, anti-bullying, anger management, etc. We play games, do paper and pencil activities, do role plays, and work together as a group towards many common goals. It is not "counseling" in the traditional sense of the word, but more a small group setting to model and teach specific skills.
• Seeing kids individually for counseling, depending on their needs. Some students are too overwhelmed by the small group setting and need more direct, personalized support and some students have sensitive issues that would be inappropriate to address in a group format. Therefore, I see these students individually. Sometimes we are working on activities or playing therapeutic games and sometimes we are just talking in a more traditional counseling sense. It all depends on the student, their age, and their concern.
• Collaborating with teachers. I spend a lot of time in meetings and informal discussions with teachers to help address concerns they may have behaviorally, socially, or emotionally with their students.
• Writing and implementing behavior plans. For students with behavioral challenges, I work with teachers to create, implement, and track behavior plans.
• Serving as the Section 504 coordinator. I write Section 504 plans for students with disabilities who receive accommodations in the classroom and I manage their plans by organizing annual reviews and the paperwork that accompanies them.
• Attending grade level team meetings. I attend grade level team meetings weekly to remain abreast of current situations and concerns throughout each grade that I service.
• Meeting with parents. I spend a lot of time either talking with parents on the phone or meeting with them in person regarding concerns they or I may have for their child.
• Serving lunch and recess duty--a necessary part of every teacher's job! :)

While those are the responsibilities that I maintain on a weekly basis, on a daily basis, I address any significant concerns that simply arise as the day goes on. These could be bus issues, recess problems, a student who is simply having a hard day, behavioral issues in the classroom, friendship conflicts, etc.

Each day brings something new--that's for sure! And that's what I love about this job!