You Just Know When You Need A Break

Today is the first day of the month of May and the last four weeks of the '10-11 school year. To say this has been an emotionally draining year is an understatement. There have been so many things, and something different each week. I really think I need the summer to process all of this, or maybe to just forget about it!

I am thankful I will have this group of students for one more year as 8th graders. I plan to get my few weeks of rest and go at it full swing in the fall. I have nothing to lose! My mission will be the same- to get to know the students better and to just take one day at a time, helping them prepare for high school as much as is possible.

Will my presence make a dent in their lives? Who knows? It's not really my place to worry about that. My job is to be heaven's heart and hands and leave the rest to God.

I pray the last four weeks of school are filled with joy and sunshine and that my students have a great summer and that we all come back prepared to have a great year!

A Poem by Tykail Mae

I really liked this poem that Tykail (one of my students) shared with me. She gave me permission to put it on my blog. She is a really good writer. She gave me another poem that I may post in the future. I hope you enjoy it. It makes me think a lot about teenagers and the emotions and circumstances they face on a daily basis.
In My Shoes
Put yourself in my shoes
Feel my pain
The dirt, the sorrow, being ashamed
-the ones you loved
-just be confused
Put yourself in my lonely shoes
Do you ever think
When you spit dirt on my name
Blast me out, call me names
Put yourself in my shoes
It just isn’t the same
-Is there a God Is he really real 14 years old,
do you Know how I feel?
Am I pretty
Or just a blob I’m not like the rest
That click, that mob
-Put yourself in my shoes
-I’m nobody, somebody
Mixed emotion
In this young girls’ lobby
-Feel my pain, do you know how it feels
-It’s not the same, yet-
“In my shoes, it’s all real.”

I Had to Laugh

I looked back at a post in February where I said, Snow Days are Good Days, and now I am sitting at home on Spring Break thinking, "Snow Days are Bad Days," as flakes flew listlessly outside my window this morning, and the sun is nowhere to be seen. I have been feeling a bit sorry for myself for not being in Florida with the other 50% of my town, but if I were there, would I be feeling relaxed, or just wondering if I'm going to be stressed coming back home to a house that needs to be cleaned and nothing done at home that I cherish days off for?

I have not had a terrible spring break, other than fighting a cold, but today is better and we still have two days plus the weekend coming up. I have enoyed spending time with my girls and two friends. My friend Rachel is very dear to me~ we met in college, and how we met there is quite another story, but I am so thankful to God for her. While our visits are limited to two a year right now due to both having kids and being caught up in their activities and work, I know that she will always be my friend.

One of my newer friends in the last two years came over today with her small children, and it was fun to just sit and visit with her and be reminded of my girls' stages when they were very small.

The other things I have done so far this week is clean a corner of my garage, make a homemade potato soup, and bake some monster cookies. I love to cook and bake, so having days I can do that are rare, but fun. I may even try to load up a picture of the soup and cookies for you. Do you want some?

Four Thousand E-mails

Wanting to keep my entry lighthearted this time, I thought hard about a topic that still relates to school counseling. While sitting at my school computer, I had an "a ha!" moment. I spend almost 3 hours a day looking at my computer screen and either making phone calls or sending e-mails. The other 4 hours I actually get to talk to kids, attend meetings, and work on various projects.

So, the day I had this idea, I looked in my e-mail "trash" bin. I had 4150 e-mails and the last date I emptied it was on November 23rd. So from November 23rd to February 22, I had 4150 e-mails. So, I decided to break that down. That was 11 weeks of school minus Saturdays and Sundays. That leaves me with 5 work days a week times 11 weeks. So 4150 e-mails divided by 55 work days equals 75 e-mails per day? Could that be possible??!! I walked over to my wall calendar and counted the days, subtracting Thanksgiving and Christmas break. Yep, that's my average amount of e-mails to read per day. If each one averages 30 seconds to read, and 1 1/2 minutes to respond, then 2 minutes per e-mail would be 2 1/2 hours per day spent reading and answering e-mails.

So what in the world could be the content of that many e-mails per day? Luckily some of them I can delete right away. We have a "BBay" listserve (sorta like Ebay), and I can delete those e-mails without reading them (maybe 5 per day average). Those are the easy ones to eliminate. The others are from various school employees and parents (and yes a few from my husband as that's the best way to communicate about the evening activities for the girls). I get e-mails from the Tech Department, the other counselors, my assistant principal, my principal, teachers, and parents~ all of which require a timely response most of the time.

Sometimes I prefer not to answer e-mail, but instead go to the person who sent me the e-mail and talk with them, or pick up the phone and call someone. So, that actually takes MORE than 2 minutes per e-mail, which leads me to my next Math problem . . . .

There Was an "Old" Woman Who Lived in a School

. . . She Had So Many Children, She Didn't Know What to Do!!

I feel like the old woman who lived in a shoe, but unlike her, I refuse to live out the nursery rhyme:

"she gave them some broth without any bread, then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed."

Instead, I'd like to rearrange the words a bit:

There was an "old" woman who lived in a school

She had so many children, she didn't know what to do

She gave them advice, to put in their head

Told them to eat well, and go early to bed.

I know that sounds silly, but I am at my wits end a lot of days with all the requests to come talk to me and not enough time to take care of each one. Unlike the old woman, I want to take care of each of their needs and requests. I don't have a simple solution or answer, when I have 345 students in my care, but I do view the students as my children while they are in the school building. I try to treat them as their parents would expect that I would, and in some cases, I try to treat them better!

There is a recommended ratio of 1 to 250 students, which would help tremendously if each school would follow that guideline, but unfortunately, it is an area where more money would be needed, and in this time of economic crisis, it is actually being taken away. Mental health issues among young people are on the rise and I am at a loss as to what the answer is. I only pray that each parent out there loves and cherishes his/her child so that the child doesn't need to see a school counselor. Idealistic, maybe. Realistic? I would say yes, it is realistic to expect that from parents. Actual? No, I think some parents are too overwhelmed and burdened trying to manage their own mental health that their children's often suffer, even if not intentionally.

For now, I will continue to feel like I have so many children I don't know what to do, and be glad that I have a job to go to every day where I can do what I can!

Snow Days are Good Days

Many in the education world are divided on the topic of snow days. Some would rather not have any, so their year in the spring is not extended. Some take the position that I do~ a snow day a year is good for the mind and soul. At a time when days at school are more hectic and more busy, it's nice to be at home for a day or two to let my mind settle, much like letting dust settle in the attic. When you finally go up there and wipe the dust off, you find treasures you forgot you had.

Giving my mind a rest from the mental energy it takes to spend most of my 7 hour day talking to people (teachers, parents, students, administration, administrative assistants, other counselors, the nurse . . . you get the picture?), is quite a relief.

This year the snow days couldn't have been more timely. I had just come down with the respiratory illness that over 70 students have been calling in absent for each day recently. Did I spend my time cleaning the house because it is always a mess? No. I spent it wandering from room to room doing whatever I felt like doing. I would sit in the sun room and read for awhile, go to the computer and look at Facebook, drink glasses and glasses of hot tea for my throat, and pull out all my scrapbooking paraphernalia (only to discover that my children have aged 4 years in what I thought was only 4 months!).

Yes, it has been a wonderful two days off, letting my mind slip into la la land and not worry about returning a phone call or getting to a meeting on time.

Snow Days ARE Good Days!

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Business often increases in guidance and counseling offices across the country during the months of January and February. There is no doubt that some people suffer from what is now called Seasonal Affective Disorder, which in summary, is a lack of sunshine in their lives. The days are darker, colder, and just plain miserable at times. Symptoms often mirror those of depression: hopelessness, anxiety, loss of appetite, and oversleeping, among others. Instead of writing about it, I am including a link to the Mayo Clinic, who has a great article about it.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/DS00195/DSECTION=symptoms

I guess the most important thing to remember if you or someone you know suffers from SAD is that you can get through it. My tips to my students that I talk to are these:
1. Get outside if possible, or sit by a sunny window in the house for a half hour each day.
2. Exercise
3. Get 8-9 hours of sleep each night
4. Read something you enjoy reading about
5. Watch funny TV shows or movies
6. Eat healthy
7. If you like to write, start a journal of your thoughts (or a blog like me!)
8. If you are spiritual, pray for the strength to get through the tough time