120. Things I’m Doing Now So August Isn’t A Dumpster Fire!

Carol: You're listening to the Counselor Chat Podcast, a show for school counselors looking for easy to implement strategies, how to tips, collaboration, and a little spark of joy.

I'm Carol Miller, your host. I'm a full time school counselor and the face behind counseling Essentials. I'm all about creating simplified systems, data driven practices, and using creative approaches to engage students.

If you're looking for a little inspiration to help help you make a big impact on student growth and success, you're in the right place. Because we're better together.

Ready to chat.

Let's dive in.

Carol: Hey there counselor friends. Welcome back to another episode of Counselor Chat. I'm your host, Carol Miller.

I'm a school counselor, a content creator, and I'm a self proclaimed August prepper who is just not about the chaotic scramble that energy when back to school rolls around.

So today's episode, it's titled the 10 Things I'm Doing Now. So August isn't a dumpster fire because let's be honest, we've all had that one year where we swore we'd get ahead during summer, but suddenly it's August 26th and you're printing lesson plans at 11pm with a cold cup of coffee and a mysterious stack of unlaminated posters.

So to help future me and you avoid the chaos,

I'm sharing the 10 intentional things I'm doing right now to set up a smoother, calmer, more organized start to the year.

Let's count them down.

Number 10.

I am cleaning up my counseling office,

both virtually and physically.

Because yes, even in summer I take time now to clean out the old files,

both my paper files, because let's face it,

I'm sure some of you have files in there that are probably pretty prehistoric as well as those digital ones.

And I go through my Google Drive and I think, ooh, let's either move these random files into folders or I haven't touched this stuff in years. Let's get rid of it.

Because I don't have the time and energy during the school year to spend that much energy looking for things. I want them in sight.

I know exactly where to go.

And so summer gives me that time to get everything organized.

So my friends delete those outdated Google forms and label everything that you threw in the drawer in May.

And here's another little tip. I keep a sticky note list and it's titled what Future Me Will thank Me For.

And I put one item on it from last year,

like label the cabinet. You kept the calm corner tools. And because you know, you forget Every single year. So keep that little sticky note list so that you know where to find things really quickly.

Number nine,

I'm rebuilding my counseling calendar template.

I like to open up my counseling calendar and I build out the big picture. I mean my planner is printed, it's ready to go.

And so it is starts out as a big blank, empty slate. But right now I am filling it in.

I'm going to put in what themes I have for each month, what advisory events that we might have, what SEL initiatives are happening, the lesson topics for every month. I think I said that, but I'm not sure.

And some of the small groups that I really want to run because I can remember some of the problems my kiddos had last year. And so I want to start the year addressing those issues right from the start.

And as an example I like to slot in some In October we are hitting the ground strong. I know it seems like it's forever away but we usually have a school wide event around kindness because October is, you know, anti bullying month and so we really focus in on kindness and so we are.

I'm slotting in those lessons. I'm thinking about what book that we're going to use and what kind of school wide project that we can do during that month.

I also know that we do some stuff around Career week in February and in March we are hitting the ground strong with our career lessons.

And then in May we are going to be really well usually April, the end of April into May, we are focusing around child safety. So I know that I am slotting those in now.

Okay,

number eight on my list is printing my most used materials in bulk.

I print and prep my go to forms now those referral forms, my permission slips, my feelings check ins, my coping skills posters,

my behavior reflection sheets because let's face it, my kiddos use those.

And I even prep some like starter kits for new students or emergency situations. So I'm not scrambling when either someone enrolls the second day of school or there's a death in our or a death in one of my kids families, I'd like to send them home with some little things for grief.

So I have these little prep kits started for them.

Number seven,

I am organizing my small group plans and materials. I map out, like I said, what groups I'm likely to run in the fall because I've reviewed my data from last year and I pre select my materials and I know I go into my PIRCS counseling content club portal and I download the lessons and journals.

I know I'M going to be using the most.

And I have them clearly labeled in binders and folders like grief, friendship, self regulation,

and having those plans in place,

that means that I have fewer Sunday night panics.

Okay, number six,

I'm creating a quick staff welcome email and menu. I always like to send a really a nice little warm welcome email to our staff that includes a quick here's what I do section,

my counseling referral forms, and I have both paper and digital versions of that.

And then kind of like a counselor menu with the services I offer.

If you're coming to the summer counselor conference,

I'm talking a little bit about that counselor menu as well.

And I always send a reminder of how to reach me, especially since last year they changed my phone number,

so now I have a new extension. And so I want to remind people about that. So I'm including that in there as well.

And I am going to remind my friends,

my teacher friends that I am going to be coming around during our PD day looking to sign them up for classroom lessons for the year.

That way it's going to make life way easier.

Okay, moving on to number five.

I'm refreshing my bulletin boards and door decor.

I update or pre design my back to school bulletin board and my office door signs so I'm not cutting the letters the night before school starts because let's face it, I don't have time for that.

I'm too worried about what I'm going to wear or what I'm going to pack for lunch that I can kind of eat like sporadically because it has to be finger foods because, you know, that first day I'm not sitting down for a full lunch.

And so I'm more worried about that stuff. And so I'm refreshing my bulletin boards and door decor now.

You know,

it's important that we do this because let's face it,

our offices, they have to be kid friendly.

all right, maybe not that old,

but if you have pictures that are really old, it might be time to take them down. We don't need things that are dusty and dirty and faded hanging on our walls,

because what does that say about us?

So update, refresh,

look good.

And I think for a theme that I'm going to be using this flaw as we head back is that it's going to be kind of simple. Your future is bright thinking.

Think about sunglasses and student goals.

And I can laminate these now and I can even reuse them later. On number four, I am building my intro lessons for classrooms because I always do an introductory classroom lesson during the first few weeks of school and I prep that now.

And this includes some bingo games,

this or that, Counselor edition. And I try to explain my role in student friendly terms.

And I also let our kiddos know exactly how they can,

how they can meet me or reach me. And this helps their teachers as well. Because I don't want kids really just walking down at any time in the day because I'm a busy person.

I got things I gotta do. I have places that I'm supposed to be.

And so I want them to know how to come, how to schedule some time with me.

Because I really want, when they're in front of me, I want them to know that they're the most important thing there and that I'm not split thinking about five other things at the same time.

So I really want to include that.

And having this ready means I'm confident walking into every classroom from day one.

All right, number three on my list is creating my counselor go bag.

I like to keep a little tote stocked with fidgets and tissues and stickers and pens,

band aids, because you never know when you're going to need a good band aid.

Some emergency chocolate.

Sometimes that's for kids and sometimes it's for me. Sometimes it's for the staff members.

The referral forms and a journal.

And I take it to when I walk through lunches or maybe I'm walking through classrooms or wherever the day pulls me.

I also include a little mini binder.

Actually, it's not really a binder. It's more of pencil box, you know, one of those little plastic boxes,

pencil boxes of like on the go worksheets with some stress balls. And I have a couple other fidgets in there. And I have some coloring sheets and these little tiny colored pencils.

Because I never know if I'm going to have to work with someone for de escalation or if we're going to have a quick chat and I need to just maybe pull them in the hall for a few minutes, but I want something for them to do.

Number two,

I am prepping my data tools and my spreadsheets because I want to be intentional, I want to be purposeful, and I want to know that I am creating impact.

So I am updating my individual session logs, my group tracking forms.

I do some IEP counseling. So I am making sure that I have everybody on my list. I know what their goals are, and I am making my progress monitoring checklists.

I'm also going to have some monthly summary sheets and some pre post survey templates all ready to go.

And I use a lot of choice forums where I'm asking kids,

you know, when it comes to this topic, are you more like this or are you more like that? It's kind of like a this or that type of thing, but those provide me a lot of insight and actually help me to know what skills my kids need to work on and what ones they already have mastered.

So I'm going to make sure that I have my behavioral choice surveys all ready to go as well.

And I also color code some Google sheets so I can quickly pull data for these reports for my admin or just to see who's getting the most support.

Having this set up before the referrals roll in is a total sanity saver.

Okay, drum roll.

And the number one thing I'm doing now so August isn't a dumpster fire, is I'm filling my own cup now.

Yep.

Self care, rest,

boundaries and joy.

Because no amount of planning can replace a counselor who's already running on empty.

And so I'm giving myself permission to sleep in,

take walks,

read books that aren't about education.

I am saying no to some extra commitments.

And I'm cooking something delicious just because I can.

And my new obsession, some Mediterranean recipes and the meal board app. I think I talked about this before the meal board app, but oh my God, I love it.

Lets me save and rate my recipes, organize my meals and categorize everything.

And it has been a total game changer for making my weeknights easier and kind of fun.

All right, my friends, those were my top 10 things to do now before August hits, because we don't want any dumpster fires.

And as a little bonus mention,

I want to talk to you about the Summer Counselor Conference.

Because when we're speaking of filling up your cup,

And it opens today and it starts officially on Friday.

And my session is. Are you ready for this? Putting out fires all day.

From crisis response to proactive programming.

Because if you ever felt like your whole job is triage,

this one's for you.

We are going to talk about systems, boundaries and practical ways to kind of flip the script.

You can still register@summercounselorconference.com and my friends, even if you're not available this weekend, you can access all the sessions at your own pace.

Because let's face it, we love flexible P Day So there you have it. 10 + the one thing I am doing now so that my future self isn't overwhelmed under caffeinated and frantically laminating laminating things at midnight.

Remember August, it doesn't have to be a whirlwind.

A little prep now equals a lot more peace later.

So if any of these tips resonated with you, take a screenshot of this episode.

Share it on Instagram. Tag me.

I'd love to see what you're prepping this summer and how you're making space for rest too.

And until next time, counselor friends, stay cool,

stay kind,

and prep like the calm, collected counselor you are.

So until next time. I hope you have a great week.

Bye for now.

Carol: Thanks for listening to today's episode of Counselor Chat. All of the links I talked about can be found in the show notes and at counselingessentials.org podcast. Be sure to hit follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast player.

And if you would be so kind to leave a review, I'd really appreciate it.

Want to connect? Send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram at counselingessentials. Until next time. Can't wait till we chat.

Bye for now.