One of the best things about our jobs as school counselors is that we are able to do fun and interactive core curriculum lessons. We get to see students in their classroom environment, share in their excitement to see us, and gain some meaningful insight about their ability to interact with their peers. Our hope as school counselors is to create not only informative lessons, but also engaging lessons that students love to participate in. Sometimes however, we leave feeling as though students were less engaged in the lessons. Here are five reasons why students are not engages in your school counseling lessons.
- Your Lessons Format Never Changes: There is nothing wrong with using children’s books on a regular basis in your classroom lessons. They can be creative, informative, and a fantastic resource to use to introduce complex ideas and feelings. Their pictures are inviting and most children love to hearing stories in class. However, it is easy to get into the book and worksheet pattern… read a book, talk about the book, give a worksheet, repeat. This method of teaching greatly reduces the ability to express their creativity and self-exploration and sometimes can be, well, boring.
- Too Much Siting: Students have to sit a lot during traditional classroom instruction. While having students sit during serious topics of instruction such as bullying or anxiety, it is not always necessary for all lessons. Instructional topics like cooperation and collaboration provide a perfect opportunity to allow students to engage in various activities that allow movement and play. Moving is memorable and fun, and it allows school counselors to integrate sensory movement and activities for students to get brain breaks. Set the parameters and let them move! Have fun!
- Not Enough Creativity: It is fun to be creative! While relying on scripted resources can be useful, it often stifles the creativity of the SEL content itself. Creativity fosters self-expression, cooperation, and collaboration. It also gives students way to explore difficult feelings and ideas. Creativity is also good for us as school counselors. It allows us to get outside of our comfort zone and create something new or try a new creative lesson someone else created. Get creative and have fun!
- Abstract Ideas: Some topics are really abstract, especially for students in primary grades. Topics such as gratitude, empathy, and anxiety are complex even for older students. Being mindful of resources and lessons around abstract topics is important for student engagement. If students are having a hard time understanding the topic, disengagement is sure to occur.
- Dated Materials: As school counselors and teachers, we tend to hoard our lesson and resources for future lessons. While some older resources may be valuable and entertaining, it is important to evaluate your materials on a regular basis. Material that is too dated will be very obvious to students and they will most likely check out. Consider asking students what kind of lessons they would enjoy doing. Ask other school counselors for new and innovative lessons they may have used in the past. You may find some amazing new resources.
Creating and finding new core curriculum counseling lessons can be a fun adventure! It allows you to explore your creativity and find some innovative ideas, such as arts integration. If you are low on innovative resources and are curious about arts integration, I have created an Arts Integration in School Counseling Workbook from Youthlight Inc. that has many fun and interactive arts integrates lessons!