Strategies for School Counselors to Support Teachers

Teachers are stressed! We as school counselors can help maintain a collaborative school climate by encouraging and supporting teachers. So what does this look like?

School counselors can support teachers through supplemental class lessons

Offer 'as-needed' class lessons

In addition to your scheduled monthly classroom counseling lessons, teachers may need a little help tackling tough topics that are popping up. For example, if their students are struggling with tattling you could teach a tattling vs. reporting lesson. Or if one grade level is having conflicts during recess you can teach a lesson on sportsmanship.

Option 1: You teach the class. You're the expert on the topic and the teacher gets a much needed break to catch up on other things.

Option 2: You send the teacher a lesson to teach. This is nice because you get to be delivering counseling services indirectly. The class receives a lesson while you are in a group, individual session, or parent meeting. It's like cloning yourself!

How teachers can request supplemental classroom counseling lessons

You can create a class lessons request form or conduct another needs assessment like you did at the beginning of the year. Or you can simply offer this supplemental service as teachers vent to you throughout the day in the lounge, hallway, or pick up line!

You could also look at discipline referral data to see hot topics this time of year and how you can prevent them.

School counselors can support teachers through 'mini PD'

Host a mini professional development workshop where you show teachers SEL and counseling strategies they can implement in the classroom!

Build a coping strategies toolbox with teachers

Setting up a physical space in the classroom for students to go to when they need to calm down is so important. This keeps them in the classroom! Make it a fun DIY project during your mini PD. See if your school provides funding for you to purchase some materials for teachers to include in their calm down corner or coping skills toolbox.

Items to include:

• stress balls

• fidgets

• calm down visuals (snag these free grounding posters)

• calm down glitter bottle

• headphones

• deep breathing cards (check out my deep breathing strategies on TikTok)

Introduce a daily feelings check

I also love to teach teachers how to do a 'feelings check' during their morning meeting or circle time. I love to give them these free feelings check posters and always recommend these morning meeting discussion cards. (These discussion cards as well as ALL of my counseling resources are included in my IMPACT monthly membership for school counselors!)

Guide them in a mindfulness meditation

Lead teachers through a guided meditation during the mini PD. This models how they can use it with students. Check out these mindfulness guided meditation scripts.

Remind teachers of the school counseling referral process

Show teachers how they can make a referral and which services you provide. The more teachers that take advantage of your services the more students will benefit!

I hope you find these strategies inspiring and totally do-able! Check out episodes 138 and 140 of the School Counseling Simplified podcast to hear more ways to support students.