Going for the G.O.A.L!

Hello counselors,

Today I've decided to do a blog post on goal setting from a school counseling perspective! In my graduate classes and at my internship, I am learning the importance of setting goals and providing direction for your program. Since I love acronyms so much, I came up with one on creating goals for your school, your school counseling program, and yourself! I will explain each one and detail, and I'll also include some resources that I love and use again and again! This acronym is great for setting goals as an intern or a practicing School Counselor!

Gather Your Data:     

In the school counseling world, the "D" word is used often, and for a good reason. Backing up your goals with data is a great place to get started. By looking at the numbers from the previous year, or current trends, you can look at ways on how to improve! Also, this serves as a jumping point for creating your goals and making them meaningful to fit the needs of your school :)

Organize your goals using a method: 

Using a method is key, and my personal favorite is the S.M.A.R.T goals method! This acronym stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely!  Again, I sure do love acronyms, and this one is great! It allows you to be able to set a specific goal and make it something that you can measure and place a time frame on as well! You can click HERE to find a great resource on smart goals!

Ask Yourself: How will this benefit me, my students, and my school? 

As we all know, our students are the heart of the school, and they are the reason for all that we do! In creating our goals, keep in mind how will this benefit our students, our program, and the school as a whole! This can also apply when setting personal work goals for yourself, and how this can benefit both you, the staff & student body as well! By asking yourself this question, you are creating goals that are in the best interest of the school and students!

Link up & Collaborate with others! 

Take a minute to think about who is on your side, and who can help in your efforts to accomplish these goals. Also, keeping in mind what resources you have in your school to work towards implementing programs and working towards achieving your goals :) I feel that collaboration and building relationships in the school and community is essential in a school counseling program, and in helping both schools and students achieve goals!

I also recommend the book, The Use of Data in School Counseling: Hatching Results for Students, Programs, and the Profession by Trish Hatch. You can click on the title to order on amazon!

Also, I am currently reading School Counselor Accountability: A MEASURE of Student Success for one of my classes and I'm loving it :) This one will serve as a great reference book in the future for planning and measuring goals to ensure the success of all students!


Both books are great and relatively inexpensive! I recommend them both! I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post! One book that I have on my wish list is Making Data Work by Carol Kaffenberger!



What goals do you have set for the school year? Do you have any resources that you recommend? Is there anything that you would like to share on goal setting?
Feel free to comment below!


Enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

~Nicole

Bullying Awareness Pack Giveaway!!

Hello counselor friends!!

I hope you all enjoyed the weekend! With National Bullying Prevention Awareness month coming up in a few weeks, I have decided to do a giveaway where 2 lucky winners will receive my Bullying Awareness Pack for FREE! The giveaway starts at midnight and ends on Friday,September 19th!

This pack comes with a bully pledge, bookmarks, materials for an anti-bullying bulletin board, "is it bullying?" scenario cards, B.U.L.L.Y Acronym Sign, and "What should you do.?" draw/write activity! You can view this item in my TeachersPayTeachers store by clicking HERE. 

I recently just did a post on Ideas and Resources for National Bullying Prevention Month that you can check out for the upcoming month :)

You can enter this giveaway in the following ways: 

• "Like" Cheerful Counseling on facebook in the box below.
• Follow me on twitter in the box below
• Comment on this blog post answering one or both of the questions below: 
• What efforts/programs have you implemented in your school to help curb bullying?
• Do you have any bullying books/resources that you recommend for parents, counselors, small groups, classroom lessons, etc?

Thank you so much for checking out the blog! I will be announcing the winner on Friday night on my facebook page and blog so be sure to check back :)

Don't forget to enter in the box below! 

~Nicole

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Ideas & Resources for National Bullying Prevention Month!

Hello counselor friends!!

I hope that everyone enjoyed the long labor day weekend...I know I did!! Also, hopefully everyone's school year is off to a great start!

October is National Bullying Prevention Month! October will be here before you know it... and I have put together a list of resources and ideas that you can use at your school for National Bullying Prevention Month!


Encourage Kindness:  Starting a kindness campaign at your school or doing a kindness challenge can encourage students to be kind to one another and to help curb bullying! In additon, try to introduce students to new character traits, and working to build character as another effort that can be used! I created a Freebie Empathy Lesson  that you can download in my TpT Store!

Try a theme, acronym or both: Keeping a consistent theme throughout the month is a great way raise awareness in your school and for the kids to remember! I created a B.U.L.L.Y Acronym sign/poster for my teachers pay teachers store that you can download for FREE by clicking HERE. I also created an activity with an ice cream theme titled "Ice Cream to Stop Bullying" that you can use with the little ones! You can purchase it in my TpT store by In clicking HERE. It is great to use in your curriculum, groups, individuals, and even bulletin boards!

Incorporate theme school-wide and in your curriculum: Both of the above  products can work great as a school theme! You can incorporate the theme in your classroom lessons, and make it appropriate for each grade level. In your office, you can also display your story books on bullying! If possible, you can work with the media specialist at your school and ask him/her to place some bullying books on display as well. You can maybe even do something as a district and make it a district-wide theme!

Hold a parent night: If possible, host a parent night at your school on the issue of bullying. This is a great opportunity to build rapport with families, and inform others on the school's bullying policy. You can also answer questions, provide resources, and describe the school's role and the parents role in the effort to curb bullying! The ABC's of Bullying Prevention by Kenneth Shore offers great ideas and tips for schools and parents, you can order it on Amazon HERE.

I have also included a few websites and other resources that you can check out:

PACER Center: PACER Center has a page on their website dedicated to Bullying Prevention Month.  This page includes videos, educator toolkits, handouts, bullying facts, and more! You can also order FREE Bookmarks! (There is a S&H charge). You can click HERE to check out what PACER Center has to offer. They also have resources for Unity Day- Wednesday, October 22nd, where everyone can wear orange and unite against bullying.

Stomp out Bullying: Stomp Out Bullying offers ideas for each week in October! For example, students can make friends with someone they don't know at school the week of October 13th. There is also a Student Participation Toolkit with information on getting students involved, great things to add to

Stop Bullying Now! DVD: I got a FREE copy of the Stop Bullying Now! DVD Video Toolkit from the U.S. Department of Education's website. They have a number of FREE publications that you can download and/or order. The Video Toolkit includes webisodes that you can present with students, PSA's to present at your school, video workshops, and an instructor's guide for use in classroom lessons! You can order a FREE copy of this video toolkit by clicking HERE.
Also, you can click HERE to see all of the bullying publications that you can order from the U.S. Department of Education.

National Education Association (NEA): The National Education Association also has many FREE resources for bullying. You can also sign the pledge as a part of their Bully Free- It starts with me campaign. You can click HERE to sign the pledge! You'll also receive a free pin and poster, which is great to have in your office for students :)

SAMHSA: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) also have bullying resources and many others that you can order for FREE! Click HERE to view/order the bullying publications and see everything that this website has to offer!

ASCA Resource Center: If you are an ASCA member, be sure to check out the ASCA Resource Center. They have resources on many topics, including bullying/relational aggression/confllict resolution including lesson plans, articles, documents, and more!


I hope that many of you will find this post useful! Also...bullying prevention efforts can be implemented all year long! This list is also not comprehensive, there are many bullying resources and ideas out there...and I would love to hear resources and ideas that you know about or have used. Feel free to share in the comments section below! Bullying is a very serious issue in school's across the country, and I would love to hear from you about efforts what you've made at your schools!

If you have bullying book recommendations for educators, parents, and for lessons with children...I would love to hear about those as well!! You can also click on "My Counseling Library" tab to see books that I own and recommend...I have them organized by topic!

Also, my new Bullying Awareness Pack is now available in my TeachersPayTeachers store! You can click HERE to purchase!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend :) I will also have another giveaway soon, so be on the lookout for that!!

Until Next Time,


~Nicole