One of the things that I decided during the session is to become more aware of my presence in the moment and honor the connections with staff, parents, and students as well as at home with my family. I have found that simply being more present has calmed the storm that I have felt when trying to balance things. This stillness and mindfulness has also made me aware that often I am guilty of not recognizing the efforts of others while internally I do. I have realized that outward recognition of people and their positive attributes are crucial to developing relationships. Now you may be saying to yourselves, "Duh!; Don't you teach this stuff!" Trust me when I say, I felt the same way when it hit me! To respond to that thought, I believe that part of being a counselor of any kind is that we come to understand ourselves as we understand our students. We learn from them while we are also helping them learn from their experiences. The honest truth is that I think that many times, I learn more about myself after teaching a lesson than I ever expected. It is an incredible dynamic that I hope never changes! To say that any of us truly have it all together is a stretch, I think being honest with ourselves and our families about this struggle helps normalize the need to be present in our own minds.
I would like to end this post by sharing with you an opportunity that I had with the Oklahoma State Department of education and their #GratEDtude campaign. This was an honor to take part in this campaign to shed light on the things that counselors, administrators, and teachers have #GratEDtude in their schools and districts.
Last week, Nick Hughes was named the Oklahoma School Counselor of the Year! Today, the counselor at Limestone...
Posted by Oklahoma State Department of Education on Tuesday, November 17, 2015