About Me

I am a K-6 school counselor. I truly love my job and try to use my time wisely to teach important life lessons! I started this blog to share the ideas that I have obtained from others and have created to continue inspiring and keeping our students interested.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Mix It Up Day....finally a SUCCESS!






Three years ago, I began my career as a school counselor.  I attempted to facilitate Mix It Up Day during this first year, and it was a disaster! I had great intentions, but the planning was not properly executed.  Mix It Up Day is a day that students eat at a different table with different classmates as a means to get to meet a new friend and break down social boundaries.  This may seem like no big deal to plan, but lunch time is the craziest time of the school day.  It is their "free" time and a time to meet with their friends.  This day is typical met with resistance and hesitation, and sometimes tears from the younger ones.  During my first year, we used different letter stamps to identify the table a student would sit it.  The students trickled in faster than my hands could stamp; FAIL.  It was chaos, with students running around and sitting wherever.  It made me want to run away and hide.  But like any driven, crazy person, I decided to give it a second try the following year.  This time I had my student group, the Peacemakers assist in engaging students in conversation and directing students to their table.  We used different colored stickers to identify the table, and it went well for the first lunch, but the others were again a FAIL!!  I think EVERYONE was dreading Mix It Up Day this year....I know I was.

I thought about it hard, and debated whether or not it was worth trying again.  But I know this activity can be so beneficial, even for a short amount of time.  I decided to try it during Red Ribbon Week.  Some things I did differently this year:

1.  I created a plan that focused on every area that did not work in the past.  The biggest issue was how to quickly identify the table that the students sit at.  Because we incorporated Character Counts with Red Ribbon Week, I used our seven character traits as a label for each table.
2.  I emailed the teachers to discuss the table identification with their students, and tell them what table they would sit it.
3  I promoted it!
4.  I used colors and character traits as identification tools.  This was especially helpful for the young students.  It was easy for them to remember what color table they had to sit it.
5.  I met with the café staff to have them assist in getting students to their table.  They also helped facilitate and and questions with the tables.
6.  I had ice breaker questions at teach table.

I bought different colored table cloths at the dollar store and put them on the tables.  I then printed out the character traits and taped them to the end of the tables.

The students had a great day! The staff had a good time.  No one wanted to rip their hair out.

I even had a 6th grade student, who are typically resistant to this day, say "This was so much fun! Can we do it again?!"

I have decided to do Mix It Up Day two more times this year.  I finally figured out how to make it work.


2012 Mix It Up Day at Lunch

Mix it Up Day is an activity to encourage students to identify, question, and cross social boundaries.  Students will move out of their comfort zone and connect with someone new over lunch.  When students interact with those whoa re different from them, biases and misconceptions can fall away. 

Mix It Up Day at Lunch will take place on Tuesday, October 23

Students will sit at a designated table based on their last name:

A-C            Respect                        Red

D-F            Responsibility            Orange

G-I            Courage                        Yellow

J-L            Kindness                        Green

M-O            Self-Discipline            Blue

P-R            Integrity                        Purple

S-U            Perseverance                        White

V-Z            Good Judgement            Black

Please let your students know about this day and the procedures.  The younger grades may feel apprehensive about the activity, so encourage and speak positively about Mix It Up Day.  Inform them of the table that they will be sitting at.  I put a color with the table to help the younger students remember where they will be sitting.

The staff members will encourage conversation and participation in the ice break questions that will be on each table!

Poster for Students


2012 Mix It Up Day at Lunch

Tuesday, October 23 at lunch

Sit with different students, and make a new friend!

Find the letter that your last name starts with on the sign, and sit at that table.  Each table has a color tablecloth to help!

A-C         Respect                           Red

D-F         Responsibility                  Orange

G-I         Courage                           Yellow

J-L         Kindness                           Green

M-O         Self-Discipline                  Blue

P-R         Integrity                           Purple

S-U         Perseverance                  White

V-Z         Good Judgement         Black








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