2017 Annual Conference

Ruth Bowen, EdS, LPC, NCC
Summit Hill Elementary School, Fulton County
RAMP Recipient 2016
Fulton County School Counselor of the Year 2016-17

Elementary

Learn innovative ways to use play in your school. Not only will this session provide creative ideas for working with students in lessons, small groups, and completing CCRPI requirements, but also for working with teachers and even parents. Hear results from a parent play group, see a playroom in action, and walk away with your own tool box of strategies you can use in your program.

Learning Objectives:

This session will help participants identify at least three methods of utilizing play in school counseling.

This session will help participants apply creative and play-based techniques in their counseling programs.

This session will help participants understand data related to the effectiveness of play-based techniques.

This session will help participants feel confident in using play in their programs, even if this is a new method for them.

Session Summary:

This session will discuss using play in a comprehensive school counseling program. Participants will hear examples of core curriculum lesson activities, as well as small group activities that incorporate play. Session attendees will learn about using centers and break out groups for career lessons, as well as implementing a wax museum of careers to satisfy the CCRPI portfolio requirement. They will see pictures and videos from a school-based playroom and will understand how the playroom has been utilized this year. This session will cover data about the effectiveness of the playroom lessons. Session participants will also hear a unique take on social stories, a creative method for use in individual sessions.

After hearing about using play with students, session attendees will discuss play with teachers and parents. The session will address the importance of morale in the school. Participants will explore boosting morale in playful and fun ways, using treats, games, and signs throughout the school year. The session will exhibit the details of a parent group conducted by the presenter with the moms of her small group students. Participants will see data about the group and the impact it had both on the moms and the students.

Leaving the session, participants will walk away with new ideas, will feel more confident in their own ability to utilize play in their programs, and will have handouts they can use to implement some of the session’s activities or lessons. They will also have the opportunity to win give aways throughout the session that will get them started in using play at their schools.