School counselors know there are many ways to reach students; sometimes through conversations, artwork, sports, and even music. This week we share our listeners’ 2021 Encouraging Songs for School Counselors playlist which might be useful to both students and counselors.
Share YOUR Story!
Do you have a touching or funny (or both) story about school counseling? We want to hear it! Drop us a line or record your story with our online Sound Booth.
If you have questions or need help, let us know!
Subscribe
Encouraging Words for School Counselors is also available on these podcast apps and others. If you can’t find the podcast on your favorite app, let us know and we’ll make sure we get there. If you prefer to listen in your browser, visit https://inspiresuccess.org/podcast every week for a new episode. For new episode notifications and more, follow Inspire Success on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Transcript
Hi, everyone! It’s another week of October and another edition of Encouraging Words for School Counselors. I’m Matt Fleck with Inspire Success.
It has been a tremendously trying school year for many of you…still dealing with students (and staff) who are out because of Covid and students who are back in person, but seem to have forgotten how to act appropriately around others. Some of you are still contact tracing, substitute teaching, or just about anything else that’s needed to keep the school functioning. So, cheers to you all. Hopefully fall break will provide some much-needed relief.
Rejuvenation is also the theme of our podcast today, in the form of music. Sort of. Again this year we asked YOU to give us the names of SONGS that help inspire you on your way to work or help you de-process at the end of the day or on your way home. And we took that collection of songs – which we call Encouraging SONGS for School Counselors – and added them to a new Spotify playlist called, of course, Encouraging SONGS for School Counselors. It’s an eclectic mix – some country, some religious, some a little funky – but all either inspirational or just plain fun.
And though we created the playlist for YOU – it might have some application to your work. Years ago, way before I was a school counselor, I was a co-leader of a high school youth group. The female leader of the group would sit everyone now on the floor, in a circle, and almost every time we met, she would have copies of the lyrics of a popular song…some songs were current or while others were a few years old. She would ask the students to read through the lyrics and point out parts that resonated with them or could apply to one of their friends. She’d ask them to guess at who the writer of the song was speaking too and what their message might be. And somehow, that approach worked, and the teenagers in our group would open up and start talking and sharing stories. Sometimes it became like a small group counseling session. When the conversation died down, she would then play the song, and that added a whole new context to the discussion. For me it was very impactful.
So on our Encouraging Songs playlist you’ll find a few songs that might work with some of your students. For example, if they like country, the Rodney Atkins song “If you’re going through hell, keep on going” provides some encouragement or if they like musicals, the song, Get Back Up Again from Trolls might strike a note with students who are struggling. And just like the late night TV ads, “plus there are many more songs that you’ll surely enjoy.”
Even if you don’t use the songs with your students, I can pretty much guarantee you that you will hear a song that you don’t like and a few that you’ve never heard of, but that’s the beauty of a collaborative work like this, right?
So thanks for the songs. We hope the playlist provides a positive diversion from your busy, busy schedules. You can find a link to the Encouraging Songs for School Counselors playlist on our podcast website which is inspiresuccess.org/podcast.
And if you’re on fall break and could take just a moment to record a short story of a funny or touching experience from this fall – we’d surely appreciate it. All you have to do is click on the tab for our online SOUNDBOOTH and take a quick moment to record it.
Thanks again for listening If you’re on fall break enjoy…and if you’re not there yet, hang in there. It’s coming.