Calm Down Jars...

Ok, so I tried these multiple times before I figured out the best way to make them and I'm going to give you a few tips!
1. You will need the following ingredients....
     a. glitter glue (if you want the water clue, buy clear- if you want the water colored buy that color...etc)
     b. glitter (the large flaked glitter) 
     c. warm water
     d. I searched and searched Walmart for PLASTIC wide mouthed containers that were not to large (kids could fit their hands around) that had flat bottoms (important because the first few trial runs I found that the glitter gets stuck in the crevices of the bottles if they are not flat!) and finally landed on PLASTIC (so if dropped by a student in my classroom there won't be a watery clean-up) Planters peanut containers. Now I am allergic to nuts, so this involved me wearing gloves and sterilizing the heck out of these containers to make sure that not only me but any student who came into contact would not have an issue.... but they work great!
     e. You will see in  my clear jar I added a few extra things to make it more visual (ribbon, beads, stars chains and fake snow)  
     f.  Peanut jars are not water proofed... so you will need to super glue them shut- I also put a piece of plastic bag in between to make sure they were sealed... again didn't want any watery accidents!
Ok, so when actually making the jars- It is absolutely important to fill the jar only half full with warm water and then add approximately 1 tablespoon of glitter glue per cup of water (so if your bottle holds 4 cups then you use 4 tablespoons of glitter glue). Then shake the jar well until all the glue is mixed in well with the water. You don't want to see any lumps. Once they are mixed then add all your extra goodies. If you add all the stuff at once they glitter will adhere to the glue and become large clumps of glitter glitter glue... yuck! Not a pretty affect at all! That's it! Enjoy!

Hello All...

My name is Kristine Pieczonka. I am school social worker in Buffalo, New York. I work for the Buffalo Public Schools; which I love! The teachers are great, the students are unique, diverse and wonderful! The days are filled with many different experiences and no day is ever the same (as I am sure many of you know!). Our district is very involved with PBIS, so you may hear me speak A LOT about that and the activities and ideas/paperwork that I am involved with/running that pertain to this. I'm sorry if this does not pertain to you, but if it does I'm sure you will appreciate what we are doing! We work closely with Kim Breen and Illinois PBIS to make our programs as rich and growth inspiring as possible (while still not breaking the bank!)

So, I have been reading all the many blogs of other counselors and social workers and have been so impressed with the ideas and suggestions that I thought I might give it a try. I also thought it might be therapeutic to talk about what I do and get some of my ideas out there. The summer has been hectic and I haven't had much time to try out many of the ideas that others have suggested though I have borrowed a few and am excited about them. I made the "Calm Down" Jars and and will talk about them below and also am going to try out the "BE Yourself" bulletin board; however school does not start until next week for me so you will have to wait with baited breath for how it turns out... :)