Google Docs can be a life-saver for organization as a school counselor. Using templates for frequently created Docs will save you time and energy. Google Docs can help you organize your schedule, small groups, lesson plans, curriculum maps, and more! The best thing about Google Docs is that you can easily make a copy and then tweak them for the following school year. Keep reading to learn how to access 6 FREE Google Docs for school counselors.

How to Access the Docs in this Post

Customize the Google Docs using these steps:

1) Open the Doc by clicking on each image

2) Click on “Make a Copy”

3) Rename your Doc

4) Customize!

Classroom Counseling Sign-Up Form

Do you schedule monthly lessons with your teachers? The Doc below will help you gather your teachers’ preferred days and times for lessons. Before sending this Doc to teachers, type their names on the left side of the Doc so it is ready to be filled out. You can also color code the teacher names by grade level.

Next, share the Doc with your teachers and ask them to type in their two preferred days and times for classroom counseling lessons. When you are ready to schedule your lessons, use your teachers’ preferences to meet their needs. As a former teacher, it would have been very helpful to be able to choose my own lesson time!

Classroom Counseling Schedule

Once teachers have chosen their preferred days/times, I like to schedule classroom lessons for the first semester of the school year. Although this takes some time up front, it is such a relief when it’s done! On average, I visit each classroom once a month.

Scheduling lessons for an entire semester allows me to get everything written down in my planner in advance. Then, I can plan individual check-ins, small groups, and meetings around the classroom lessons. No more double booking yourself! Use this Doc to schedule your lessons and then share it with your staff.

Character Traits Curriculum Mapping

As a new school counselor, I based my monthly classroom lessons on character traits. I used a Doc to organize my ideas and plans. On the first page of the Doc, I made a chart for all of the traits I planned on teaching about in my classroom lessons. Throughout the school year, when I thought of an idea, I added it to the chart as a reminder.

Next, for each character trait, I made a chart of how I planned on teaching the topic in every grade level. This was very helpful because I was able to see how my lessons built upon each other throughout the grade levels.

Small Group Schedule and Lesson Plans

Small groups can be challenging to schedule and plan. I created the next Docs to help keep my small groups organized. The first page of the Doc shows you how I organize my small groups. I make a page like this for every grade level and then give a copy of it to teachers to help them keep track of the schedule. Whenever I go to pick up students for a small group, I also take this page with me so I do not forget anyone!

The second page of the Doc is a template for small group lesson plans. At the top of the Doc, I write measurable goals for the group. On the right side, I type in each student’s name and use an “X” to keep track of their attendance at each group session. The remainder of the Doc is used for lesson planning.

I use the lesson plan Doc digitally, instead of printing it.  That way, I can easily move items around in my plans if I do not get to them during a session.

Yearly Counseling Tasks

As school counselors, we have SO many things to keep track of throughout the school year. I created the next Doc to help me remember my reoccurring monthly tasks. For example, every August, I prepare our new student folders. In September, I begin planning bullying prevention lessons. In October, I plan Red Ribbon Week. And the list goes on! I use this doc to list each monthly task and then check off the tasks when complete. At the end of the school year, I remove the checkmarks and re-use this Doc again the following year!

Organize Your Checklist by Categories

Want to keep track of your yearly tasks by category? I use the following template to help me stay organized at the beginning and end of each school year. When my mind is on overload, this checklist helps me keep track of ALL THE THINGS. You can grab this FREE checklist by clicking on the image below!

Stay Organized this School Year

Looking for more ways to stay organized this school year? I love helping other counselors with organization! Check out some of my favorite organization resources below.

The Documentation Tools resource will help you improve your documentation, organization, and individual counseling skills. With the provided resources, you can facilitate individual counseling sessions that are engaging and data-driven. Not only do you receive printable templates, but you also receive guides that will help you create your own efficient counseling systems. The forms are ready to print and the resource also includes editable and type-enabled forms.

The School Counselor Planner is a practical, ink-saving weekly planner designed for documenting individual sessions, groups, classroom lessons, meetings, and more. Purchase the planner once and get FREE yearly updates! This planner will help you get organized this school year so you can spend time on what matters most!

If you love using Google to stay organized, check out the Digital Counseling Binder. It contains 70 Google Slides files to help you organize your school year!

School Counselor Forms for Planning and Organization was designed to give school counselors a variety of templates to organize their year. It includes 50+ editable templates to assist with planning, documentation, self-care, goal setting, organization, and more!

How can I help you?

If you have read this far, you must love organization! If you need help organizing something in your school counseling life, leave a comment or send me an email and let me know how I can help!