For School Counselors ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have MagicSchool AI set up with your educator account and know how to use its school counselor-specific tools — including social story generation, SEL activity creation, and parent communication templates — without needing to craft detailed prompts from scratch.
What you'll need
Open your browser and go to app.magicschool.ai. Click Sign Up and choose the educator option. Use your school email address. Select "School Counselor" as your role if given an option.
What you should see: A dashboard with categories of AI tools organized by educator role. Look for a School Counselor or Counseling section. Troubleshooting: If sign-up requires a school verification code, check with your district's tech coordinator — many districts have already set up MagicSchool access.
On the main dashboard, look for a category called "School Counselor", "SEL", or "Student Support." The platform organizes tools by type — you're looking for the counseling-specific templates rather than the lesson plan or assessment tools.
What you should see: A set of tools including Social Story Generator, SEL Activity Builder, IEP Accommodation Suggestions, Parent Communication Generator, and Crisis Resource summaries.
Click on Social Story Generator. You'll see a form with fields for: student scenario, grade level/age, reading level, and specific skills or understanding you want the story to address.
What to type:
Click Generate. Read the result and note how it uses first-person narrative and simple, concrete language.
What you should see: A 1-2 page social story in simple, age-appropriate language that walks through the scenario and models the desired response. Ready to print or read aloud to the student.
Go back to the main counselor tools and click SEL Activity Builder. Fill in: grade level, topic (anxiety, conflict resolution, friendship, etc.), available time, and group or individual setting.
What to type:
What you should see: A structured activity with a brief mindfulness opener, 2-3 concrete coping strategies, a reflection prompt, and facilitation notes for you.
Click Parent Communication Generator. Describe the situation in plain language — the tool will produce a professional parent letter or email.
What to type: "Email to parent explaining that their 9th grade student has been withdrawn in class and in recent counseling sessions. We're recommending a check-in with their pediatrician and exploring whether a referral to outside therapy would be helpful. Need to communicate concern without alarming the parent."
What you should see: A professional, empathetic email that raises your concern clearly, avoids alarmist language, explains next steps, and invites the parent to call.
After exploring, identify 3-4 tools you'll use regularly. Star or bookmark them in MagicSchool. Creating a folder or shortcut for your most-used tools saves navigation time when you need them quickly.
Social story for a schedule change:
Social story for a [grade] student with [diagnosis] who struggles when [specific situation]. Goal: understand that [situation] happens and can be handled by [coping approach]. Reading level: [level].
SEL group activity:
SEL activity for [number] students in [grade] on [topic]. Time: [X] minutes. Include: brief opener, main activity, discussion question, and 1-sentence takeaway.
Parent update email (concern without alarm):
Parent email about [student grade level] student who has been [behavior/pattern observed]. I want to: [your goal — schedule a meeting / suggest outside therapy / share resources]. Tone: concerned but calm, not alarming.
IEP accommodation suggestions:
Suggest accommodations for a [grade] student with [diagnosis/disability] who struggles with [2-3 specific functional limitations]. Format for use in an IEP or 504 document.