Reflective Goals

As I move through my practicum experience, I learn something new each time I log hours at my two sites.  Although I have experience in the counseling field in a previous position in a community mental health agency and I have experience in the school as a teacher, I'm not sure the role and responsibilities of school counselor  is understood by outsiders.  In my practicum experience, I've had some challenges that have led me to the five reflective goals below:

1.  I want to always put the needs of students first.
The counselors that I work with go out of their way to put the needs of their students first.  But there are so many responsibilities put on school counselors that I can see times when this is difficult.  School counselors are responsible for so many administrative duties that do not involve one-to-one contact with students.  It seems that counselors could get overwhelmed in the shuffle of daily "stuff" to the point that you could forget to check in with students or make sure to be available in the event a student needs to talk.

2.  I want to be a guide and not a director.
I have caught myself in my individual counseling sessions saying too much.  I want to be more conscious of letting the student talk and find solutions, rather than telling the student which way to go.  I think this is a distinction between teacher and counselor that I need to do a better job of distinguishing.

3.  I want to be sure to avoid isolation in the counseling office and stay in constant communication with teachers.
I'm not sure all teachers utilize their school counselors as resources.  Sometimes when a student has a problem, the teacher automatically sends the student to the counselors office.  As a counselor, I'd like to be a resource for teachers and offer them support to help students in their own classroom settings.  I don't think this happens enough at the high school level.

4.  I want to become familiar with more counseling strategies to utilize with my students.  
I think that I am a good listener and I'd like to keep adding strategies to my toolbox that I can use in individual counseling sessions with students.

5.  I'd like to explore more ways to utilize technology in counseling.  
Technology in the counseling world is a bit of an enigma to me.  The term "counseling" seems to demand a personal relationship between counselor and client.  But, I think that things like webpages could be a great help for school counselors that wear many hats, such as keep students informed about college and career opportunities or academic planning issues.

Movie Review

One movie that I would put on my list for counselors to watch is The Secret Life of Bees.  This movie follows the life of a young girl in the American South in the 1960s who has lost her mother and has a an abusive relationship with her father.  She seeks refuge in the home of three black sisters that had been very close to her mother.  The movie also deals with race relations in the South during the 1960s.  I think the themes of child abuse, race relations and the loss of a parent are universal and timeless.

The second movie that I would recommend is Mean Girls.  Although this movie takes a satirical approach to cliques in high schools, I think that it also does a really good job of focusing on issues that teenage girls deal with.  This movie uses comedy to illustrate the challenges of teenagers in new schools and the negative consequences of popularity, peer pressure and social cliques.  

Top 20 Reasons Why My School Needs a Counselor

Top 20 Reasons Why My School Needs a Counselor:

1.     Many students need a positive adult mentor that they can talk to when an issue arises.

2.     Students need college and career guidance that they cannot get at home.

3.     Teachers need an objective voice when dealing with students’ behavioral and emotional concerns.

4.     Administrators often refer students with behavioral problems to counselors.

5.     Students need a non-judgmental adult they can depend on.

6.     Counselors are resource managers that school staff can go to for direction to help students.

7.     Students and teachers need cheerleaders when situations seem impossible.

8.     To assist with life transitions that students experience in school and at home.

9.     Counselors assist students with academic planning and scheduling.

10. Students need information on college prep assessments, such as the ACT.

11. Counselors help students and parents insure that graduation requirements are met.

12.  Counselors provide teachers with necessary trainings, such as suicide prevention.

13. Counselors help teachers and administrators interpret assessment data.

14. Counselors help administrators create a master schedule that meets the needs of all stakeholders.

15. Counselors provide parents with one-stop access to information about their child’s progress.

16. Counselors are student advocates.

17. Counselors teach students appropriate social skills.

18. Counselors monitor student progress.

19. Counselors research ways to improve student achievement.

20.  Counselors are the calm in the storm that is public education.  

Week 4 Reflection

In my first few weeks of practicum, the counselors that I have been working with are very involved with assessment at all levels.  At the building level, the focus has been on making sure that everyone has completed MAP testing and then evaluating whether or not classroom placements need to be adjusted.  The other big focus for these counselors is the PLAN test and the ACT.  The PLAN test will be given very soon and I have been helping our counselors setup logistics for the day of the test, as well as talking with students about the importance of the test.  Because the ACT is a part of accountability and has such a big impact on student's college placement, we are beginning ACT prep activities to prepare juniors for the test in March and working on curriculum ideas for teachers to use for ACT prep.  

I have had the opportunity to work with two students one-on-one so far.  These students are very open to talking about their families and school life.  My take so far is that these are teenagers who do not get a lot of individualized attention at home.  The children that our counselors see are usually of this type.  The students with emotional or psychiatric disorders are seen by counselors that come in from the local mental health agency.  I think that many more students get this same kind of guidance from classroom teachers that they feel comfortable with.  I know that I have had countless similar conversations with my own students that could be considered counseling in this context.  There are a few students who come to see the counselors to discuss personal issues, but the majority of students that I have observed seeking out the counselors are those with academic or college concerns.  

Week 3 Reflection

The thing that has been reinforced this week in my practicum experience is that it is difficult for counselors to plan to do things at specific times.  Although I can plan with my supervisor what we will do during the week, very often she is called away to "put out fires" or deal with unforeseen issues that arise.  I imagine that this lack of predictability could be frustrating to counselors because there are tasks that they need to accomplish, but they have trouble finding a chunk of uninterrupted time.  The thing I've noticed with the two counselors that I am working with is that these counselors do not get discouraged or aggravated that unexpected issues must be taken care of even if they had previous plans.    Their focus is always on what is best for the students that they work with.  When choosing specific students for me to counsel, my supervisor was very excited that I would get to work with these students because she does not always get to give them the time that they deserve because of the unforeseen issues.

A Website Example

As I was looking through online resources, I ran across the website School Counselor Blog (http://www.schcounselor.com).  This blog caught my attention because of the tone of the author.  She offers suggestions on lessons that she has used and provides a forum for dialogue between those interested in counseling.  I think this would be a great thing for counselors who are the only person in their positions in the buildings.  Teachers and administrators often have colleagues in the building to brainstorm with, but sometimes counselors are the only one of their kind.  A blog of this sort would help that counselor or even a counselor that does have in-the-building counterparts to reach further into the counseling community and get some ideas that might not otherwise have been thought of.

I also found a website that I think could be a great model for any new school counselors.  As I was looking through different websites for various school counseling programs, I came across the Olympia High School Counseling website (http://olympia.osd.wednet.edu/ccenter).  This website was aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate.  The website offers visitors links that relate to all areas of student development, such as transition to high school, academic counseling and career prep.  This website would be an ideal resource not only for students, but also for parents that want to stay informed about what is going on at school.  Counseling staff are introduced on the website and parents are advised by class about the specific requirements they should be assisting their child with.  I think that this website would be a great resource for all stakeholders that all concerned about student achievement.

Technology Resource

A website that I think would be very helpful for school counselors is Teaching Tolerance (www.tolerance.org).  This website offers educators lesson plans that address diversity issues.  At the school where I teach, many think that diversity is minimal because the differences of others are often minimized, rather than celebrated.  Bullying, including cyber-bullying, has been an issue that we have tried to address, but still rears its ugly head too frequently.  Teaching Tolerance offers lesson plan ideas that could be incorporated into the regular classroom by teachers rather than requiring guidance counselors to go into classrooms to teach a separate curriculum.  Lesson plans are offered for all grade levels, not just the elementary guidance curriculums that are usually used.  This website also offers professional development ideas that counselors could share with the rest of the school staff.

Week #2

In my course work and practicum experience, I have come to realize that the role of school counselor is not the same image that I had as a student.  There was a time when I thought school counselors spent the majority of their time counseling.  If a student had a problem, either at home or at school, they would sit down with the school counselor and talk about it.  If a teacher had a concern with a student, he or she would likewise refer the student to the counselor.  While this duty does still exist for the school counselor, it is just one of many hats this position requires.  In reality, school counselors are support staff.   They offer support services for students, teachers, parents and administrators.  School counselors must be concerned about student emotional well-being, academic success, social relationships and career readiness.  Because counselors provide support to all stakeholders in a school, their role is extremely important.  Teachers educate students and administrators set expectations and maintain the stability of the school.  It is the role of counselors  to answer academic questions, listen and guide students with disruptive home lives and create a focus on college and career readiness, all while administering state testing and coordinating the master schedule. 

I want to be a counselor because I have come to see firsthand how many students need personal guidance and college/career guidance because this is an area that is oftentimes neglected in their home situations.  I work in a high poverty school and realize that if students do not start making their way towards a successful track early on, they will likely become a part of the vicious cycle of poverty.  I hope that the rapport that I am able to build with students will help me create a sense of trust with students and parents that will allow me to assist them with reaching their potential as students and young adults.