Surveying Your School Counseling Program

There are many tasks School Counselors attempt to accomplish before the end of the school year. One of the most important of these is getting feedback from your classroom teachers.  Yes, a survey can be a scary and risky thing, however it is an excellent tool for gauging the perceptions and opinions of your faculty.  Are there surprises?  Yes.  Are there unkind comments? Sometimes. Are there totally unreasonable suggestions? A few.  But,  even this information is valuable data and allows you to address the misconceptions and misinformation that may be present among your faculty.  A survey informs you of where you need to focus your energy and in what ways you need to educate and better serve the needs of your school population.  It helps with building relationships and community and many times provides insight into some of the more perplexing responses you  may have encountered during the school year.  People appreciate an opportunity to share their thoughts in a nonthreatening format. And although there are inevitably some negative comments on every survey, the majority are supportive.

This will be the 3rd year I have used Google forms to survey my faculty about my School Counseling program.  Each year, there is some remark or score that gives me cause to stop and reflect on my current practice. And really, that is what it is all about, reflection and continually improving our program and ourselves.  Yes, surveying your faculty requires a strong sense of self and at times, a thick skin.  The programming you thought was so terrific, may not have been as well received by your faculty as you thought.  The classroom lessons you did may not have been as effective and  your response time to a teacher request may not have been as prompt as you thought.

I learned last year, teacher perceptions of district mandated procedures for handling bullying were thought to be my procedures and there was a lot of resentment about how was bullying was handled. I would have never known this without giving my teachers the survey.  I also learned I made erroneous assumptions about my faculty understanding of the role of the School Counselor.  With about 10 faculty new to our school, it turned out there was quite a bit of confusion about the role of the School Counselor on our campus.  This was reflected in the ratings by my faculty across the survey.  All good information for how I needed to educate my faculty.

Surveying your faculty is easy and non-threatening when using Google forms.  You simply copy and paste the survey link in an email to your faculty, allowing them to anonymously provide you with feedback on your program.   I know it is a scary thing to do, but the data you will receive is important for your personal and professional growth and the growth of your School Counseling program.

Copying the  Google Form
The questions here are a compilation of questions from a variety of forms I found on-line and in an old paper file I had of teacher surveys. Click here to copy my Teacher Survey of the School Counseling Program .    To make a copy, first you must have a gmail account.  Next, you click on  the link above. There you will see "Make a copy,"  click on that.  Next you will be asked to  name your copy and click ok.  Your copy of my form will now be on your Google drive under whatever you have named it.  After making your own copy, the form is yours  to edit  to fit the needs of your school.

Emailing the Google Form
To copy the link to an email, click the "send" button in the upper right hand corner of the form. You will see 3 icons, choose the middle icon that looks like 2 ovals linked together. That will provide you with the link to copy and include in your email.  When your faculty clicks on the link it will take them directly to your survey.  You will be able to view your results in your Google drive by clicking on the response sheet created automatically and named the same as your survey.

Good luck!  Surveying my teachers is one of the best things I have done to improve my services to my students and faculty.  I hope you will find this to be true for you as well.

Emergencies, Crisis, Disasters: Do You Have a Plan?

You get a call at home or a request to come to the Principal's office.  The conversation starts with words like, "There's no easy way to say this," or "I have bad news," or "There's been an accident."  A lump forms in your throat and you catch your breath. You prepare yourself to hear about a tragedy that will impact the life or lives of your faculty, students, and their families.  You listen, you process, you plan, you put your emotions on hold, and then you take action, because that's what School Counselors do.  But sometimes, even we need help.

School Counselors are no strangers to tragedy.  We deal daily with the individual and personal tragedies of our students and colleagues.  Usually those daily tragedies are minor on the scale of a national disaster, but they are monumental in the lives of our students and our school. They require our caring, compassion, skill,  and training. The accident on the playground or at PE, the unexpectedly severe allergic reaction to an insect bite, the family custody battle, a parent going to jail, the death of a pet, the major student meltdown, the abuse report, the irate parent, the cutting, or threat of suicide all are handled in the course of a fairly typical week.

Occasionally we are called to offer our services in response to the death in a student's family, a house fire, a car accident, or the diagnosis of a terminal illness.  Rarely, although it happens, we are called to respond to the death of a student or staff member, a natural disaster, a fire in our building, a violent crime, a hostage situation, or terrorism.  While our emergencies or crisis may vary depending on the size, geographical location, and the age of our school population and facilities, the need for a prepared response to crisis and intervention is important.

Does your school or district have a Crisis Plan? A Crisis Team?  If so, do you know what your part is in that plan?  Have you been briefed on your role on the Crisis Team? If you don't know the answers, these are important questions to ask.  A school based crisis plan and a team prepared to implement it can mean the difference in stability and chaos in an emergency.  Below are some great resources School Counselors can share with administration to help their school get started in creating a crisis plan.

School Counselors will also find the websites, articles, and apps below full of valuable information from helping a student handle the death of a family member to helping the school cope with the death and loss resulting from a natural disaster. These resources represent a small sample of the detailed, professionally prepared websites and information for dealing with crisis that can be found on the internet.  Please know they are there if you need them.  It is my hope and prayer you never will.

School Crisis Guide, published by the National Education Association Health Information Network (NEAHIN) This 52 page guide is my personal favorite and an excellent resource of things to do before, during, and after a crisis.  It describes the roles of the entire school, but School Counselors can easily discern the roles for which they would most likely be responsible. This is a great publication even if you have a crisis plan.
Practical Information on Crisis Planning  A US government publication that can be printed from this link (132 pages) or ordered  for free at ED PUBS .  It takes about 10 days for delivery.
ASCA Resource Center has a lengthy list of resources and websites for all types of disasters and crisis, however you must be a member to access this resource.
Supporting your Student After the Death of a Family Member or Friend. Another resource from the NEAHIN for helping students who have experienced a death and some suggestions to share with caregivers about how to approach the funeral or memorial service with children.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has an amazing website that has more resources than can possibly be listed here. Make a visit and look under the Trauma tab at Natural Disasters and School Violence.  Also check out the Resources tab under Resources for School Personnel. The layers of information here are deep and there are links to additional websites and resources.
The National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at the University of Southern California is a excellent website with training modules for staff, sample letters for notifying students, parents, staff of a death and guidelines for responding to the death of a staff member or student.  There are also links to Psychological First Aid and supporting survivors of police line-of-duty deaths.
Guidelines for Responding to the Death of a Student or Staff Guidelines for School Counselors and Crisis Teams. A great resource.
When Families Grieve  from PBS and Sesame Street, tips for parents, printable tools and links to online resources.

Disaster Master computer game kids learn to handle disasters from house fires to earthquakes in a game format from FEMA.
Youth Emergency Preparedness Curriculum grades 1-12  These materials teach kids what to do before during and after an emergency.  They foster skills such as problem solving, teamwork, creativity, leadership and communication.
Talking With Kids About the News from our friends at PBS (Public Broadcasting). Tips for talking to children of all ages about the news.
Threat Assessment at School  brief facts and tips from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP).
Resources from the NASP more information on safety, crisis,and mental health.
Going Back to School After a Tragedy   an article from the Child Mind Institute website.

                

Help Kids Cope  is an app available from iTunes store or Google play. It helps parents know how to prepare kids for 10 different types of disasters and what to say to help support kids throughout.
PFA Mobile  app materials are adapted from the Psychological First Aid Field Operations Guide. It helps responders self assess their readiness to conduct PFA and assess and track survivors' needs.
SAMSHA Disaster App allows responders to focus on the needs of people.  Provides access to resources for any type of traumatic event.  Has tip sheets and guides for responders, teachers and parents, and a directory of behavioral health services in the affected area.

Keeping Up with Your Tech Savvy Kids

I recently presented a "Cyber Safety Night" at my school in an evening session for parents.  We offered babysitting, snacks and provided an hour of information for parents.  About 6 weeks later, I was invited to share my cyber safety presentation at the school of one of my School Counselor colleagues for her "Parent University" in two 25 minute sessions.  Although the numbers were lower than I would have liked, the parents who attended were appreciative and reported they learned a lot.

Why a Cyber safety night?
The number of devices children own or have access to has risen dramatically.  When I surveyed parents, there were about 9-10 internet accessible devices in each home (in families with 1-2 children). Gone are the days when there was one computer in the family room where you could see where your child was going and what they were doing.  Now they have smart phones, tablets and handheld games which can access the internet anytime, anywhere there is WiFi.  Gone are days when looking at pornography was done in the woods with a "dirty" magazine provided by some older kid with a bad reputation. Kids with smart phones can view anything, including pornography, in the backseat while parents are driving in the front. They can even view it innocently by mistyping a search or purposefully by typing specific words in Google images, "porn" on Twitter, or any number of seemingly innocent hashtags on Instagram.

I think the best analogy I heard about children and the internet was about 10 years ago at an internet safety program I attended.  The idea was we don't let our children drive without instruction, lots of practice, and a license, yet we allow them to go free wheelin' on the internet, the information superhighway.  I tell parents their kids may be more tech savvy, but we are more experience savvy.  The internet is a wonderful place.  I love being able to connect with friends, plan vacations, look up a " how to" on YouTube or research a new topic or idea.  And kids love to be on the internet too.  But I know NOT to overshare, accept friend requests from strangers, click on pop-ups, and share personal information.  I know to keep my settings on social media private, what to do if I receive creepy or inappropriate posts, not to post anything written, a photo or video I wouldn't want to see on the front page of the newspaper, not to respond to phishing  emails, and more.  But kids are not aware of all the dangers on-line.  They go to a site because their friends said go or they click on a link that offers something for free.  They accept friend requests because it is a friend of a friend or they are trying to raise their "friend" count. They share passwords, their location, and other information that should remain private. They post provocative photos, sext, and are exploring apps that are inappropriate for their age. Our students are placing themselves at risk for damage to their reputation, identify theft, and being approached by a predator.

The Counselor's Response
For the last 9 years, I have been collecting data from my 3rd-5th grade students. I use an anonymous Survey Monkey survey to learn  about their internet usage and bully/cyberbully experiences. The data was surprising and occasionally alarming. The survey results led me to create an annual presentation for parents. My goal was to increase parent awareness of how their students are using the internet and the risks students face on-line.  This presentation takes place at an independent cyber safety night, as part of our Bulldog Bonanza, or at a PTA or SAC meeting. I also use the student survey data to support and guide my classroom lesson plans on internet safety and bullying.

Cyber safety Presentations
Below are links to my 2 cyber safety presentations, both have the same basic information. The longer version  has video clips and contains information on predators and cyber bullying.   Prior to presenting to the parents at your school, I would encourage you to take a quick survey of your own students using Google forms to see where they go and how much time they spend on-line.  The survey below is very basic.  However, it will help you when you present to be able to share relevant information with parents about the students at your school.

Keeping up with your Tech Savvy Kids  (35 minute PowerPoint)
Internet Education for Parents of Tech Savvy Kids (about an 1 hour PowerPoint, maybe more depending on audience)
Google Form for basic data collection about internet usage
CAUTION: This is a live form. After opening this form make a copy.  Go to File on the left side of the form and click. You will see a menu that says make a copy.  Click and rename your copy so it is saved to your personal drive account and all responses will be confidential and relevant to your school.

 


If you download these presentations, and especially if you do a Parent Cyber Safety night, please leave me feedback here or on my Exploring School Counseling Facebook page.  I am always interested in your and your parents response to my programs. I am interested too in learning ways you think I can make these presentations better.

Have you done a Cyber Safety Night?  I would love to hear about your ideas and programming!

The Use of Data in School Counseling : The Book, the Woman, the Workshop!

I first heard Trish Hatch speak about 18 months ago.  That day she rocked my School Counseling world and like a new convert, I have been trying to spread the word ever since.  I saw her keynote at the  FSCA conference, attended her  break-out session, bought her book and have never looked back!  That 45 minutes in the ballroom of an Orlando hotel forever changed my view of school counseling.

Even after the "high" of attending the conference and going back to the daily routine of my school day I was eager to make the miracle happen.  I read Trish's book the Use of Data in School Counseling, joined a weekly on-line book club that was studying her book, started experimenting with Google forms for data collection and passionately spoke to my PLC.  My  PLC is full of great counselors I am proud to call colleagues and friends, and they listened to me.  However, I'm not sure they "got it,"  but I would guess  that is because they had not had "the Trish experience!" In March 2015, I had the good fortune to see Trish again in Kentucky at the Evidenced Based School Counseling Conference. After another riveting keynote, I was inspired to create the 21 Day Daily Data Challenge. The idea began to form as I listened to Trish talk about measuring just one thing. I felt empowered as I returned to school and began collecting my own data and challenged myself to do just one thing.

School Counselor Workshop Heaven
In January, the Florida School Counselor Association (FSCA) and Universal Technological Institute (UTI) sent an email announcing they had teamed up to bring Dr. Trish Hatch to Orlando for a one day workshop on her book The Use of Data in School Counseling.  I guess my PLC had heard enough from me about how this book, this woman, this workshop would forever change the way they did school counseling that they were interested enough to see her for themselves.
So this past Monday, 10 members of our Westside PLC  and a high school counselor from our district were granted leave and funded by our administrators to attend this powerful workshop.  From 8:30 to 3:30 we were engaged in truly relevant and exciting School Counselor professional development. Now how often does that happen?

Trish  took us on a rapid fire journey through her book with lots of opportunities for questions and sharing. We covered data, SMART goals, the comprehensive school counseling plan, master calendars, disaggregated data, and discussed the use of a School Counselors time.  In addition to the awesome instruction we received from Trish herself,  we were served a delicious breakfast and lunch by our host UTI, had an informative and fascinating tour of their campus and walked away with an autographed copy of Trish's book.  It was an amazing day!

Volusia County School Counselors represent with Dr. Trish Hatch

The Feedback
As we took our first break, that morning I was eager to learn if my colleagues were as excited about what they were hearing from Trish as I was. You know, sometimes, when someone builds something up for you like a book or a movie then you see it for yourself you go, "Meh, not such a big deal."  I didn't know if my fan girl feelings would have distorted their view of Trish and her message.  But no! During our first break I checked in with each of my colleagues and ALL were really glad they came!
They thought Trish was personable and appreciated her interaction with the audience, her humor, insights, and her understanding of the job we do each day.  Her energy drove the day and our group left feeling inspired and empowered.

Debriefing
On the drive home our heads were literally swimming with possibilities about ways we could begin implementing Trish's practices at our individual schools.  Our car of 4 was brainstorming what we were doing now  that we could begin collecting data on. One of our group who drove separately described herself as "giddy" as she drove home.  It was exciting to see my colleagues catch the vision and passion I had been talking about for the last 18 months!

Our PLC met a few days later and spent some time discussing the things we had learned.  I heard comments like: "She (Trish) gets it!  She gets us!"
 "I never thought of including my data goals in the School Improvement Plan. If I did that I would have to be allowed to do what I need to."
"You all know I'm a dinosaur when it comes to all this technology stuff, but I really think I can do this."
"She (Trish) was speaking my language.  None of this ever made sense before, but now I get it."
"I love how she (Trish)  checked to be sure we were understanding things, and went back and explained things again if we didn't."
"It all seems so doable now."
"I couldn't believe the things we saw when we started disaggregating data!"  Makes me wonder about all the data we are shown each day."

It's a marathon, not a race.
The excitement and the eagerness to make it all happen right now is real.  But, we have to remember it doesn't happen all at once especially for those of our group who are testing coordinators, acting as pseudo-administrators, or work in a school that does not value the role of the School Counselor. Trish told us it is a marathon, not a race. She encouraged us to look at implementing data as a  process over a 3 year period. Measure one thing, show the results and repeat. All the evidence you need is in the data.

So where do we go from here?  Each member of our PLC is excited to dig deeper.  Our next PLC meeting is in 4 weeks and we plan to bring in our 3rd quarter data to practice disaggregating it  and writing sample goals and action plans together.  There was discussion of an online book club to encourage one another to read and dig deeper into Trish's book. We also discussed a retreat of sorts for the day after school is out with each of us bringing our end-of- the year data to disaggregate, set SMART goals, make action plans, and create a master calendar for the 2016-2017 school year.

I see our PLC  at the starting line of the marathon now.  We are still getting warmed up but are ready to go!  We  feel empowered  to go the distance with our new knowledge and tools and to make a positive impact in our schools. With a common vision and the encouragement of one another, I have confidence our PLC is going to be leading the way with some exciting changes in the future of our schools and our district.

If Trish Hatch comes anywhere within driving distance of where you live, I strongly encourage you to attend one of her "Hatching Results" workshops! It is real professional development that will re-shape the way you think about School Counseling and empower you to use data to show everyone how students are different because of what YOU do.

Say it Like you Mean It! A Better Way to Say Sorry."

 I recent repetitive swirl of girl drama got me thinking about apologies.  These girls are superstars at hurting one another and amateurs at apologizing.  Picture this,  Girl A  takes a big huffy breath and with an eye roll  says in an exasperated tone, "Sorry." To which Girl B replies without making eye contact in a barely audible voice,  "That's okay."  Well, it's not okay.  Not for me and definitely not for them. They will be back.  You know it and I know it.  It's just that I have several problems with this exchange.  For one, the offender is taking no responsibility for what she did.  Secondly, the whole voice, facial expression, and body language of both parties tells me this is NOT over.  Third, the receiver of this less than academy award winning performance responded with "That's okay."  Actually it's not okay, you were hurt by another human being.  By saying "That's okay," it's like one person is telling the other it's okay that you treated me badly.

 Of course there are other deeper issues here dealing with friendship and self-esteem, but the quick flippant "Sorry," seemed like a good place for me to start. If  students can learn  to have empathy and confidence in  their ability to do something as basic as apologizing,  then maybe this is a foundation I can continue to build on.  Their dramatically negative sorry was not working.  Not for me or for them.  I knew their "apology" was just a band-aid and so the whole exchange really bothered me. A lot. After giving it some thought, I decided learning how to give a sincere apology was such a valuable social skill I would teach it to all my students in grades 3-5, not just my drama girls. Below is the article on which I based my lessons.

Over the summer I read an article called A Better Way to Say Sorry. It is amazing and you will definitely want to take the time to read it. In it blogger Joellen, at Cuppa Cocoa, talks about teaching her class how to apologize after attending a workshop.  I was astounded at the simplicity and impact such a small thing had on her class.  So I thought I would give it a try by creating two classroom lessons around the steps to apologizing from Joellen's blog and the book Sorry, by Trudy Ludwig.

Lesson 1 Involves some partner talk, reading Trudy Ludwig's book Sorry, discussion about the book and a PowerPoint presenting the physical and verbal elements to saying sorry and what that would look and sound like.

Lesson 2 Involves teaching the steps to "A Better way to say Sorry," and some class role playing with their shoulder partners and for the class.

Lesson Plans for How to Say Sorry
How to Say Sorry PowerPoint
How to Say You're Sorry Lesson Plan 1
How to Say You're Sorry Lesson Plan 2
Apology Role plays
 Steps for How to Say You're Sorry poster for school and home

My students seem to "get" this lesson.  They have all either given or received an insincere apology and they understand how powerful it can be to receive a sincere apology from someone who has wronged you. They have also done a masterful job at role playing, especially with the part in the apology where they must take responsibility for their actions.  My next step is to send home the "How to  Say You're Sorry" steps and to share the steps with classroom teachers.

These lessons teach a valuable social emotional skill students are too often missing.  I hope your classes enjoy these lessons as much as we have.

Many thanks to Joellen at Cuppa Cocoa for her permission to share her article and method of teaching children to say sorry.

Is it Rude, is it Mean or is it Bullying?

I don't know about you but I grow weary of the constant reports of students being "bullied."  Now I know there are children who are truly being bullied, who are afraid to come to school, find it difficult to concentrate on their work, have no friends, and are withdrawn and depressed because of the constant abuse of a school bully.  When real bullying occurs, I am the first to advocate for any student in that situation.  I investigate each claim and I do everything I can as a School Counselor to empower and support the student targeted, involve parents and administration who address the situation from a  legal and disciplinary angle, and get help for the bully.

But, that is not what I am talking about here.  The word bullied has become a real hot button.  I know, you know what I mean.  I am talking about those students and parents who call every unpleasant exchange between students bullying.  No matter how few times or infrequently a student experiences an unkind remark, teasing, or physical interaction it is called bullying.  It is a word that is increasingly used to describe any situation where a student has gotten their feelings hurt whether intentionally or unintentionally.  Parents and students utter this word and we spring into action to investigate their report of bullying.  And because of our response, I have come to realize it is a word our students will often utilize when the attention is on them for some wrongdoing. Our students have learned they can instantly control any situation and shift the focus of teachers, and especially their parents, from their troubles if they claim they are being bullied.  What I needed was a way to educate students and their parents about the difference between conflict and bullying.

Last year I came across a wonderful article written in 2012 by Signe Whitson, Licensed Social Worker, School Counselor, author, keynote speaker and Chief Operating Officer of Life Space Crisis Intervention Institute. Many of you may be familiar with her article titled, Is it Rude, Is it Mean or Is it Bullying?  In it she explains  how everything isn't bullying and how many people have difficulty discerning what is and is not bullying.  Signe  also mentions how she first heard best selling children's author Trudy Ludwig  "talk of these distinguishing terms" and  then went on to use them in her own work.  As I read her article I thought, this is what I want my students and parents to know, so I began work on creating a set of classroom lessons.

 Along the way I ran into a bit of trouble with my students failure to comprehend the differences in these terms. So I went straight to the source and contacted Signe myself.  She responded to my email and then gave me her number and invited me to call her.  What an honor to share my experiences and ideas with her.  Signe listened to my concerns regarding my students and their struggles with her vocabulary. She directed me to her website resource page and recommended I use her forced choice activity to help my students think more critically about the definitions of rude, mean, and bullying they were learning.  I did, and they loved it!  I could see them making the connections as they moved from corner to corner in response to Signe's scenarios. They were thinking and questioning and arguing convincingly about how some situations might be mean rather than rude and it would depend on how it was said to a person.  I could see their point.  They were  internalizing the concepts and questioning the dynamics of the scenarios.  It was truly exciting!

My students and have have enjoyed these lessons on "Is it Rude, Is it Mean or Is it Bullying?" Below you will find a brief outline of the 5 lessons I have created, my activity forms and PowerPoint too. I based these lessons on the work of Signe Whitson. I publish them here to share with you with her permission. Please visit Signe Whitson's website for more information about her work on bullying and aggression.

LESSON PLAN FORMS and OVERVIEW  
Click here for  Rude, Mean, Bully lesson plans 
Pre/post test (non-tech option)
Kahoot! link 
Rude vs. Mean vs. Bully PowerPoint
Inappropriate Behaviors Brainstorming sheet
Signe  Whitson's Forced Choice Activity
Rude, Mean, Bully Behavior Statements

Lessons 1:  The pre-test.  For those with technology resources I have created a Kahoot!
(website for game-based learning) for gathering pre/post test data.  I have also include a "non-tech" option (paper and pencil) for those who do not have access to technology.

Lesson 2: A PowerPoint introduction to the rude, mean and bullying vocabulary and a brainstorming activity on thinking of examples of things that are rude, mean, and bullying.

Lesson 3:  Forced Choice Scenarios from Signe Whitson's website resource page.

Lesson 4:  Divide students into groups, print one copy of the "Rude, Mean, Bullying Behavior" statement sheets, cut them up and divide them into stacks. Each group will sort and glue their stack to index cards according to which are rude, mean and bullying. Cards are shared with the class for approval and glued to chart paper to make a tree map poster for the students to take back to class.

Lesson 5:  Post-test using Kahoot! or non-tech option.

I have used these lessons with all my 3rd, 4th and 5th graders (15 classes total) and while their comprehension of the terminology is only at about 70%, there is a vast improvement over the previous number of reports we had regarding bullying. Even though my students aren't there yet, in fully understanding the definition of rude, mean and bullying, they are conscious of the differences. Now when complaints of bullying arise,  I am able to reference these lessons and help my students make a more accurate assessment of their own situation.

I hope you and your students find these lessons helpful. Keep in touch and let me know how your students respond to learning the difference in rude, mean, and bullying.
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Starting a School Counseling Advisory Council

For years, long before there was such a thing as RAMP, I reluctantly listened to my district supervisor talk about having a School Counseling Advisory Council. God love that woman, she was decades ahead of her time. Now I have to admit, all those years ago when she was talking about it, I was not really very receptive.   I was one that said, "Humph, why would I want to do that?  I know my job better than they do. I don't want a bunch of people who know nothing about my job telling me what to do." And so I didn't do one, until a few weeks ago.

Fast forward 25 years later. I have found most people still don't know what School Counselors do, including some School Counselors.  And recently, I discovered even other types of Counselors are confused about our job. So why would we think parents and teachers have any better idea? It was time for me to take a serious step forward to educate and advocate the stakeholders at my school about School Counseling.  Armed with my year long curriculum plan, the data that has informed my program, information about my qualifications, the ASCA model, and the the reason we are no longer called "Guidance  Counselors," I decided to hold my first meeting.  Many thanks to my new friend and colleague, Dr.Lauren Wynne for her support and encouragement to start my School Counseling Advisory Council. I could not have done it without her help.

The Beginning
I started off the school year making personal, face to face, contacts with parents at Meet the Teacher, Open House, and PTA functions, asking if they would be on my advisory council.  I told them we would meet twice a year for one hour each time and I would be looking for their feedback, suggestions and ideas about my School Counseling program. As I considered which parents to invite, I thought about parents who represented the racial make-up of my school and were not the same ones who already serve on every committee.  I actually asked 2 parents I have had uncomfortable dealings with in the past.  Both are strong personalities and very vocal, but I always know what they are thinking and I value that.  I don't want a rubber stamp, "yes m'am" type of committee, but one that will both encourage and challenge me.  It is important for each School Counselor to think about the parent personalities you invite to join your Advisory Council. Next, I sent out an email to my faculty asking for interested individuals to contact me. I had two responses.  My goal was to meet in late September, however circumstances at the start of the year conspired to keep me from doing so. Finally in mid-January we were ready to meet.  I had  recruited eleven members.

The Meeting
It was a simple meeting really. I was pleased that 7 of the 11 people I invited actually attended.   I had cold drinks, a sign- in sheet, agendas, hand-outs of my Annual Curriculum Plan, data from the first quarter, and the ASCA Model. We used the Media Center where I had access to the internet and the LCD projector for my Advisory Council PowerPoint.  I started with introductions and the icebreaker, "Two Truths and a Lie."  It is interesting the things people share and what you can learn about others in a fun non-threatening way. I shared about my role as a School Counselor and how and why the name changed from Guidance Counselor to School Counselor. We saw one of my favorite short video clips that describes the role of the School Counselor created by Dr. Richard Cleveland titled Comprehensive School Counseling.

I explained the who and what about ASCA and the 4 components of a Comprehensive School Counseling program.  Then I did a short activity where I had 2 parents come up and put on empty backpacks.  As I described student #1's day and each of the challenges and barriers she faced I placed a heavy book in her backpack.  For student #2,  I placed a small magazine in her backpack as I described each of the inconveniences in her life while surrounded by a supportive family.  My point was all students do not come to school ready to learn.  Not everyone has help with homework, a hot meal, clean or appropriate shoes and clothing, a safe living situation, and a hug and encouragement to start their day. Some students need the support of the School Counselor more than others.

Then we reviewed  the data from the end of the previous school year and our current data for the first quarter.  Last, I shared my Annual Curriculum Plan and small group goals based on the current data. We discussed how classroom lessons were progressing and parents had questions about the curriculum and how it was selected and what was required by the state.  In closing, I asked for feedback and suggestions and had parents share several ideas of things they would like to see in the future. Interestingly enough, these were ideas I had been thinking about myself.

Reflection
As I think about my first School Counseling Advisory Council meeting I have to say I am feeling pleased.  I admit I was a little scared of what they would think or say, but the response was positive and I felt a certain affirmation for the program I have developed. However, there are things I will do differently next meeting.  For example, I sent a reminder email the week before. Next time I will send an additional email 2 days before and do some follow-up phone calls to those who do not respond to my email.  I also need a couple of community members.  I need to contact our business partners and see if I can recruit them to be a part of the Advisory Council.  Also, f I had waited another week to do my first meeting, I would have had second quarter data to share as well.  I should also have included some photos of my School Counseling program, like activities with my Leadership Club, Vehicle Day, RRW, Soctober, classroom lessons and my conference presentations.  These are lessons learned and improvements  I can make for our next meeting in May.

The Challenge
Are you ready to have stakeholders take a look at your School Counseling program?  Whether it is all you want it to be or not, I challenge you to get a School Counseling Advisory Council started. It is the single best way to educate and advocate for the program you have or the program you wish to have. Educating parents, teachers, administrators, and community members about your training, skills and the services you can offer is the first step towards advocating for a Comprehensive School Counseling program.  If you've you got the program you want, flaunt it, celebrate it, and share it!  If your program is not what you want it to be and you are more clerical or administrative than School Counselor, what a great way to show the contrast between what you are doing and what you could be doing.  Educate your stakeholders about the unique and valuable contributions to school climate and student learning School Counselors can make when given the freedom to do the job they were trained to do!