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The Brainy Bunch is a progress report/report card review group for students in third through fifth grade, at risk or economically disadvantaged, and failing or borderline passing at the time progress reports are given out. Students who meet the criteria will be invited before or after school to review scores and learn strategies to boost grades. Students will be invited to meet once a week to learn and practice a new skill that will assist them in the classroom. Students will review growth over the six-week period. Students will be dismissed from the program once progress has been made after the sixth week period. Students who do not show growth will be provided with additional services and supports, and possibly begin a child study.

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ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success in The Brainy Bunch

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ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success in The Brainy Bunch

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M 2.   Self-confidence in ability to succeed
M 6.   Positive attitude toward work and learning

B-LS 3. Use time-management,
organizational and study skills
B-LS 4. Apply self-motivation and self-
direction to learning

B-SMS 6.   Demonstrate ability to overcome barriers to learning

(American School Counselor Association, 2014, p. 2).

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Publicity Plans: Group Information and Announcements

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Publicity Plans: Group Information and Announcements

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In order to provide awareness of The Brainy Bunch group, informaton about the group and it's requirements will be displayed on the school's Class Dojo page. Additionally, the information will be provided through the school's counseling web page, the counseling newsletter, campus calendar, and via email for teachers.
Once students are members of the group, they will receive an invite to the Class Dojo page to receive announcements and updates about the group. Information for group members will be provided to students and parents through our classroom Class Dojo page.

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A student's grown-up will be required to complete the consent form. The consent form will include information about the group's policies and standards of confidentiality. Student's will be required to complete an assent form that includes Tribes student agreements and confidentialtiy agreements.

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The student population for this group will consist of 10 members in grades 3-5. The students selected for this group would be students interested in developing adacemic strategies to assist them in their learning. While these students will have chosen to be a part of this group, the dynamics might cause some hesitations while participating. In order to remedy these aniticapted issues, group leaders will assist members in the following ways:

Stage 1- Group members and the leader (counselor) will begin the group sessions with the Tribes Agreements activity. Students will go through each of the agreements, process, and contribute to a group discussion. Students will have the option to share what each agreement sounds like, looks like, and feels like. Students will work together to come up with any additional group norms for their small group sessions. During this session, students will discuss the concept of confidentiality and what it means to them. Students will discuss what confidentiality looks like, sounds like, and feels like. If everyone within the group is in agreement to what confidentiality is and if they can agree to add this concept to their agreements, students will fill out their confidentiality forms.

Stage 2- Group members will work together through each session while keeping their Tribes agreements at the forefront of every session. Students will be reminded of their committement to their agreements at the beginning of every session. Students will be required to bring their communication logs to sessions every time the group meets to check for progress.

Stage 3- Students will be provided information learned at each session to refer back to.  Members will be able to take part in a small celebration to end their group session. Students will be able to share their achievements with the group and discuss how they will apply what they have learned.   Students will be reminded about their confidentiality agreements and the information shared at group must continue to be confidential. Each student will be provided an opportunity to debrief one on one with the group leader (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators., 2015, p.7).

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The Brainy Bunch could potentially include a few of  Yalom’s Therapeutic Factors during the group sessions.  Group members might experience universality because they might who realize that they are not the only ones who are struggling with this issue.
Students might experience development of socializing techniques where social learning or development of interpersonal skills are attained throught group sessions. Students will receive  direct advice by receiving suggestions for strategies for handling problems within the classroom (Yalom, 1995).

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The Brainy Bunch will benefit from a transformational leadership. The transformational leadership is best suited for this specific group because the membership includes students who are struggling in the classroom. The students selected for this group are in need of a new way to look at learning in the classroom. "Transformational leadership also involves offering support and encouragement to individual followers. In order to foster supportive relationships, transformational leaders keep lines of communication open so that followers feel free to share ideas and so that leaders can offer direct recognition of the unique contributions of each follower" (Gans, 2020). This group will include a variety of lessons to develop learning strategies for students to use in any academic situation. This leadership style will allow the creativy, communication, and developent of the learning to flourish within each session.

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TRIBES Student Agreements/Expectations during group sessions

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TRIBES Student Agreements/Expectations during group sessions

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Students within the group are expected to follow Tribes. agreements.

Attentive Listening: To pay close attention to one another's expression of ideas, opinions and feelings; to check for understanding; and to let others know that they have been heard

Appreciation/no put downs: To treat others kindly; to state appreciation for unique qualities, gifts, skills and contributions; to avoid negative remarks, name-calling, hurtful gestures and behaviors

The right to pass- the right to participate: To have the right to choose when and to what extent one will participate in a group activity; to observe quietly if not participating actively; and to choose whether to offer observations later to a group when asked to do so

Mutual respect: To affirm the value and uniqueness of each person; to recognize and appreciate individual and cultural differences; and offer feedback that encourages growth.

(Gibbs, 2006, p. 68)

Confidentiality: all participants (both leaders and students) will keep private information to themselves and not discuss  information others have shared during any group sessions.

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Pre-Group Screening: Who's Invited?            

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Pre-Group Screening: Who's Invited?            

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Students who meet the criteria will be invited to join The Brainy Bunch by the counselor, a teacher, or parent. Prior to progress reports being sent out. The counselor will request a list of possible candidates from teachers about students in their homeroom's who meet the criteria of The Brainy Bunch. This will assist with the selection of members of the group. Teachers will provide information to determine if the student is eligible to receive an invitation.  Students who meet the requirements will be sent home with a pre-screener for their grown-up to complete. Students will also complete a student pre-screener to determine if they qualify to join the group. Students completing the student pre-screener will be asked to complete the screener as a group in the computer lab.

(Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators., 2015, p. 21-23)

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Section 3A
(3)  strategies for improvement of student performance that include: (A)  instructional methods for addressing the needs of student groups not achieving their full potential;

The purpose of The Brainy Bunch is to assist the students that fall into at least one of two categories that are historically disadvantaged. This group will assist those studens who are struggling in the classroom to keep up with the same demands as their peers.

(S.B. No. 11)

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B.4.a. Group Work In group work, counselors clearly explain the importance and parameters of confidentiality for the specific group   (Association, 2014, p. 7)

In accordance with legal and district requirements, The Brainy Bunch will follow confidentiality protocols during any sessions. This will create an atmosphere of trust and understanding amongst the group members. When adhereing to confidentiality, group members get the most out of each session by allowing them the confidence to express themselves in developing their skills, knowing what is said at group sessions will stay at group sessions.

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American School Counselor Association (2014). Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success: K-12 College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Every Student. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Gibbs, J. (2006). Reaching all by creating Tribes Learning Communities. Windsor, CA: CenterSource Systems.

Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators. (2015). Professional school counselor small group counseling guide: A professional school counselor’s guide to planning, implementing, and evaluating school-based counseling groups. Retrieved from https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/guid-respon-serv-small-group-counseling-guide-2015.pdf

Gans, S. (2020). Transformational Leadership A Closer Look at the Effects of Transformational Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-transformational-leadership-2795313

Yalom ID. (1995). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (4th ed.). New York: Basic Books.

Taylor. (n.d.). S.B. No. 11. Retrieved from https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/86R/billtext/html/SB00011I.htm

Association, A. C. (2014). 2014 ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: AMERICAN COUNSELING ASSOCIATION.