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1. Students will identify and demonstrate effective coping skills (ASCA, 2021, B-SMS 7).

2. Students will demonstrate self-discipline and self-control (ASCA, 2021, B-SMS 2).

3. Students will demonstrate social maturity and behaviors appropriate to the situation and environment (ASCA, 2021, B-SS 9).

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***Small Group Action Plan - make sure to look over critiques from last week before submitting

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***Small Group Action Plan - make sure to look over critiques from last week before submitting

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Students will meet with the counselor to learn about one of the big feelings, anger. Students will learn how to identify feelings of anger, appropriate ways to express anger, and coping strategies for dealing with anger. The small group will consist of 4 third grade students.

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Code B.1.c of American Counseling Association states, "Counselors protect the confidential information of prospective and current clients and disclose information only with appropriate consent or sound legal or ethical justification" (ACA, 2014).

This supports my role as a school counselor because it encourages a trusting climate and relationship between me and the students.

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American Counselor Association (2014). ACA Code of Ethics. Retrieved from: https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ehtics.pdf

American School Counselor Association (2019). ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies. Alexandria, VA: Author.

American School Counselor Association (2021). ASCA Student Standards; Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success. Alexandria, VA: Author.

K, Cherry. (2023). How to lead: 6 leadership styles and frameworks. Verywell Mind. Retrieved from: https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795315

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

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

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This small group will be advertised for teachers and administration through flyers, emails, and an announcement during the monthly staff meeting. Professional School Counselor will announce the small group to the students during their specials period.

Parents will be informed of the small group formation by a monthly newsletter, an announcement on Class Dojo, and a post on the school website.

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Before the group participants are picked, it is important to inform the teachers and students of the group topic, goals, tasks, procedures ,and intentions (Missouri Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling, 2015). This will help with making sure students are aware of what exactly the small group will consist of.

The goal of the pre-screening process is to pick participants that will contribute to a climate that maximizes group dialogue and actively work and participate to reach their goals (Missouri Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling, 2015).

The TAP method will be conducted. Below is the explanation of the acronym.
- Tell about the group
- Ask the student about his or her interest and commitment
- Pick members

(Missouri Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling, 2015).

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Coleman Elementary School requires the school counselor to send a letter to parents with information regarding the small group such as the group name, purpose, goals, rules and expectations, duration, and meeting dates.

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Informed Consent Form - Small Group Counseling

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(Missouri Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling, 2015)

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This resource will be used as a guideline to help students create their own group rules. My campus uses classroom contracts as an campus initiative to encourage positive behavior. The counselor uses this same concept, but gears it more toward small group rules.

The small group rules will consist of at least five rules that the students create together during the first session. Once they've established their rules, they will sign the bottom like they would a contract. Their signature represents their promise to abide by the small group rules.

Rules that are predetermined by me are the following:
- Never leave the classroom without asking permission.
- Always be kind to our group members.
- Do not touch items that aren't yours.

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Competency B-SS 3 of American School Counselor Association Professional Standards and Competencies states school counselors, "provide short-term counseling in small-group or individual settings" (American School Counselor Association, 2019).

This supports my position as a school counselor because it proves that I do not provide counseling for more than a 6-9 week period. If parents are questioning my role in the school as a "counselor", I can use this standard to help parents understand the reasoning behind this.

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Stage 1 "Storming/Normal" - Building trust is essential for executing effective small group sessions. I plan to build trust by discussing confidentiality, what it means, and what it looks like for a counselor and students. Since confidentiality is normally one of the group rules, I would remind students that they signed a group rule contract to never tell anyone outside of our group what is being talked about. If they are breaking confidentiality, they will be asked to leave the group and their participation will be stopped. I will also let the students know that the only time I break confidentiality is if someone is was hurt or in an unsafe environment (abuse or neglect).

Stage 2 "Performing" - I plan to treat this small group as a classroom. When you are teaching, you are encouraging collaboration, kindness, empathy, and consistently checking for understanding. By addressing the student objective and goal at the beginning and end of the session, it will allow them to make connections and think about ways to use that goal out of the session.

Stage 3 "Mourning" - This stage is very important because it surrounds the ending of the small group sessions. It is important to be transparent with the students about what the ending could look and feel like. Remind students that even though the small group is over, the contract remains. This means that they still have to keep what was discussed in sessions confidential. To help students not feel mourning, I would schedule a follow-up meeting that is one-on-one to see how they're managing their anger, tell examples of how they were able to use strategies and techniques that were taught, and encourage that ending the small group can be compared to graduation. Graduation is positive and means that it is time to move on and be successful on your own. I will remind them that I am always here if they need me.

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Therapeutic factors I could potentially see during anger management group sessions are Instillation of Hope, Universality, and Altruism (Yalom, 1995).

With anger management, there are so many opportunities for growth. Instillation of Hope might help students find effective techniques and strategies to handle their anger. Universality will change students mindset from feeling alone in having anger problems to feeling like they can relate to others in their school. They aren't alone in finding ways to manage their anger. Altruism can come into effect when the students are discussing scenarios or role playing. One student can use what they've learned to help another student, making them feel useful.

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My leadership style for this small group will be Lewin's participative, or democratic, style. This style creates a fostering and encouraging climate. Democratic leaders "offer guidance to group members, participate in the group, allow input from other group members, make members feel like they are a part of the team, and retain the final say in the decision-making process" (Cherry, 2023).