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This small group, "Colts Count," which is a reference to counting time and time management, will help students at Arlington High School become more effective with time management during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically addressing the challenge of managing one's time while learning from home.

Attached is a PDF of my Small Group Action Plan.

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Upon completion of this group, students will master the following:

Mindset Standards:
M 2. Self-confidence in ability to succeed
M 5. Belief in using abilities to their fullest to achieve high-quality results and outcomes

Behavior Standards:
B-LS 3. Use time-management, organizational and study skills
B-LS 4. Apply self-motivation and self-direction to learning
B-LS 5. Apply media and technology skills
B-SMS 1. Demonstrate ability to assume responsibility
B-SMS 2. Demonstrate self-discipline and self-control
B-SMS 3. Demonstrate ability to work independently
B-SMS 4. Demonstrate ability to delay immediate gratification for long-term rewards
B-SMS 5. Demonstrate perseverance to achieve long- and short-term goals
B-SMS 6. Demonstrate ability to overcome barriers to learning
B-SMS 8. Demonstrate the ability to balance school, home and community activities
B-SMS 10. Demonstrate ability to manage transitions and ability to adapt to changing situations and responsibilities

(ASCA, 2014, p. 2)

Attached is a PDF of the ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success.

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In order to maximize the group experience and ensure that the highest need students are afforded the opportunity to be in the group, the group "Colts Count" will be advertised in Arlington High School's Faculty Group Messages. I will create an advertisement describing the group to the teachers and will attach a Google Form to the e-mail through which teachers can recommend students that would benefit from such a time management group. I will then contact those students individually to gauge interest in the group.

In addition to acquiring teacher recommendations, I will also make a flyer to be posted on the Arlington High School website advertising the group. The announcement will also be made through my principal's weekly newsletter that is sent out to all parents.

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I plan to inform the students of my group through teachers announcing the information in live class and on their Canvas course announcements. I also plan to inform the students via the principal's weekly newsletter. Through all of these different means, each student will receive the message at least once.

As students express interest or as teachers recommend students, I will meet with each student individually to communicate the expectations of the group to them and answer questions that they may have. This meeting will occur in person outside of their classroom if the student is attending school in person or will occur on ZOOM if the student is attending school virtually. The students will be screened individually.

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When discussing confidentiality with each student, I will inform the individual group member of the three areas in which I cannot remain confidential:
1) Any harm or threat of harm to a student or someone else
2) Any abuse
3) Court proceedings
Once I have informed them of these three areas and discussed the following informed consent form, I will give the informed consent form to the student to give to their parent or guardian. Once I receive the signed informed consent form from the student, the student will officially join the group roster.

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During the first meeting of the "Colts Count" group, I will use this document to discuss the expectations with the group. The first 10 guidelines will be predetermined by me, the counselor, while the last 3 guidelines will be created by the group members collaborating together, with assistance from me, as needed.

During this session, I would help the students expound upon their desired expectations by asking them to describe what that expectation "looks like" and "sounds like" each time. At the end of the session, we, as a group, will finalize our 13 ground rules and re-enforce these ground rules at the beginning of every session.

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Stage 1: Storming/Norming Stage
In the first stage of the group, "participants find their places and grow to trust themselves, each other and the leader" (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015, p. 7). I will establish trust by setting clear expectations and adhering to those expectations. I will rehearse those expectations with the group at the beginning of every session and reference them throughout the sessions, as needed. When addressing confidentiality, I will remind my students of the three categories in which I cannot remain confidential:
1) Any harm or threat of harm to a student or someone else
2) Any abuse
3) Court proceedings

Stage 2: Performing Stage
In the second stage, "cohesiveness and productivity have been established" (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015, p. 7). Similar to the first stage, I will continue to rehearse those expectations of how to treat one another in a group setting. By rehearsing the expectations, the students will continue to understand the expectations more and more and participate in the group discussions. By facilitating group discussion and harmony, the learning outcomes of each session will be achieved. I will check in with the group members by monitoring discussion and asking good questions of the members of my group.

Stage 3: Mourning Stage
Sadly, in the third stage, the group must end, which leads to "group members mourning the loss of the group" (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015, p. 7). As I close the group, I will re-iterate the importance of keeping what is said within the confines of the group confidential. During my last session, I will be sure to have a sharing time where each group member can share things that they learned during the group sessions and how the learning will impact their education going forward. I will also reach out to group members weeks later with a follow-up survey to see how they are doing with their goals.

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I feel that servant leadership is the most natural leadership position for me personally and I also feel that it would best serve my group in this scenario. By definition, "servant leadership is an other-oriented approach to leadership manifested through one-on-one prioritizing of follower individual needs and interests, and outward reorienting of their concern for the self towards concern for others within the organization and the larger community" (Dryburgh, 2020, p. 117).

In helping these students deal with their time management pitfalls, I am going to need much patience and care. Some of these students may be starting with very little organizational skills, and I need to be able to put each individual student's needs first. As the definition implies, I want to "reorient" my focus towards others, namely the students in my group, and serve them faithfully as a servant leader.

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Imitate Behavior:
Students entering this group may have varying levels of time management and organizational skills. Some students, for instance, may be very effective at organizing their physical assignments but struggle to stay focused during a ZOOM call, while another student may pay complete attention during the ZOOM call but forget to write anything down on paper. These students can learn from each other. Hopefully, during the course of the sessions, each student will begin to take on the manner of the group members around them who may have success in certain areas.

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Slide 10: Legal and Ethical Requirement 1

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Slide 10: Legal and Ethical Requirement 1

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A.2.a Informed Consent - "Clients have the freedom to choose whether to enter into or reamin in a counseling relationship and need adequate information about the counseling process and the counselor. Counselors have an obligation to review in writing and verbally with clients the rights and responsibilities of both counselors and clients. Informed consent is an ongoing part of the counseling process, and counselors appropriately document discussions of informed consent throughout the counseling relationship" (ACA, 2014, p. 4).

Informed consent will be acquired through the signing of an informed consent form. At my campus, this informed consent form must be signed by a parent or guardian only. This requirement supports me as a counselor as it allows for some legal backing in the process. Without the informed consent form, I would very likely get into legal difficulties with confidentiality.

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Slide 11: Legal and Ethical Requirement 2

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Slide 11: Legal and Ethical Requirement 2

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A.9.a Screening - "Counselors screen prospective group counseling/therapy participants. To the extent possible, counselors select members whose needs and goals are compatible with the goals of the group, who will not impede the group process, and whose well-being will not be jeopardized by the group experience" (ACA, 2014, p. 6).

The group screening process is an extremely important aspect of group counseling. The screening helps ensure that the right students are picked to be in the group, students that truly desire to be in the group and also students that understand the expectations for the group.

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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.

American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA.

Dhalla, S. (2020, October 13). [5 Why Protocol with Geometry]. Arlington High School.

Dryburgh, M. (2020). Teaching servant leadership: Ansar Burney and child camel jockeys. Journal of Leadership Education, 19(4), 116–122.

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