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Individual Student Planning: How it ensures equal opportunity to succeed

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Individual Student Planning: How it ensures equal opportunity to succeed

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The ISP ensures that children have an equal opportunity to succeed because it helps the children to set goals for success that begins in Kindergarten by providing interventions to improve in the struggling areas and scheduling check-ins to check on their progress.

Reference
Boschen, J., Carlson, Herrmann, J., Tolin, R., Jessica, Christine, . . . Mindvalley Academy. (2018, November 23). Student Goal Setting in Elementary School. Retrieved from http://www.whatihavelearnedteaching.com/student-goal-setting-in-elementary/

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We have such an awesome opportunity to empower students to set goals and celebrate with them when they reach their goals. Most students don't reflect on their own learning naturally. It's not an innate skill that students have when they come to school. Actually, most adults don't have that skill either. It's something that needs to be taught.

This past week, we've done quite a bit of work in our year-long journey of setting goals in second grade.

First, as I've mentioned in previous posts, I've been implementing Whole Brain Teaching. One of the components is a Super Improver Team. Here's our wall:

Each student has a star and for making improvements, they receive a sticker. When their star has 10 stickers they move up to the next level (blue - learner). They keep going. For every 10 stickers, they move up the levels.

The introduction of the Super Improver Team led to a discussion about how to make improvements and goals setting. What kinds of improvements could students make? What would "count" to get a sticker?

So we started talking about SMART goals. We started with the concept of setting "specific" goals and made this anchor chart of the concept of SPECIFIC. We looked at the word specific in a Frayer Model and looked at some examples and non-examples. That aspect is the most powerful part of the anchor chart. I didn't make it very "pretty", but students got the idea of what they word specific means.

Take a look at more SMART Goal Setting Resources in this blog post.

For our first goal, I decided to focus on behavior. It is a bit more tangible than an academic goal, and students are still learning how to "be" in our classroom, so it's the perfect opportunity to change a few things before they become a habit.

I gave students some ideas on good behavior goals. Basically, I wrote down all the things that have been annoying me, behavior-wise, for the past week. I listed them in a positive light, i.e.: what a student could do, not what they can't do.

I gave students an opportunity to look over the goals with their table groups. Each student chose one goal to work on for the next week.

I put the "Improvements" in page protector sleeves so that I can use them when I conference with a student. I can circle three or four and say something like, "I notice that you could really use some improvement on these. Which one would you like to choose to work on?" That way, there's choice within structure. I can guide what a student chooses, but the student still has choice.

I did add a couple more at the end (on the copy you see above), that aren't necessarily annoying behaviors, but improvements that my quieter students could make. You know, those kids who just sit there, but aren't disruptive!

After students determined what they wanted to work on, I had them write it down. I'm sure there's research on this somewhere, but I've heard that writing down a goal means that you're more likely to accomplish it.

In addition to the more complicated Goal Setting and Data Portfolios I have, I came up with this simple goal setting form that I can tape down to a student's desk and that we can collect over the course of the year.

We set to work writing down our behavior goals. Here are a few student examples.

You can see that some students need a bit of work on choosing ONE goal. I also realized after we did this activity, that the "I will . . . " part of the goal setting form, doesn't always lend itself well to behavior goals, since most behavior goals are an action in and of themselves. They don't always require an additional action statement that tells how you're going to accomplish the goal.

I changed up my form a bit to have a variety of options, including learning and behavior goals and a couple of different formats. Would you like a copy? Click this link SMART Goal Setting Forms or the picture below. Take a look at more SMART Goal Setting Resources in this blog post.

The final part of goal setting that is very important, especially for children is the celebration! Children need to know that there's something waiting for them when they accomplish their goal. Some people have an intrinsic motivator to set and accomplish goals. I'm one of them. But, most people don't. The celebration is a great motivator.

As a class, we brainstormed a variety of celebrations, both big and small. Most celebrations were for our class goals, but a few of these could be for individual goals, too. The idea was to get students excited about accomplishing their goals.

SMART Goal setting isn't just for individuals. I use to all the time to set class goals. We set behavior goals on our ScoreBoard (more positive than negative points), percentage goals on our computerized math program, number goals on how many stars we got for doing homework, etc.

There are a myriad of possibilities for whole group goal setting. Figure out what you want your class to do and set a goal on it.

I've done a few other blog posts on Goal Setting, if you're interested in more information:

Do you set goals in your classroom, either individual or whole class? I'd love to hear how you help students see that their actions are important and make a difference in their lives.

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Student Goal Setting in Elementary School

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We have such an awesome opportunity to empower students to set goals and celebrate with them when they reach their goals. Most students don't reflect on their own learning naturally. It's not an innate skill that students have when they come to school. Actually, most adults don't have that skill either.

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The Essential Role of Elementary School Counselors

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The Essential Role of Elementary School Counselors

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This article addresses the ASCA National Model delivery component that is geared towards Elementary School.

Reference:
American School Counselor Association. (2017). The Essential role of elementary school counselors. Retrieved from: https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Careers-Roles/WhyElem.pdf

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If a school counselor has introduced a new program on how to help students excel academically, they can share this idea with other school counselors in the district. If a school counselor received information that a certain student needs help in their home life, they can consult with the community to help get the child's family what they need, all while maintaining confidentiality.

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Consultation Practices: Ensuring a Safe School

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Consultation Practices: Ensuring a Safe School

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In order to ensure a safe school, school counselors can talk with administrators and district employees to review stranger danger policies. They can also consult with teachers to get information on students they believe to be bullied and help those students, but also keep confidentiality. School counselors can use consultation to help students excel in school.

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Heres a video of 5th grade school counselor sharing her experience from core curriculum in a group session.

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5th Grade Guidance Counselor Shares Her Experience with the S.O. What! Curriculum

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One service of delivery method on influencing students academic achievement is through core curriculum lessons. This article presents a content analysis of 139 classroom lesson plans located on the ASCA website. Findings indicated that school counselors were able to identify individual components, introduce lesson plans, create effective learning strategies, and align learning strategies with objectives, however there is a need for improving in creating standards and learning objectives.

Reference:
Lopez, C. J., & Mason, E. C. M. (2018). School counselors as curricular leaders: A content analysis of ASCA lesson plans. Professional School Counseling, 21(1), 1-12. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1177/2156759X18773277

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Core Curriculum: Classroom Counseling Intervention  

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Core Curriculum: Classroom Counseling Intervention  

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This article introduces the effectiveness of the delivery of core curriculum lesson plan on self-efficacy. Results supported that students receiving the specialized classroom lessons significantly improved in self efficacy.

Reference
Bardhoshi, G., Duncan, K., & Erford, B. T. (2017). Effect of a Specialized Classroom Counseling Intervention on Increasing Self-Efficacy among First-Grade Rural Students. Professional School Counseling. https://doi.org/10.5330/1096-2409-21.1.12

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Consultation Practices: Equal Opportunity to Succeed

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Consultation Practices: Equal Opportunity to Succeed

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This article provides information taken from the ASCA website and summarize their elementary counseling program information. Abraham provides a response to how they meet the challenge of serving a diverse population. Through consultation and collaboration with all stakeholders, Abraham describes how his school counseling plan meets his student populations' needs.

Reference
Abraham, J. (n.d.). Elementary Counselor. Retrieved March 30, 2019, from http://www.cersd.org/student-special-services/elementary-counselor

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Elementary school counselors are professional educators with a mental health perspective who understand and respond to the challenges presented by today's diverse student population. Elementary school counselors don't work in isolation; rather they are integral to the total educational program.

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Core Curriculum: Core Curriculum Lesson plans and Teacher Academic Lessons

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Core Curriculum: Core Curriculum Lesson plans and Teacher Academic Lessons

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Core Curriculum lesson plans such as anti bullying, suicide awareness, domestic violence, anti drug lesson plans can collaborate with teachers to create a safe school environment. This article presents the effectiveness of implementation of school core curriculum lesson plans with teachers academic curriculum. School counselors should utilize collaboration with teachers lesson plans to ensure student quality social/personal development and growth of a safe school climate. This article presented various of studies proving core curriculum lesson implementation creating safer environments for students, while enhancing academic achievement.

Reference
Kozlowski, K. A. . (2013). Integrating School Counseling Core Curriculum Into Academic Curriculum. Journal of School Counseling, 11(5), 1–35. Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=125250518&site=eds-live&scope=site

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Here's a video video of explaining of using the ASCA template for core curriculum lessons

Reference
ASCA ( March 11th, 2017), RAMP component Webinar-Section 8- Core Curriculum Action Plans & Lessons Plans retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmVzS-yzprw&t=24s

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RAMP Component Webinar- Section 8- Core Curriculum Action Plan & Lesson Plans

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Core Curriculum is an element under Direct Students services. Here is an image of an example of direct student services. This method could be used to help children overcome any mental health barriers.

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Core Curriculum Result Report:
The result report is used a monitoring tool to evaluate progress of school counseling programs

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According to the ASCA (2012), The School counseling core curriculum consists of a planned, written instructional program that is comprehensive, preventive in nature and development in design. ( ASCA, 2012 pg 85) . The core curriculum is designed to be a guide to match the school counseling program mission, purpose, and goals.
The school counseling core curriculum is delivered through instructions and group activities . Core Curriculum is one of the three elements of Direct student services.

American School Counselor Association. (2012). ASCA national model: A framework for school counseling programs (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.

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According to the ASCA (2012), collaboration practices fall under the indirect student services portion of the delivery system. The ASCA (2012) defines collaboration as, “counselors working with educators, parents, and the community to support students achievements and advocate for equity and access fo all students.” (ASCA, 2012, p. 87)

There are numerous opportunities for collaboration to occur within the school system, however,  the ASCA (2012) provides these three as examples.

Teaming and Partnering

Connections to a mental health clinic where students and families can receive specialized help.

Team presentation when presenting a tough topic like bullying.

School/district Committees

Sitting on various committees can provide an opportunity for a school counselor to advocate for the school counseling program.

Parent Workshops

Holding parent meetings to provide information about community happenings and how to guide their learners at home.

Resource
ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs(3rd ed.). (2012). Alexandria VA: American School Counselor Association.

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Group counseling: ensuring equal achievement opportunities

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Group counseling: ensuring equal achievement opportunities

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Reference
PsychotherapyNet (Feb. 27, 2014). Group Counseling with Children: A multicultural Approach Video [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSOGSDGmNt4&t=43s

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Group Counseling with Children: A Multicultural Approach Video

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Group Counseling: ensuring that every student has the equal opportunity to achieve academically.

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Group Counseling: ensuring that every student has the equal opportunity to achieve academically.

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By having group sessions to discuss their cultural differences and ensuring that every child and every teacher understands each person's way of learning can help avoid cultural clash in regards to learning and motivate them.

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Collaboration: Group Counseling - Mandala Mondays - Walden Library

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Collaboration: Group Counseling - Mandala Mondays - Walden Library

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Mandala Mondays is an artistic group counseling program built for elementary students. This program was developed via collaboration in solution to a growing problem of pressures of testing and pulling students from classroom. In an effort to continuing support for  students. Mandala Mondays uses art to help guide students through emotions.

Reference
Cook, K., Mayorga, M. G., & Ball, V. (2016). Mandala Mornings: A Creative Approach for Elementary School Counselors. Journal of School Counseling, 14(6). Retrieved from https://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1103863&site=eds-live&scope=site

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"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
– Helen Keller

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Collaboration: Health and Students Success

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Collaboration: Health and Students Success

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Lake Oak School District saw and need and is building a plan to better serve the community on the front of health and wellness. The Center for Care Innovations helped Lake Oak community come together to support the needs of every student. Because of the two-way communication created, Lake Oak can provide these services for students:

Triage clinical needs, such as referring a student or parent to a behavioral specialist.

Schedule same-day clinic visits.

Create joint Individualized Education Program (IEP) and medical appointments.

Hold joint family-school-clinic conferences

References
Center for Care Innovations. (2018, July 17). Innovation Spotlight: School-Clinic Collaboration. Retrieved March 22, 2019, from https://www.careinnovations.org/resources/innovation-spotlight-school-clinic-collaboration/

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How can we break down the silos that wall-off schools, clinics, and families from each other?

Santa Cruz Community Health Centers (SCCHC) and the Live Oak School District are collaborating to improve health and educational outcomes through a Community Care Team - a cross-sector partnership that brings together pediatrics, behavioral health and child psychiatry with teachers, the school nurse, and school counselors.

Thanks to a grant from our Innovation Lab, they're testing this comprehensive support and treatment for 15 high-risk, high-need children at Live Oak Elementary School. The goal is to fundamentally change the relationships between families, their health care providers, and schools.

The Problem

Live Oak is an unincorporated community and "census designated place" located between Santa Cruz and Capitola in Santa Cruz County, California. Despite the fact that the community is only 3.2 square miles, 17,400 people live in Live Oak. It has a large population of Latinx immigrants. And like so many California cities, families are grappling with exorbitant housing costs.

Because of the demographics, size, and density of the community, Live Oak School District struggles with many of the challenges that face large urban school districts.

For instance, a number of high-risk, high-need children attend Live Oak Elementary School:

25 percent are homeless

59 percent are English language learners

76 percent are low income

Half of third graders are proficient reading at grade level

60 percent of low-income fifth graders have adequate fitness for good health, as measured by a state program that tests aerobic capacity, strength, body composition, and flexibility.

To meet the challenges associated with these demographics and a desire for better outcomes, SCCHC and the Live Oak School District have sought out new ways to strengthen the schools and community.

Together, they identified one major obstacle: the lack of ongoing, effective communication between parents, educators, and health care providers when problems arise. In fact, institutional silos were actually preventing them from sharing information and coordinating services to support these children.

The Solution

SCCHC, the Live Oak School District, Live Oak Cradle to Career, and Live Oak parents created the Community Care Team, which engages parents and school-clinic partners to identify, treat, and monitor high-risk, high-need students.

The Community Care Team operates through two communication channels:

Two-Way Communication Line

The school and SCCHC opened up a bidirectional line of communication to better facilitate regular, open collaboration. The goal was to also provide "warm hand-offs," or personal transfer of care, between the school and clinic.

The clinic's point person, the Pediatric Complex Care Manager (a PhD Nurse Practitioner), and the school's point people, the Director of Student Services and Director of Child Development, are in constant contact. The goal is to schedule calls at least twice a month, but in reality, they often call and text each other whenever the need arises.

Because of this two-way communication line, they can:

Triage clinical needs, such as referring a student or parent to a behavioral specialist.

Schedule same-day clinic visits.

Create joint Individualized Education Program (IEP) and medical appointments.

Hold joint family-school-clinic conferences

Case Conferences

Case conferences are in-person meetings of clinic and school providers. Every other month, they come together to share information, including voice recordings of parents expressing their hopes and concerns, to piece together the behavior and experiences of a particular child. This cross-sector group then identifies systems-level solutions and develops a shared care plan.

This care plan is unique in that it includes educational details that previously would have been inaccessible to pediatricians. And it includes clinical advice that would have been previously unavailable to school personnel.

So far, case conferences have focused on parental wellness and the treatment and educational placement of a child with autism. Satu Larson, the Pediatric Complex Care Manager, recently shared this success story during a recent presentation of her team's project:

The case conference focused on a child who had been exposed to methadone in utero. He was successfully weaned with morphine, and at 3-years-old, when his mother relapsed, he was fostered and adopted by his grandmother. While in the foster system, the child was sent to Stanford University's neurodevelopmental clinic and then referred to the county behavioral services to treat hyperactivity. From age of 4, the child has tried differing classes of medications (non-stimulant, sedative, SSRI, antipsychotics). His grandmother had been bringing him to the clinic more frequently because of aggressive behavior, violent thoughts, and expressions of self-harm. His biological mother and father had re-entered his life and the grandmother felt the child was struggling both at home and in school. Yet, when the provider asked the child how he felt on the current medication, he reported feeling "calmer, more in control." The case conference brought stakeholders from the school (teachers, school counselors, school psychologist, the principal, director of student services), the clinic (pediatrician, complex care manager, lead behavioral health provider, behavioral health coordinator, CEO), and a Stanford partner (developmental behavioral specialist). It opened with a brief history from each group. Then the group played the audio recording of mother and grandmother describing their hopes for the child, as well as how they would like the group to help them. From this point, the floor was open for discussion. The group learned from teachers that clear rules and expectations in a safe environment had created conditions in which the child thrived. The school did not witness any aggressive behavior or expressions of self-harm. In fact, the child got along well with his peers. This insight gave the pediatrician a new lens with which to understand his patient's needs. Rather than creating a medical solution, what was needed was greater support for the parents and grandmother to provide the successful structure at home that their son was benefiting from at school. After the conference, the primary care provider and the special day education teacher created a care plan, then shared it with the family. The clinic was able to initiate family therapy services. The mother reestablished care at the clinic for herself, seeing a behavioral health care provider to address her own childhood trauma; after four appointments that focused on parenting and social skills, the child is now less aggressive at home and appears to be happier.

Today's Takeaways

Open the doors, not the floodgates: Facilitating an organized flow of communication between school and clinic partners has been essential to surfacing, filtering, and relaying information while not overwhelming either party.

Start with what you've got: Jumping in and learning while doing is helping the team better understand what is needed to grow this model.

Parent engagement is essential: Every case has revealed how crucial family dynamics are to the wellbeing of children. In cases of very high-need families, parents often no-show for appointments and struggle to follow through on referrals. The team is now looking to hire a bicultural, bilingual LCSW/RN who can meet these parents where they are at and hold their hands on the path to healing.

Don't underestimate costs. Innovations that transform health and education in this way are both essential and expensive. Policymakers, funders, payers, and health, social service, and education sectors must be prepared to invest in such transformation to make this helpful integration permanent. Healing childhood trauma so that it doesn't transfer to the next generation is complex - but crucial - work.

Build relationships: "This has been many years in the making, forming trust between school and clinic partners. It's now so magical to get everyone together to start sharing information and working together," said Allison Guevara, the SCCHC's social impact consultant.

Next Steps

Systematically ID struggling students: Currently, the Community Care Team relies on the Director of Student Services to zero in on the students with the greatest needs. The team wants to be more methodical, so it can better identify struggling students who may not be as loud. SCCHC is working with the school to start tracking risk factors through its software, Illuminate Education. It's looking at attendance (chronic absenteeism, tardiness), school behavior (office referrals, school nurse visits), academic performance, and family satisfaction. At the same time, the team is mindful about taking the negative bias out of these metrics, so the school isn't building a record that follows a "bad kid."

Electronic data sharing: The school and clinic are currently working on a legal agreement that will eventually allow both parties to share information electronically - and help scale this project beyond the initial cohort of 15 children. Then the next hurdle is to find case management software that will facilitate this up-to-the-minute flow of information.

Continue building clinical and educational teams: These teams are critical to increasing the number of families served and ensuring appropriate pathways that address the range of needs that emerge from this multidisciplinary model.

Learn More

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Innovation Spotlight: School-Clinic Collaboration - Center for Care Innovations

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How can we break down the silos that wall-off schools, clinics, and families from each other? Santa Cruz Community Health Centers (SCCHC) and the Live Oak School District are collaborating to improve health and educational outcomes through a Community Care Team - a cross-sector partnership that brings together pediatrics, behavioral health and child psychiatry with teachers, the school nurse, and school counselors.

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Group Counseling: to utilize for safe school environment

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Group Counseling: to utilize for safe school environment

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Group counseling can be used by having an intervention with the children to discuss issues that trouble them, for instance, one issue being bullying. By talking in a group with everyone sharing their experience, how it made them feel, how it can be stopped and the school's policy on bullying is one way to ensure safety.

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Collaboration Practice: Teaming and Partnering 

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Collaboration Practice: Teaming and Partnering 

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This video by Edutopia showcases the concept of creating a better environment for students in general. Not only is this and example of teaming and partnering within the delivery system but a tool use to provide academic success for every student.

Edutopia (Ed.). (2015, August 25). Teacher Collaboration: Spreading Best Practices School-Wide. Retrieved March 20, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85HUMHBXJf4

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Teacher Collaboration: Spreading Best Practices School-Wide

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Collaboration: School Culture and Safety

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Collaboration: School Culture and Safety

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In this article, Renfro talks about how to guide students in collaborating with teachers within the school setting. There is opportunity to develop the collaboration skills within students. I envision creating collaboration groups for students to generate ideas that provide solutions for issues that teachers can't solve. For example; phone policy, bullying program, or an informative action plan to help students feel safe and supported within the the school.

References
Renfro, A. (2013, April 09). 10 Collaborative Projects for Your School -- Light Years Beyond Group Work. Retrieved March 22, 2019, from https://www.gettingsmart.com/2012/05/10-collaborative-projects-for-your-school-light-years-beyond-group-work/

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Building the future of learning for all.

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Collaboration: Communicating with the Community on School Safety

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Collaboration: Communicating with the Community on School Safety

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The DARE program is a program that was recently revamped to be utilized in a K-12 setting. It includes collaboration for students, staff, law enforcement, parents, and the surrounding communities to better grow and understand various school safety topics that include online free curriculum for all levels.

DARE

References
DARE America. (2018, July 17). DARE is Different. Retrieved March 30, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CjRGN8ZA2o

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Individual Student Planning- Safety Protocol

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Individual Student Planning- Safety Protocol

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Individual Student Planning- How it creates safe schools

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Individual Student Planning- How it creates safe schools

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ISP can implement behavior plans for students that display harmful behavior and are considered a risk for future unsafe behaviors which includes harm to self or others, inappropriate sexual behavior, etc.

Reference
Portland Public Schools. (n.d.). Safety plan. Retrieved from www.pps.net/Page/2106

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School Guidance Counselors Are a Great Resource for Students and Parents

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Consultation as interaction between the counselor and another person, with the primary focus of assisting that other person to function more effectively with a third person or group within a work, school, or interpersonal system. (ASCA, 2019)

Dollarhide, Colette T.; Saginak, Kelli A.. Comprehensive School Counseling Programs: K-12 Delivery Systems in Action (Merrill Counseling) (Page 180). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

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Equipped with hope and perseverance, it is our mission to provide a comprehensive school counseling program that advocates for the empowerment of the student's academic, career, social and emotional development. As counselors, it is our destined purpose to work wholeheartedly with stakeholders to create a safe environment for our students while providing quality resources. It is our mission to foster students to reach their highest potential by overcoming the barriers of academic achievement.

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Here is an example of a form that can be used to help keep track of what is discussed during a session.

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This is an example of a counseling activity that can be done in either group counseling or individual counseling. I think this activity would work best with higher grade levels in elementary school.

Reference:

Counselor Keri. (2017, Oct 6). In my control school counseling activity. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxacynVqWd8

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In My Control School Counseling Activity

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This blog talks about how a new school counselor can work the ropes of individual counseling. It mentions how long to meet with them, how frequently, a reminder to have short-term counseling, and what to do while in individual counseling (Bright Futures Counseling, 2018). This blog has some important document linked that might be helpful!

Reference:
Bright Futures Counseling. (2018, December 6). First year school counselors: How to plan elementary school counseling individual sessions. Retrieved from https://www.brightfutures-counseling.com/blog/2018/12/6/first-year-school-counselors-how-to-plan-elementary-school-counseling-individual-sessions?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_tribes&utm_content=tribes&utm_term=534246300_19122434_164416

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When will I meet with my individual students?

As always, it is important to get parent permission. Download this editable permission slip for free here. Once the permission slip is returned you can schedule a time that works best with their teacher. I recommend meeting with students for 20-30 minutes once a week for 6-8 weeks. You can then re-evaluate to see if the student needs continued sessions or an outside referral.

One-time Sessions

Sometimes you may be asked to meet with a student regarding a specific situation. This is more of a "check-in", you can talk with the student and decide if further counseling sessions are needed.

Keep in Mind: Don't Create Co-dependence

My first year counseling, I saw some students weekly for almost the entire year. Their parents and teachers wanted them to continue seeing me. This was a mistake on my end as it is our role as school counselors to deliver short-term solution focused counseling. The students were very dependent on seeing me and if I was at my other site or out sick they didn't handle it well. This can become especially problematic if you are not going to be at that school the following year. These students need a support system in place that is comprised of more than just you.

After meeting with a student for an allotted amount of time, we need to assess what we are doing and decide if the student needs an outside referral or if they have progressed, move them to a lower tier intervention such as a group. (As listed in the ASCA School Counselor Competencies IV-C-3. School counselors engage in developmental counseling and short-term responsive counseling n IV-C-4. School counselors should refer students to district or community resources to meet more extensive needs such as long-term therapy or diagnoses of disorders). Your job as a school counselor is to put yourself out of a job. You want to equip the student with the skills they need to succeed in an academic and social emotional setting.

How do I stay organized?

Keep a folder with the student's name on it. This is where you will track your sessions, keep worksheets they've completed, and keep papers for future activities. Check out my tips for staying organized in this video.

What will I do with my individual students?

During the first session, it is a good idea to keep it light and build rapport. Play some get to know you games and try to foster a relationship with the student. In the following sessions, start with a check in or warmup, then do an activity to cover a concept they are working on. Finish the session with some sort of reflection. You can also have students complete self-assessments during the first and last session to track progress and collect data. Check out the self-assessments I use here.

Individual sessions are a vital part of your school counseling program. I typically prefer groups because I am able to reach more kids in less time but the difference you can make with a child one-on-one is invaluable. You've got this!

Comment below with activities you like to do in individual sessions. I'd love to know!

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First Year School Counselors: How to Plan Elementary School Counseling Individual Sessions

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You are running several groups and teaching school-wide guidance lessons. Isn't that everything? Not quite, new counselor. You need to create space for individual sessions. This is where you will work one-on-one with a child and help them implement strategies for success. Sound intimidating? Don't w

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Group Counseling- collaborating with stakeholders to address school safety &success

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Group Counseling- collaborating with stakeholders to address school safety &success

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By bring all of he stakeholders together to provide them with guiding behaviors that will help them to become better equipped to support the children. Counselors would discuss the safety policy, the school’s beliefs in diversity, understanding and tolerance (Lorain, n.d.). Everyone should be involved in maintaining positive values (Lorain, n.d.).
Working together and being on one accord is a sure way to lead to success.

Reference

Lorain, P. (n.d.). Maintaining a Safe Environment. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/tools/maintaining-a-safe-environment.html

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Individual Student Planning (Goal setting-Idea for upper elementary)

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Individual Student Planning (Goal setting-Idea for upper elementary)

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Reference

McMasterUTV (2014,March 14). Setting Goals [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&v=FFT6uPlflFl

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Individual Counseling for Equal Academic Success

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Individual Counseling for Equal Academic Success

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I believe that individual counseling can help students excel academically. If a student is having external conflicts, it could be interfering with his academic success. Participating in counseling can help to find a solution to those conflicts, which could result in better academics.

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Individual Counseling to Create a Safe School

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Individual Counseling to Create a Safe School

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I believe that a individual counseling can help create a safe school by being there for students. Knowing that someone is there to help the students with personal matters would make me feel safe. Along with that, individual counseling can give students a place to express themselves without the judgement of others. Students in higher elementary grade levels might feel more judged by peers and having a counselor to talk to might help them feel safer.

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Individual Counseling collaborating with others for the safety and success of the school

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Individual Counseling collaborating with others for the safety and success of the school

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If a counselor feels that a student needs long term therapy or more intense therapy, they might suggest mental health counseling or another resource within the community to help (ASCA, 2012). School Counselors might also collaborate with parents if they feel that a student is at risk for harm. According to the ASCA Code of Ethics, it is ethical for the parents to be informed if seems the child will inflict harm on themselves or others (Stone, 2017).

References:
American School Counselor Association (2012). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs, Third Edition.Alexandria, VA: Author.

Stone, C. (2017). School counseling principles: Ethics and law (4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: American School Counselor Association

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School counselors may conduct individual counseling with their students (ASCA, 2012). These counseling sessions help to find the cause of problems and help take action that is appropriate (ASCA, 2012). The counseling sessions are intended to be goal-focused and short term (ASCA, 2012).

Reference:

American School Counselor Association (2012). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs, Third Edition.Alexandria, VA: Author.

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It is counseling multiple members at the same time based on mutual needs and goals of the members (Stone, 2017).

Reference

Stone, C. B. (2017). Ethics and law: School counseling principles (4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: American School Counselor Association.

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It ensures that all students have an individual plan intended to support the attainment of personal, educational, and post-secondary and occupational goals (Dollarhide, 2017).

Reference
Dollarhide, C. T., & Saginak, K. A. (2017). Comprehensive school counseling programs: K-12 delivery systems in action (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson.