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Our group name is “Grace 101”, this group topic will provide 11 to 13 year old students with skills and strategies needed to successfully address their need of learning to handle different school-related and personal stressful situation and support their overall academic success by decreasing the number of discipline referrals or office visits due to constant classroom disruptions during the school year.

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1. I plan to distribute the information for my small group by utilizing the Remind application which is a private mobile messaging platform. I will create five student groups, five parent groups, and a staff group to keep everyone updated.

2. Remind allows me to maximize my time by scheduling Grace 101 announcements and setting my availability. This platform also gets students and parents involved, sends home updates—and check read receipts—to increase participation. Personalized communication with two-way messaging and in-app translation is available as well.

3. Remind’s partnered with some of the leading companies in education, including two I will utilize—Google Drive and Quizlet. Remind transforms how I share content from our small group to students, parents, teachers, administrators, and other counselors.

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The pre-group screening is geared towards finding students that have a high number of discipline referrals on file and teachers can also refer students that make multiple office visits due to classroom disruptions during the Fall semester.

A maximum of 25 students will receive an invitation to join me, the school counselor, for a special presentation on the week prior to the start of the sessions. Students will be provided with an appointment card (hall pass).

On January 7 students will show their 2nd period teacher the appointment card, and walk to room 123 where the group presentation will take place.

The presentation will describe the group, share with students what he or she will gain from being in the group, tell the students about the expectations of members of a small group and that participation is expected.

After the presentation, students will be separated into their potential small group number (1-5) with no more than 5 per group, and have the opportunity to ask me and my colleagues any questions regarding the presentation.

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On January 7 during the students Advisory period,10:33am-11:13am, participants will meet.

Note that ALL possible student participants will meet at one time, watch the presentation, and be required to take home and have the parent/guardian complete the confidentiality form to get consent or no consent to participate.                  Consent Form: DUE Wednesday, January 9.

During the presentation, confidentiality will be explained to students, and the importance of getting parent/guardian permission or informed consent  to begin sessions. Students are made aware of the intentions of the small group and the limits of confidentiality at this time. Out of respect for children as developing persons, students will be asked whether or not they wish to participate in the small group.
Student Assent: DUE Wednesday, January 9.

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Lesson one is titled understanding conflict where students will pair up and write out thoughts on how listening and properly communicating with others benefits a conflict. I will use this lesson as an intro into setting ground rules and expectations for the group. Students are already pairing up and writing out thoughts on how listening and properly communicating with others benefits conflict, I will include "how will this also benefit our group dynamic" using the original format of the large paper pad activity. Refer to our action plan for details.

All predetermined rules were shared with students during the group presentation on January 7, on slide titled: "Expectations of Members of a Small Group".
The Five Golden Rules
1. All group members understand and respect confidentiality.
2. Make every effort to be on time.
3. Listen carefully before responding.
4. Use appropriate tone of voice, body language, and word choice.
5. Group members have the right to pass on an issue.

Additional rules will be discussed by students during our first session after reviewing the "five golden rules". All rules will be written on a large paper pad per period group and placed on the wall in our classroom as a constant reminder.

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The standards I intend all participants to master upon completing this group include:
Self Managing Skill B-SMS 7.
"Demonstrate effective coping skills when faced with a problem"
(ASCA, 2014).
Social Skill B-SS 1.
"Use effective oral and written communication skills and
listening skills" (ASCA, 2014).

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Stage 1 Session one is critical because the expectations are placed, first impressions occur, the purpose of the group is reviewed, and building trustworthy relationships begins. I plan on being transparent and honest with my students, always open about my expectations, constantly reminding them about the The Five Golden Rules in a loving but firm way. Students will bond during whole group exercises, during serious sharing moments, while laughing and interacting in a positive way in their small group.

Group norms will be established by acting as the reinforcing agent charged with setting up and maintaining group norms and modeling expectations. Our specific rules and guidelines will be on the wall and viewed each session. Refer to the "Ground Rules" section for details.

Even though we cannot guarantee confidentiality when group members leave group sessions, we can encourage it. Student confidentiality can be addressed and maintained by making it a priority from session one and reviewing its importance at the beginning of each session. Reminding students to be mindful of what they say and how they respond to their peers experiences and opinions. If the trust of confidentiality is broken, there will be school mandated consequences and a meeting with the student and the parent/guardian.

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Stage 2 I plan to keep my members working cohesively and productively as we progress through each session towards the learning outcomes by having plenty of fun, interactive, and different energy level activities by utilizing "classroom screen" and giving constant feedback and encouragement as I walk around the room constantly making sure everyone is on task and engaged.

Classroom Screen is an online tool that allows me to display the instructions or schedule for the day in a clear and visual way. The tool includes 13 widgets, a timer being one of them to keep us on task and consistent with the completion of our goals. The students love it and it will keep us organized in a fun and visual way during our sessions!

I will check-in with group members to gauge progress throughout the group by assessing students weekly.
Formative assessments such as  class discussions, entry and exit tickets, and virtual classroom tools like KAHOOT, Quizlet, KimKit, Quizizz.
Diagnostic assessments such as journal entries, student reflections, classroom discussions, graphic organizers, and short quizzes.

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Stage 3 My plan for group closure is to get student feedback from a post-group perception form and talk about  a follow-up get together I had in mind for all 25 students. Room 123 will be empty for the remainder of the school year, I will leave all student work and rules on the wall for our follow-up get together.

I took pictures during all sessions  and created a slideshow presentation with music. During the last session together we will explore how group members are feeling about the group ending and share out if needed.

Students will be monitored to ensure that high numbers of discipline referrals and students visiting the office often due to classroom disruptions do not become critical again.

I have written personalized notes to all 25 students and will give the letters to students during our last session. Reinforcing the importance of confidentiality after leaving the group is mentioned in the personalized note.

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3 Hours of Background Music For Studying - Focus Music for Deep Concentration

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My leadership style will depend on the session number, the day might require more strict and direct structure under autocratic leadership, overall most sessions will fall under the democratic leadership style.

"Group members feel engaged in the process and are more motivated and creative...followers feel like they are an important part of the team, which helps foster commitment to the goals of the group" (Cherry, 2020).

Overall, the participative leadership approach works best with middle school students. Allowing them to be creative, included, and motivated. They should feel that they can share their opinion and use critical thinking skills during the 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.

American School Counselor Association. (2016). ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Cherry, K. (2020). Leadership Styles and Frameworks You Should Know. https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795312?print

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

2 Texas Education Code § 33

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Some factors I could potentially see during our group sessions include:

Development of socializing techniques or social learning or development of interpersonal skills. Some of our sessions are specifically geared towards focusing on proper communication, listening, and expressive skills. Students will learn techniques to develop skills to use during conflicts.

Interpersonal learning or receiving feedback from others and experimenting with new ways of relating is another potential factor. All of our sessions include either whole group reflecting or optional sharing out. With time students will become a bit vulnerable with group members and begin receiving constructive feedback from members.

Universality or demonstration that we are not alone in our misery or our
"problems" will also potentially be seen during our group sessions. Students will interact during activities and realize they are experiencing similar stressful events which ultimately result in negatively affecting their academic, behavioral, social, and emotional growth.

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The American School Counselor Association [ASCA] ethical standards for school counselors (2016) section A.7. Group Work serves as a guideline for ethical requirements for school counselors that pertain to group counseling.

For example, section A.7.a. states that the school counselor is responsible to facilitate short-term groups to address students’ academic,
career and/or social/emotional issues.
Section A.7.e states that school counselors should communicate the aspiration of confidentiality as a group norm, while recognizing and working from the protective posture that confidentiality for minors in schools cannot be guaranteed.

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The Texas Administrative Code outlines the legal requirements school counselors are responsible for.

Standard 2 explains how "the certified school counselor applies the knowledge base to promote the educational, personal, social, and career development of the learner as outlined in The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs."  (2 TEC § 33).

For example, Standard 2 (3) explains how school counselors must "counsel individuals and small groups using appropriate counseling theories and techniques in response to students' needs" (2 TEC § 33).
Standard 2 (6) states that school counselors should "demonstrate proficiency in teaching small and large groups by actively engaging students in the learning process" (2 TEC § 33).