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My glossary of terms is highlighted in yellow. Other assignments like my lesson plan analysis and my vision and mission statement are in white.

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My vision as a school counselor is to deliver a high-quality, data-driven school counseling program in collaboration with students, families, school staff, and community stakeholders. My mission is to create well-adjusted lifelong learners by providing scholars with a positive and nurturing environment with the assistance of administrators, teachers, and other community stakeholders in delivering the school counseling program. I will utilize an engaging curriculum to give scholars learning opportunities to support their social, emotional, and academic development.

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The Annual Results Report is an important tool for checking how well school counseling programs are working. It usually includes a brief overview of the program's goals, details on how data is collected, and results that show the program's impact on students, such as improvements in grades and attendance. It gives insights to what improvements may be made to enhance the overall counseling program.

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I chose the middle school lesson plan as I want to be a guidance counselor in a middle school setting and have 5 years of experience with students in these grade levels.

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In what ways did the selected Mindsets and/or Behaviors match the lesson topic? List one additional Mindsets and/or Behaviors that you would have selected for the lesson and why?

I agree with the initial ASCA mindset the school counselor chose based on what was stated in the challenge. Student discipline records indicated increased referrals related to behavior, conflict escalation, and class outbursts. The mindset also correlated to the observation that 8th-grade teachers shared regarding the difficulties the 8th graders had identifying and sharing emotions.

However, another mindset I would have chosen was “M 2. Sense of acceptance, respect, support and inclusion for self and others in the school environment.” Also, the Behavior Standard, “B-SMS 2. Self-discipline and self-control,” could have also been added to the lesson plans with 10 different lessons; the counselor could have added one each to the daily lesson plan. I understand that the counselor used an evidenced-based model, but I wonder if these were also standards in her chosen model.

In what ways do the ASCA Student Standards Pre- and Post-Assessment Items align and not align with the Mindsets and/or Behaviors and topic?

For each lesson/unit/small group, school counselors will administer pre-/post-assessment aligned with the selected ASCA Student Standards and student learning objectives.

The designated Pre-/Post-Assessment items are:

Likert Scale – (1- Always True, 2 - Mostly True, 3 – Not Sure, 4 – Mostly False, 5 – Always False)

1. I think it’s important to understand my feelings in difficult situations.

2. I am good at naming my feelings in difficult situations.

3. I don’t usually get in trouble for how I display my feelings in difficult situations.

4. I know the different feelings that affect my behavior in difficult situations.

5. I can tell when my feelings are going to affect my behavior.

6. I know how to calm down when I am overwhelmed with my feelings.

For the most part, these pre-post assessment questions align with the mindset the counselor is attempting to teach, although I am sure they can be written better for my student's understanding. However, they do address M1:

M1 is focused on the holistic development of an individual, encompassing his or her Mental well-being: The cognitive, intellectual, and psychological aspects of the person.

The students' social/emotional well-being which includes their interpersonal skills, relational, and affective dimensions of the student and his or her physical well-being. Physical well-being includes: The bodily, physiological, and health-related aspects of the person.

Did the lesson content/materials match the selected Mindsets and/or Behaviors skill? Why or why not?

The content and materials were very basic and a good start for students. All students in every school I have worked at has access to a computer. The counselor included a journaling app on the computer and students are very computer savvy. The downside of the computer app is it's use outside of the classroom. If these are lifelong skills, there could be a disconnect unless the student has access to the application in their real-world environment. However, the lesson plan is not specific if it's paper or computer based.

Timing can be important for delivering lessons and holding small group sessions. Yet, timing can also be limited for school counselors when it comes to working with students. Based on your opinion, how do you think that timing may have impacted the results of the lesson?

The lesson is 25 minutes. That's a lot of information to get through in 25 minutes. I am not sure that would be enough time to introduce the lesson, play the video, complete the journaling prompts and review with the students. If the students do not have adequate time to process, the lesson is not going to be as impactful as it could be with a longer session.

School counselors often share lesson plans amongst each other when they might experience similar student challenges or topics. But schools, populations, cultures, developmental levels, and school counselors are unique. What are some ways you would modify the lesson plan to align with your creativity, knowledge of the ASCA National Model, and skillset?

A counselor would have to understand their population and what learning techniques and strategies are proven successful within those populations. For my institution, I would have the pre and post assessments written on a lower lexile level. I would also spend more time on the introduction to the lesson with "hook" for students that get and keep their attention. I would try to explain the lesson utilizing their community expectations and giving examples of how those expectations were not used and the outcome of those decisions. I enjoy sprinkling humor in my lesson in addition to student participation. Maybe I would ask open ended questions that would begin a cooperative and conversational lesson. Also, the journaling may need some creative sentence starters. I do like that the students are expected to take an emotional temperature.

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This is the list of things that a school counselor is expected and allowed to handle as part of their job. This scope helps define the counselor's areas of expertise and the limits of their work.

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The program assessment allows school counselors to evaluate the effectiveness of the counseling program, identify areas for improvement in its design and delivery, and demonstrate the influence of the program on student growth and progress.

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A Comprehensive School Counseling Program is a framework which outlines the role and responsibilities of school counselors that supporting the academic, career, and social-emotional development of all students. This is the foundation of a school counselor's job.

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School Counselor Assessment and Appraisal

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School Counselor Assessment and Appraisal

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The main goals of the school counselor performance appraisal are to assess how well school counselors are doing, highlight their impact on students, and support their ongoing professional development. This process also shows how counselors contribute to student success and align with the overall mission of their schools.

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The school counselor 's job is to improve a student's knowledge, skills and abilities. The school counselor does it by teaching skills and modeling behaviors to students which allows students the opportunity to create a "tool box" so they can become the best person they can be.

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Career development is all about helping students figure out what they want to do when they grow up. It's like giving them a guide to help them explore different jobs and careers, so they can find one that's a good fit for him or her. Career development is a critical component of a comprehensive school counseling program that supports the overall growth and success of students. It helps them discover their interests and talents and prepares them for meaningful careers.

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Social and emotional development is all about helping students become the best version of themselves- both inside and out. It's about learning how to understand their own feelings, help them get along with others, and handle life's ups and downs. It's a process of teaching skills which build upon each other to make a well-rounded student.

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These describe the attitude, knowledge, and skills students will need to become successful in their lives. They encompass career guidance, social & emotional learning, and skills to make improvements in their academic life. These are important because they give school counselors a shared vision and set of expectations to guide their practice, ensure they are meeting the diverse needs of students, and demonstrate their value as essential members of the educational team.

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ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors

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ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors

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The ASCA Ethical Standards are a set of rules and guidelines that school counselors follow to make sure they are always doing what's best for students. It's kind of like a code of conduct. The ethical standards help ensure school counselors are always putting the needs and well-being of students first.

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The ASCA Professional Standards and Competencies 

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The ASCA Professional Standards and Competencies 

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Provides a comprehensive framework to ensure school counselors have the knowledge and skills they need to support students' academic, career, and social-emotional development. It's like a roadmap for excellence in the school counseling profession. Without the standards and competencies school counselors would not have appropriate guidelines to ensure student success.

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Direct services are the personal, hands-on interactions where the school counselor is working directly with students to support their academic, career, and social-emotional development. It's the "in-the-moment" support that helps students overcome challenges and reach their full potential.

These include individual and small group sessions as well as classroom lessons.

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School counseling indirect services are the behind-the-scenes work that school counselors do to support students, but without direct student contact. These are the activities like consulting and collaborating, program planning and evaluation, professional development, and referrals. These services help create the conditions for student success. By providing indirect services school counselors can ensure they are providing the right support to the right students at the right time.