Program Assessment: A way for school counselors to regularly assess the programs they implement to students, ensuring to be mindful of the students' development (American School Counselor Association, 2019).

Annual Results Reports: A way for school counselors to improve their programs so that they are data-informed and effective for the students (American School Counselor Association, 2019).

School Counselor Assessment and Appraisal: A way for school counselors to assess themselves in their acquired expertise and viewpoints within the profession (American School Counselor Association, 2019).

Review of Lesson Plan

1. I have chosen the High School Lesson Plan and Results Report.

2. The mindset standard chosen was M 1 which states how the students have a collective balance within their social and emotional states (American School Counselor Association, 2019). The lesson topic is "Exploring Feelings and Behaviors" which definitely fits into this category. Another behavior standard which can be selected is B-SS 9 which described having maturity and behaving accordingly in certain environments (American School Counselor Association, 2019). I believe this is a great addition since the lesson plan is about the 10th grade students decreasing disciplinary referrals.

3. The Pre- and Post- Assessment Items mostly align with the topic and mindsets/behaviors. The overall topic of the lesson plan has to do with understanding personal feelings and behaviors. The Pre- and Post- survey both discuss feelings in depth. The only aspect that doesn't align is that there are few questions going in depth about personal behaviors.

4. The lesson content/materials match the selected mindsets/behaviors. The lesson chosen has to do with doing a survey, then completing an activity which has to do with analyzing feelings and behaviors from a video, completing a journal prompt, and then doing the same survey over again. The content within the video and journal prompt involves analyzing feelings and behaviors.

5. Based on the lesson plan, it states how there was a single classroom lesson for 30 minutes in order to instruct this plan. I think that timing definitely impacted the results of the lesson. Although 30 minutes might seem like a decent amount of time, the amount of content that needed to be portrayed within this category was definitely rushed. This could have lead to rushed survey results and students not truly processing the information they are being taught. This especially goes in hand with the fact this lesson is taught at last period. In last period, most of the students will be checked out and ready to leave, not fully and actively listening to the information.

6. There are few things I would modify about this lesson plan. I feel that it is beneficial in targeting understanding individual feelings and behaviors. The one thing that caught my eye was the video used for the lesson plan. Being used for 10th graders, it is a slightly childish looking example of snacks. I would try to find a better alternative to this video. Along with this, I also feel that the students might listen better if they have to do less work. Having to complete multiple surveys and then do a journal prompt might feel like a lot for them, and then they won't take the assignment seriously. Instead of a journal prompt, the class could do a Kahoot or an online quiz to try and make the content more engaging.

References

American School Counselor Association (2019). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs (4th ed.).

• All children can learn. There is no situation where a child cannot learn. This does not mean it will be easy, it will take a school counselor’s time and effort to help the child

• Not all learning is the same. Adding onto my previous core belief, not all students are the same which leads to different methods of learning in the school system

• Emotions have a serious effect on all aspects of a student. It needs to be treated with care as it can affect their mental well-being and also their learning abilities

• All students are worthy of respect and support. Just because a student is a child does not mean they are less worthy of respect from an adult. 

• A student’s socioeconomic status should be considered in assessing their academic success. A child’s racial, cultural, or ethnic differences can play a major part in how they process certain things. It is important to be aware of this.

Personal Philosophy and Vision Statement

My vision statement as a counselor is that the students under my care will success in academic aspects, be able to navigate their emotional and personal lives healthily and be aware of their post-secondary options that are suited for them. I will be an advocate, a leader, a positive social change agent, and more so that the students can thrive.

Topic: Setting Short and Long-Term Goals

Goal of this Lesson Plan

There are a few goals in the entirety of this lesson plan. The activity itself is to teach 9th grade students to set both short and long term goals. With this being said, the lesson plan will help the students understand the importance of having a goal and sticking with it. It addresses many of the ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors standards for the students. There is also another goal within the lesson plan, but instead of gearing towards the students it is for the counselor. The hidden outcome is to increase freshman on track rate. With students setting goals, it allows them to not veer off their path and have a plan for what they want to pursue. Setting goals is an extremely important part of the process. This achieves the counselor's goal of ensuring the students are on track and hopefully increases freshman on track rate by decent percentage.

Challenging Factors

The population I choose to apply this goal to is 11th grade students. In applying this plan to this grade, there will be a few setbacks but implementing setting goals at this stage is crucial. At the junior level, students are beginning to decide the next steps in their education career and whether they would like to pursue secondary education or other options. In order to do this, goals need to be set such as completing applications, researching schools, and looking into different options. The challenging portion would be convincing the students to stay motivated and follow their goals. This point in time is very stressful for the students and they are enduring a lot, therefore it can be difficult to keep them focused. To combat this, as a counselor I would make sure to ease the weight by applying the pressure slowly over time rather than dumping all the information at once. I, myself, would have to set timely goals for the students.