Mindsets:

M 1. Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional and physical well-being

M 4. Self-confidence in ability to succeed

After the 7th and 8th-grade girls are chosen as possible candidates, teachers will send them individually to the counselor's office during their advisory period. This will allow the counselor to talk to them individually about the group and ask if they would be interested in attending. This will enable the student to feel less intimidated than if they were called in with others at the same time and possibly prevent any further scrutiny by classmates.

During school registration, consent for counseling services was included in each student's paperwork. However, for this counseling group, an additional document outlining the group, as well as the option to opt-out, will be sent home with any student who assents to participate.      

Then the girls will brainstorm other rules they determine are important to the group and list them on a poster. The "Participant Guidelines/Ground Rules for Our Group" attached above will be used for suggestions and a guided discussion. The girls will sign their names on the poster, and it will be displayed each time we meet as a reminder of the rules they agreed to.

In addition, making sure the members understand how a breach would be handled (open discussion regarding the breach and determination if the occurrence warrants removal from the group) is important to address as well.

• Stage 2 - During group lessons, the continuance of positive interactions and open communication will still be warranted. Through the different topics each week, the girls will continue to learn more about themselves and each other. At the beginning and end of each session, I will ask what they know about each topic. This may be through direct questioning, a quick thumbs-up or thumbs-down game, or even a quick true/ false quiz. At the end of each group session, I will ask students to complete an exit ticket. This will evaluate a key piece of information that was presented during the meeting. It might be an open-ended question or a yes/no question, depending on the topic. It will be a quick way to determine if the objective of the session was understood. In order to gauge progress throughout the group, making notes of behavioral changes, such as willingness to open up and talk among the group and how group members interact as compared to when the group started. Also, self-reflection and peer feedback when asked about any of the topics discussed or strategies learned, will be helpful in determining if progress is being made. In addition, asking teachers informally if they have noticed any changes in the students would also be beneficial.

•Stage 3 - In closing the group, students will review their SMART goals and determine if they were met. If not, we will discuss how they can work towards mastery to accomplish them. After the six sessions are completed, a post-survey with the same Likert-scaled statements will be redistributed, collected, and compared to the pre-survey collected before the group began to determine the progression of the student's growth. Making sure to still visit with the girls periodically at lunch or in the hallways, or even conducting a brief group "get-together" during advisory period once a month until the end of the school year will be helpful as the girls acclimate back into their routine of school without the weekly support of the group. Reinforcing the group rules they established and giving them each a picture of the poster, along with a picture of the group, will hopefully serve as a reminder of all they learned and how they "bloomed" during their time together.