New Kids on the Block by Kristian Escamilla

The Group

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 06:17:38 UTC

My group of students will be 8th graders who are starting their first year in a new school they’ve never been enrolled with before. They could be from a different school in the same district, from a different district completely, or from a different city, state, or even country. It will be students who are struggling emotionally, socially, and/or academically. They can either be struggling in one of these aspects, two of them, or all three. The reason I chose 8th graders it to help prepare them for the transition into high school.

ASCA Mindset and Behaviors

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 06:39:42 UTC

The New Kids on the Block will have these mindsets during our group sessions, as mentioned in the ASCA Student Standards: Mindset & Behaviors for Student Success,

"M1 - Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional and physical well-being

M2 - Sense of acceptance, respect, support and inclusion for self and others in the school environment

M3 - Positive attitude toward work and learning

M4 - Self-confidence in ability to succeed

M5 - Belief in using abilities to their fullest to achieve high-quality results and outcomes" (American School Counselor Association, 2021).

The reason those are the mindsets is because we are striving to improve their social skills, academic performance, and emotional and mental wellness. Assuring the students have those mindsets will help each of them reach their goals.

The behaviors the group work to have at the end of groups sessions are,

"Learning Strategies:

B-LS 2. Creative approach to learning, tasks and problem solving

B-LS 3. Time-management, organizational and study skills

B-LS 4. Self-motivation and self- direction for learning

Self-Management Skills:

B-SMS 6. Ability to identify and overcome barriers

B-SMS 7. Effective coping skills

B-SMS 10. Ability to manage transitions and adapt to change

Social Skills:

B-SS 2. Positive, respectful and supportive relationships with students who are similar to and different from them

B-SS 4. Empathy

B-SS 6. Effective collaboration and cooperation skills

B-SS 7. Leadership and teamwork skills to work effectively in diverse groups

B-SS 9. Social maturity and behaviors appropriate to the situation and environment

B-SS 10. Cultural awareness, sensitivity and responsiveness" (American School Counselor Association, 2021).

The reason these are the end goals for the group are because they are what I view to be the best behaviors and skills 8th graders wills needs for transitioning to new schools now and in the future to high school.

Publicity

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 06:43:53 UTC

The ways I would share the group to others would be through three processes:

Flyers on the school billboards
Mentioned in the newsletters
Asking administration to have it on the website (I would present the group to administration and the principal for approval)

Another way would be to have teachers do an initial screening on their students with my own screening assessment. From there, after I select the group a consent form would be given to the students to take to their parents.

Screening

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 06:51:49 UTC

Each 8th grade teacher would give the students a screening form I created for the students. This form would explain what the New Kids on the Block is for. The first question would be if they've were at this school last year. After that would be the explanation of the group, then questions asking if they feel the group is right for them, how interested they are, how willing they are to commit to the time and days, what they hope they will gain from it.

Based on those initial screenings, I will select students to move on to the final screening. The final screening is a short interview with me where I ask them what they expect from the group, how they think they should act during group sessions, how they act in class, and other questions which could come up with some and not others. After that, I would make the final selections of students to join the group.

Consent Form

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 06:56:41 UTC

Once the final selection of students is made, they will be given a consent form to take home to their parent/guardian. It must be signed by the parent and once turned in the student will officially be added to the New Kids on the Block.

The consent form will as will mention confidentiality, respect, and the end goal of the group.

Ground Rules

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 07:05:49 UTC

The grounds rules attached here are what will be followed during the sessions. Everyone will have a chance, it will be through taking turns, and there will not be any interrupting each other. Each student will respect the answers of the other students. The ground rules will be mentioned and covered at the beginning of the first session. After that, the ones that apply the most to each session will be reiterated.

If students don't follow the ground rules, we will do things like giving positive reinforcement to the ones following them.

Stages of Group Sessions

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 07:17:39 UTC

Stage 1: During the first session, I would have every student introduce themselves. They would tell their reason of why they were interested in this group. I would mention that we must follow the confidentiality which our parents signed. I would explain how we wouldn't want someone telling our secrets and personal business to others, so we shouldn't do that to them. I would also explain that the possibility of someone from this group sharing what happens here is there, and that if it does happen we will bring it up and talk about why it was shared and how to keep it from happening again. I would then set expectations of how group sessions will be, that we will take turns, and that there will be no interrupting each other. Lastly, I would mention the need to keep an open mind when listening to each other and being respectful.

Stage 2: During every other session, except the last session, I would make sure that each student is on the same page and helping each other. Some sessions will have homework to show they are improving on the skill being worked on in that session. We will compare struggles and ways to work on them, giving each other input without offending one another. We would go over the ground rules when needed, and build trust in each other.

Stage 3: The final session will have the post- assessment. It will also have us review everything we've learned, how we feel we've come out of it, and how to keep developing these newly gained skills into high school. We will discuss how we feel about it being the final session, while acknowledging that group can't last forever. We'll talk about how even though we use what we've learned to help ourselves and others, that what is mentioned in the group about our personal experiences must still stay in the group.

Leadership Style

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 07:22:02 UTC

I would be a mix of a democratic and transformative leader. A democratic leader "encourage group members to participate, but retain the final say in the decision-making process" (Cherry, 2023). I would be the guide for the group, but they would be the ones engaging and progressing the sessions. This gives them the best chance to grow and learn from the sessions. The reason I believe I'm also a transformative leader is because they work on "helping group members fulfill their potential" (Cherry, 2023). That is the end goal of the group as a whole.

Yalom's Therapeutic Factors

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 07:32:56 UTC

Here are the therapeutic factors I believe could come up during our group sessions:

"Universality - demonstration that we are not alone in our misery or our
'problems'" (Yalom, 1995). The reason for this one is because students may feel alone transitioning to a new school, and they need to be shown they're not alone.

"Development of socializing techniques - social learning or development of
interpersonal skills" (Yalom, 1995). The reason for this factor is because interpersonal skills are vital when transitioning to a new school.

"Direct Advice - receiving and giving suggestions for strategies for handling
problems" (Yalom, 1995). The reason for this factor is because the students will be giving each other suggestions for adapting to new curriculum or coping with the change and leaving behind what they had at the previous school and home.

"Interpersonal learning - receiving feedback from others and experimenting
with new ways of relating" (Yalom, 1995). The reason for this factor is because part of transitioning to a new school, and part of being in a group, is accepting and giving feedback and learning from that feedback.

Texas Education Code

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 07:46:17 UTC

According to the Texas Education Code, "The primary responsibility of a school counselor is to counsel students to fully develop each student's academic, career, personal, and social abilities" (2 Tex. Educ. Code § 33.006). While career is not affected much in 8th grade by transitioning to a new school, the other three skills are. Transitioning to a new school could negatively impact a student academically, personally, and socially. This group would be able to help these students with that.

ASCA Standards and Competencies

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 07:54:39 UTC

ASCA has many standards it holds school counselors to. The one I will be focusing on here is to "engage with school administrators, teachers and other staff to ensure the effective implementation of instruction" (American School Counselor Association, 2025). The reason I chose this one is because even if the group sessions go well, if the teachers and other staff don't collaborate with the counselor to ensure the skills developed during group sessions generalize into the classroom, then the student may not be learning all they need to. The point is that after the group sessions are over, the students will be able to continue developing on the new skills, and teachers and staff need to help keep them growing. It is the counselors responsibility to collaborate and explain the group instruction to help it be implemented in the classes.

References

kescamilla5_1 — 2025-09-14 08:03:32 UTC

American School Counselor Association. (2021). ASCA Student Standards; Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success.

American School Counselor Association. (2025). ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies.

Cherry, K. (2023, June 27). How to lead: 6 leadership styles and frameworks. Veryweel Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795312#toc-transformational-leadership

Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators. (2015, May). Professional school counselor small group counseling guide: A professional school counselor’s guide to planning, implementing, and evaluating school-based counseling groups.

2 Texas Education Code § 33.005

Yalom ID. (1995). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (4th ed.). New York: Basic Books.