This week the assignment was completing the School Counselor Competency Assessment.

 I think there is always room for improvement even with a 5.

It is important to not only achieve a high standard but sustain it. The assessment showed me things that I knew I should be working on but have difficulty with. In most of the responses, I gave myself a 4 or 5. The area which needs improvement is Behavior Learning Strategies(ASCA,2019). This area had the lowest scores. The Mindset was the highest(ASCA,2019).

Need to improve - I need to improve in time management (1), self-motivation (3), and collaborative skills(3).  

Time management for me is bad when paired with anxiety. I become really anxious with deadlines to the point where I end up becoming so overwhelmed I ended up not completing tasks for fear of not getting them done in time. I have been trying to break apart large tasks into smaller ones to be able to meet deadlines. I continuously work on this. 

Self-motivation, I am trying to make sure I set clear goals and work through things even when I don’t feel like I can do them. I don’t have trouble participating with groups of people. My trouble is wanting to work in groups. I prefer to carry the weight of the work rather than depend on others.  At work, I am looking for more opportunities to work with others instead of taking on large tasks by myself.   

 Identify what surprised you.
I wasn't surprised by the results but the category in which my lower or weaker area scored was the behavior.

I believe children are able to become and overcome anything which hinders their growth. My beliefs about children are children have the ability to become and change any outcome. They have a need for guidance with the freedom to make their own choices in the things they choose.

I would treat children with ASD like neurotypically developing children. I set high goals for them and then later if needed scaffold them to meet goals based on their abilities. As people we do not all learn the same there for our goals are not the same. Every role within our society is equally as important as the form of how we function. Not every role we are functioning in will be the role we will always function in. Some of us will have many roles throughout our lifetime some will only have one both are equally important.

I believe a child regardless of their abilities or disability should be given the opportunity to function within their capabilities as future counselors the goals we set should be based on the individual with the idea in mind that they can achieve goals based on the person and not the disability.

 

My vision for my future role as a counselor may change by the time I finish my program but for now, I would like to have a private practice. I would like to create a space that allows for both creative solutions and a safe space. I would like to create an environment of non-judgment. I would like to work with either children or people with disabilities or both as they are both populations that I feel need the services but sometimes do not have access to them.  I think helping them change should first come naturally and second guide them to find solutions rather than leading them to them.

I will serve as an agent of social change by promoting cultural awareness when addressing the people I will be working with. I will do this by getting to know their cultural importance when addressing their needs but also making sure to not allow my cultural bias to guide me in helping to find solutions.

RE: Discussion - Week 3

Great post. Working in groups can be challenging, it involves so many variables which can have anything go wrong. I think when there are clear expectations for the group and its participants, groups tend to function better. It is essential to be able to not only have the communication but also the division of duties. It helps people to know what is expected of them as to relate to the group. Like you, I wrote about not having a lot of experience in school with having to work in groups. Also, like you, I have worked with teams to meet certain goals and expectations. In my post for this week’s assignment, I chose as it relates to group work d,g, and j. I only choose only the three as they seem to be the ones which closely can be applied to a classroom setting l

I agree with you when you mentioned engagement, relationships, communication, and accountability. I had mentioned in my post about ownership. It is important for participant’s become responsible for their participation in a group. I believe identifying roles for everyone in the group is important early on to be successful.

            The article I chose for this assignment is, Empirical Research Studies Supporting the Value of School Counseling”, by American School Counseling Association. The article presents several articles within each category  to demonstrate the effectiveness and impact of school counseling. The article has multiple sections, each with an article which demonstrates the impact. 

            The first section talks about the growth as it relates to academic achievement. It presents each article with not only listing but the article itself. The articles are easy to read. They present  the information to find the article, the abstract, and the takeaway from it. As it relates to the impact to academics it was found in each of the articles when a counselor was involved with students the outcome was favorable. There was an improvement in success of the students.

            The next sections Multiple Impacts, College and Career Readiness, College and Career Readiness which have the same layout. They present the names of the articles and the authors. The outcomes presented explain the results of the study which in every case there was improvement.

            My reaction to the article, I will start by saying that anything done with the attempt to improve, change, or add to an issue doesn’t surprise me. When it does surprise is when the effort gives no results. Any impact cause something to change hopefully for the better when it doesn’t the effort then should be evaluated. I think the number of resources where surprising. All the articles showed in each one of the areas evaluated there was improvement.