Blogs

Virtual School Counseling

By LaTraci Aldridge posted 24 days ago
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My name is LaTraci Aldridge and I have been designated as the Virtual School Counseling SPIN Facilitator. A little background on why I choose this as a Special Interest. From 2013 until 2018 I worked at completely virtual school in the role that is similar to that a traditional school counselor in a brink and mortar school. Over those 5 years I learned a lot and became very interested in learning more about what a virtual school counselor looks like Are they different from traditional school counselors? Do they still follow the ASCA standards? I knew how I did what I did every day, but what about the other virtual school counselors? Currently, I am working on ...
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Online Resources To Help Students Be Successful

By Joseph Clymer posted 02-14-2019
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There are so many reasons for students to look to the Internet for resources in order to be as successful as possible. First and foremost, the Internet is free and accessible, so there is no reason why students should have lack of money as an excuse, considering technology has enabled it so that students have access to more knowledge than ever. The truth is that no matter the subject, or the way that you learn, there is a good chance that there are free guides and resources to help you succeed. Here, we examine some online resources for students to check out. Saylor There are plenty of companies that are happy to take your money and provide you ...
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Guide to Adaptive Learning Technology

By Joseph Clymer posted 02-04-2019
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Although adaptive learning is an idea that has been around for quite a while, originally developed by behaviorist B.F. Skinner during the 1950s, the introduction of technology that can help facilitate the process is something recent. Adaptive learning is essentially an online or computer-based educational system that changes the presentation of the material based on the performance of the student. The system gathers data on your knowledge and skills in order to determine which materials and tasks to present to you in order to learn more efficiently. The reason why adaptive learning is such a powerful process is that it allows students to focus on lessons and ...
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Poetry in motion: a call to bring poetry into the busy blur of comprehensive your school counselor program

By Katie Hanson posted 01-26-2019
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When you think of using bibliocounseling with students, what do you envision? A school counselor reading a story to a classroom full of students?  A student or a small group working through a guided workbook to tackle friendship challenges or build up confidence and self-esteem? Until taking on the role of bibliocounseling SPIN facilitator for ASCA, my own definition of how literature can be used in a comprehensive school counseling program was pretty limited. I assumed that reading books that were short enough to be squeezed into a classroom lesson or completing workbooks with a student or small group was about all that busy school counselors could handle. ...
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Worth a Thousand Words

By Katie Hanson posted 10-19-2018
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This month, one of my classroom lessons is on learning styles. The students complete a survey to determine their learning style, and then we brainstorm ways to use their learning style to study and absorb classroom material. With some students, I can predict what their learning style will be, such as the student whose results revealed she’s an auditory learner, after she read each survey item out loud and hummed to herself while choosing her answers! With others, the results are a total surprise. It’s a fun way to help students recognize that along with the responsibility of being accountable for their own learning, they have the freedom to get creative in ...
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Let's talk about bibliocounseling!

By Katie Hanson posted 08-01-2018
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Do you have a counseling intervention in your toolbox that just seems to work with your students, time and time again? You know what I’m talking about - that trick up your sleeve that catches their attention, gets them thinking, and leads to lightbulb moments? The one you excitedly share with other school counselors because you just know they’ll have success with it, too? I can think of a few interventions that I’ve grown to love and use when the time is right, but when it comes to using literature as a counseling tool, I’m all in, all year long. Two picture books in particular come to mind as examples of why bibliotherapy is such a powerful counseling ...
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A school’s guide to human trafficking

By Pierre LaRocco posted 10-11-2017
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A school’s guide to human trafficking The United Nations defines human trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation. Human trafficking has no boundaries. It is not limited to third-world countries, and  an estimated 200,000 American children  are at risk for trafficking into the sex industry.  This happens to children all over America, in urban, suburban and rural areas alike. How do human traffickers find our children? The primary answer is the internet; they lurk on ...
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What educators need to know about ‘13 Reasons Why’

By Pierre LaRocco posted 10-11-2017
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What educators need to know about ‘13 Reasons Why’ "13 Reasons Why" is a popular book and Netflix TV series that is stirring up a lot of emotion and conversation around suicide. However, in some instances, it is seen as a glamorization of suicide. I want to take a look at the events in the book and how can we as educators can speak to the young people we work with about this book and subject. I would first like to state that this book-turned-TV-series is a work of fiction. Yes, it deals with a real-life topic, but the book is not a historical account of an actual person's life. The main character of "13 Reasons Why" is Hannah Baker, a junior ...
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Career Exploration: Breaking Barriers

By Richard Tench posted 07-26-2017
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Sexual Orientation: taboo, unspoken, silenced. Although society, and some legal systems, is beginning to recognize and speak about the LGBTQ population, major gaps in understanding and support still exist, especially with students that are struggling to establish their self-concept and understand their role as a member of the LGBTQ community. School counselors are charged with the difficult task of communicating, advocating, and supporting these adolescents in both understanding their sexual identity and their career maturity. Both of these tasks are equally taxing on the adolescent when isolated; however, when that adolescent attempts to simultaneously navigate ...
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13 Reasons Why

By Claudia Garcia posted 05-01-2017
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Hello Middle and High School Counselors,  Has anyone felt the need to address this Netflix series with their school/parents/kids? If so, how did you go about addressing it? Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated it!
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Using Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) to Transform Schools

By Richard Tench posted 04-03-2017
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GSA clubs are powerful tools that can transform schools – making them safer and more welcoming for LGBTQ youth, youth with LGBTQ parents, and straight allies. What is a GSA? A Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) is a student-run club, typically in a high school or middle school, which provides a safe place for students to meet, support each other, talk about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and work to end homophobia and transphobia. There are three typical functions of a GSA club: Support, Social, and Activist. GSAs Provide Support: Many GSAs function as a support group and provide safety and confidentiality to students ...
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Dealing with large-scale tragedies at school

By Pierre LaRocco posted 02-14-2017
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It seems like we hear about large-scale tragedies on a daily basis — from someone tragically dying at the hands of the authorities to terrorism overseas. No one seems to be safe from news like this, including our students. We were once able to say that school is a safe place for our students, with people who care about them. It was their safe haven from everything on the outside. Well, it has been proven over and over again, that is not the case anymore as we see school violence and shootings on the rise nationwide. With a building full of both adults and students who feel less safe, how do we then provide some healing and strategies on how to deal ...
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The key to counseling in urban schools

By Pierre LaRocco posted 02-07-2017
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A former colleague of mine (now retired) at South Philadelphia High School once compared working in an urban high school to being on a rescue ship that goes to the scene of a sunken ship with many kids in the water. "Some of them are really close to your boat, and it is easy to just reach down and put them in the boat with you. Some are farther away, and it takes little more effort to go and get them," Valarie Howard said. "Others are very far away and would take so much time and effort to get to that other closer kids would drown while you're taking time to save them. Sometimes you see something in the kids that are very far away from you, and you decide ...
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Fostering a relationship of caring

By Pierre LaRocco posted 02-01-2017
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School counselors must have many tough conversations with students. However, if we do some ground work in creating a caring relationship with students, then those conversations become much easier to have. What is a relationship of caring? I consider it a relationship of mutual respect where one party (the student) knows the other party (the counselor) has the student's best interest in mind even when the latter is holding the student accountable for his/her actions. How do we build such relationships? We as counselors must first show students we have a willingness to help them and be supportive. We want them to feel and see our concern. On the ...
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Creating LGBT-inclusive school climate

By Richard Tench posted 12-31-2016
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School climate has a direct impact on both how well students learn and how they interact with their peers. We as school counselors are seated in a unique, and quite powerful position, to have a positive impact on our school climates. Consider our roles; we are sought out by teachers to aid with academic performance, administrators will consult with us about various behavioral circumstances, and students and parents frequent our office, inbox, or voicemail with a barrage of questions about their current path in school. By having direct access to nearly all stakeholders in the school we hold the power to create positive change. We work diligently every ...
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Social Emotional Learning

By Heather Couch posted 11-10-2016
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Emotional Intelligence..... It Does Exist! Understanding emotions may be similar to trying to find other life forms on Mars, but the reality is they exist! Before I dive into why emotional awareness is important, let me address what emotions are. This may seem like a simple phenomenon, but is it? Think about this for a moment; when a person asks you, “how are you doing today?” and your automatic response is fine, what does that mean? What is ‘fine’ in relation to how you are actually feeling. That answer comes automatically for various reasons, but it isn’t the truth. The Miriam-Webster dictionary defines emotion as “a ...
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The Sum of the Parts is Greater than the Whole

By Amanda Sterk posted 08-14-2016
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Sum of the Parts is Greater than the Whole Amanda Sterk www.unmaze.me After fifteen years in education, I have worked on all sides of the fence: teacher, counselor, and administrator. I have also had the privilege of teaching students from elementary through college level, allowing me to see the many different facets of growing up and how the educational system helps, and sometimes deters, that process. Being a high school / college counselor now, I see daily the lack of resources available to parents and students today that are reliable and easily organized for the needs of students. I am often looking for a one-stop shop to guide ...
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Schedule for Classroom Lessons

By Stacey Zubair posted 08-03-2016
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I was wondering if anyone had a sample schedule that could be shared to show how to schedule classroom lessons for my K-5 classes for the year
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Bringing Back Small Groups

By Brian Mathieson posted 07-18-2016
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At my high school we are trying to bring back small groups. Once a staple of school counseling programs, small groups have fizzled out at the secondary level. The reasons small groups have disappeared are numerous. We are making an effort to revive our small groups because, among other things, they are an essential component of a comprehensive school counseling program and an efficient way to deliver responsive services. If you would also like to bring back small groups, I have a couple of suggestions. Calendar The first thing I would recommend you do is decide when you plan to run your groups and add this time to your annual and weekly calendars. ...
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Leveraging the Power of an Advisory Council

By Brian Mathieson posted 06-10-2016
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When utilized properly, an advisory council can shape the goals and activities of your school counseling program and serve as powerful advocacy for the profession. Here are some quick thoughts on how to leverage the power of an advisory council. Round up your stakeholders To begin, your advisory council should have representatives from your core stakeholder groups including parents, teachers, administrators, students, and community and school board members. As you begin to think about possible stakeholders, keep in mind folks that are (or could be) powerful allies for the promotion of your school counseling program. Especially consider what Malcom ...
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