School Counseling News You Can Use
Counseling News from the Indiana Department of Education
Spring is approaching! (Thank goodness!)
Happy Counseling,
Courtney
Professional Development Opportunities
School Improvement Unveils Its Redesigned Website
This week, the Office of School Improvement has launched a redesigned website to ease identifying and accessing the resources available for districts and schools. These resources include a series of trainings to help schools and districts conduct comprehensive needs assessments and develop high-quality school improvement plans. Visitors can view recordings of these trainings online. The trainings can be downloaded to incorporate in district or school-based presentations. These resources have been developed with the needs of Comprehensive Support and Improvement and Targeted Support and Improvement schools in mind. The resources are grounded in best practices for continuous school improvement applicable for all schools.
Title Con
Monday, Apr 22, 2019, 09:00 AM
Hyatt Regency, South Capitol Avenue, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Free Webinars this month!
March 20 - Social-Emotional Resilience 2.0: When Stress Becomes Toxic – Helping Youth Overcome the Impact of Trauma
Noon-1p.m. (EST)
Register here
March 22 - Addressing the Opiod Crisis in Adolescents: Tools for Prevention, Identification, and Management
11a.m.-12p.m. (EST)
Register here
March 26 - Addressing Adolescent Mental Health in Schools: Mental Health Curricula and Mindfulness
2p.m.- 3p.m. (EST)
Register here
March 27 – Here to Help: Responding to Youth Depression
Noon-1p.m. (EST)
Register here
SENG Training Headed Your Way~Become Nationally Certified for FREE!
A SENG Model Parent Group (SMPG) brings together 10-20 parents of gifted, talented and twice- exceptional children to discuss such topics as stress management, motivation, discipline, and peer relationships. The co-facilitators of the group, though they are knowledgeable about parenting and educating gifted, talented and twice-exceptional children, do not attempt to give expert advice to families. Instead, their facilitation provides a non-judgmental and nurturing atmosphere. The parents of high ability children are themselves a rich resource for information; participants get fresh ideas from other parents and from A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children, around which the sessions are organized. Groups meet weekly for 8 to 10 weeks.
Content learning session topic areas: characteristics, motivation, discipline, stress management, peer relations and sibling rivalry
• Practice of facilitation techniques
• Potential problems and solutions in SMPGs
• How to organize a local SMPG; and become a volunteer Facilitator, or earn income from organizing your own Groups
• A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children and Parent Groups: The SENG Model, 2nd Ed.
Register now!
SENG, April 10: April 10 SENG Training, Fort Wayne, Region 8
SENG, April 11: April 11, SENG, Indianapolis, CIESC
SENG, April 12: April 12, SENG, Jasper, SIESC
Self-Care
How are you doing with your self-care?
Bills to Watch
Indiana School Counselor of the Year Nominations
Now is the time to nominate an amazing counselor for ISCA’s School Counselor of the Year Award! The deadline for all awards (including Exemplary Administrator, Exemplary Support Staff and Womack Scholarship) is May 10 this year. Nominees will then have a month to complete the application. ISCA is offering some exciting new incentives this year. If you complete the SCOY application and score at least a 22 on our rubric, you will receive a free year-long membership to ISCA! In addition, the top two nominees who scores at least a 26 on the rubric will be invited to present at our annual conference in November and your conference fee will be waived! We hope you can take some time today to visit https://indiana.schoolcounselorawards.org/scoy/ and celebrate a great counselor or colleague in your life.
Primary K-5
Elementary Computer Science Fundamentals Workshops
Computer Science Fundamentals workshops provide participants with an introduction to computer science and pedagogy, an overview of quality elementary CS curriculum, and strategies for teaching “unplugged” classroom activities. This is a free opportunity, and sub reimbursement is available. See this informational page for dates, locations, and to sign up. Contact Jake Koressel with questions.
Secondary 6-12
Tip of the Month
Did you know that the Indiana Career Explorer system is available in Spanish? In the top right-hand corner of the page at indianacareerexplorer.org there is an English/Spanish toggle in red. From both the student and parent account dashboards, you can find the same English/Spanish toggle in the header at the top of the page. Just look for the globe symbol!
For questions or help using the Indiana Career Explorer system, please contact Kuder Client Engagement at 877-999-6227 (7 a.m. – 6 p.m. Central, M-F) or email clientengagement@kuder.com For information about free training opportunities, please contact Mary Pouch, Indiana Field Trainer, at pouchm@kuder.com
Learn More Indiana
April kicks off Learn More Indiana’s Career Ready campaign. Looking for career-related information for your students? Check out Learn More Indiana’s career section for information and activities to help students explore their interests, discover careers that interest them and learn about the education necessary for these careers. Looking for a fun, short activity? Have your students take our 12-question Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator that will match them with potential career options.
Locally Created Pathways
The 2019-2020 Locally-Created Pathway application process opened March 1, and continues through April 30. The application can be found here. The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and the State Board of Education will host a Webex explaining the Locally-Created Pathway application process. The Webex will take place on Friday, March 8, from 9 a.m.-10 a.m. EST. Registration for the upcoming Webex is available here. Please contact Ben Carter for additional information.
8th Grade Requirement for College and Career Planning
Per Indiana Code 20-30-5-14, each school in a school corporation, and each charter school, must provide students in eighth grade use of either Indiana Career Explorer or an alternative Internet-based system that provides students with college and career planning resources. The alternative Internet-based system must be approved by the State Board of Education. Additional information can be found here. Please contact Ben Carter for additional information.
Integrating Computer Science in Middle School Workshops
Designed for middle school educators teaching across all subjects, the Integrating Computer Science professional development workshop is designed to equip teachers with the knowledge and instructional strategies to integrate computer science into existing coursework. This is a FREE opportunity, and sub reimbursement is available. See this informational page for dates, locations, and to sign up. Contact Jake Koressel with questions.
Cyber Learning Experience and Competition for Young Women
See this memo for information about Girls Go CyberStart (for high school students) and Cyber FastTrack (for college students). This is a free experience, and no prior cyber experience is necessary.
Free Leadership Program -- A Message from Lead2Feed:
Lead2Feed Student Leadership Program supports Graduation Pathways and SEL! It's the nation’s fastest-growing free leadership program for grades 6-12 leading students to a high-impact service learning project while working on college readiness. Students can enter their projects for a chance to win generous grants for their charity of choice or school. A team from Carmel High School won our grand prize of $10,000 in 2018! Lead2Feed is fully funded by a family grant and therefore completely free to educators.
The program includes content area integration ideas and is aligned with education standards:
· Social-Emotional Learning– CASEL and ASCA Standards
· Project Based Learning – Buck Institute PBL Gold Standard
· Literacy– ILA and NCTE Standards
· 21st Century Skills
· Character Education– Character.org Principles
· Gifted Education– NAGC Standards
· International Baccalaureate
Register today at lead2feed.org/register to review the program, gain access to all of our resources, and receive a complimentary Welcome Kit.
Questions? Contact Stephanie Morell stephanie@lead2feed.org
Courtney Hott
Email: chott@doe.in.gov
Website: doe.in.gov
Location: 115 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone: 3172320552
Twitter: @CounselorHott