Birdneck Counseling Updates
February 2018
Next week is National School Counseling Week! Contrary to most "national ___ days," next week isn't about appreciating ME, but to bring attention to what School Counselors do and to highlight our contributions to schools across the country. Here are some facts about school counseling:
- School counselors create and deliver our comprehensive school counseling programs based on the ASCA National Model. This is a framework for all school counseling programs with four components: foundation, management, delivery, and accountability.
- The American School Counselor Association recommends a school counselor to student ratio of 1:250 [wouldn't that be nice!].
- We follow the guideline of spending 80% or more of our time in direct [lessons, individual counseling, crisis and responsive services] or indirect [referrals, consultation, collaboration] services to students.
- A comprehensive school counseling program is a school-wide program that is designed to foster growth and practice life skills in the areas of career, academic and personal social development. Comprehensive School Counseling Programs promote and enhance learning for all students. They are also data driven and run within the overall goals and mission of a school system.
- "Guidance Counselor" and "School Counselor" are not the same thing! Guidance counselors were originally put into the schools strictly to guide students in their vocational decision making. Over the years, the role of the counselor has transitioned to include many other responsibilities. The term school counselor was created to encompass all of the services we provide.
Lastly, I want to say a big THANK YOU to each and every one of you! I am so lucky to have a job that I love, in a school full of people who support a comprehensive school counseling program. I can't tell you how many of my colleagues receive push-back from their staff when it comes to scheduling lessons, collaborating on ideas, or even pulling kids who need to talk. You all are so wonderful to me and I couldn't do my job without you!
Responsive Classroom: Revisiting Classroom Rules
How often do you revisit classroom rules? Most teachers establish rules at the beginning of the year, and many devote time to modeling and practicing rules with students in the first weeks of school. After that, however, the amount of time spent thinking about what rules mean and how to live by them often drops off dramatically.
Students cannot possibly learn all they need to know about how to live and behave as a community during the first weeks of school. As the year goes on, the time students spend together deepens their understanding of how to truly care for each other and the classroom. That’s why it’s important to keep discussing and practicing the rules all year long. Useful times to review the rules include:
- A couple months into the school year (after routines are well established and students are coming together as a community)
- When a new student joins the class
- After a long holiday break
- Whenever students are struggling to meet behavior expectations
Be on the lookout for new and different ways to revisit the rules. One simple yet powerful activity is to have students write or make drawings about people following classroom rules. This assignment prompts reflective thinking and helps both younger and older students develop positive, concrete images of what it looks and sounds like to be part of a community and follow that community’s rules. The video below shows first grade teacher Courtney Fox getting her students started on this activity. She gathers the class as a group and asks them to think about ways they might follow each of their classroom rules. After a brief discussion and sharing some examples, the students follow up by drawing themselves doing what they imagined.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_CmjJoEzfc
You could also create a “looks like/sounds like/feels like” chart (also called a Y-chart) with students. This activity helps students envision the positive benefits of changing their behavior, and it heightens their understanding by allowing them to reflect on concrete ways to live out their classroom rules. Once created, the chart serves as a visual reminder and can be referred to in future conversations. The video below shows teacher Suzy Ghosh having such a conversation with her third graders. She uses a Y-chart to help her class explore how it will look, sound, and feel to follow their classroom rules in the lunchroom. By the end of the conversation, the students have a strong, positive vision of lunchroom behavior and expectations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LkUAQBHelc
Mid-year is a great time to give these strategies a try because they refocus students’ attention on a positive classroom community between semesters and help them (and you) get off to a positive start in the second half of the year. Keeping the rules ever-present in students’ minds gives you the ability to ask “What do our rules say about…” when challenging situations arise. Students will be able to see what they’re doing well, what they can improve on, and what changes might help them better succeed.
[from Responsive Classroom, January 17, 2017]
What to look for when choosing your citizen this month:
- They are truthful in all areas of life
- They do their own work and play by the rules, even when nobody is watching
- They always ask before taking or using something that doesn’t belong to them
- They don’t blame others for their mistakes
- They don’t hide the truth
Coming Up:
March - Cooperation
April - Self-Control
May - Trustworthiness
Instead of sending something to eat, send a pencil that smells sweet! Fliers for Valentine's Smencil Gram fliers have been placed in your boxes to go home ASAP. Money and forms will be collected February 2nd through the 14th. Smencils will be delivered on February 16th.
Color Day: February 21st - each grade level will wear a different color!
Pre-K: Purple
Kindergarten: Green
First: Yellow
Second: Orange
Third: Pink
Fourth: Turquoise
Fifth: Blue
Special Ed: Tie-Dye
Save the Date!
February 2-14: Smencil Gram sales
February 6-10: National School Counseling Week
February 16: Smencil delivery day
February 21: Color Day! Each grade level wears a different color
February 7-14: I will be out of the building
March 7: SCA General Assembly Meeting, 3:00PM in E-2
Katelyn Hadder
Professional School Counselor
Birdneck Elementary School
Email: katelyn.hadder@vbschools.com
Website: http://blogs.vbschools.com/bescounselorscorner/
Location: 957 S Birdneck Rd, Virginia Beach, VA, United States
Phone: (757)648-2132