CREST Application
Christie Thompson, School Counselor
Section I: Introduction
Note: The Roman Numerals represent Sections to help with navigation. For example, everything in Section I will have (I.) in front of it.
I. School Information
McKinney Independent School District
7760 Coronado Dr. / McKinney, TX 75072
Twitter:
@BennettBears (school)
@AmyHolderman2 (principal)
@KassHal (assistant principal)
@thompsliveskind (counselor)
I. Campus Profile
I. Christie Thompson, School Counselor
I. Information
Contact information:
phone- 469-302-5437email - mailto:cthompson@mckinneyisd.net
website - https://mrsthompsonliveskind.weebly.com/
Short Bio, Credentials, and Memberships:
A native Arkansan, I relocated to Sherman, Texas, to begin my 21-year teaching career and was awarded New Secondary Teacher of the Year for the district. I then taught English in Plano ISD and earned my Master's degree in English from SMU. I was voted Dowell Campus Teacher of the Year in 2011 by my peers and served as a campus leader in various roles, including 504 and RTI (Response to Intervention) Coordinator.
My transition into the field of counseling was fueled by my passion for advocating for and building relationships with students. In 2018, I completed Region 10's Program for School Counselors and was certified in May as a Professional School Counselor. I am currently a member of TSCA (Texas School Counselors Association) and ASCA (American School Counselors Association).
Passions:
I have a special interest in biblio counseling because I love harnessing the power of literature and its insight into the human experience. Well-written books help increase students’ self-awareness and self-esteem, build empathy, and aid in students' ability to face developmental crises.
Counseling Experience & Awards:
I joined the Bennett family after serving Faubion Middle School as one of three school counselors for a year and a half. When our enrollment decreased, I was transferred to Bennett Elementary for the 2019-2020 school year.
My transition to elementary was extremely rewarding because I enjoyed the opportunity to deliver more guidance lessons and to interact with elementary-aged students. Bennett teachers appreciated the time I spent on our comprehensive counseling program, so they chose me to represent our school as our 2019 Teacher of the Year.
Leadership Positions and Committees:
Bear Buddies Sponsor, At-Risk Coordinator, McKinney Vento Liaison, REACH liaison (McKinney ISD's mentoring program), PALS liaison (Peer Assistance Leadership), Tactic Team 4 Leader (Diversity and Character), Coordinated Health team member, and 504 Coordinator.
voted "Campus Teacher of Year" by my colleagues
I. Counselor's Role
My role as the Bennett school counselor is to develop processes and procedures for planning, implementing, and evaluating a developmental guidance and counseling program for all students enrolled at the school, K-5th grade.
I report directly to the principal, Amy Holderman, and I collaborate and consult with all of our stakeholders when implementing our guidance curriculum, understanding learner differences, and supporting responsive interventions.
I also assist the MISD elementary counseling team by creating guidance lessons during the summer to be accessed by all elementary counselors.
I. Leadership & Advocacy
Promoting a cooperative, inclusive, and purposeful learning environment:
I lead my school in all delivery components and facilitate learning and achievement for all students by promoting a cooperative, inclusive, and purposeful learning environment. I teach lessons to all grade levels, and I am accessible to all students though QR codes, digital links, and paper requests for counseling.
I also lead our Mental Health Crisis Report Team for crisis prevention, preparedness, response, and follow-up for students needing crisis intervention.
I. Advocating for a Positive School Environment
I advocate for a positive school environment by first ensuring that all students have access to school-based mental health supports by investing a significant amount of time planning and delivering effective Tier 1 intervention (guidance lessons).
During my guidance lessons, I utilize the research-based practice of small group instruction. I design my lessons around workstations, which addresses learner differences and creates a positive school environment that is responsive to all learners.
Considering the context of our school’s unique student population and learning communities, I also advocate for a school environment in which diversity is acknowledged and respected, resulting in positive interactions across cultures.
While we have a small minority population at Bennett, every student deserves to be seen and respected, so I leveraged my guidance lessons to give each student opportunities for self-expression. I then used their projects to decorate the school as a reminder that Bennett belongs to all of us, and everyone belongs here.
poster I placed in our hallway
I. School decor from our guidance lesson
Students focused on the value of their name, created a hand design for a diversity project that is currently displayed in the main hallway of our school.
I have a hand from every student in our school. I went to our alternative school and HOPE classroom on other campuses to get students' hands!
I. Every student in the school contributed to this graffiti bulletin board.
Students collaborated to create a Bennett graffiti wall that adorns the outside of the guidance classroom. Each student wrote his/her name and drew a picture of something that represents him/her.
I. Promoting a Cooperative & Inclusive Learning Environment
I promote a cooperative and inclusive learning environment by sponsoring a student group at Bennett called Bear Buddies. The Bear Buddies' purpose is to serve as New Student Ambassadors, but I quickly saw the potential and value of this group of 70 students, so I decided to embrace them and leverage the group’s power to create a culture of inclusion that values each student at Bennett.
I modeled the Bear Buddies’ purpose after The Sandy Hook Promise’s "Start with Hello! Program, which teaches students to make a difference with their peers in a simple, fun, and impactful way. The students take small but powerful actions to promote connectedness and inclusion, and to identify and help lonely students who are showing signs of social isolation."
At Bennett, our Bear Buddies are now considered the Kindness Ambassadors and take small, powerful actions throughout the year to keep students from feeling isolated. Bear Buddies check the yellow friendship bench during recess to identify anyone needing someone with whom to play. *Students who have no one to play with sit at the yellow friendship bench.
We have quarterly meetings where I remind students of the expectations, and parents partner with me, giving their students permission to spend up to 1 recess per week mentoring their younger Bear Buddies or hanging character traits posters.
I. Bear Buddies in action
Bear Buddies initiated our Pen Pals project by writing a Welcome Letter to students new to Bennett. They exchanged letters using the LiveKind mailbox in front of my office, and students exchanged letters throughout the entire first semester.
I host new student lunches where Bear Buddies invite their assigned new student to eat lunch with them at the counselor’s table, and we use discussion starters to get better acquainted. These discussion starters equip both students on ways to get to know others better and how to communicate with one another in person.
Bear Buddies pictured below:
I. Bear Buddies designed and created the school brochure for new student tours.
This brochure is 100% student-made and a collaborative effort from 11 Bear Buddies.
As new students enroll at Bennett, the registrar partners with me to assign them a Bear Buddy who gives his or her new student a tour of the school, complete with a brochure that the Bear Buddies created themselves. They plan to sit together at recess and/or lunch, and they help our new students feel welcomed at Bennett.
Brochure pictured below:
a Bear Buddy ready to give a new student a tour of our school
Section II: Program Implementation
II. Counseling Advisory Council (Tactic Team 4)
Bennett has Tactic Teams that address each area in our Campus Improvement Plan. Tactic Team 4 serves as my Counseling Advisory Council and was formed by inviting interested teachers and parents to join me once a month.
Tactic Team 4 makes program recommendations and guide the school counseling program development process, specifically in character education and spotlighting diversity.
Members, 2019-2020:
Jen Blazek (parent)
Stacy Ray (parent)
Emily Peek (parent)
Tami Turner (parent)
Beth Higgins (5th grade science teacher)
Kaylea Daubenspeck (art teacher)
Natalie Vera (2nd grade teacher)
Helen O’Connell (STC teacher)
Bailey Davidson (4th grade language arts & social studies teacher)
Kelly Chambers (community)
Kassie Halpin (administrator)
Christie Thompson (facilitator)
*Students aren't allowed on this committee, per administrators.
Meeting Dates, 2019-20:
August 14th
September 25th
November 20th
January 15th
February 26, 2020
...COVID 19 closure
II. September Tactic Team 4 Agenda
II. Example 1 of the Implementation Cycle
Improve Character Education:
I speak on the school announcements every Wednesday emphasizing the monthly character trait and weekly manners. However, based on an assessment of our comprehensive counseling program using our Needs Assessment, parents and teachers shared that students were well-versed on the language and vocabulary of character but weren't applying the lessons.
The Counseling Advisory Team (Tactic Team 4) reviewed the Needs Assessment results to select locally appropriate program content, which was to improve students' intra and interpersonal effectiveness on our campus and to deliver more guidance lessons.
We ultimately established the desired program design by improving on my draft of the curriculum map and adding more daily character education. We then committed to action and created monthly one-pagers with daily character-building prompts and activities that focus on each month's character trait.
At each meeting, we evaluated the counseling program's effectiveness, and we soon decided to change the format of the one-pagers to actual calendars to make them more user-friendly for teachers. During the COVID closure, I continued these calendars and changed the audience from teachers to parents.
We received rave reviews from teachers and administrators, and we began sharing these calendars with all elementary counselors in the district. Students were now engaging more with the character traits and had more opportunities to develop strength of character.
II. We created character calendars for each month.
Tactic Team 4 committed to action and collaborated to create monthly one-pagers with daily character-building prompts and activities that focus on each month's character trait.
Pictured below is our first calendar:
II. COVID calendar (April)
At each meeting, Tactic Team 4 evaluated the counseling program's effectiveness, and we soon decided to change the format of the one-pagers to actual calendars to make them easier to use for teachers.
During the COVID closure, I continued these calendars and changed the audience from teachers to parents. (pictured below)
II. Example 2 of the Implementation Cycle
Diversity on Our Campus:
Tactic Team 4 also assessed our current program and determined that there was a need to improve students' interpersonal effectiveness by showcasing and celebrating more diversity at our school. We committed to action by collaborating to create Inclusive Teaching Resources to expand multi-cultural week and give teachers a quick & easy resource.
When polled with an Exit Ticket in small groups, all but 59 students (90%) shared that they learned at least one new thing they can do to respect others’ differences, and all but 96 students (84%) reported that they felt good about their own differences. These results show that the students were impacted by these lessons and are positioned to positively influence our community.
See Data Visualization below:
II. Diversity Guidance lesson with workstations
I took Tactic Team 4's initiative to showcase and celebrate diversity to my guidance classroom, and in November, I did a lesson for all K-5 students that emphasized our need to accept and respect other people’s differences while embracing their own.
Students rotated through the following stations:
collaborating with a small group of classmates to create a visual representation of the lesson.
independently reading/viewing books about self-love & diversity
journaling or completing an “About Me” book that celebrates each student’s uniqueness.
coloring a picture of Odd Velvet and/or a picture of a diverse group of friends.
watching a reading of Odd Velvet
See guidance lesson pictures below:
II. Parent letter (engaging stakeholders)
Finally, and maybe most importantly, I ensure that education transcends the classroom by partnering with parents. For every guidance lesson I teach, I add a Home Connection to the parent letter. Whether I’m inviting parents to ask their student about different coping strategies, to show them how the Calming Wheel works, or to share ways we can respect each other’s differences at home, in the community, and at school, I involve them because they are one of the surest ways our students’ experiences transcend the classroom.
See letter below:
II. ARTIFACT: Counseling Program Plan
My principal and I reviewed our school's end of the year data and the results from the Needs Assessment. Because this was my first year at Bennett, we had to rely on, we had the opportunity to envision our counseling program from scratch.
We agreed to keep parts of the counseling program that my principal liked: Bear Buddies, character traits on the announcements, and our annual Patriot Breakfast. Ms. Holderman was open to my new ideas, like redesigning the guidance curriculum and classroom, so we committed to action and established the Counselor-Principal Plan below.
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II. Counseling Program Plan p.2
II. Counseling Program Plan p.3
II. Counseling Program Plan p.4
II. Annual Report
I developed the annual report below by using my Time Tracker, a spreadsheet provided to us by our Director of Counseling that allows us to track our time daily. Because I was able to keep it updated, it made it easy to account for my time in each delivery service component.
The Time Tracker helped me evaluate our comprehensive school counseling program and helped me present data to my principal. Because she sees where my time is spent, she does not rely on me to serve as a substitute for teachers, and she has not added any additional duties to my plate.
Our conversation also served as a springboard to our current counselor-principal plan, where we were able to center some lessons learned from 2019-20 for 2020-21 goal-setting.
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II. Annual Report, p. 2
II. Annual Report, p. 3
II. Annual Report, p. 4
II. Annual Report, p. 5
II. Annual Report, p. 6
II. Annual Report, p. 7
Section III: Foundational Components
III. About the foundational components
I deliver our comprehensive school counseling program at Bennett in collaboration with administrators, faculty members, and community stakeholders.
Definition:
Students demonstrate the following competencies as a result of our campus school counseling program: intra and interpersonal effectiveness, demonstration of resiliency and coping skills, and motivation to succeed in their personal and academic endeavors.
Rationale:
Our school counseling program is a central and equal partner within the general school program, and all students benefit from this access as they attain the tools and competencies to leave our school ready to launch into their individual journeys to become successful, productive citizens and lifelong learners in our diverse and changing world.
Assumptions:
In order for our school counseling program to be effective, the following conditions and resources must exist on our campus:
- adequate counseling budget to provide materials, supplies, training, and incentives
- private office space and a separate guidance classroom
- equal access to the counseling program for all students and parents
- administrative support
- clearly defined and supported roles and responsibilities of the school counselor
- access to training and professional development
- time and opportunity to develop, implement, and assess the program
- removal of testing and screening responsibilities
Goals:
Bennett's comprehensive school counseling goals were developed in collaboration with the principal using disaggregated data reports from TEA, the campus improvement plan, the Needs Assessment, and input from the Counseling Advisory Council.
I also review my use-of-time logs and data tracker to quantify how much time I'm spending in each delivery area and to set new, short-term goals throughout the year.
III. ARTIFACT: Needs Assessment
Here's a copy of our beginning of the year Needs Assessment.
III. Process for evaluating the program
I primarily use perception surveys through the use of pre-tests and post-tests before and after significant school counseling program activities. These surveys can serve as formative assessments and allow me to gauge the effectiveness of the program throughout the year and make changes accordingly.
I also reexamine the data points that informed the initial counseling program goals: STAAR data, discipline reports, mental health crisis reports, etc. I look for desirable trends and measure the program's effectiveness.
At the end of the year, I utilize another Needs Assessment as a summative assessment of the year. How did it go? Did we meet our goals? What areas still need improvement?
I then circle back to my use-of-time logs and to my end of the year data tracker results to audit and compare my program's balance in the four component areas with the recommended distribution.
Section IV: Four Service Delivery Components
IV. Example SMART Goal
- Individual Planning: By the end of the school year, I will meet with each 5th grader to help plan for their transition to middle school.
- Responsive Services: I will provide effective responsive services and help two small groups achieve more academic success by creating a small group called Young CEO's Executive Functioning.
- System Support: Each Wednesday, I will teach character traits to all students through my school announcement segment.
- Guidance Curriculum: By the end of the 2019-20 school year, all students at Bennett will be able to a name at least 1 coping strategy that is 90% effective for him or her that can be employed while at school. Ultimately, our goal is for students to transfer these coping strategies into every part of their lives.
IV. Brief list of activities for each service component
- Individual Planning: I worked with students on locus of control, I-statements, personal boundaries, and healthy relationships, and held minute meetings with 350 students.
- Responsive Services: I responded to students' needs by providing McKinney Vento services (homeless services), sharing outside counseling resources, grief/loss support, and CPS reporting (Child Protective Services).
- System Support: I supported our school systems by attending every RTI (Response to Intervention) meeting, monitoring students during morning and afternoon duty, assisting with kindergarten screening, and hosting our Patriot Breakfast.
- Guidance Curriculum: I developed and delivered lessons on the following topics to every student at Bennett: bullying prevention, tattling, safe-touch/WHO program (We Help Ourselves), college & career month, self-esteem, diversity, coping strategies, and kindness/empathy.
IV. Data Story Highlighting Activities
IV. Collaboration with Community Partners HIGHLIGHT
Holiday Twitter Post
Holiday Collaboration
Holiday Collaboration
Gratitude & Respect
Gratitude & Respect
Gratitude & Respect
IV. Activity Highlight (2 guidance lessons)
I used two Tier 1 interventions with ALL students at Bennett to address students' intrapersonal effectiveness.
In September and October, my guidance lessons focused on effective coping skills and demonstrating socially mature behaviors appropriate to the situation and environment. I chose these lessons in direct response to our stakeholders' suggestions and because I understand the lifelong implications of uncontrolled anxiety.
Anxiety disorders affect one in eight children, and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported about 1.8 million children under 18 have anxiety disorders, with age 6 being the median age of onset. This is a major public education issue today because public schools house the majority of students in the US, and with increasing demands on educators, students experiencing anxiety may be ignored.
The anxious student may start to withdraw from peers, decline academically, and/or have trouble with attention and focus. These are all red flags for ADHD, so anxiety in school children is easily misdiagnosed and left unaddressed.
Students with anxiety may be at-risk for developing other mental health issues, like depression, drug/alcohol use, and suicidal ideation. And while mental illness, alone, is not a risk factor for violence, according to The US Department of Homeland Safety’s 2019 report, “two-thirds of [violent gun violence] attackers had histories of mental health symptoms, including depressive, suicidal, and psychotic symptoms.” Other attackers displayed behaviors that show that the person was experiencing distress or an emotional struggle, displayed persistent anger, showed an inability to cope with stressful events, or became increasingly isolated.
As a school counselor, I collaborated with the school faculty, parents, and stakeholders and helped demystify anxiety and stress. I worked with teachers to schedule every class for a guidance lesson, and I helped each teacher create a calming area in his/her classroom. I made each teacher a Mind Jar for the classroom, and I provided additional calming tools as needed.
Both lessons supported McKinney ISD’s LiveKind Initiative by developing the kindness-building skill of self-regulation and coping: awareness of mind and body as well as strategies that can be used to restore calm, endure distress, and seek help.
This issue is important to me because 83.3% of teachers and parents who responded to our Bennett Needs Assessment believe that students need help managing their frustration, and (72.2%) reported that students need help dealing with stress and anxiety.
IV. Coping Strategies
In this guidance lesson, students rotated through stations that included:
- Coloring, drawing or solving puzzles
- Reading/viewing books on mindfulness, anger management, & self-regulation
- Journaling about their feelings to find their calm
- Taking a guided imagery tour to their “happy/special place”
- Exerting energy to stay calm (exercise, yoga poses, etc.)
- Learning how to breathe & use their teacher’s Calm Down Glitter bottle
IV. Collaboration with Parents
Letter to Parents with a Home Connection to support our SMART goal
I ensure that education transcends the classroom by partnering with parents. For every guidance lesson I teach, I add a Home Connection to the parent letter. Whether I’m inviting parents to ask their student about different coping strategies, to show them how the Calming Wheel works, or to share ways we can respect each other’s differences at home, in the community, and at school, I involve them because they are one of the surest ways our students’ experiences transcend the classroom.
I partnered with parents in September by keeping them informed of how I addressed the needs they expressed and by asking them to help students transfer their skills to home and the community. I asked parents to talk to their student about coping strategies so that we can share a common language and help students employ their skills more regularly.
I also sent the recipe for the Mind Jar home with parents, and several of them created Mind Jars at home with their student.
Feedback from teachers:
“I loved the stations you had. I loved that you sent letters home to parents, sharing what had been discussed.”
“We loved your rotations this year and the kids loved them too! I also loved the communication with parents about what they learned during that time!”
IV. Data Visualization of Student Outcomes
I sat with all K-5 students in small groups during our November guidance lesson and asked them to reflect on the previous lessons. Nearly 95% of students reported the positive outcome that they had acquired at least one new calming strategy.
IV. Calm, Think, & Choose
I invited parent volunteers to come assist in the guidance classroom; I had 2 parents join us during a guidance lesson and assist me/the students.
Teachers also collaborated with me by remaining in the classroom during our guidance lessons and assisting me/the students.
In this guidance lesson, students rotated through stations that included:
- Identifying their feelings using a short video and scenarios
- Learning about parts of their brain responsible for emotions, memory, and problem-solving
- Creating a Calming Wheel with 14 strategies
- Collaborating with peers to determine the size of the problem
- Responding to scenarios: naming the emotion, choosing a calming strategy, identifying the problem’s size, and choosing a positive solution
IV. Collaboration with Parents
I partnered with parents by keeping them informed of how I addressed the needs they expressed and by providing a "Home Connection" for them to help students transfer their skills to home and the community. I asked parents to have their student show them how their calming wheel works and could instrumental in reminding their student to refer to it and/or its strategies.
In November, I sat with all K-5 students in small groups and asked them to reflect on the previous lessons. Out of 593 students, 317 (53%) reported that they used their Calming Wheel at least once since creating it. I consider this a positive outcome because 95% of all students, including those who no longer had their wheel, could name an effective coping strategy that they employ regularly.
IV. ARTIFACT: Yearly Calendar of Activities
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IV. Yearly Calendar of Activities p.2
Intrapersonal Effectiveness (Scope & Sequence)
Our comprehensive guidance program at Bennett Elementary addresses the scope and sequence of intrapersonal effectiveness in the following ways:
Positive student self-concept
Guidance
- I delivered two guidance lessons that specifically addressed this topic: (1) Accepting Others' Differences While Embracing Our Own" and (2) "Showing Kindness to Others and Ourselves" *These lessons are highlighted and detailed below.
- I taught 164 guidance lesson sessions to K-5 classes on topics like: diversity, coping strategies, feelings, problem-solving, & self-esteem.
Effective executive functioning skills
Responsive Services
I facilitated 24 small group sessions entitled “Young CEO’s” Young CEO's Executive Functioning Skills Group for twelve students recommended to me by their teachers. Of the 10 students who completed the sessions, 80% of them shared that they saw improvement in their grades. 60% said that they were using their calendars to time-block and schedule their weeks; 40% referred to their learning strategies handout with suggestions based on their learning style; and 70% had acquired a new coping strategy to help them relax their brains.
I delivered a guidance lesson with the objective that students would apply their learning about self-regulation and demonstrate effective coping skills when faced with a problem and to demonstrate social maturity and behaviors appropriate to the situation and environment.
Appropriate behavior to the situation and environment
Individual
I collaborated with teachers and administration and worked with individual students to help them with issues such as: anger management, conflict resolution, self-regulation, locus on control, social skills, knowing and following rules and classroom expectations, when to ask for help, exhibiting responsible behavior, accepting logical rewards and consequences, showing respect for others and their belongings, understanding personal space, etc.
I consulted with teachers, administrators, and parents to write behavior plans for two students who needed additional support in the area of appropriate behavior to the situation and environment.
System Support:
In coordination with our administrative team and MRS, we addressed character traits and manners each week during the school’s announcements.
I partnered with Tactic Team 4 and created monthly calendars with circle time discussion and writing prompts so that teachers could address character each day.
Data Considered:
83.3% of Bennett teachers and parents who responded to our Needs Assessment believe that students need help managing their frustration, 72.2% reported that students need help dealing with stress and anxiety, and 72.2% reported that students need help understanding and liking themselves better.
V. Kindness Guidance Lesson Plan
As a district, we emphasize living kind, and we spend a great deal of time teaching students about empathy and treating others with kindness. With this lesson, I wanted to also remind students that we have be kind to ourselves.
I was able to engage all students through age-appropriate activities for each station, provide choices, and sit with EVERY student at my teacher table.
Please see lesson plan below: (I adapted it to meet our students' needs.)
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V. Guidance Lesson Stations:
Please see details and workstations employed below:
Media Station #1
Collaboration Station #2 & Writing Station #3 (pictured in back)
Students worked together to complete puzzles and word searches about kindness and self-care.
Writing Station
In station four, students began creating a Kindness Card for themselves. We focus a lot of attention of being kind to others, but oftentimes we neglect ourselves. Here, students chose a card, wrote kind notes to themselves, and decorated it with stickers, drawings, and other things that make them smile.
Reading Station #4
Counselor Small Group Station #5
Station five was the “teacher table”. I extended station 4 by having the students brainstorm acts of self-kindness to themselves. For example, one can show kindness to him/herself by taking a time-out and breathing during stressful moments. So, they chose a breathing strategy, cut it out, and added it to their card. Then, we talked about negative self-talk, the inner critic who utters hurtful things in our heads … things we’d never say to a friend. I kept a list of all of the unkind statements students say to themselves, “I stink at math/soccer/making friends,” “I’m not as pretty as she is,” “I wish I were never born,” etc.
Students ended the small group by shredding those thoughts (literally – with a shredder) and adding positive affirmations that spoke to their hearts onto their Kindness Card.
Students created these cards for themselves. Many kept them and used as a book mark.
"It's okay to make mistakes; we all do it sometimes."
She's her own best friend.
Stickers
Kindness Card
Positive Affirmations
V. Evaluation of the Learning Outcomes:
Three weeks after the lesson, I conducted a follow-up poll of 91 randomly selected students. I asked them if they still had their cards and if they had looked at them at least once. Of those polled, 65% reported that they still had their cards and had looked at them as least once.
Many of them used their card as a book mark. What was most encouraging is that out of 55 students polled from various grade levels, 76% said that they’ve been monitoring their self-talk and their friends’. In fact, a 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Abraham, shared with me that the students in her classroom were monitoring each other’s self-talk and reminding each other to be kind to themselves.
The following are perception data received from different teachers in my end of the year reflection of our guidance curriculum:
Staff comments:
“I know your lessons have a powerful impact; I've had students ask me for books on topics, ‘like Mrs. Thompson talked about.’ Thanks for all you do to make the kids' less obtuse of others' feelings, and more empathetic of others.”
“Keep doing what you're doing! This year's stations, which included time with you at the teacher table, were organized, engaging, and offered a variety of activities for our students. They love to work with each other, and you provided that, too!”
“I think what you did with guidance lessons this year was awesome! I really liked how you came to our classrooms first and did lessons as a whole, and then eventually going up to your room. I also liked how you slowly introduced stations to them as well to encourage them to be more independent! They seemed to really like them and the ability to do stuff like that outside of the classroom.”
“You did a fantastic job this year! You were always available for our students and guidance was well thought-out and engaging!”
“I loved the stations you had. I loved that you sent letters home to parents, sharing what had been discussed.”
“We loved your rotations this year and the kids loved them too! I also loved the communication with parents about what they learned during that time!”
You are amazing! Your hard work was evident and transformative for students! I loved your lunch dates with the students early on in the year. I think this made them feel known and cared for.
Overall I think your lessons are great! They are simple enough for the kinder kiddos to understand.
V. Working with Stakeholders
It takes a school community to support the academic, social, and emotional needs of all students. Addressing the diverse needs of all Bennett students would be an impossible feat for me considering my counselor to student ratio, so consulting with others has been key for me.
For every content area, I worked with administrators & teachers to ensure that each content area is addressed, developing a comfortable, healthy learning environment free from bullying and filled with kindness. I will bold additional stakeholders in descriptions below.
Post-Secondary Planning and Career Readiness
I conducted a virtual college and career fair by soliciting the experiences of our Bennett Bear family: our community, alumni of Bennett Elementary, & parents. Because I had already begun communicating with parents and getting commitments from them to participate, it wasn’t difficult to just change the format to virtual.
Family and community members created videos about their colleges and/or careers and answered our students’ questions. I shared these videos through Google slides where the students could click and learn more about the schools or careers presented.
I coordinated my efforts with the middle school counselors and assisted all 5th graders and their parents with their 6th grade schedule requests by going into their classrooms and walking them through their schedules.
I worked alongside our middle school AVID Coordinator and provided an orientation into AVID and assisted with recruitment by recommending potential students. I also helped schedule AVID interviews.
Interpersonal Effectiveness
- I connected our students to the community by giving them the opportunity to show respect and gratitude to our local first responders by writing thank you notes. All kindergarten-3rd grade classes wrote thank you notes, and we invited first responders to join us for breakfast on 9/11. Seven (7) first responders, including the Captain, arrived in their service vehicles and ate breakfast with approximately twenty (20) students.
- I coordinate my efforts with parents and our school registrar to connect new students to Bear Buddies. Bear Buddies are our kindness ambassadors and take new students under their wings.
- I worked alongside our parents and Partners in Education team at our Central Office to pair an at-risk student having to balance school and a difficult home life with an adult REACH mentor.
- I work with parents and McKinney Boyd High School's PALS sponsor (Peer Assistance Leadership) to connect struggling students with high school mentors.
- I collaborated with our Bennett PTO and parents to deliver an engaging, fun, informative Ribbon Week. PTO purchased prizes as incentives for students to participate in our dress-up days.
- I supported our Student Resource Officer's PTO presentation about Cell Phone Safety by providing books recommendations and delivering a follow-up guidance lesson to our 4th and 5th graders about cell phone safety.
Intrapersonal Effectiveness
- I collaborated with parents to assist students and their Bear Buddies who wanted to write letters to each other and worked with teachers to deliver them back and forth.
- I partnered with teachers and parents to deliver guidance lessons that addressed intrapersonal effectiveness. Teachers scheduled their lessons and sacrificed class time for my lessons, and I gave parents at-home connections that reinforced the lessons taught at through guidance.
V. Working with Stakeholders in Pictures
V. The Guidance Classroom
Each class comes to visit once a month for lessons on character, coping strategies, cooperation, friendship, self-regulation, and much, much more.
All of my guidance lessons are delivered based on the model scope and sequence and assessed campus needs.
I employ workstations and use small group instruction (3-5 students at a time). Since I serve 596 students, having a more intimate setting to work with each one of them every month is essential to knowing each student by name and need. Small group instruction affords me the ability to learn names, built rapport, ensure that content is mastered, and meet each student where they are, and it is identified as one of MISD’s best practices in our Model of Instruction.
Check out the photo gallery below for a quick tour:
The Reading Station
With assistance from our Media Resource Specialist, our Reading Station is stocked during each guidance lesson with relevant books that address the topic we're learning about that day!
The Tech Station
Counselor's Table
I hold small group counseling sessions in this space as well.
Writing Station
Our writing in the guidance classroom is expressive and focuses on authentic expressions of experience, growth, and skill-building.
Countertop - an area where students can have a little personal space to process their ideas
Collaboration Station
Students come together here and play games related to our topic, create, and discuss topics collaboratively.
Knowing how to work and communicate effectively with others is a 21st century skill that our Bennett Bears will have an opportunity to work on in the guidance classroom, too!