Pawsitive School Counselor

Are you a new school counselor? Here are 5 tips that I hope you find useful as you start out.

It’s important to be purposeful and mindful in your role. It’s possible that previous counselors had their own unique approach, and your colleagues will have their own methods as well. Every program is different, and it’s tempting to try things that weren’t discussed in graduate school. To help guide you, here are five tips for creating an intentional program.

1) Be intentional with your time.

Make sure you track your time to help you advocate, but also keep your 80/20 goals in mind (80% being direct and indirect student support services.) Tracking your time also allows you to see if you are being pulled in one direction or being asked to provide a service that is disproportionate to the rest of your MTSS program.

Taking into consideration your schedule also entails recognizing that you don’t have to handle everything by yourself. We do not function as the only firefighter extinguishing fires, but rather as counselors who offer various services and programs. It’s important to seek assistance, delegate tasks, and cooperate with your advisory group and colleagues.

2) Be intentional with your data collection.

I don’t collect data for every classroom lesson I teach (i.e. I don’t collect exit tickets or do student surveys at the end of every lesson.) I do collect data for units, do teacher surveys twice a year, and collect small group data that is directly aligned with my closing the gap goal.

Gather data that helps you ensure your program is effective and that your students are meeting your learning objectives. So before giving a worksheet out at the end of your lesson, ask yourself- what will I do with this information and how will I use it to better my program?

Make sure you take your relevant data to help you plan for the future. For example, I noticed that some of my programming wasn’t making any relevant impacts on my students so I cut it out. For example, doing elaborate Red Ribbon Week celebrations.

3) Be intentionally responsive.

I’ve been guilty of getting a “referral” in the hallway and then immediately jumping into action before taking time to think about what the best response would be. Sometimes this has led to more work for me or ineffective interventions.

When someone asks you to do something, it’s important to take the time to plan your response. Consider what information you may need to provide the best possible service. This could involve gathering more details about how the issue is affecting the student at school, which may require speaking with caregivers and teachers.with caregivers and teachers.

Here are a few questions I ask myself now:

• would this situation be better resolved with direct or indirect services (i.e. me meeting with the student vs. me consulting with the teacher)?
• how is the student’s education or achievement being impacted?
• what information do I still need to understand the situation?
• what would be a short-term goal for this situation?
• is this the best use of my time?
• why am I responding?
• is this an adult or kid problem?

4) Teach intentionally.

When planning your curriculum for the year, make sure you use your data to help you make an intentional plan. Cross-reference what your school and student needs are with the ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors.

My first few years I taught lessons based on themes (i.e. Bullying Prevention Month) and holidays (Halloween, etc.). Over the years I realized that while this was fun, it wasn’t what my students needed. So I switched to creating a curriculum map that was aligned to data and standards.

When we think about teaching we often only think of this as the direct service we provide to our students. However, an important part of our role is teaching and training parents, teachers, and administrators how to handle situations- from empathetic listening on the playground to de-escalation. It’s a team effort.

5) Have intentional silence.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was “your first year at a school, just listen and learn.” I can’t say I took the advice, but I’ve been intentionally trying to every time I move schools.

As a newcomer to the school, it’s important to focus on familiarizing yourself with the school, its community, and how things operate. Take the time to observe, listen, and learn. Pay attention to the school and team dynamics, take note of what’s effective, inquire about the reasoning behind certain practices, and absorb as much information as possible.

You will be tempted in your first few years to do more, change things, or implement new ideas- slow down. Come in slow – not just for you, but your stakeholders.

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