As I settle into my new job at ASD, I have been so encouraged to find a comprehensive international school counseling program already in place. It is great to enter into a job with excellent programs and systems established. Now I have some work to do to develop further as a school counselor within these programs! We are being asked to create a professional growth & collaboration goal, so I have had the chance to sit down with a collaborative partner and discuss some areas where I could develop further. I feel fortunate to have time, collaborative staff, and PD opportunities dedicated to doing just that!

In the process, I have narrowed it down to two topics: child protection and Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (formerly known as collaborative problem solving). Regarding the former, the school counselors from preK- 12 have met for the past two years to examine current practices and ensure alignment of the curriculum across grade levels. I have joined the discussions and have been working to catch up with all of their hard work. I have also been selected to attend the AISA International Child Protection Symposium in Cape Town, South Africa in March 2015! I look forward to learning more about different aspects of child protection, but especially about research-based curriculum and its use with appropriate developmental levels. Oh, and for school counselors who are passionate about social justice and child protection… check out AISA's Child Protection Handbook!

I discovered that one of my fellow school counselors is a trainer for Collaborative & Proactive Solutions, and she is willing to mentor me as I learn more about the philosophy and techniques! I have been intrigued by Ross Greene's methods, as many counselors speak highly of its effectiveness. Collaborative and Proactive Solutions seeks to understand the child's need for skills rather than believing the child is willfully challenging adults and peers. I find the approach compassionate and affirming of the unique qualities each child holds. I hope to research CPS, integrate it into my current practices, and then assess the effectiveness in my own school setting. 

I feel blessed to be in a school that encourages us to grow professionally! I would love to hear about the topics and methods you, as a school counselors, are pursuing in your professional growth, too… comment below to share!

I like to use social media to connect with other school counselors. Because many of us are the only ones in our school buildings, we can be rather isolated. I find so many great ideas and lessons in my "online PLCs" through Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and other counseling blogs. 

To find counselors, I often use hashtags (learn more on this webpage). My favorites are:

#escchat
#scchat
#SCcrowd
#psycchat

Now, I'd like to add a new hashtag for international school counselors! I propose we call it #intlSC and use it to share ideas, research, and lessons unique to counseling students overseas. If you are an international school counselor, join us!

On December 5th, there will be a Twitter chat (#escchat) about the role of 504 Coordinator. If you are in this role, join us for an hour long discussion with school counselors around the country. Hopefully, you will get the opportunity to ask questions, share resources and ideas, and possibly come away with new knowledge about the 504 process! An easy way to follow the entire chat is to use a website like Tweetdeck or Tweetchat (check them out now and get set up so you're ready to join the chats for elementary school counselors weekly on Thursday evenings @ 8E/5P!) You can find a list of upcoming topics for the #escchat at http://bit.ly/escchat-info.

By the way, I can't recommend Twitter highly enough as an alternate PLC. I have found so many phenomenal school counselors who are sharing great articles, lesson plans, and other ideas. Maybe you have always considered Twitter a social site for teens, but I ask you to consider it as professional resource as well. My Twitter handle is @adventurousSC… find me and follow! Or join me at #scchat to find those resources and other counselors I was talking about. We are so lucky to have social media to help connect us in ways that were never before possible.

Recently, I joined a group on Facebook called the Elementary School Counselor Exchange (Join us! We're sharing ideas, topics, questions, resources and more!). Last week, someone posted about school counseling classroom lessons being scheduled into the Building Specials (i.e., music, P.E., etc) Schedule. I am a school counselor who has been scheduled in this way, and I found it challenging to find enough time during the school day to complete tasks that required face to face connections (i.e., crisis management, individual counseling, small groups, behavioral observations, and staff & parent consultations). Therefore, I created an alternative schedule. I pitched the idea to my administrator, who suggested we present the alternative to the staff for a vote. The Prezi presentation I created is below.

I found that I was nervous on the day of the presentation (I felt very strongly that the alternate schedule would be beneficial for our students and community), but I had no reason to worry. Our staff members were overwhelmingly supportive, which meant a lot to me. I could infer that the staff support a comprehensive counseling plan with their vote: they can see the value in a school counseling program that provides a variety of other services besides that of a "guidance teacher."

We are now three weeks into our new schedule and I believe it has been successful so far. I have had the chance to visit classrooms, observe students, put behavior plans and interventions into place, consult with staff and parents, assess and form small groups, and collaborate with staff to establish new routines in a variety of areas. It is exciting to see how much more the counseling program can provide with this alternative schedule! At the end of the year, I hope to reflect and see if it has in fact made a difference to our students, as well.

I must say that I am glad that I gathered up the courage to advocate for this change. It is empowering to experience such tremendous support from colleagues, and exhilarating to find yourself with time to do more tasks that directly serve students' needs! Get out there and advocate for your programs, school counselors!

We had an open house called Supply Night at our elementary school last night. It was so wonderful to see all of our students and families again after several months apart! In preparation for this, I created a display to fit this year's theme: "You can be a hero, too!"

One section displays a school counselor's "super powers," including consultation with staff and parents, group counseling, connecting families to community resources, and on and on. I added a touch of humor by adding a "G" symbol in the Batman-styled search lights, as I go by Ms. G. around the school. The third section features a comic strip story of three students who have a problem, but make heroic choices to turn the situation around! I plan to use this board as I teach my introductory lessons in classes in the coming weeks. At the table on Supply Night, I also provided pamphlets for local community resources, our elementary counseling program pamphlets, a sign up sheet for any parents or guardians who wanted to discuss their student or family needs in greater depth, and a sign to encourage everyone to vote for our school at the Give with Target Facebook page. Overall, I am pleased with the result!

So, what do YOU think? Do you have any resources, websites, or lesson plans about ordinary heroes to share? And what do you do at Open house events?