ASCA #14 Reflections

Wow! What an amazing conference. How many newbie ASCA conference attenders can say at their first conference they heard the First Lady speak!!

I am writing this post for 3 reasons:
1) To share with you my highlights and lessons/knowledge learned at the best conference ever.
2) To help ADHD brain remember all the things I want to share with the other counselors in our district.
3) To help me go back and access the information. A online "storage space" for reference if you will.

So let's get started:

Teacher Organizers Aren't Just For Teachers

Thanks to my friend Chandra over at C Jayne Teach I am getting organized for the new year. My new Teacher Anchor just arrived and I am thrilled. #cjayneteach #teacheranchor

Here's how I am using mine (sorry the pics are blurry my camera phone just couldn't do the Anchor justice):

Connecting our curriculum to Common Core Standards seems to be a reoccurring theme at conferences and meetings I attend. I love that all the standards for K-3 are included in this planner and you can get the standards for other grades on her website. These easy sheets allow me to write down when I taught those standards, which will be easy to fill in as I write my lesson plans and then can use as part of my evaluation at the end of the year.

This fantastic page is at the end of each Common Core section and allows me to write down what lesson I did to meet standards. For example: 5th Grade- Socratic Seminar on fear or 3rd Grade- "Invisible Boy" lesson on friendship (see standards it met here.)

Instead of subjects I broke down my sections into the different parts of my program, including; Individual, Groups, Classroom Guidance,  Program Planning, and Other. Under other I will write down meetings, IEP/ 504 planning, parent conferences, collaborations, etc. 

I love that each day I can write down students I need to see or walk in.  

Counselor's Calendar

I am always looking for ways to track what I do and gather data on my time spent on direct and indirect services with students.

Right now I have developed a Google Doc that I keep open on my computer on periodically throughout the day, sometimes at the end of the day, (or after one of THOSE days I'll do it the next day) I input what I did.












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 I have broken the form into three parts: direct student services, in direct student services, and non counseling tasks. I am also trying to track what topic I see each class/student about so I can see if I am doing more of one than another. I once had a principal tell they didn't really have "crisis" at their school- using some basic tally data a year later she pulled out of the curriculum so I could be ready for all the crisis they had =). I also like to track the grade (is one grade seeing me more than another, is most of third grade seeing me about friendship and I could do a classroom lesson) and if it was planned or unplanned (is the same teacher sending students down unplanned each week - happens all the time to me).

I like my doc, but it's not perfect for sure. Then today I got an e-mail about Counselor's Room.
It's a resource that helps track time, create surveys, and provides resources for counselors. For example, when you click the logo at the top of the page it doesn't take you to the home page.

I do like that the calendar function can link with your Google calendar and will help sort the activities you are doing into recognized ASCA categories.

Bucket List Check In

Today I was reminded of my bucket list I did last summer and my goals for this school year.
Here were the goals I set for myself and here's how we did :

D is for Data: No Friends We Can't Escape It

This is the face I make every year preparing for evaluations.

Today I was preparing for my evaluation this year and don't get me started because it's absurd to me. So before I get on my soap box let me focus on the current trend I see in counseling: data. We are becoming a data driven program, and the data we use is just as important as the data teachers use. We can't escape it, data data everywhere.

So what are you doing to gather data?
Here's how I am trying to incorporate my data.

First, our teachers sit down monthly for "data meetings." During this meeting our amazing intervention teacher goes through each student looking at the numbers. They discuss who is showing improvement, who needs additional help, who can move out of intervention, etc. I sit in and give them generic information "well there is so home issues I am working on with that student so just remember that when looking at the data."  These meetings are very productive, we often can't fit everything we want to into the meeting. Here is how I see my role in the meetings:
1) Reminding them of the child and the history/story behind the numbers.
2) Getting referrals for small groups (this is a great place to hear teachers talk about so and so and his/her anger).
3) Identifying the students that might slip through the cracks. I like finding the students that are doing fine, but perhaps with a small group on study skills could be even better.

Here is what I take to "Data Monday's":

Permission Forms to see students we think would benefit from a small group.

A schedule of dates for teachers and copy for each student in the group.

Sample invitation to a small group.

 
Since I just started attending regularly my goal is to track the students I see in small groups for two years and chart their improvement in standardized testing as well as classroom grades. Check out Mrs. Bunyi's list of "Assessments A-Z."

Mrs. Bunyi's List of Assessments A-Z

Second, surveys. I give a survey for everything. Survey Monkey is the easiest way to collect data and administer pre and post tests, so I send out surveys for everything.

Here are a few examples:
Internet Use Survey-  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KLFPQNL

What Do You Worry About- http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GZNYR2F

Team Building Survey- http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RZVP6C9

How Can Your School Counselor Help You- http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/dsrrcounselingsurvey




Here is another great self assessment I found for small groups  so students can gather their own data. I don't remember where I found it, but if I had to guess it was the ASCA Scene.

Third, I track participation. I have data showing how many parents attend my workshops, how each topic we do a workshop on does as far as participation numbers, the best times and months for workshops, numbers on how many students receive my services, etc. I have a lot of numbers.

Sample of a newsletter I sent out to teachers. It included data for our teachers to see that I don't just sit around all day.

Lastly, I look at behavior by the numbers. This year our school incorporated the behavior section of AimsWeb. It asks teachers complete a behavior survey on every child three times a year, which I know it's timely but it can be so helpful. It also asks students complete a self survey. This program has it's pro's and con's but it makes for good data.

My new favorite data tidbit! Love Pinterest.

Speaking of data, I just started following a super cute website "Life With a Pit Bull By Your Side."
She has a super cute and funny entry on data and facts. For example, did you know in Miami you can own a tiger, but not a pit bull. Also, did you know that in canine temperament tests the data shows that about 86% of pit bulls passed showing no signs of aggression, higher than many other dogs including Beagles.
Don't believe just look at the data: