The reflection of the blogging experience

1.    Describe how you used the course blog.

2.    What has your experience been with the course blog?

o    What about this experience stands out for you?

o    Did anything in particular or anyone connected with the experience stand out for you?

o    What were the advantages/disadvantages to using this over a more traditional journaling activity?

3.    What feelings were generated by the experience?

4.    What thoughts stand out for you?

5.    Are you aware of any changes in thinking while using the course blog?

o    How were your personal values and assumptions influenced?

o    Did the blog enhance reflection, if so how?

6.    What did you like about the blogging experience?

7.    What was challenging for you about the blogging experience.

8.    If you could make some suggestions about using the blog in a future course, what would you suggest?

9.    Have you shared everything that is significant with reference to the experience?If not, what would you add?

1)       I used the course blog to post my thoughts and reflections about our class progression and reflection of my counseling skills.  Most importantly, I used the blog to get ideas from other counselors.  It was helpful to see how they felt about topics we all face as well.

2)      I had never created a blog before.  It is always helpful as an educator to learn new ways to communicate in the ever changing world of technology.  I like using the blog over traditional journaling because it is easier to type than write.  It is easier to share with others than trying to pass around a journal.  My students are more likely to blog than keep a journal.

3+4) I enjoyed learning how to create a blog.  Also, it is very effective to share ideas and feelings with classmates.

5)  The blog really enhanced my tech skills.  The blog was essential in reflection because it made it very easy to share our thoughts and feelings with other classmates. 

6)  As stated before, I liked the ease at which I could share ideas and reflections with classmates.

7)  I had never created a blog before, so the technology part was the main hurdle.  Since, we created it in class guided by our professor it was relatively simple.

8)  I would make it so that I had access to every student’s blog.  When we created the blogs I only added 5 other students instead of the whole class.

9)  I think I have shared the full experience of the blog when I answered my other questions.

Week 11 Cyberbullying

I wish that people had to be at least 18 to have a social media account.  You would not believe the amount of problems that originate from social media sites at our school everyday.  Cyberbullying  has longer lasting effects than physical bullying.  A site we have found to be very helpful at our schools is
http://makeadifferenceforkids.org/index.php?id=69

Cyberbullying is just an example of how even though technology is great, counselors have to stay on top of it to deal with students who are using it.

Ice Breaker

My icebreaker I used in class was to pass around a majic wand and say what you would change about your life if it really worked.  I use this with kids because you can really find out what they think is their biggest problem this way.  Hope you guys will be able to use it with your students as well!          

week 14 reflection of counseling

I have really learned from doing this practicum class.  Even though I did not want to go to an elementary school, it was enlightening to see what school counselors do at different levels.  It did make me realize and appreciate that I am at the high school level.  This experience made me appreciate and break out of the rut you sometimes get into.  As a high school counselor, you get so busy just putting out fires all day and completing paper work, you forget to simply reflect on your counseling.  You get so busy doing your job sometimes, you forget to make sure you are doing the most important job you have which is counseling the students effectively!

week 14

One of the benefits to being a counselor is you can apply what you have learned to your personal life.  My mom just lost one of her best friends.  I told her about what we had done to grief counsel at school when we lost 2 students.  We had a big role of paper and everyone wrote their thoughts about the deceased on it.  Mom did this with her friends and this seemed to really help with their grief.  I, also, am able to deal with conflict well in my personal life because I usually talk things out.  There is not much monetary benefits of being a counselor but definitely many mental health ones!

Post for November 6th week 12

My post this week does not have much to do with school counseling but I just wanted to share a story I watched on HBO over the weekend.  HBO had a special about people who had died in Iraq.  In the special, their families read the letters from them before they died.  In one of the letters, a female soldier told her mom that "to be loved and to love where the best things about life.  She thanked her mom for showing her both of these things."  I just thought this was an awesome idea and very true!

week 9 magic wand

If I had a magic wand I would change the amount of time I get to spend counseling students as opposed to the amount of time I spend doing administrative paperwork and duties.  I do no think school counselors do a good job of letting other faculty members know the amount of responsibilities we have to do.  Our counseling staff went to our new principal this year and advocated for ourselves.  He was very understanding and assigned many of our testing duties to the academic dean.  This has freed so much more time for us to meet with students which will result in less behavior problems and failures.  Luckily, we had a new and understanding principal.  I do think it is a good idea to get together as a counseling staff and list all of the different duties you have and let your administrator know the amount of time those duties are taking away from the students. Also, be able to show how more time meeting with the students will lower failure rates and help control the amount of behavior problems.  Even if they do not change anything at least they know how valuable you are to the school.  I would suggest being as positive as you can be during the presentation and be prepared for the possibility that your administrator will decide to make no changes.

week 9 Classroom Guidance Activity

Overview of Activity:

I actually used this activity for my 2nd tape.  We meet with our seniors about what they need to be doing for college.  I have made a PowerPoint that we go over with them in their homerooms.  There are about 20-30 students and we give them a copy of their transcript as well.  We have a parent night with a similar PowerPoint as well.

Purpose:

To educate seniors about college planning and credits needed to graduate.

Age Group:

seniors

Materials:

Power point, transcripts

Intervention:
I would say this is prevention because you are helping students plan ahead.

Activity:

Just follow the PowerPoint slides that I will post tomorrow.  It usually takes approximately an hour depending on how many questions you have to field at the end.

Follow up act activities:

I will meet with students one on one to address their specific post high school plans and then have follow up meetings as needed to help them carry out whatever they have chosen to do.

Contingency Plan:

Remember to always remain calm and keep your sense of humor.  The main problem that I have had in the past is if the computers are not working for the PowerPoint.  If that happens. I have a hard copy of the PowerPoint with me. However,  it is more effective when the students can see it as well as hear the information on the PowerPoint.

week 7

I wish I had a tape recorder on me at all times so I could pick my best counseling performance.   The main thing I need to work on is not feeling rushed while I am with a student.  I, sometimes, get so overwhelmed that I need to make sure I am giving the students enough time to elaborate their thoughts when I am counseling them.  Many times, I may need to get several things done with the student when I have time to meet with them which leads to me feel rushed.  I feel rushed because I have so many students and there is no way I could take an hour with every student.  Also, during the counseling session they made need multiple items done such as college or clerical stuff.  Listening to my own tape and listening to the feedback made me realize this.  Next tape I am going to take my time and forget about the distractions.

week 6 5 goals

5 Goals

1)  Increase my knowledge and ability to utilize technology:
The blog is helping to do that and working with the blackboard.

2) To gain experience in a non high school setting:
I am doing some of my hours at an elementary school.

3)  Refine counseling skills:
I am doing this by listening to other people's counseling during class and on tapes.

4)  To get my standard certificate in counseling:
I will hopefully have this if I pass this class.

5)  Being part of a professional community other than my school
It has been exciting to hear ideas from other schools and other types of mental health facilities in class.

Week 6 MOVIE POST

One of the movies that I would watch is Freedom Writers.  We actually were able to hear Manny Scott,  one of the actual students in the film, speak as an entire district before school started.  He had a great message and was highly entertaining.  I would highly recommend him to any school district as a speaker.  The main thing he taught me was to never give up on a student.  The student who may be getting on your nerves the most may be the one who needs you the most.  Here is the link to his web site which, also, has the movie.
http://www.manuelvscott.com/




The other movie I selected is Prince of Tides
It is entertaining and much of the movie is spent in counseling sessions.  It taught me that people sometimes have self destructive behavior due to past experiences.  It, also, shows someone reluctant to get counseling and how the counselor overcame his fears.

Week 6

This week was a challenging week.  We lost our second student this year to senseless gun violence.  We lost 2 other students at another local high school last week.  In Fayette County, there is a crisis team that comes to schools where tragedy occurs.  They were very helpful and liked their idea of creating a giant poster where kids could draw or write a tribute to the deceased student.  One of the students that died had been on my case load 2 years ago.  Lexington really needs to address the teen violence problem that is growing in our town.  These kids are seeing too much glorification of the gangster lifestyle in the media.  I, also, think when the economy is not doing well people tend to turn towards crime.  I wish I could find more ways to show these young kids that there is better life for them if they choose to work for it and have the right attitude. At the school level, we are working very hard to stop the teen violence.  It is going to take the whole community to try and change the culture of these areas where teen violence is becoming too common and accepted. 

week 4

This was, as usual, an interesting week at school.  I had an incident with one of our most behaviorally challenged kids and his sister in which they thought their mother had died.  I ended up, along with 2 other teachers, going with the students to their mother's house to check on her.  Luckily, she was fine.  The mother told her son that he now knew how she felt when he was running the streets at night.  It made me realize that even though many staff members, and justifiably so, view this student as a behavior problem, he really is just a kid that cares about his mother.  I, also, called my mom soon afterwards to let her know how much I appreciate her! 

week 3

This was a short week.  We had open house Tuesday so I was able to meet many of my parents.  Wednesday, I had a 3 year reval 504 meeting.  Friday, I was able to go to the annual college day at Papa John's Stadium in Louisville.  It is beneficial to learn new things being offered by our local colleges.  The theme that kept coming up for me this week was my role as a mediator.  I am constantly mediating between parents, teachers, and students.  After watching the political conventions the last 2 weeks maybe we could use more counselors in government so they can actually get something done through mediation!

web site example

One of our most effective ways to communicate to parents and students at Henry Clay is our facebook page.  Even though facebook, sometimes, causes issues among our students, it is nice to be able to use it in a positive way.  Here is the site address or you can just go to your facebook page and search for Henry Clay High School counseling page.
http://www.facebook.com/yahoo#!/pages/Henry-Clay-High-School-Counseling/120696404667230

tech resource

I am posting a tech resource that  I use with both parents and students often.  The url is www.careercruising,com/ilp It is a free state funded web site that helps students with career guidance.  It helps students and parents with information about colleges, scholarships, and even has a resume builder.  Later this week, I will post a dummy username and password so you can explore the site.

week 2

Well, it only took me 30 minutes to figure out how to sign on to my blog lol!  I think the true meaning of being a counselor is to simply help people.  Counselor are extremely important in a school setting even though we do not always get the respect we deserve.  As one of my fellow counselors told me we have been teachers but teachers have not been counselors so they do not always understand what we do.  At our school, we do some administrative duties but I would say my role is very comparable to a firefighter.  I put out fires all day long with students, teachers, and parents.  I love being a counselor because it is in my nature to help people.  I am a natural mediator as well.  I feel I contribute to the everyday life of my students by caring about them and most importantly giving them my most valuable possession, time!

First blog

Welcome to the blue devil blog aka Josh Edwards