Don't Test Me

Don't Test Me...that's the t-shirt I wore yesterday to administer the PSAT.  I did it to get some laughs.  This is what it looks like:

Any counselor that also does the testing at their school can relate I'm sure!  I serve students in 8th and 9th grade (in two different buildings), but I do all the testing at the high school.  I consider the PSAT as my practice run for all the state tests and AP exams we give in the spring.  It is a one day, 3 or so hour test, so it's not too bad.

There is a lot of planning that goes into coordinating a test like this.  I might do a post on how I do things later on.  I have lots of great help, professional colleagues, and understanding/(forgiving) administrators so I am very thankful!

I found this shirt at my state counselor's conference last year.  It only came in Texas orange, but I liked it enough to buy it anyway.  I'm always looking for funny type t-shirts to wear to school on casual days.

So the PSAT shipped out today, and we are on to the EXPLORE test next week for 8th graders at the middle school.  After that, we will have a break until March when all 11th graders take their End of Course Literacy exam.  April comes fast and furious with the Benchmark at the middle school, 9th grades take the ITED, then there is also EOC Biology and EOC Geometry at the high school.  May brings all the AP exams and the EOC Algebra I test - sometimes on the same day at the same time.  Needless to say, the last couple of months of school fly by.

That's all for today!  Thanks for reading!  How do you prepare to administer big exams at your school?  I would love to hear all kinds of organization tips!

It Only Takes a Minute...or Two...or Three...

Minute Meetings!  Yay!

I am excited to finally get to post about my Minute Meetings!  Today I was able to get through the rest of the 9th graders.  It was an all day marathon of asking the same three questions, but I'm so glad I did it.   I came across this jewel of a counseling tool last year.  I don't even remember how I stumbled upon Danielle Schultz's blog, but I was in school counselor heaven.  Here is the link - you should check it out: http://www.schcounselor.com/2011/12/got-minute.html

She has so many great ideas and resources.  Most things are probably geared towards elementary/middle level, but could easily be adapted for secondary students.  If you are on Pinterest she has lots of great pins as well.

I actually attempted my first Minute Meetings last year in the spring.  I was only able to do them one time though because I got started so late.  This year my goal is to meet with students once a nine weeks.  So I'm done with the 9th grade, and I plan to start on 8th grade Thursday.  I love Minute Meetings because it helps me make those face to face connections you don't usually get with every student. 

Last year I did everything on paper.  It worked just fine, but I decided this summer that I would use a Google Form to record the data.  It was super easy to create!  The main issue I had with the paper was how to compile all the data when I was done.  I had it there, and then would have to spend several hours actually going through it.  Google Forms does all that for me, so I like it!

 

 There are basically three questions to ask:  How are things going in your personal life?  How are things at school? and What do you want to do after high school?  Notice those three questions cover all three domains: personal, academic, careers.  I also threw in an Is there anything I can do for you? and a Mrs. Hunt's notes section.  The last two things will help me identify kids I need to follow up with later.

When you create the form it automatically produces an internet address for you that will take you to the form.  This is where you enter the responses.  As long as you have a wireless connection you could do your meetings anywhere.  I did all the meetings with my iPad and wireless keyboard.

This is what the actual form looks like:

So I just set up shop outside the classroom door.  I brought a TV table from home - it was just right for my purpose + it was easy to carry!  I spend just a couple of minutes explaining to the whole class what I'm doing and preparing them for the questions I'm going to ask.  (I hope next time I won't have to reexplain) Then I start with the first kid on the class list.  We go out and do their meeting and then when they are finished they send the next kiddo out.  It is pretty efficient.

 

I fill out the form as the kids answer and then add any notes for myself.  When finished, this is what the data looks like in spreadsheet form: (I removed the names) Please excuse any misspellings - I was typing fast and spelling is not my strongest asset! lol!

One of the great things about Google Forms is that it converts your data into easy to read chart form.  This is under the Show Summary of Results in the Form tab.  This is what came up for the 9th graders in the first round:

My plan now is to make some sort of poster to share the data with students.  Maybe something to hang in their English classes.  I am thinking of doing a word cloud with all their career choices too.  I would love any ideas on how to share data with students.  I actually have a plan to use the mail merge thing to make an individual report for each student.  That is probably another post in itself....

One thing I have discovered:  I will have to make a new form for each time I do a Minute Meeting.  I've already created one for the 8th graders later this week.  I'm doing this so my data does not all run together.  I have not figured out a way to really separate responses and be successful with the show summary of responses thing.  It's easy to recreate the forms, but it is something to think about if you are going to do them with different groups at different times of the year.

That's all for today!  How do you do Minute Meetings?  How can I make mine better?  I would love to hear ideas and suggestions! 

Where's Your Hall Pass?

This is just a short post today.  I thought I would write about the pass I use when I need to see a student.  I hate to knock on a classroom door myself and ask for a kid.  It creates a disturbance, they may be in the middle of something, and then there is the whole confidentiality thing.  Not everyone needs to know when I need to see someone.

The inspiration for the pass I created came when I visited a counseling center at a very large local high school.  It was for one of my graduate classes, but they were gracious enough to let my class snoop around a bit.  One of the assistant principals actually taught the class, so it was a perk you might say. :)  I took a picture of it then so I could recreate it.

The top paper is a request to see the counselor.  I have not done one of those yet, but I probably should.  It is not the best picture.  I took it last year, not even thinking I would start a blog about counseling and might need a decent photo.  haha!

Anyway, here is what I came up with:

I know that I have mentioned before that I work out of two buildings.  Both buildings have another counselor there full time.  I felt like I needed to specify which counselor this was coming from.  There is some confusion sometimes about all that. 

So I just fill in the information and check the time for them to come.  Most of the time I do the "when convenient" blank.  I don't use these a lot at the middle school.  Our teachers there each have phones in their classroom so I can just call them when I need someone out of their classroom.   It works really well at the high school though because the main office has senior office aides each period that deliver them for me when needed.

Well, that's it for now.  Thank you for reading!  How do you let students know you need to see them?  I would love to hear your ideas!

Meet Mrs. Hunt

One of the first things I like to do in a new school year is introduce myself to the students I serve.  Last year was the first time my position had ever existed in my district, so I felt like I needed to get out there and make sure my students knew the purpose of my job with them.  I actually first did this activity as a student in one of my graduate classes.  I thought it was a pretty good, fairly quick activity that I could adapt for 8th and 9th graders.  It also helps me learn about them.

This year, I only did this activity with 8th graders, mostly because the 9th graders did it last year, and most of them already know me.  Anyway, the majority of the 8th graders did not know me.  In fact, as I was hanging around before class started a couple of students asked if I was a sub.  I told them that is the perfect example of why I am here...I want them to know who I am and I want to know them.

Here is what I did:  I used some larger than normal size sketch paper.  I didn't think 8.5 x 11 was really big enough, but it would work if it's all you have.   Every kid gets one piece.  I also brought in my marker bucket, but it has crayons and colored pencils in there too.  I ended up having to tell them to just pick two things and hand it off to the next person.  Some kiddos will take forever to choose a color - they have to dig to the bottom of the bucket while everyone else waits. 

So, students divide their paper into four parts.  This is how I explain the different labels:

Family - tell me what you want me to know about your family.  You can include who you live with, or just whoever you consider your family, because family doesn't always have to mean blood relative.  I really try to make sure they understand that I am not asking for deep dark family secrets or anything.  I explain that my family was not perfect and I probably would not have wanted to spill the dynamics to my school counselor.  That's why I reiterate about just telling me what they want me to know.

Favorite - I just ask for a favorite something - it could be favorite food, favorite movie, favorite song, etc....you probably get the idea.  They can tell me more than one, but I ask for at least one.

Four Things (you do well) - I was trying to keep with the "F" theme here.  I have done other things like Fun (what you do for fun) and Fact (one fact about you), but this seemed to be a little more challenging for some students.  Some kids, as you know, have a hard time admitting they are good at something.

Future - I just ask them to tell me what they think about when they think about their future.  It can be at any point in the future - next year, next week, twenty years from now.

So I give them about 7 - 10 minutes to finish up.  As they are working I talk about where my office is, I talk about what kinds of things I can do for them, we talk about confidentiality and when I have to breach it, those types of things.  I make sure they know that if they get called to see me it does not mean they are in trouble, so don't ever be worried or afraid to come.

Here is the one I did for myself that I share with them.

 

Here are a few examples of what the kiddos did:

 

Not everyone took it seriously, hence the kid that said his future included being a hobo.  I of course told them there were no right or wrongs, and being 8th graders I got some interesting things.

The whole thing takes about 20 minutes, a couple of classes had more questions for me so I might have stayed longer in those.  When I leave I look over everyone's papers.  I figure out who was absent so I can catch them up when they return.  I look for "clues" on who I might want to see early on, who might throw a red flag, that kind of stuff.

These also serve as good excuses to call kids to my office if I get a concern from a teacher or something like that.  That way I don't really have to "fib" or tell them there was concern expressed about them.  I just tell them I am working my way through all the students and it was their turn to meet with me.  I pull out their paper and we go through it - it can kind of start the conversation going.

How do you introduce yourself to your students?  I would love to hear from you!

Disclaimer:  I hope this post makes sense!  It is late and I am pooped and I want to get it posted because I've put it off for days.  I feel like I am writing like I would be talking, and that is not always grammatically correct.  So, I apologize if my grammar and usage are not proper.  I'll try better next time, hopefully. :)