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!