4 Things School Counselors Can Do to Prepare for the New School Year
As a school counselor, there are already so many things on your plate. It seems like it doesn’t take long at all before you can begin to feel overwhelmed. Today, I want to share 4 things you can do to prepare for the upcoming school year which involves more pre-planning to give you less stress. In order to work smarter and not harder, you need to have a plan of action.
Set Up Your Calendar
I have always said, I’m a planner to a fault. Even as a classroom teacher, I created a notebook of my plan for the school year over the summer mapping out what needed to be taught each quarter and when. As the school year progressed, I only needed to refer to my plan in order to stay on track. So begin thinking now about everything you want cover throughout the school year and map it out. Begin setting up your calendar or planner with those important months (ie. Bullying Prevention Month), weeks (ie. Red Ribbon Week), and special days (ie. World Day of Bullying Prevention). If you are the chair of a committee or the contact person, decide now when you will plan to meet and begin marking those dates in your planner or calendar. As an example, as the 504 Contact, I would look at my caseload and add each student to my calendar approximately two to three weeks or so before his/her 504 reevaluation or annual review was due. This gave me plenty of time to communicate with the parent and teacher(s) about a meeting date/time and to create an invitation for the meeting to send home with the student.
So create your plan now knowing it can be tweaked as you go. You’ll be glad to have a roadmap to follow along as you make your journey to May/June of next year!
Schedule Your Annual Administrative Conference
If you are a school counselor who follows the ASCA National Model, you are probably already using this tool every school year already. If you are not, I highly suggest you check it out and begin utilizing it. The Annual Administrative Conference is a time for you to meet with your principal to discuss your program goals for the school year and to give him or her a glimpse into what can be expected from your school counseling program this year. Doing this is helpful for you because your principal will hopefully make sure to keep any non-counselor related things off of your plate. It is so important to start off with this brief meeting to lay the groundwork for the coming school year. Your principal will learn about all of the wonderful programs you have planned, and he or she can also share any ideas he/she may have for you to think about as well. You can also negotiate any funding for conferences or resources for your program during this time.
If you have not regularly followed the ASCA National Model in your program, take a look at the Annual Administrative Conference document and think about taking a small step this year and implementing it. When you visit the template page, just look down the right side and click on “annual administrative conference.” It is advised to complete the conference and have it signed within the first couple of months of school.
Create an Advisory Council
Another suggested implementation from the ASCA National Model is to create an advisory council. This committee should consist of counselors and their stakeholders (teachers, parents, administrators, students, community members). ASCA suggests that you meet a least once in the fall and once in the spring. During these meetings, you can share your program plans and goals with your stakeholders and get feedback and suggestions from them. It’s another great way to advertise the school counseling program and to gain support from the council members. Hopefully by the time you have your spring meeting, you are ready to share some data from the programs you have already implemented. So as you plan your return, you can begin thinking about the people you would like to be a part of your council, and begin to make contact with them so you are prepared to plan for your fall meeting. Like mentioned before, when you visit the ASCA Templates & Tools page, just look on the right side for the Advisory Council Templates.
Plan a Staff Presentation
The beginning of the year is a great time to connect with new staff members to let them know about the school counseling program. You may also want to plan a staff presentation to make sure your staff members know how and when to make student referrals to you and other student support services staff (school social worker, school psychologist). Each year the counselors along with the other student support team members talk to the entire staff about child abuse/neglect and suicidal ideation. Our goal is to make sure teachers know what concerns need to be addressed right away and how to go about making those referrals to the team. You can also think about hosting and open house in your office for new staff members to come by and meet you and the team. You could provide some chips or cookies and drinks along with a flyer with important information they need to know. This will give those new staff members a chance to ask any questions they may have about your program.
Stephen Covey’s 2nd Habit of Highly Effective People is a great reference: Begin with the end in mind. Think now about how you want your school year to evolve and be proactive from the start. Future YOU will be so appreciative of all the front loading you do now!
Summer Counselor Conference
This is the last week to sign up for the Summer Counselor Conference. The conference begins on Friday, August 4, 2023. I’ll be presenting about Career Awareness for Elementary Kids. Even if you don’t have time to view all the sessions during the conference, you will have access to all of the sessions through June 2024! REGISTER TODAY!
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