The new school year is starting and many schools are beginning the year in online learning. As school counselors, this presents an unique challenge for how to proactively support students through a comprehensive school counseling program. By rethinking some of our basic best practices, I think we can successfully implement school counseling during remote learning. As I share suggestions today, make sure to keep your districts guidelines and policies in mind as you consider how you will shift and change your program this school year.

 (My very first principal told me that the reason he hired me was because I talked about visibility in my interview. If students and parents don't know who the school counselor is, they won't see you as a resource. I always signed up for breakfast duty because most of my kids ate breakfast in the cafeteria, I walk through the lunchroom during lunch, I go outside during recess to check on kids instead of calling them to my office, and I make sure to greet any parent that I see throughout the day. Being visible shows that you are a part of the school and not a person locked in their office waiting for the "bad" kids (note: there are no bad kids and if you disagree, let's talk). 

So how can we adjust this to the virtual setting?

• Offer to read a book or stop in to morning meetings
• Ask to be included in any videos or phone messages that go out to parents
• Reach out to all parents by sending an email or asking teachers to include a message from you in their communication
• Attend PLC meetings for grade levels or content areas
• Call parents for students that you have worked closely with in the past just to check in
• If feasible, send postcards or notes to students

Collect as much data as possible on how Spring went for students. Use this data to determine students who might need additional help or support. Collect data on how participation is going this Fall. This is going to be your "I won't let this student fall through the cracks" list. We often have these lists as we start the year. I like to begin the year with a focus and this would be my focus for the beginning of 20-21.

When you reach out to parents do not talk about participation. This seems counter-intuitive, right? I heard about parents hanging up on the school in the spring, parents telling teachers and counselors they just couldn't do it and opting out. As we move forward with the 20-21 school year, that won't be as much of an option. We're no longer crisis teaching, we. have. to. make. this. work. The first step to building a team is building a relationship. Call and check in. Call and be a listening ear. And, please, don't just send an email. 

Every year, I have a few students that just need me to check on them. We're not really doing deep counseling work. We may not even have super specific goals that they are working on. But I notice that when I forget to check in, they start having a harder time. So I check in. I make sure they have that person that they know is watching out for them. 

How can we adjust this to the virtual setting?

• If your students have email, use email as a simple check in tool
• Ask parents if you can set up a 10-15 minute weekly check in (if this is allowed in your district)
• Ask teachers if you can virtually stop by any small groups this student may be receiving in the classroom
• Send a postcard or just call to say hello

The best way to protect your time as a school counselor, is to be transparent about how you spend it. Keeping a calendar is a great place to start. Talking with your administrator, teachers, and parents about what you do on a daily basis is also important. If you have admin meetings or student support services team meetings, use that time to prepare talking points on your use of time data. Share the details that would matter to your stakeholders while protecting confidentiality. When we are in remote learning, it might be less obvious what the counselor is doing. To be values as a part of the team, we want to clearly show how we can be helpful.

Students don't learn in a vacuum, many of our students are carrying the weight of both a pandemic and racial injustice. These two intersect and overlap in ways that compound stressors for our students and families. This isn't the time to hold on equity work. Continue to interrupt racism as a school counselor, each and every day. 

2020 has been the most stressful year of my professional life. I am sure that is true for many. Make sure to figure out what makes living in a pandemic a tiny bit more manageable and do it. Because sometimes it's too much. What keeps you going during stress?

Mental well being is important for everyone. Just like everyone has physical health, everyone has mental health. As we live as a community in the midst of a pandemic and racial strife, we are facing mental well being obstacles that sometimes seem overwhelming. I think it's safe to say, 2020 is too much.

Oftentimes, teachers and other school staff come to school counselors to find out how to support student mental well being. I've recently discovered the WE Teachers hub that includes a module on mental well being. The module is BIG (the full PDF is 52 pages). Knowing that everyone is rather overwhelmed right now, I thought I would point out a few highlights. 

In this tool, healthy mental and emotional development by age gives tips on typical struggles and growth that are a part of human development. We all know that mood swings might be normal for 10-12 year olds but that doesn't mean it's not hard. This module gives tips on how to support children through the very normal struggles of growing up. I think this section would be even better if they also included a few bullets on when to seek help.

The best practices for supporting mental well being in the classroom include tips for reframing our own mindsets as educators to avoid stigmatizing students or pre-determining that students are going to have a hard time. I appreciate this focus on how the adult enters the educator-student relationship impacts the outcome for the student. As counselors, we need to own this too. 

The best practices section continues to include ways to be supportive of students. There are also tips for working with students who may have mental health concerns like anxiety and ADHD. Seeking help from school counselors is mentioned throughout as a resource. I appreciate both the acknowledgement of what school counselors can do (and also the fact they don't say guidance counselor).

More than ever, we need to be thinking about teacher's mental well being. This was already a hard job. A rewarding, meaningful, and amazing but super hard job. As our world has been flipped upside down, teachers (and counselors, and principals, and cafeteria staff, and custodians...) are being tasked with a way to do school that has never been done before. This is hard. We can't be the educators we want to be without taking care of ourselves and each other too. The guide includes self reflection questions that can be utilized by staff to consider the resiliency factors that support their stress management. I think this would be a great tool to use in staff meetings or PLCs. 

You've got a lot on your to-do list right now. This is a resource that you can use to support yourself and your staff as we move in to the 20-21 school year. 

This post is sponsored by WE Teachers. All opinions and 2020 bashing are my own. 

Well, it's August 1, 2020 and that means there's only one thing on every school counselor's mind. What in the world are we going to do to support our students as we reopen school? First, let me explain that when I say "reopen," I mean starting the school year - whether that's virtual, hybrid, or fully in person. No matter how students rejoin our school community, we will need to be ready as school counselors to support them and their families in navigating school during a pandemic.

We're all coming back different. Not everyone is traumatized - some kids have had a great time at home, some kids are excited to come back to school, some kids are dreading the restart of the school year. Some kids had loss, some did not. No matter what, everyone is different. As counselors, I think we need to be cautious about going in to the school year assuming that all are traumatized. Let's find out how our students are really doing first.

How are you as a school counselor or school counseling department a part of the school's back to school transition support. If you are not able to hold "meet the teacher" nights, 9th grade orientations, or Kindergarten parent nights - what can you do instead. I think this is an area where we will grow and develop as a school community. Our new ideas might allow for more participation than traditional evening events and we might decide to keep them moving forward. Plan some type of back to school transition support for all students, not just new students or the first grade level for your building (K,6,9 etc). 

If you are going back to school in person - consider how you are communicating safety measures with students and families. Psychological safety is just as important as physical safety in welcoming our students. If students feel unsafe at school, their ability to learn and grow is negatively impacted.

We can't know how students are doing until we make a connection with them. There are two types of relationships we will need to consider: teacher-student relationship and counselor-student relationship. For teachers, they are likely feeling completely overwhelmed by the logistics of teaching in a pandemic and are nervous about all the missed instruction that students experienced in the spring. Check on your teachers. They may not be OK. Work with your administrator to create a plan for supporting the social emotional well being of your staff. Once you've supported your staff then ask how you can support teachers in creating opportunities for relationship building in their classroom. For some teachers, they will begin the year in virtual environments. This is a new challenge for everyone! They may need some support. Here is a great article from Cult of Pedagogy that might help. 

After students have started their days with their teachers, we will need to make sure that we have opportunities to build counselor-student relationships. This is particularly tricky if you are in a virtual environment. Like all aspects of a comprehensive school counseling program, we have to think about core opportunities for connection with all students. Core counseling instruction might look different this year. I anticipate that it might be harder to get time during instruction to teach lessons. You might need to get creative to incorporate social emotional learning into academics. You might need to ask to be a guest reader or have a quick drop in during class meetings instead of a full lesson. Conversely, you might be asked to be on the specials rotation to provide coverage for teachers. Make a plan for how you will have (virtual or in person) face time with every class/student on your caseload.

Some kids are not OK. For a variety of reasons, their world has been turned upside down and they need more help. Questions to consider:

• Does your school have a referral process for staff and families to refer students for more support from the school counselor? How might this process need to change?
• Does your school have a referral process for students to self refer? How might this process need to change?
  
• Does your school do any data based problem solving to proactively identify students who might need additional support? 
  
• Have you sought the perspective and voice of your stakeholder groups? Have you ensured that marginalized voices have been heard?
• Has your school considered the impact of the Black Lives Matter social movement on your staff and students of color? Have you allowed for time to discuss, process, and consider how you will go about school differently as a result? 

If there was ever a year that you cannot wing it, this is it. Make a plan. Take the time to make a comprehensive counseling plan. I personally use the ASCA National Model but I know that's not everyone's jam. To get started, I suggest:

• Create SMART goals
• Make a Core Lesson Scope and Sequence for the Year
• Keep a detailed calendar

I double pinky promise that if you do these two things, you will see a positive impact on your ability to be proactive and productive with your comprehensive school counseling program. Here are some tips. 

Hey counselor - you got this. You can do it.