What do your teachers, administrators, students, and parents think you do all day? I was at a meeting today where a group of counselors were talking about the eye opening experience of Advisory Council in realizing that their stakeholders really weren't aware of the range of activities and support for students, staff, and school that were involved in the role of the school counselor. Sometimes counselors are their worst enemies in neglecting to market the work that they do.
Guess what? It's not just about getting pats on the back. There is purpose in marketing what you do. If your stakeholders are more aware of the amazing work that you do, they can increase the buy in for teaching lessons or time with students. You can work to decrease extra duties so that you can spend your time being a counselor rather than a monitor. You can connect with parents and teachers so that when they are seeking extra support, they come to you as an expert in mental health and child development. Most of all, the more that our stakeholders are aware of what we do to support students, the more time we can spend in prevention rather than reaction.
Guess what? It's not just about getting pats on the back. There is purpose in marketing what you do. If your stakeholders are more aware of the amazing work that you do, they can increase the buy in for teaching lessons or time with students. You can work to decrease extra duties so that you can spend your time being a counselor rather than a monitor. You can connect with parents and teachers so that when they are seeking extra support, they come to you as an expert in mental health and child development. Most of all, the more that our stakeholders are aware of what we do to support students, the more time we can spend in prevention rather than reaction.
Find Your Why
You can't convince anyone else that your work is important if you don't believe it yourself. Why did you go into school counseling? If you're not sure, spend some time exploring central questions to ground yourself in the "why" of this vocation. Be passionate about your work and others will take notice when you share that work.
The only way to do great work is love what you do. ~ Steve Jobs
I sometimes hate the idea that we have to love our work. I mean, it's called a job for a reason. What, you don't love breakfast duty? The syrup all over your dry-clean-only pants not doing it for you? Working in a school comes with lots of extra, perhaps less glamorous part of the job. I truly believe that once we connect to our why, we are able to find the parts of the work that we do that we love. I love classroom lessons, I love working with all kids, even the kids who might get overlooked because they seem to have it together. I also love working with upper elementary boys. I really connect with the way that boys think about the world and girl drama isn't as much my thing. So I make time for the parts of my job that I love. I sandwich classroom lessons before and after parts that I might like less. I don't mind being organized and running team meetings but I am not going to put together a complicated craftivity. I choose what serves and fills me so that I am connected to the parts of the job I love and bring more positivity to the parts I don't.
Find Your Voice
You have your why. You know what you love. Now find a voice. Would you stand at a microphone in an empty auditorium and give a presentation on your school counseling program? Of course not. So don't spend your time on information that no one is going to look at. Sit down and make a list of all the ways that your school sends home information. I bet it includes newsletters, robocalls, website, emails, twitter, etc. Ask around and find out which ways are accessed the most. Ask parents that you work with how they like to receive information.
Once you have an idea of how information is sent out and accessed, think about where you are comfortable. If your school has a news show but you dislike being on camera, that might not be a good fit. If you love to write, a blog might work well for you. Where you are most comfortable, you will shine the most!
Once you have an idea of how information is sent out and accessed, think about where you are comfortable. If your school has a news show but you dislike being on camera, that might not be a good fit. If you love to write, a blog might work well for you. Where you are most comfortable, you will shine the most!
Quantify the Work
Education revolves around data. Without data, your work does not hold up in School Improvement Plan team meetings or on your yearly evaluation. We can debate the validity of this approach but if we want to hold our jobs and our position to work with students, we have to show the data that it's working. I like to have a page to jot down talking points before I go into meetings about the work I do.
I'm a big proponent of the ASCA National Model, but if you're not there yet, I have some tips on Comprehensive Counseling Like a Boss. By quantifying our work, we can increase the understanding so that:
I'm a big proponent of the ASCA National Model, but if you're not there yet, I have some tips on Comprehensive Counseling Like a Boss. By quantifying our work, we can increase the understanding so that:
- Your stakeholders know that you work with students on purpose and not just whoever might show up in your office.
- Your stakeholders can quickly see that your work aligns with the work of the school as a whole. You are a valuable asset to learning.
- Your stakeholders can see what types of topics you will cover in your lessons so that they can ask follow up questions if needed.
- Your stakeholders will know that you make a plan for what your students will learn each year.
- Parents can see the amazing proactive support the counselor provides so that time with the counselor is no longer stigmatized.
- You know what you're going to do - no more rushing around last minute.
Bring It Together
OK, you know what you love, you know how your people receive information, you quantified your work, now it's time to bring it together. I have 4 fun ways to share your work with others:
- Infographics
- Website
- Social Media
- Videos
I like to use Canva for infographics. It's easy to put together and they have a lot of templates that you can use for free. To create an infographic, decide on 4-5 items that you want to highlight and get started. Just type "infographic" into the search bar at the top and get started.
Tip: Use the element "icons" to find the simple picture graphics I used here. To see the graphic more closely, check it out here.
Website
If you don't have a school counseling website, create one now! Most people use the internet to find information they are looking for. Find more on creating a school counseling website including a tip sheet to help you out.
Social Media
I love social media for sharing fun information with parents. Use the same tool that your school uses so that you can connect to their accounts and get a wider following. Here are a few tips:
While you're at it, make an awesome video to share on social media. I've got all the details including screenshots here.
Here's a fun video that I created in about 20 minutes using the Legend app and iMovie.
Tip: Use the element "icons" to find the simple picture graphics I used here. To see the graphic more closely, check it out here.
Website
If you don't have a school counseling website, create one now! Most people use the internet to find information they are looking for. Find more on creating a school counseling website including a tip sheet to help you out.
Social Media
I love social media for sharing fun information with parents. Use the same tool that your school uses so that you can connect to their accounts and get a wider following. Here are a few tips:
- Share pictures of your work with students
- Use hashtags
- Connect to your school’s account & tag them
- Maintain confidentiality - cover faces with emoticons if you need to :)
While you're at it, make an awesome video to share on social media. I've got all the details including screenshots here.
Here's a fun video that I created in about 20 minutes using the Legend app and iMovie.
You got this! Think about one thing that you'd like to do to market your school counseling program. I am at the NC School Counselor's Conference tomorrow presenting on this topic, if you're here - please stop and say hi. You can find the presentation here. Leave a comment with what your plan is for marketing!
