Rules For Posting To This Blog and Weekly Blog Question

1. Only use your first name (no last names, addresses, IM screen names, etc.)
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FINAL BLOG POST - OUR "DAILY TRIPLE" (DUE 12/1).
This week I would like you to use your imagination. You have just won the lottery and will leave your teaching post immediately to travel around the world. As you leave your keys you meet your replacement. You are asked to give this new teacher just ONE piece of advice. What would that be, and why? Enjoy your world expedition!

Blog Post - Week 7
This past week in my own teaching I felt a little disconnected which prompts my question to you, "What was the moment (or moments) when I felt most disconnected or disengaged as a teacher - the moment(s) I said to myself, I'm just going through the motions here?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 6
For the past couple of weeks you have experienced asynchronous online learning (doing modules by yourself). Previously this semester you have experienced synchronous online learning (all together in the Collaborate room). Which do you think is more effective and why do you think that? Which do you like better, and why?

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 5
This week we have what we call "open mic." You can write a post about anything related to your teaching that you would like responses from your classmates.

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 4
Here is this week's question: "What was the event that most took me surprise this week - and event that shook me up, caught me off guard, gave me a jolt, or made me unexpectedly happy?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 3
Please write a post about the following question, "In thinking about my past week teaching what is one thing I would do differently, and why?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 2
Please write a post about the following question, " In thinking about my teaching activities this past week, of what do I feel most proud? Why?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 1
Describe something you used in your program in the first weeks of school that you learned in the summer NTI program. How did it work? Did it get you off to a stronger start than last year?

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Post 2 - Dwayne Maynard

I believe one of the most rewarding aspects of a guidance counselor's job is seeing lives positively change their course because of their direct involvement with the students. I would imagine day to day they have students that do not listen to a word they say, but I would imagine that when they truly connect with a student, it makes it feel like all those times they were ignored were not in vain. I believe the most challenging parts of the job are teen pregnancy and dropout rates. It is very difficult to change the mind sets of students who encounter these issues. Most of the time, they come from broken families and are seeking attention, positive or negative. At the high school level, these negative attitudes have hardened over so many years that it makes the guidance counselors' jobs much more difficult. A case in point: Two counties that are nearby have daycare services available inside on the high school premises in order to accomodate high school mothers. It is used as a strategy to keep these mothers in school and to lower the county's drop out rates. I believe there are positive and negative aspects to being a guidance counselor. Their job definitely isn't easy.

2 comments:

Ginger said...

Dwayne,

I think I am probably a little naive but I had no idea that our high schools had such a large population of pregnant girls until I became a teacher. It must be very challenging to our guidance counselors to speak to these young ladies and then realize that they are going to do what they want anyway.

I have a young lady that was doing well (at least in my class) and I felt had a wonderful future ahead of her. She started seeing a young man that was older than her and even though the guidance counselors tried to talk to her, she has still ended up pregnant. Now she is missing a lot of school because she is sick and tired. I feel that sometimes the counselors must go home wondering what is the point. Deep down, I hope that they will still be able to help this young lady by directing her down a different but still successful path.

That is why they are so great. If the first solution does not work, then they just try again until something does work. The rewards may be hard work but they are well worth it.

Thozi Nomvete said...

I would imagine that if the horse does not drink, then the satisfaction comes from taking the horse to the river. If kids do not listen then counselors are certainly not to blame. Why do we tend to think that every solution MUST come from the school? Perhaps more should be said about the role of the parents, especially in instances such as these.