Changed Impressions

The profession of school counseling began in the early 1900’s devoting most of its time to career development of students. Throughout the development of the school counseling profession, it has been greatly influenced by global educational and social trends. With that being said, the role of school counselors is always changing in response to these trends through federal legislation, state initiatives, and changes within the profession itself. Therefore, the school counseling profession has evolved into a data-driven comprehensive developmental program that meet the needs of all students in the areas of academic, career, and personal/social. Additionally, these global events led to the development of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) national model which laid the foundation for school counselors to carefully design and deliver strategic interventions aimed at increasing academic achievement. Considering the pressures that are placed on today’s educators since the inception of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), school counselors are in a position of having to make sure they can show their contribution toward student achievement, hence the purpose of the study.

Perceived Roles

The role of guidance counselors is very ambiguous in most schools but it mainly depends on the administrator. Guidance counselors should serve as a support to assist students, parents, faculty, administrators, and community stakeholders. Guidance counselors help students through individual and small/large group guidance to grow academically and socially. Additionally, guidance counselors assist students with career exploration. Ultimately, guidance counselors wear many hats in schools' today. However, with growing accountability placed on schools' guidance counselors have become more academically focused. This is critical because it shows the influence in helping students achieve success, academically, and it helps others' view counselors differently that can lead to less non-counseling duties that are so often given to school counselors because of our role not totally being understood.

Rewards and Challenges

I believe that the rewards for our counselors is trying to get the underclassman to become successful and productive seniors. It always amazes me in the beginning of the school year to see the seniors happy to finally reach this milestone. Most seniors always start the year with a positive attitude, until they realize that the counselors are only there to guide them with their life's transition. Most seniors think that it is the responsibility of the counselors to make sure they remember deadlines. I think this would be a challenge because as juniors it seemed as if the counselors were always helping the seniors. I've seen the attitudes of the senior students change and become very negative during this period. It seemed that once the seniors had a better understanding and understood their responsibility in their life's transition; you would notice a better attitude. Students would then have ownership for their educational accomplishments.I believe that the counselors rewards are seeing all of the acceptance letters and scholarships that the students received with the counselors guidance assistance :)

Changed Impressions

After perusing the several articles, I was impressed on the history of documented counselors from as far back as the 1800's. I was also intrigued by the dynamics of guidance counselors and their career responsibilities with clarity on the functions of the elementary counselors compared to the middle and high school counselors. I agreed with the process of" prevention versus remediation" because of the state of our society. I call our students the "Microwave " generation because they want everything right now and tend to make bad choices and have to deal with the ramifications later. The guidance counselors are charged with assisting in the prevention of bad choices. I see now why our counselors do an awesome job with providing our students the opportunity to be involved with outside organizations and mentor programs. This will hopefully give the students incite for the individual growth and exposure to various elements.

Guidance and Counseling

Since I'm in my third year teaching, I've had an opportunity to work with counseling in many different settings. I've had LD students in my class and even got to serve in special ed last school year where I seemingly dealt with counseling on a weekly basis.

I'm have an interview set up with my lead guidance counseler tomorrow, which should be interesting since Dr. Sansing has been in the profession for 20+ years. She should be able to shed a lot of light on the different topics we are to discuss.

Prior to this meeting, and as it stands today, if I had to choose a single word that described the guidance and counseling department it would be supportive. My understanding is that they are in place to provide support for the learning institution by serving administration, teacher, students, and students' parents. The administer services that help students find a place or set of circumstances that allow them to learn their best while being fair to all parties involved.

Guidance and counseling have the difficult job of balancing the ever increasing demands in the classroom with the current learning progress and challenges of students with a wide array of backgrounds, experience, and family circumstances. They try leverage what resources they have available to them to help a student maximize their learning potential while also keeping the welfare of the overall school's mission in sight as well.

Perceived Roles

I assume that the guidance counselors play a very pivotal role with all students. Their job can be very challenging and demanding on a daily basis. I feel that a good counselor has the responsibility of guiding, maintaining and keeping the students on task with their education, personal and financial goals. I believe that they have to have excellent communication and organizational skills to keep themselves and their students on track. The counselors at our school have the responsibility of creating student schedules that must be on the pathway of graduating.each grade level. They must assist with making sure students are tested when required by the state,summer programs,ACT/SAT testing,financial aid, add/drop class changes, new student enrollment and recovery classes/packets just to name a few.  There list can go on and on. I also understand that if a student expresses' suicidal or homicidal ideations that a counselor has to be made aware of this situation along with the administrators to assist the student emotionally. My perception of the counselors roles and responsibility means that you need to be a very special person and have a desire to help others. I believe that this person has to be dedicated to education and the well being of all the students that they come in contact.

Rewards and Challenges

At our school, alumni students return every year toward the end of the fall semester for a special occasion. The occasion is known as Youth Motivation Day where the entire school attends an assembly and listen to the the challenges and rewards that former students have encountered after graduation. The alumni are then broken into groups and rotate to different advisories and share more personal experiences about their college experience and the road they travelled to get there. Counselors at our school have commented that this day is eye opening and sometimes daunting because they have to face the post secondary success and failures of our students. I think that experience above all else is both rewarding and challenging for our counselors.

Rewards and Challenges

As others in the class have said, I also believe that the rewards to the counselor is seeing the students they work with succeed.
I think the biggest challenge would be the large number of students that they have to deal with throughout the year. They all have problems and issues that the counselor may have to deal with.

Changed Impressions

After the reading assignment my opinion of what the role of the guidance counselor hasn't changed that much, although I did find interesting the history of counseling and how it got started. It was interesting to see that it some of the early foundations of the modern counselor can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and the middle age Catholic priests. It was also interesting to read that counseling was used in the late 1800's and early 1900's to help people escape poverty, and that the military used counseling to assess draftees to position them in a correct role.
The role of the counselor has changed throughout the decades, but the one thing that seems to remain constant is the work they do with evaluation. Whether they are busy with CRCT, SAT, ACT, ASVAB or graduation tests, they spend much of their time with evaluation or assesments. I had always thought that guidance counselers was to help students to figure what kind of college or career that they were interrested in, but I was un-aware of the amount of assesment that they are involved in in helping the students make the decisions.

Rewards and Challenges

I think the most rewarding part of a guidance counselor’s work is student success.  I believe little successes make a big difference too, because it would be extremely difficult to wait until year’s end for a celebration. 

I also think a major challenge in the profession would be handling the emotional toll.  Our society is moving so fast that the issues of students ten years ago seem ancient when compared to current student issues.  Even with a strong personality, I imagine it a takes a great amount of balance to not take students problems personally.  

Changed Impressions

After completing the required reading my impressions of a guidance counselor’s roles and responsibilities did not drastically change.  However, two aspects of the research did make an impression.  One facet that captured my attention was the historical changes that occurred and dictated the changes in the counselor’s responsibilities. Probably, what resonates the loudest were teachers being appointed counselors as an additional duty.  This sounds very familiar to me because at my school teachers are being trained as advisers to assist counselors with overwhelming workloads.  Another, aspect that I found interesting was the counselor’s role in analyzing and correlating data to AYP.  This factor alone emphasizes the multi- disciplinary backgrounds of counselors.

Changed Impressions

After reading the website articles I felt good that my perceived roles of counselors were quite accurate. However the articles did provide some better insight into the field of counseling. In the article titled "A Brief History of School Guidance and Counseling in the United States" it was interesting to find out that guidance counseling began with vocational advising and not mental health counseling. The most informative article was entitled "Why secondary school counseling" where it discussed in detail the challenges faced by the 21st century school counselor. It discussed the role of counselors in the "design, development, implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive, developmental and systematic school-counseling program". Based on the recent pressures of high-stakes test scores, guidance counselors now have the tremendous responsibility to use data to influence academic success, a role that previously did not exist.

Perceived Roles

I perceive that guidance counselor is very important in student success. Being in career tech allows me insight into the world of our school counselors. I know that they are heavily involved in scheduling. At the beginning of every school term, they spend countless grueling hours arranging student schedules and making sure students are on the right track for graduation. Many students look to their guidance counselor for personal guidance with friends, family and their teachers. Guidance counselors are responsible for testing in our building, students and teachers alike. Guidance counselors have many duties but are acknowledged the least in the school system. I look forward to interviewing my guidance counselor because counseling was once an interest and somewhat still is.

Rewards and Challenges

After researching the roles of school counselors, I have found many different rewards and challenges they face in their jobs. The rewards can be huge for some counselors, and seem to be very satisfying. But, the challenges of this job can seem to out way some of the rewards.

Some of the main rewards that counselors see in their job are students making something of themselves. It seems it would be a huge reward to a counselor to watch a poverty stricken students become valedictorian and go to a wonderful college. Or, see a teen mom graduate with honors, and much more. Also, a large reward in this job could be having their school make AYP after losing its accreditation. This is a huge feat in which many schools face.

But, the challenges of this job are of many. Some of the main challenges faced by counselors are having their students pass standardized test, keeping AYP, handling scheduling issues, interpreting racial discrepancies, etc. The one thing that seems to be a huge challenge for them thought, is time management. Having a job with so many aspects can really take up a huge amount of time and really make time management a problem. Their job is by far one of the most rewarding and challenging in the educational field.

Changed Impressions

What a whirlwind of difference a little research makes. Based on my first post, I already thought I knew a lot about what a counselors job entailed. I am personal friends with a school counselor, and believed I knew the end and out of their job. However, I was very mistaken. Not only do they handle matters of students issues in school, and educational placement, but they also have a great deal of time with teachers, parents, and other public and community officials.

Another large aspect of their job is handling standardized testing and other aspects of academic achievement and school leadership achievement. I didn't quite realize how much data collection and analysis went on in this job title. This is in part a benefit of the HB1187 act. Which, seems to be a huge help in community involvement as well as teaching issues about children with disabilities. This is a large benefit to teachers, as we are not the determining factors of educational placement, but simply facilitate it.

Also, my impression changed in how I expected that school counselors come about. I didn't realize that forms of counseling were here before the Great Depression. Also, I would not have imagined the job derived from a vocational guidance movement that helped to guide adults in the workforce. Many different thoughts about counselors jobs have changed for me. I plan to show them a little more respect and help to facilitate their roles more than I have in the past.

''Rewards and Challenges''

‘’Rewards and Challenges’’

I think what would be most rewarding for guidance counselors are seeing students succeed in life. Students graduate from high school, attend college or technical schools, get employed or seek employment and/or get married are all positive outcomes for success.  Guidance counselors are accountable for all students; therefore, all levels of success (small or large, high school or college) by students should be recognized, applauded and encouraged. Guidance counselors should feel a sense of euphoria and proud that their program promoted and enhanced students success.  Nevertheless, success is initially set by goals of students and enhanced by counselors, teachers, administrators, parents and other family members.  However, success did not occur without challenges. I think the most challenging responsibility for guidance counselors would be finding time to assign/reassign classes or advise students when program meetings are scheduled. Counselors have numerous roles and responsibilities and meeting the need of a student is a number one priority.  Guidance counselors must be flexible and accessible to students at all times preferred.

Jan/Jannie

‘’Changed Impressions’’

‘’Changed Impressions’’

My impressions of the role and responsibilities of guidance counselors have improved.  After reading the websites, my allegiance and respect for guidance counselor’s role and responsibilities have increased by two hundred percent. Counselors have enormous role and responsibilities. Not only are counselors focusing on academics, personal/ social development, confidentiality and collaboration with parents, teachers, administrators, to name a few, but are accountable for student’s success.  School/guidance counselors develop and implement data and participate in continuous program evaluation activities. Checks and balances are necessary to assess the outcome of student’s success which I failed to mention in Blog 1. As stated in the article, ‘’school counselors analyze outcome data to guide future action and improve future results of all students’’. Guidance counselors must adhere to and/or enhance comprehensive school counseling programs that promote students’ success.  Guidance counselors are vital to the success of students, all students and the collaboration of those involved.  I have always tried to assist counselors when needed, but after reading the websites, I will now volunteer my assistance to counselors.

Jan/Jannie

Perceived Roles

‘’Perceived Roles’’

My personal impressions of what the roles and responsibilities of guidance counselors include a strong commitment to student’s academic and social needs. Guidance counselors are professionals who provide assistance to elementary, middle, high school and college student’s curriculum.  Guidance counselors review or assess each student’s school record to determine what classes are required to advance to the next grade or graduate. Test scores and health records are assessed to determine what limitations a child may or may not have.  Guidance counselors refer students to the school psychologist, if applicable, as well as confer with their teachers and parents. Guidance counselors administer tests to determine a student’s interest and/or educational goals.  A guidance counselor’s responsibility is to make sure each child is happy and successful in graduating from high school by developing a plan- IEP. Guidance counselors are responsible for helping students get into colleges by developing an academic plan during high school. Guidance counselors assist with SAT preps and other tests as well as gather material for colleges.  Guidance counselors are approachable, compassionate, empathetic, non- judgmental, good listeners, patient and have the abilities to build a positive trusting professional relationship.

Jan

Perceived Roles

‘’Perceived Roles’’

My personal impressions of what the roles and responsibilities of guidance counselors include a strong commitment to student’s academic and social needs. Guidance counselors are professionals who provide assistance to elementary, middle, high school and college student’s curriculum.  Guidance counselors review or assess each student’s school record to determine what classes are required to advance to the next grade or graduate. Test scores and health records are assessed to determine what limitations a child may or may not have.  Guidance counselors refer students to the school psychologist, if applicable, as well as confer with their teachers and parents. Guidance counselors administer tests to determine a student’s interest and/or educational goals.  A guidance counselor’s responsibility is to make sure each child is happy and successful in graduating from high school by developing a plan- IEP. Guidance counselors are responsible for helping students get into colleges by developing an academic plan during high school. Guidance counselors assist with SAT preps and other tests as well as gather material for colleges.  Guidance counselors are approachable, compassionate, empathetic, non- judgmental, good listeners, patient and have the abilities to build a positive trusting professional relationship.

Jan

Rewards and Challenges

I honestly think one of the most rewarding times for a guidance counselor is graduation day! It's got to be a great feeling to see this student whom you've worked with for 4years meet their goal of graduating on time, passing all of those test, and most importantly not giving up. I've seen even at my own school how some of them get real emotional that day.
I also think that their reward is also the challenge! The challenge is making sure the students are on the right path, they pass their graduation test, they graduate on time, and to keep the students encouraged not to give up especially in hard times. The rewards and challenges of a guidance counselor to me are about the same.

"Changed Impressions"

My impressions really have not changed about what I thought about the role of guidance counselors. I did find that they really have to know how to deal with the parents of the children and that can sometimes be difficult. I also learned that most guidance counselors really do care for the children and want the best for them. I have also found that they sometimes seek help from the teachers in the school to further help them with the students and their pathways. I love the way they can have that one on one time with the students.

Perceived Roles

I perceive the roles of a school counselor are mainly to advise students academically. In the small school setting it is necessary that CTE teachers work with the counselor to ensure successful pathway completion and career advisement. However, in addition to student scheduling and assisting seniors with college applications, counselors are skillful at personal and social development of all students.

Perceived Roles - Angela

I perceive the roles and responsibilities of the guidance counselor as those similar to a liaison officer. Guidance counselors are the link between students, parents, faculty and the community. Additionally, I feel the counselor’s role is multi-faceted and varies according to each student’s needs. Over the years, I am certain that their responsibilities have changed. Once upon a time, the counselor was someone that assisted students with their academic needs. However, with the rapid social changes of today, the role of counselor has changed to someone that can help students with everything from class schedules to connecting them to community resources to acquire a bed for their young child. In closing, counselors’ connected to academics, but equally they do link students to resources that assist with staying in school. For instance, the assistance could be online financial aid applications or online part time employment applications. Either way counselors are a critical part of the educational process.

“Perceived Roles.”

These are my perceived roles:

1. Help students decide on a pathway
2. Help students with schedules
3.Work with parents to ensure the child is on the right path
4. Encourage the students to do well in all classes.
5. Provide college information
6.Help teachers with schedules

Rewards and Challenges

Rewards and Challenges
I think the most rewarding thing for guidance counselors would be the satisfaction of knowing they helped a student reach their goals. Whether the goal was purely academic or if it was more of a life goal it would be rewarding to the counselor if they were able to contribute to the accomplishment of that goal. The most challenging for guidance counselors would be to deal with a student that was having major problems at home. So many of our kids are in bad situations at home and look to the counselors and teachers to help them solve those problems. Drugs, alcohol, gangs, physical abuse and much more plague some of our students. The counselor is often the first line of help in the school for these kids. This can be both rewarding and challenging for the counselor.

Percieved Roles

The guidance counselor is a very important of our team at the school. They have to start a few days earlier in the school year than the teachers, so that they can start getting student schedules started and getting our classes filled. They are responsible for talking to students to find out what kind of career that they are interested in pursuing, and helping them to find the best path to that career. They are deeply involved in testing for end of pathways, SAT, ACT and other college entry tests.They help students with the college application process, and they arrange tours. They sometimes also work with us to move students out of our class if it turns out not to be the correct fit for them. Occasionally they will assist us with discipline issues. I am sure there are more things that I have not thought about, but that's all I have.

Changed Impressions

Changed Impressions:
My impressions of the roles and responsibilities of guidance counselors has not changed dramatically but has expanded. The amount of responsibility that the counselor’s burden has expanded to include the parents of the students. It’s almost as if they are family counselors. I didn’t realize that guidance counselors were members of the national professional organization. I was unaware of the extensive education that they must complete. The following was taken from the GSU web site…. Students wishing to pursue the initial certification/non-degree program in school counseling must hold a master's degree in counseling from a program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. I also didn’t realize the amount of professional development was required. I have had great experience with my guidance counselors and realize what a valuable and important part they play in the education of a child. They have always been helpful to me whenever there was a need.

" Rewards and challenges"

First I will start with the rewards of being a guidance counselor. I would think that one reward of being a counselor would be just knowing that they are a service to people that helps! Nothing negative usually comes out of guidance. Students are helped acedemically through them and emotionally. Having someone trust you with private issues and problems good or bad is admirable. The self gratification of the job reminds me of construction. In construction when you help someone achieve a product to their liking it feels great. This is much like a counselor. They help students get what they need whether it be classes or emotional help. One challenge though that would seem to be held over a counselors head would be that they must always keep in mind what exactly to say or how to word a conversation with parents and students. Some parents are easily ignited when talked to. It would be tough to know that personal information is legally confidential. One other challenge would be that they are mostly responsible for making sure students have all their credits to graduate and are ready for college. I know that guidance helps my program alot because they see when students are doing poorly in some areas which sometimes brings them to the CTAE department. They feel that some students after being evaluated best belong in career tech areas. Some students may not be " college material". Carer tech offers real job training that you can't get in acedemic classes.

" Changed impressions"

My impression of a guidance counselor hasn't changed much. I knew that they had a huge responsibilty to fullfill. I do know that I didn't realize how much training and schooling that they have to complete just to be a counselor. I guess that it makes sense to have that much training because there is alot of different responsibilities that they carry. Sometimes it seems that they "have it made" but really do more behind the scenes. Having to obtain a master's degree just to get the career says alot. I know that if they didn't receive extensive training there could be legal liabilities to the school system. Guidance deals with crisis, students, parents, colleges, teachers, etc.... I guess what I am trying to say is that guidance counselors probably have more education than most teachers and alot of duties. Guidance should " be your friends"!

Perceived Roles

Guidance Counselors are the building blocks of our education. They truly carry a large responsibility of making sure our school system is ran correctly, as well as ensuring our education is on track to be a good learning experience for our students, as well as meeting state requirements.

The Guidance Counselors in my school system are by far a backbone for our outstanding academic achievement and scholars. They make sure all students are on the right educational track with their classes and which classes they should be planning to take in the future. They also help students achieve their desired grades on standardized test and such, by planning extra classes after school, as well as giving up their one on one time to work with these students as need be.

They help aid in disciplinary actions and help to stop some of the negativity that causes discipline to be implemented before it even starts. Our counselors offer many courses for parents, student and teachers to teach about bullying, teen relationship issues, etc. They truly have their plates full. Amidst all of this, it is in their job to seek out the teens pregnant in a school system to help get them the help they need as well. We actually offer a class for these moms to help them stay in school and see that they can still make something of themselves.

On top of all of this. Our counselors also attend to the attendance policies and make it their priority to see students at school. In fact, I accredit them with being a big part of why we have made AYP since our school opened in 2009. I truly don't think schools can run properly without this job being done properly. Counselors are wonderful.

Perceived Roles

Perceived Roles- Paul
My perceived Roles and responsibilities of the guidance counselors are as listed:
1. Work with the students on scheduling courses and pathways.
2. Keep up with student transcripts.
3. Counsel students in different areas i.e. personal, educational and future goals.
4. They keep up with student placement testing.
5. Health and shot records.
6. Work in recruitment of new students.
7. Work as the students liaison between teachers, parents, students, colleges, universities militaries, and administration. They represent the student in all types of different situations.
8. They are problem solvers and investigators.
9. Record keepers for student information.

"Perceived roles"

From my experiences with guidance I see that they are a crucial part of our school. The guidance department at our school have many duties. One job of theirs is to "guide" the students in the right direction to graduate. This takes alot of coordination between the teachers, admin., and the counselors. They make sure that the students are in the right courses they need and in the proper order to keep them on the right path that the student chooses to take for graduation. The guidance department also deals with personal issues with students and familes. If a student is struggling emotionally about something or their grades are slipping or even having family problems they are there to help. The guidance department deals with issues that may have legalities tied to them also. Testing such as ASVAB and others are orchestrated through guidance also. College preparations are handled and assisted through guidance to students. Guidance can assist students in applying for scholarships, military entrance, and college placements. Schedules are run through guidance prior to students receiving them. The guidance office prepares them and makes sure class numbers are correct and that the students are in classes that they are supposed to have. Guidance is like the human resource department at your schools. My guidance department at my school has helped me tremendously over the last two years.

Surprises

I typically like surprises and what they represent. Surprises are usually fun and create variety and zeal in life. However, sometimes surprises can be troubling and this year I'm trying to figure out if my demeanor as a teacher is good or bad.

When I first came from the business field I was a bottom line oriented thinker and operated that way on a daily basis. I did so because the rigors of running a business required me to be that way. I took that approach with my students because I was asked to by administration after taking over for a previous teacher who could not control the students as it was explained to me by the principal. Well control over my "domain" isn't something I've had a lot issues with in the past so control them I did. So much so that it wasn't very fun for the students or me until we had an understanding on how they were to behave day in and day out. Behavior was easily my biggest challenge as teaching unfortunately became secondary to that since there wasn't going to be any learning going on until the behavior changed.

Being new to teaching I knew literally nothing about the fact that my class was an elective, and consequently reliant upon myself only for the recruitment of future students. The hard translation of that is that is was up to me to create the need to even have a construction program. That's tough to do when your class is filled with utter behavior misfits.

Since the construction program took a 1-year hiatus due to budget constraints, I was afforded the opportunity to recruit some new kids to my program this year. Not all but some mind you. Dr. Burns would be proud because I made a decision with the end in mind, in that I would attempt to teach this year with much less yelling and frustration aimed at constant behavior problems. I'd simply hand out discipline and remove kids if necessary but do it with a smile.

The problem is, at this point I don't know if surprisingly it's working or if it's not working. I have an ongoing internal debate if I should be much more demanding or continue to handle issues with a swift by "softer" exterior. It's really hard when you have only male students with some of them desperately in need of a male role model, since there is none at home.

I hope that at the end of the year, I'll be pleasantly surprised by the outcome of this approach. It's definitely the opposite of my instinct in regards to repeat offenders because I only operate in an orderly environment and not chaos, which is what my kids obviously prefer too often. There are good days and bad for both me and them, but surprisingly we're all still here, in tact, and still driving towards our academic goals. Color me surprised.

Surprised Student

Surprised Student which really doesn't surprize me.

Shop math class today we will be learning how to Measure a footing to figure out the cubic yards so we will know how much concrete to order from the supplier. ......... Student: Why do you need math in construction anyway? You just build stuff anyway. A linear yard, square yard, cubic yard who cares. Mr.G...... I want to go in the back and build something. Ok what do you want to build? A dog house. Ok get me a picture of what kind you want to build, the dimensions of the dog house, the type and slope of the roof, draw a set of plans to include a floor plan and two elevations one front elevation and one the side elevation, and put together a material list, do a cost estimate and a takeoff, get back to me with those items along with an invoice and purchase order for the materials needed and I will get you started now. That is as long as you can get it to me today and get it without using math. If you can do that I will even pay for the materials out of my pocket. OK I will.....
Surprised at Hardaway.

Gomer Pyle's voice, SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE

The thing that surprised me most was plan as we may, there is always one more thing to do. This week was long for me because I had a Dr's appt., Magnet Open House and class Tuesday then we worked yesterday. The surprise occurred Tuesday morning. Not only did our principal want to showcase the Magnet Program( of which I am not part ), he wanted a complete Curriculum Fair with table displays for each class. So rather than gathering material calmly for my classes. I was rushing around to set up a display. A display for which I would not be present to discuss. That really concerned me because I wanted to show items that really represented my classes. However, my main worry was that some of my displayed items might walk away. Luckily, they didn't and I was able to use several things I still had put together from the Perry Fair. I only wished after I read the email that I had Dr. Burns or Ms. Chillis asking one of us to explain back what it was I thought I was suppose to be doing! In the end it worked out fine for the 50 or so parents that came out.

what a surprise!

this week has been a crazy one! First of all I am constantly reminded of the challenges that you face as a teacher. Just to start, I have a couple students in a couple of classes that are just off the wall. Well they have been either out or suspended a couple days this week and it is amazing the difference in the attitude of the class when they are gone. My classes were great!! On a second and the worst part of my week happened today. I had a student(9th grader) to go to the office today for acting up in the hallway. Well I'm not sure how it came up but he ended up in the office for a completely different reason. Another student accused him of selling marijuana to another student at school. They didn't find anything so they let him go. He came during my lunch to get his books and I asked what happened and he said that he was accused and I said "well did you or did you not distribute marijuana at school" and he said no sir. Maybe I should have left it at that, but he gave the look to the left and right as if he were lying to me. I said tell me the truth! I have established a great relationship with my students to the point where they have grown to trust me and confide in me. I love this, but he actually admitted to me that he did it!!!!! Now I was obligated to tell administration. I realllllllllllly didn't want to because I felt like I was breaking a precious thing with him called TRUST. I told on him though. I knew I had the legal obligation to. This day has been really hard for me. He left the office when told not to and came straight to me. He was so upset that I thought he was going to have an anxiety attack! He was hurt that I told on him. I hope one day that he realizes that I just didn't want him to go down the road he was taking. He is only fifteen years old. This day really surprised me of how emotional this career is!!

Surprise Surprise

The thing that surprised me is the lack of drive of most of my students. I feel like they are being given so much that they do not appreciate anything. For the most part, there are only a handful of hard workers or go getters, if you will. They curse like they are grown up sailors in a strip club and that the girls. The focus is on everything else but school work. The economy is such that you really need to be preparing for your career right now. My students do not get that. It's as if they thing we are lying to them. Maybe they are part of a group that I like to call lottery winners because that is the only way some of them will be able to make money. We talked about social skills in this class. This is the number one thing that these kids need. When and if they get a job, it may be difficult to keep a job. In this day and age jobs are few and far between. That is what surprised me this week which was the lack of drive of my current students.

blog topic

Just wanted to make sure I have not missed any recent or new blog topic. The topic shows up as week of Sept 18 and 25...

Tough week to be weak

Our community and students lost a young man this week to a terrible accident. That student was Conner Weeks and he was in my class at Hardaway and in Jessie’s class at Shaw during the last 2 years. Below is the announcement to teachers about the incident.
“ I regret to inform you that a terrible accident occurred off campus that involved current and former Hardaway students. Conner Weeks attended Hardaway for nearly three years. He was attending Shaw this school year as a Senior. He was accidentally shot last night. He did not survive. He died at the Medical Center early Sunday morning.
The shooting was ruled an accident by the Columbus Police Department. As of this evening, no crime has been committed. The incident occurred at the home of one of our students. The young men were handling a gun that was believed to be unloaded when it fired. There may have been more students at the residence when the incident occurred.
Conner had many friends that are current Hardaway students. He was very popular with his classmates. I am requesting help from the MCSD Crisis Management Team (Guidance Staff). Counselors will be available to speak with students on Monday.
This incident will be on the minds of many of our students. On Monday, it's important to get back to our normal routine. If a student needs to talk with a counselor, send them to Guidance. There is no need to discuss the incident in the classroom setting.”
My surprise this week is the way we must as teachers handle situations like this. We must put aside our emotions and ties to the situation and be understanding but not have an opinion and stay completely neutral. If we have a tie to the situation then that must stay private even to the students and faculty that know of our ties. We must be compassionate to the students but not council them. We must leave the counseling up to the professionals. Don’t get me wrong I understand this position and why we must comply. It was just a shock at the way teachers have to handle this type of situation and something I was ill prepared for. It was an awareness of the liability issues that allow teachers say only certain things that surprised me also. Tough day seeing these students grieve about the loss their friend and not be able to console them other than to say this was a tragic accident, I’m sorry for your loss, and if you need to talk with a counselor you may go to the guidance office. I was able to do this most of the day until the last class in which most of his friends and the friends of the other boys were in. Still didn’t talk about it much other than to say sorry and give the grieving nod to the kids so they knew it was a loss for me also and i could feel their pain.
The surprising good that came out of this is that three rival schools and a community have come together to support each other during this tragic time.

David letterman

Im sorry but I couldn't find the Top Ten you were referring to. I missed it and they haven't posted it on the computer yet. I'll check again in a couple of days.

One Thing Surprising

One thing surprising this week was that I didn't realize how well children can pull together in times of crisis. Our school had a student die from an accidental gunshot wound. The kids in my school have really shown how much they care for eachother by grieving together, sharing stories together, and great memories about him. Not only are the kids at my school doing this, but they are also communicating and participating in activities with the kids at Hardaway High also. I have been surprised at how bad some children take this situation in comparison to others. These kind of situations also opened up my eyes because I now hope I treat each student great each day no matter how much they may get on your nerves because you never know what tomorrow may bring. This student was the second student of mine to pass in two years. One thing that has been bothering me is that the student that was murdered last year didn't get nowhere near the recognition. It kind of saddens me to know this. Im not sure why people didn't really make a big deal about it and have made a huge deal about it this year?! I am surprised at my mixed emotions I guess. What do ya'll think?

David Letterman

I enjoyed listening to the top ten things you don't learn about teaching in college. I copied them because I can definitely relate (my comment follows each). 10. Why are the bad kids never sick? I wonder the same thing.
9. No matter how sick you are, it is easier to come into school than to write sub plans. I used to feel like this, but now, thanks to NTI this summer, sub plans is a piece of cake!!!!
8. When students tell you they really have to go to the bathroom, always believe them. This is true, I have a story to tell.
7. Forget your college friends and loved ones, who’s your best friend? Wipes!!!! Good point!
6. How to disarm the school alarm system on the weekend! I have a story to tell…!
5. You’ll get so sick and tires of hearing your last name, you’ll want to change it. Oh, I can relate!!!
4. Your fitness program will consist of carrying your bags to and from school. So true, weight lost is a possibility.
3. Two words, ‘Differentiated Instruction” So true…
2. The principal’s office is still scary…Yes, it is!!!
1. Always be good to your superintendent. Always!!!
Jan

surprise

What surprise me about students is how obedient they are when someone comes in the classroom (such as a principal, assistant principal or evaluator). Suddenly, students become angels and you can hear a pin drop. It seems as though they have planned their reactions and will not deviate from that demeanor. It’s amazing how students can set such positive examples. However, it doesn’t last. Students know how and when to act in a professional manner. I am working on ways students can maintain that positive attitude without any restraints. They can and will maintain high standards for themselves, it just takes time. I am glad to know, they can make discipline decisions without my assistance. I will continue to encourage positive behavior, because it works!!!!
Jan

Surprised

For the last few weeks we have been working on shop math. I have been trying to teach it in different ways to keep the interest of the students, which is not too easy.
This week while teaching surface area and volume, I gave the students a piece of isometric graft paper and demonstrated how to use the paper to draw some three dimensional cubes. I then had the students try drawing some cubes to be sure that they could grasp the concept. I used my doc. cam with some real cubes to give them a good visual of what they would look like. I stacked some cubes after that and had them draw the stacked cubes. When they mastered that which didn't take too long, I had them write their initials in cubes. This took a little longer because some of the letters can be difficult to draw. When they were finished with that, I had them figure the surface area and volume of their initials.
I really wasn't sure how the lesson would go over, but I was surprised that the students liked it and put some really good effort into it. I was also surprised that I actually had some veteran teachers that are planning on using that lesson in the future.
In the lessons that followed, I built upon that and had them drawing more complicated isometric drawings, which I think is important for teaching spacial relationships and visualization. I think this will help me in the future when we start designing and creating duct work.

surprise

"What one thing this week surprised you most about your teaching, and why?"

One thing that I am constantly surprised by, more so this week, is how the students constantly "beat the system" when it comes to discipline and consequences.

Students in my school know exactly what to do when they are called in for discipline. They know to hand off any illegal objects to their friends when they get called to the administration office. They know how to point blame onto someone else when they get accused of doing something wrong. The even know that they can get away with straight up refusal to follow policy or procedures. When they do get to the administration office, they know that they can refuse to answer questions if they choose to, and refuse to cooperate. Students also know the "consequences" of each infraction, and brag about each one...

The administration turns a blind eye to what is going on, despite it being widely known by the teaching staff. Administration refuses to change their policy on discipline, and denies that the system is flawed and failing. Administration also "cannot come up with any way to stop students from potentially handing off items" when students are called to the office - even though we teachers have suggested sending an escort to retrieve students. And the list goes on...

How does this relate to me? I have written referrals for several students over the past 3 weeks, and only one student has been disciplined in any way. I am surprised at the apparent apathy by the administration regarding student conduct. I am also surprised at the fact that the administration places the blame back on the teachers...

However, the more it happens, the less surprised I am.

Don't break the routine

The thing that surprised me most last week was how much kids want structure and routine. Last Friday I was called to an unannounced parent conference right at the beginning of my 4th block. The timing could not have been worst, because I think the first few minutes of class really sets the tone for the day. On a normal day my opening is a literacy activity from a quote. However, this day would be different because of the conference. Well when I returned, nearly 40 minutes later from the conference I wanted to pick up where my covering teacher had ended. But Nooo... imagine my amazement when one of the most disruptive kids in the class raised his hand and asked aren't we gonna do the opening cause I have something to say about it. Well the biggest smile rushed over my face and I said by all means, I will do the opening so you can make your comment. I said all of that, to say this. Even though kids sometime fight us tooth and nail on structure and routine they need it, expect it and deep down probably want it. It was a good day.

Good and Bad

After the last several Tuesday sessions, I decided to step out on the limb and actually try some of the different activities discussed. One of the new activities I tried was Reading Groups, as I attempted to implement this into my strategy for introducing new material.

Reading Groups is an activity where you assign students to small size groups so they can read, cover, and hopefully learn new material. I was circling back to finish my safety unit and was introducing fire safety to my Intro class. I broke the students into groups of 3 and assigned roles of Reader (audibly), note taker, and timekeeper.

My first surprise came when the first time we tried this as a class it actually went well. The assignment was to complete their own group notes, complete a short research project, and each do 5 review questions at the end of the section. 90% of the class completed the assignment in it's entirity. I did have to prompt several times with us doing this for the first time, but I expected that.

My second surprise came when I did a verbal formative summative assessment with the class to determine what they actually learned. I was surprised because despite the fact that most completed the review questions, participated in the active reading of the short section, and had a hand in their group notes along with a short research project that some still had a difficult time applying critical thinking skills to some more complicated questions.

The good is that they completed the new assignment. The bad is that upon completion they were only able to regurgitate simple information and few could assess or evaluate situations based on what they had covered.

Doing differently......

This week I placed my students in small groups. I actually gave students numbers and placed them in groups by those numbers. It worked out perfectly. It cut down on excessive talking in MOST of my classes. My students are completing group assignments and I am holding them more accountable as a group and individual. We completed a Gallery Walk this week that was very successful ! I felt like we were really in an art gallery. Students were very quiet, stayed on task and were very excited about reviewing the answers.
Now, that was the good, my bad is that its hard to keep two students motivated in my second period class. I teach them the same lessons as my other classes. They have portfolios and present their work during class but its boring to them (of course no audience) All of my other classes are pretty nice sizes. Its a hard transition for me to teach my first period class of 28 students and then 2 students. The flow of this class is very fast and both of these students are very focused. I am looking for a way to keep these two students just as excited as my other classes. Does anyone have any suggestions for this situation?

Jessie's week!

In the last five days I have taught about 40 new students how to measure without having alot of confusion. I was very, very pleased when I tested them on it and they did so well. I taught it a little different than I did last year and really quizzed them on it. After I knew they were doing well enough with their new found knowledge of measuring, I had an estimating and measuring exercise in the full sized house we have out in the back of the constructrion area. The students responded to this assignment really well. The students were placed, by me, in groups of four to estimate materials needed to finish the interior of the home. This assignment has been really teaching them some very useful information. The students even see the use in the assignment. My advanced classes have actually been jealous because they didnt get to do it last year!! I guess what I am saying is that I was pleasantly surprised at how much these students were learning and how great this is knowing that this group of children will have me for a few more years!

Something surprising

I was very surprised that my students did such a WONDERFUL job on their jigsaw work. We broke each class up into 5 sections, because their are 5 sections in our current chapter, over Shampoo, Conditioner, and Scalp Treatment. They are now presenting what they have planned for their lessons, and it is going very well.

Of course, there were some students who lacked enthusiasm to TEACH the course. But, they all really seemed to plan well and their lesson plans look wonderful. I had them come up with the lp's, their eq's, and each assignment for the entire day of our hour and 45 class. This had to include a quiz as well. Most of them also included some sort of lab with their work. It turned out great from all aspects.

I actually am using a lot of their quiz questoins to come up with this units test. I am very surprised at how well the students took to this assignment, and how much time and effort they actually put into it. I can honestly say....I am a proud teacher this week. :)

different

"What one thing would I do differently this past week with my teaching activities and why?"

There is one major thing that I would have done differently this week if given the opportunity - be more strict.

We started out the week working in the lab/shop, and clean up was the goal, as the shop was in disarray from a rough week prior. The groups each had their tasks and jobs to perform. I left it up to them to make sure these duties were completed in the time allowed.

It turns out that leaving groups to work on their own pace is a bad idea. Of the 5 groups in each class, maybe 2 groups actually completed their tasks. Of these completed groups, only 1-2 members completed the tasks - the others simply watched or looked busy until the job was done.

Upon completion of the clean up time, I spoke with the groups and got various excuses and reasons that the groups could not get done. This was very troublesome. I tried to be lenient on the groups and allow them to work at their own pace, and they failed. I should have been much more strict and enforced the "no work no grade" policy that I take when working in the lab... Silly me, it will not happen again...

Hindsight is 20/20

What I would do differently as it relate to a teaching activity this week is change how I responded to the inappropriate classroom behavior of my 4th block.   My response to their behavior was reactive and not proactive.   Which was completely opposite of what I learned in NTI and know as on so many other levels.    On Thursday I planned a small group activity that we never got to because of students' excessive talking, laughing and playing around.  Knowing that this block is my most challenging class I should have planned better how I would address my habitual behavior issues.   With this class its seems that when I address one behavior issue another is developing during that moment.   To me it seems as though I am spending more time addressing behavior that teaching.   All I can say is I was completely and totally perplexed by the total disregard for the lack basic respect.   As a result I was completely off my game and modified the lesson to reading aloud, lecture and note taking :(   I have tried the usual consequences; warnings, parent phone calls  even referrals to AP but nothing has deterred the inappropriate behavior.  So I plan to spend a good part of my Saturday calling parents and planning what to do with about 7 individual students.