Rewards and Challenges

After reading about the school counselor’s role in not only guiding a student through the education process, but also guiding the student with emotional needs, I would have to say I think the most rewarding aspect of being a school counselor is seeing your hard work pay off. Whether it is helping a child overcome a bad situation at home, deciding on their next step after graduation, or just being a shoulder they can cry on, I think counselors would be most proud when they see their efforts with students pay off. I think the most challenging part about being a school counselor would have to be the sheer volume of work that has to be accomplished each day. It seems like they have several plates spinning at every moment of the day, and at the drop of a hat they could be called to a completely different task. I think that part of the job could be confusing and stressful.

Changed Impressions

I knew that our school counselors (not guidance counselors) took on a lot of responsibilities, but I think the part of the readings that stood out the most is the list of monthly requirements for them to meet in the schools. The timeline for activities almost acts as a series of standards for the counselors, like the state classroom standards relate to teachers. The other parts of the readings that stood out was about counselors helping with job readiness and assisting students in finding their future career options. I guess my initial thought was that counselors focus on colleges and universities, I never stopped to think about them helping students who aren’t going to pursue post-secondary education.

Changed Impressions

My impressions of the roles and responsibilities have changed drastically in combination with observing my current counselor in action and after reading the selected information about guidance counseling in schools. I assumed that counseling in schools had been around just as long as schools have been, and that was completely incorrect. The Great Depression, as well as our country's world wars have shaped several regulations that were introduced and are required in schools to this day. Guidance counseling is definitely one of them. The previous title of vocational counseling is very clear to me because we were a very industrial country in those times. I had no idea a timeline existed for school counselors. I would imagine that the timeline is a very valuable resource for school counselors. From reading the timeline I notice that my counselor does follow it with alterations specifically geared to our school and our particular students. My counselor is very hands in the CTAE program at my school and it goes behind what is listed in the timeline.

Perceived Roles

In my limited work with guidance counselors (I am only in my second year of teaching) I can honestly say that even if I do not see our guidance counselors every day, I know they are working hard and doing a lot of things behind the scenes that many people may not recognize. At our school we have a guidance counselor assigned to each grade level: freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors. Obviously the senior counselors are working with students to apply to college, complete the graduation tests and make sure their EOCT’s and other scores are finalized. The junior counselor works with students to register for, study for, and take the SAT and ACT and also begin to look for scholarship opportunities for college. The sophomore counselor focuses on PSAT and getting the students on the right track for pathway completion and taking all the necessary credits. The freshman counselor works with introducing students to high school life, and explaining what they can expect for the next four years. I know that there are various others tasks that are taken care of including: college and career fairs, DFACS reports, transfers and drop outs, grades and credits, and communicating with parents about special requests.

Perceived Roles

My idea of what I thought the roles and responsibilities of guidance counselors was distorted by my personal experiences as a student with my high school guidance counselor. I thought they were present to complete student schedules, make corrections to those schedules if necessary, give out vouchers for the SAT and ACT exams, and connect students with military recruiters. Once I became a teacher I was told by a previous principal that the most important position in a school is the guidance counselor's position. After seeing how the guidance counselor at my school connects with the students and how she handles what she perceives as her roles and responsibilities I was (and still am) pleasantly enlightened. Not only does she do the above responsibilities but she connects with the teachers with our schedules and classroom environment. If there is a student that would perform better in another class period then she moves them, she keeps the students and teachers aware of all scholarship and community involvement opportunities, and most importantly, she brags on the students, which I feel is important for the students in our school in particular. She actually listens to the teachers and students in our school. She performs countless other duties that would take me a long time to name but, to say the least, she is awesome. I feel as though she goes above and beyond with her roles and responsibilities as a guidance counselor.

Perceived Roles

I met with my son's counselor a couple of weeks ago. My perceived role was a "prejudgement" based on my own personal experiences in high school.

I was quickly put at ease with the vast knowledge of the way the system works within my son's counselor's network. She has access to almost every database of colleges, their requirements, and the rate of success in meeting those requirements.

I now think of the counselor as a coach....and I feel that we are armed very well to succeed with her vast knowledge and access to knowledge!

Rewards and Challenges

I believe the greatest reward for a Guidance Counselor is seeing that kid who everyone thought wasn't going to make it become successful. After a few years of the stress and frustration working with a student going through difficult struggles, then seeing them slowly getting it together and becoming successful, has to be good feeling. It has to be feel good knowing you were a part of that process. It must be equally challenging seeing a good student slowly crumble from the the pressures of growing up in a tough environment. We see it in the classroom, but counselors deals with more students and because of their responsibilities, they are more intimately involved with the students personal lives.

Interview with counselor

I look forward to the interview that I have set up with the school counselor this week. It is "counselors" week at the school. So, I plan on getting my interview for my class but plan also to do a story for the school news. I believe that the interview will enlighten me as to the vast responsibilities of our school counselors. I have a mindset about what I believe they do, but do I really know ? I am familiar with all three of my school counselors. I see them as busy, caring and directed. There has been some opportunity to see them intercede in a meeting or counsel with a student. However, I have never really taken the time to ask what their job description encompasses. I feel that the discussion with them will give me deeper insight into what a high school counselor does for its students. By understanding this better, I can better promote the counselors and their services to my own students. Better yet, as a broadcasting teacher, I can promote all of the counselors as an entirety to the student body.

Guidance Counselor

This week I sat down with our one and only guidance counselor at my school to complete the guidance counseling report assignment. I discovered, after speaking with her, that there is probably a large body of students who never utilize her services. The particular service I'm referring to is career counseling. Because our school does not offer a job-readiness course, I think that our students miss out on opportunities because they do not know the opportunities are there. Why should they ask her for help when they don't even know that they need help?

While talking to her, she gave me some websites that she refers students to when asking about careers and their options. I've scheduled her to come to all three of my classes on Tuesday and she is going to walk the students through taking an online survey which will determine some career options based on their likes and dislikes. Originally, I was going to have them search for jobs only in the graphics industry, but then I realized this might be their only chance to look into other careers.

I'm trying something new this week so I hope that it goes well. Here is the plan: after they take the online survey, they will pick a career path and then make a brochure about this career. The brochure will include potential earnings, type of education required, the pros and cons of the career. At the end of the week, I'm going to have the students stand up and present the information about the career that they researched.

I really hope that this will be a good learning experience for them and for me. I'll let you know how it goes.