Issuu

MASCA

Counselor’s Notebook

MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL COUNSELORS ASSOCIATION

Vol. 57, No. 3

November 2020

The Wheels Keep Turning By Kerry Bartlett, MASCA Chair Happy November, School CounselingCommunity! As we all prepare for upcoming celebrations, daylight savings time, and the impending first snowstorm our MASCA work continues. I’m extremely excited to share with you that MASCA’s 2020 3-year Strategic Plan has been finalized. Board members, committee chairs, liaisons, and emerging leaders all contributed their ideas on how best to focus our energy and efforts to obtain our four strategic objectives while adhering to our vision and mission statements. As I mentioned in the September Issue of the Counselor Notebook, much of the foundational work and significant progress was completed at MASCA’s Leadership Development Institute in August. We had some remaining work to accomplish and I’d like to take the opportunity now to share it with you and our process of completing this important work. Considering that strategic objectives are multi-year initiatives that describe, at a high level, the work an organization will take on to make progress toward the achievement of its mission and vision MASCA’s objective areas were selected with careful consideration and deemed as areas of highest priority to serve the current needs of our membership. MASCA’s strategic objectives are: Objective #1 - Advocacy •

Position MASCA as a recognized, valuable and respected voice at local, state, and regional levels by building awareness of the importance and impact of the work and role of the school counselor.

Objective #2 - Equity •

Position MASCA as a leading organization in dismantling racist and/or oppressive policies and practices while emphasizing the need for diversity and inclusion

Screenshot from the October 8th MASCA Governing Board Zoom Meeting in school counseling personnel and programming. Objective #3 - Membership •

Grow MASCA membership by retaining current and recruiting new members, with a commitment to cultivate a more diverse membership.

Objective #4 – Professional Development •

Create, provide and/or promote relevant, high-quality, accessible, and timely professional development to meet the needs of our members and support the implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs.

MASCA Governing Board members collaborated, brainstormed, and revised specific action steps to reach our objectives. Duplicates were removed and action items were arranged by the targeted year. MASCA Strategic Objectives and Activ-

ities were approved at the October Board Meeting. We now have our road map in front of us and understand that sometimes there are accidents and detours are necessary, nevertheless, we know our destination. When you have a few minutes, take a look at the strategic plan and if a particular action step or objective resonates with you, I encourage you to reach out to the committee/position responsible and share your ideas and/or expertise. Stay well and healthy.

Inside this Issue: Directory..................................2 MASCA Wants You....................3 Awards, Conference..............4, 5 MASCA Sponsored Research.....6 Emerging Leaders.....................7 Remote Learning......................8 MA Model..............................10

MASCA 2020-21 DIRECTORY GOVERNING BOARD: Kerry Bartlett, Chair kabartlett@hudson.k12.ma.us School / Career Counselor, Hudson High School

COMMITTEE CHAIRS: Jeremie Bateman, Awards and Publicity Committee jbateman@lexingtonma.org School Counselor, Lexington High School

April Megginson, Assistant Chair amegginson@bridgew.edu Assistant Professor of Counselor Education

Ruth Carrigan, Conference Committee Ruth.Carrigan@whrsd.k12.ma.us Director of School Counseling Whitman-Hansen Regional High School

Bridgewater State University Barbara Meyer, Past Chair b_meyer@stoughtonschools.org School Counselor, Stoughton High School

Ed Connor, Fiscal Oversight Committee econnor@dean.edu Executive Director of Admissions, Dean College

Ed Connor, Board Member econnor@dean.edu Executive Director of Admissions, Dean College

Juliette Coatsworth, Government Relations & Advocacy Committee juliette.nori@gmail.com School Counselor, Foxborough Regional Charter School

Laurie Dickstein-Fischer, Board Member ldicksteinfisc@salemstate.edu Assistant Professor & Program Director for School Counseling, Salem State University Johanna Smith, Board Member smithjoh@lynnschools.org School Counselor, Lynn Vocational Technical Institute Megan Krell, Board Member mkrell@fitchburgstate.edu Associate Professor, Fitchburg State University Jeremie Bateman, Board Member jbateman@lexingtonma.org School Counselor, Lexington High School Jennifer McGuire, Board Member jmcguire@uppercapetech.org School Counselor/Teacher Leader for Guidance Upper Cape Cod Technical School

Manjula Karamcheti, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access Committee karamcheti@wwgradschool.org Director of Equity and Student Support Woodrow Wilson Graduate School of Teaching and Learning Tyeshia Weir, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access (IDEA) Committee weirt@springfieldpublicschools.com School Counselor, RISE Academy Helen O'Donnell, MA Model Committee helenod@att.net Retired School Counselor Kerry Bartlett , Member Services Committee kabartlett@hudson.k12.ma.us School / Career Counselor, Hudson High School Barbara Meyer Member Services Committee b_meyer@stoughtonschools.org School Counselor, Stoughton High School Megan Krell, Nomination and Bylaws Committee mkrell@fitchburgstate.edu Associate Professor, Fitchburg State University Dina Sibilia, Professional Development Committee sibilia@wsps.org School Counselor, West Springfield High School

Find out how you can become a MASCA leader. Go to: https://masca.wildapricot.org/ How-to-Get-Involved

Christine Shaw, Research and Evaluation Committee shawc@merrimack.edu Associate Professor of Practice, Education & Community Studies, Merrimack College Jennifer McGuire. Technology Committee jmcguire@uppercapetech.org School Counselor/Teacher Leader for Guidance Upper Cape Cod Technical School APPOINTED POSITIONS: Bob Bardwell, Executive Director & Membership bardwellr@monsonschools.com Director of School Counseling, Monson Public Schools

Julia Cahill-O'Shea, Secretary j.cahill-oshea@hwschools.net School Counselor, Hamilton- Wenham Regional High School Jean Atwater Williams, Web Administrator & Counselors Notebook Editor atwaterwilliams@gmail.com Dina Sibilia, Professional Development Coordinator sibilia@wsps.org School Counselor, West Springfield High School LIAISONS: Laurie Dickstein-Fischer, Counselor Educator Liaison ldicksteinfisc@salemstate.edu Assistant Professor & Program Director for School Counseling, Salem State University Lisa Weinstein, DESE Liaison LWeinstein@doe.mass.edu MA Dept of Elem & Sec Education Megan Krell, Emerging Leader Liaison mkrell@fitchburgstate.edu Associate Professor, Fitchburg State University Alisha Saini, Graduate Student Liaison asaini@lesley.edu Graduate Student, Lesley University Zac Songer, Graduate Student Liaison Zacchary.Songer001@umb.edu Graduate Student, UMASS Boston Julia Stone, Graduate Student Liaison jstone10@springfieldcollege.edu Graduate Student, Springfield College Helen O'Donnell, Retirees Liaison helenod@att.net Retired School Counselor Jennifer Just McGuire, Social Media Liaison jmcguire@uppercapetech.org School Counselor/Teacher Leader for Guidance Upper Cape Cod Technical School EMERGING LEADERS April Brunelle abrunelle@bostonpublicschools.org School Counselor, ech Boston Academy Dan Goldsbury danielgoldsbury@gmail.com School Counselor, Edwards Middle School Maria Maloney maloneym@monsonschools.com School Counselor, Granite Valley Middle School Kayla Schute kschutte@tewksbury.k12.ma.us School Counselor, Tewksbury Memorial High School

COUNSELORâ€™S NOTEBOOK

MASCA Wants You By Bob Bardwell, MASCA Executive Director

licity Committee. All committees, regardless of the focus, provide relevant, valuable and critical activities to make MASCA stronger, nimbler and more meaningful in order to better serve our members and ultimately our students and their families. To learn more about our committees and those which are seeking members, checkout the How to Get Involved section of our website.

For over 100 years the US Army has featured an ad depicting Uncle Sam saying, “I Want You”. To borrow that phrase in 2020, “MASCA Wants You”. First, some good news. On October 8 MASCA surpassed the 1100 member mark. Last month I reported that there were 1007 members and in just a short time we grew to 1102. Quite an accomplishment for a non-profit, trade association, especially during these COVID times. We are so very grateful that so many professional and retired school counselors and graduate students in Massachusetts recognize the benefits of membership and joined or rejoined the Association. This 44% growth in membership from May 2019 is gratifying, fulfilling, and to be honest, a bit mind-boggling. While this is certainly significant and noteworthy, we are not done. While becoming a member is the first step, the next ask of you is a big one, especially in these times when we are all super stressed with our jobs regardless of whether you are working in an in-person or remote school model this fall. The first component is well underway, and we are seeing amazing results. MASCA needs our members to participate in our virtual and hopefully in the spring professional development opportunities. We have 70 graduate students and new counselors participating in our virtual New Counselor Boot Camp series, some 35 are registered to participate in our Virtual FAFSA Day program and in only the first few days of registration, 30+ colleagues have signed up for the Minding Your Minds SEL workshop. This trend is encouraging, exciting and a positive and healthy sign that memNOVEMBER 2020

Robert Bardwell Executive Director, MASCA

bers are thirsty for high-quality and relevant professional development, despite the challenges of delivering it virtually. The second thing we need you to do is a bit harder as it requires a greater commitment of time, effort and energy. We need our members to be active participants in our thirteen standing committees and newly launched Elementary and Urban Special Interest Groups (SIGs). (Please note, to access the SIG webpage, you must be an active member and logged into the website.) In the past year MASCA has worked hard to ensure all committees have a chair and active members. Some are doing better with this than others. While the idea of helping plan and execute the conference or serve on the newly formed Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) Committee is exciting, we equally need similar enthusiasm and commitment for the Member Services, Government Relations and Advocacy and the newly formed Pub-

By the time you read this our first Elementary & Urban SIG meetings will have occurred and we expect these micro communities within the larger association to provide much needed networking opportunities, resources and support to those who identify with one or both of these groups. The beauty of the SIGs is that there are no prior ways of operating or conducting their business. They are new and can take whatever shape the members wish to pursue as long as they are within the scope of our association and budget. Talk about exciting and being responsive to current needs! We also look forward to creating other SIGs such as one for rural, secondary or counseling directors, just to name a few. All we need are willing leaders, some passion and willingness to give of one’s time. I promise the rewards are worth the effort. Therefore, my ask of you is to support our committees and SIGs in whatever way you can. Even if life is crazy and you cannot possibly think of taking on anything additional at this time, I challenge you to seize this opportunity and attempt something new. Take a chance and try them out. Show up, step up and get involved. MASCA needs you. MASCA needs you now. If not you, then who?

It’s MASCA Awards Season - Nominate an Inspiring Leader Today! By Jeremie Bateman, MASCA Awards Chair

Each year, MASCA recognizes counselors, administrators, graduate students, and counselor educators making a difference for our students, every day. We need your help to do it. From November 1 to December 1, the awards committee will be accepting nominations for several different awards. Nominating is simple. All you need to do is provide your contact info, your nominee’s contact info, and a short statement as to why your nominee is deserving of the award. That’s it! And yes, you can self-nominate. You can read short descriptions of each of the awards on the MASCA website, which include School Counselor of the Year, Administrator of the Year, Rising Star, Counselor Educator of the Year, the Leadership Award, and the MASCA Special Award. You can submit your nomination online: http://bit.ly/MASCA2020 (capitals matter in this URL!)

In early December, all nominees will be notified of their nomination. School Counselor of the Year applicants will be asked for some additional materials (letters of recommendation and an essay) and other nominees will be asked to accept their nomination. What about graduate students? MASCA is currently exploring ways we can recognize our graduate students in a multitude of ways. We are committed to recognizing excellence among counselors in training. This year, it will happen as a separate process with its own timeline. If you have feedback on ways we can recognize graduate students, please reach out! I can be reached at jbateman@ lexingtonma.org. Why do we offer these awards? I wanted to spare some space in this article to talk about why we offer this array of awards each year. Year after year, our winners represent the very best of what School Counseling in

the Commonwealth looks like. From innovative programs to robust advocacy, all our nominees provide a glimpse into what is possible. Not only can they be an inspiration to others, but they are also wonderful examples to those outside our profession who may not understand what counselors or counselor educators do, or how to best support those that they supervise. One of my personal goals this year is to better share the stories of our nominees and winners beyond MASCA. We began this last year, with the School Counselor of the Year award presentation happening during National School Counseling Week, with a presentation at the winner’s school, followed by her presence at our advocacy day on Beacon Hill. So, please share those awesome colleagues, professors, and supervisors. We want to recognize them and share their stories!

Join us at MASCA's Spring Conference!

Go to https://ncyi.org/conferences/mascac/ for more information

COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

November 2020 Awareness Dates

QUICK FACTS:

Adoption Awareness Month Military Family Appreciation Month

• A private, four-year, co-educational liberal arts college founded in 1879

• 30 majors and 60+ minors/concentrations leading to bachelor’s and master’s degrees

National Career Development Month

• Serving about 2,000 traditional undergraduate students

• Student/faculty ratio is 12:1, with an average class size of 20 students

National Family Caregivers Month

• 85% of first-year students reside on campus

• Approximately 99% of first-time students receive some form of financial aid

• 131-acre New England campus located just minutes from downtown Boston • Over 97% of recent graduates employed, in graduate school, or in service

• Offering a wide array of extracurricular activities, including 15 NCAA Division III athletic teams

National Homeless Youth Awareness Month National Runaway Prevention Month National Scholarship Month Native American Heritage Month

(800) 669-0686 or (617) 333-2210 1071 Blue Hill Ave., Milton, MA 02186 | curry.edu | adm@curry.edu

Picture Book Month 13-19 Transgender Awareness Week 13 World Kindness Day

Massachusetts School Counselor Association 2021 Annual Conference

15-22 National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week 16-20 American Education Week

We hope you are making plans to join us for an excellent 2021 MASCA Conference on April 5 and 6, 2021. We hope to meet in person at the Boston Marriott Newton Hotel and Conference Center. If that is not possible, please know that our conference will be held in an alternate format. We have some exciting keynote speakers all lined up, and we are extending our Call for Programs until November 25th. So if you have a great presentation you’d like to share with colleagues, please follow this link to submit your session proposal. We want you to have a chance to share your best practices with counselors around the Commonwealth. Conference attendees will have a chance to earn PDPs and graduate credit.

16 International Day for Tolerance

Attention Graduate Students - MASCA is now accepting proposals for the graduate student poster session at the 2021 MASCA Annual Conference! Interested graduate students can find out more information and submit their proposals HERE. Proposals are due December 15, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. Questions about the graduate student poster session can be directed to Maria Letasz at mletasz@westfield.ma.edu.

27 Native American Heritage Day

19 Great American Smokeout 19 National Parental Involvement Day 20 Transgender Day of Remembrance 21 Survivor Day – International Survivors of Suicide Loss 21 National Adoption Day

27 Random Acts of Kindness Friday

If you have any questions about the 2021 MASCA Conference, please reach out to Ruth Carrigan, Conference Chair, at Ruth.Carrigan@whrsd.org. NOVEMBER 2020

MASCA Sponsored Research Produces Results By: Tim Poynton and Rich Lapan

The year was 2010. Rich Lapan and I made a big ask of the MASCA governing board – would they make a substantial investment to support needed research in Massachusetts? Their answer was yes, and they awarded us $12,000 to investigate how comprehensive school counseling programs benefit students. While $12,000 is a very small amount of money to support research, it does represent a significant investment by MASCA – and Rich and I were able to combine this support with the support of the Universities we worked for. Both UMass Amherst and Suffolk University provided additional funding in the form of graduate students to work on this research project, and the collective amounts facilitated a relatively large scale research project for a modest price. We were able to leverage the $12,000 MASCA provided into about $50,000 of support for the project. With MASCA’s help, we were able to recruit 16 high schools from across Massachusetts to participate in the study, resulting in a large amount of data. Our focus was to understand how school counseling impacts the postsecondary transition, so counselors in each of the schools facilitated data collection from graduating high school seniors. We asked about students’ interactions with counselors in terms of both frequency and helpfulness, plans students had for life after high school, and about various aspects of their high school experience to assess the impact of counseling on transition related outcomes – college-going in particular. We connected this data from the 16 schools with data from the MA DESE to create a longitudinal dataset without needing to spend years in data collection. Through the data sharing agreement, we obtained data related to 10th grade MCAS performance and the National Student Clearinghouse data related to college enrollment and persistence. Over the next few years, we assembled and analyzed the data, and worked to disseminate findings through peer-re-

viewed literature and conference presentations. Given the breadth and variety of data, four peer-reviewed manuscripts were needed to communicate the findings. The first manuscript, “Financial planning strategies of high school seniors: Removing barriers to career success” was published in 2015 in Career Development Quarterly. We published these findings first, as what we learned about the financial plans of graduating high school seniors in Massachusetts gave us a little pause and warranted attention. For example, a sizeable number of the students could not identify specifically how they were going to pay for college. The remaining three articles were all published in the Journal of Counseling and Development. In 2017, “College and career readiness counseling support scales: Factor structure and criterion validity” was published to describe a new measure we developed to assess the frequency and helpfulness of college and career related interactions between students and counselors. The College and Career Readiness Counseling Support (CCRCS) scales were correlated with several important variables, such as achievement

motivation, school connectedness, and student ratings of the counseling relationship. Later in 2017, “Aspirations, achievement, and school counselors’ impact on the college transition” was also published, and described the evidence supporting how interactions with school counselors relate to success in the transition to college. Specifically, this study documented the importance of students developing a college-going identity by 10th grade and school counselors’ role in increasing persistence into the sophomore year of college. The final article was just published in October of 2020. “Surviving toward college graduation” described how the students in our sample fared in persisting in college through the lens of Bandura’s person, behavior, and environment factors. More specifically, Early aspirations and educational goals (Person variables), grades in high school courses, MCAS scores, and the number of college applications submitted (Behavior variables), and parent education level (Environment variable) were important to surviving through every transition point (deciding to attend college, enrolling in college, and being retained at same college into sophomore year). Other variables were important at 1 or 2 transition points, but not all 3 (e.g., completing FAFSA important to enrolling in college and being retained). In addition to publishing findings in leading counseling journals, we also presented findings at more than a dozen conferences around the country. At some of these presentations, we were fortunate and pleased to be able to present alongside Massachusetts school counselors and MASCA leaders. The $12,000 investment MASCA made 10 years ago resulted in many positive findings highlighting the importance of school counseling to student success. The current MASCA Research Grants, a new program, are smaller in size ($1000) but support projects led by school counselors or counselor educators with goals similar to ours – to understand and improve school counseling programs and services for students. COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

MASCA’s 2020/2021 Emerging Leaders by Megan Krell, Ph.D. MASCA is thrilled to introduce you to our 2020/2021 Emerging Leaders! Four individuals were selected from a talented group of applicants to participate in this year’s MASCA Emerging Leader Program. The program is designed to identify potential school counseling leaders in Massachusetts, and provide them with an opportunity to become involved with MASCA. The Emerging Leaders attend Governing Board meetings, participate in the MASCA and ASCA Leadership Development Institutes, and participate in MASCA committees and/ or special projects. The Emerging Leaders meet regularly with the Emerging Leader Liaison to process their experience and learn more about association leadership. Our Emerging Leaders have brought an energy and fresh perspective to MASCA already.

Congratulations to our 2020/2021 Emerging Leaders: April Brunelle is a middle school counselor at TechBoston Academy in Dorchester, MA. April is committed to urban education, and will help provide this expertise to MASCA. She has served as a TeachPlus Education Fellow for the past two years. April also supports her community as a youth field hockey coach. Dan Goldsbury is a school counselor at Edwards Middle School in Boston, MA. Through various experiences over the past fifteen years, such as work at the Bird Street Community Center in Dorchester and Citizen Schools, Dan has become a strong advocate for low-income students of color. These advocacy skills have naturally seeped into his work as a school counselor, where Dan has advocated for the profession through organizing a counselor advocacy committee, writing an op-ed titled “Why School Counselors Matter,” and testifying before the Boston School Committee.

NOVEMBER 2020

Kayla Schutte is a school counselor at Tewksbury Memorial High School in Tewksbury, MA. Kayla previously worked as a school counselor at Somerville High School in Somerville, MA and Massabesic High School in Waterboro, ME. She is eager to utilize this experience to expand on her leadership skills to promote the essential work of school counselors locally and across the state. After starting her career as a school social worker, Maria Maloney was introduced to the world of school counseling through

valued colleagues. Today, Maria is a school counselor at Granite Valley School in Monson, MA. She has already begun to take a leadership role in MASCA efforts as the co-facilitator of the Book Club and co-leader of the Elementary Special Interest Group.

Congratulations again to this year’s cohort! If you are interested in becoming a MASCA Emerging Leader, please consider applying for the 2021/2022 cohort. Questions about the program can be directed to Emerging Leader Coordinator, Dr. Megan Krell at mkrell@fitchburgstate.edu.

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Get started at salliemae.com/collegeplanning Borrow responsibly We encourage students and families to start with savings, grants, scholarships, and federal student loans to pay for college. Students and families should evaluate all anticipated monthly loan payments, and how much the student expects to earn in the future, before considering a private student loan. * No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. See official rules at SallieMae.com/SweepstakesRules. SALLIE MAE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. CHECK SALLIEMAE.COM FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE PRODUCT INFORMATION. © 2019 Sallie Mae Bank. All rights reserved. Sallie Mae, the Sallie Mae logo, and other Sallie Mae names and logos are service marks or registered service marks of Sallie Mae Bank. All other names and logos used are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries, including Sallie Mae Bank, are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America. SMSCH MKT14454 0819

Career Activities Corner: K-12 College and Career Readiness Activities Reach Higher MA Working Group #1: Careers and Citizenship for All hosts this Career Activity Corner to encourage infusion of a career development strand into your school counseling curriculum. You are invited to submit K-12 lessons with identified standards alignments, interdisciplinary curriculum links, measurable student learning objectives and implementation outcome data to Helen O’Donnell, Ed.D helenod@att.net

How to be a Successful Student in a Remote Learning Environment Submitted by: Katherine Antaya, M. Ed., Math Teacher, Lunenburg MS: School Counseling Graduate Student, Fitchburg State University

Essential Question: What preparation and engagement strategies should participants demonstrated in virtual meeting and educational environments? Focus Question: Are students able to demonstrate the ability to prepare for and actively engage in remote learning and virtual meeting environments? Grade Level: Can be modified for multi-tiered instruction for ALL grade levels. Rational: It is important to teach and model strategies for successful participation in remote meeting and learning environments to assist all students learn and apply appropriate competencies for successful engagement Student Success Criteria: I can prepare for, engage in, and demonstrate safe and appropriatebehaviors in my remote learning classes. Student Learning Objectives: By the end of the lesson, the student will • • •

Cognitive (Knowledge): identify six categories of positive behavioral expectations for remote learning. Affective: (understanding) recognize positive behavior by successfully completing a “do’s and don’ts” video activity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgMwRU04aX4&feature=emb_logo Behavior/Performance - Contribute at least one suggestion in the class brainstorm. - Correctly answer 6 of 7 of questions on the post-test. - Demonstrate appropriate strategies during the lesson activities.

Assessments:  Sample Pre/Post Assessment

- Circle One:

I should have an organized spot to join my Meet with access to my school supplies.

I should share my screen whenever I find something cool on the internet.

I should say hi to all my friends in the chat when I log on, so everyone knows I am in the meet.

I should come to class on time.

I should have PJ day, every day!

I should make sure my Chromebook is charged before the meeting.

I should have lunch during my Google Meet…..yum.

 Observation Checklist: On going monitoring and assessment of remote instruction engagement

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

N N N N N N N

Student is muted/unmuted at appropriate times. Student asks questions appropriately. (Posts in chat) Student shows up to class on time. Student is respectful to themselves, the teacher, and their peers. Student is dressed appropriately for the meet. Student keeps the camera on when instructed to do so. Student stays online and logged in for the duration of the lesson. (continued next page)

COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Remote Learning

(continued from previous page)

Learning Standards Links: ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success www.schoolcounselor.org M 2. Self-confidence in the ability to succeed M 6. Positive attitudes towards work and learning B-Learning Strategies: 5. Apply media and technology skills B-Self-Management Skills 2. Demonstrate self-discipline and self-control B-SS 1. Use effective oral and written communication skills and listening skills. MA Career Development Education Benchmarks http://www.doe.mass.edu/connect/cde/guideglossary.pdf A1-2. Technical and technological skills W1-3. Skills and strategies for effective decision-making W4-2. Skills in managing completing life roles at home, school, work, and in the community PS1-3. Attitudes and skills for personal responsibility and self-determination CASEL: (Social Emotional Learning Competencies) Self – Awareness Resources: • •

Original Slide Presentation Co Written with: Lisa LeBlanc M.Ed. (selectd excerpts below) Video: Cambridge School Pennington, New Jersey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgMwRU04aX4&feature=emb_ logo

NOVEMBER 2020

IMPLEMENTING MA MODEL FOR COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL COUNSELING PROGRAMS: By Helen C. O’Donnell, Ed. D, MA Model Trainer, MASCA MA Model Chair and MA Model 3.0 Co-Chair This CN series began in Sept 2017 to inform colleagues about steps and strategies for implementing the MA Model 2.0 and ASCA Model 3.0. With the Spring 2020 endorsement of MA Model 3.0 and June 2019 release of ASCA Model 4.0, previous MA Model Implementation CN articles are being reviewed and updated for language and content alignment to both documents. Updated information will soon be available on the MA Model tab of the MASCA website.

My Door is Open, but Where Am I?

By Megan Bizarro, School Counselor, MA Model 3.0 Co-Chair Recently, I had the privilege of attending a Q & A Zoom session for school counseling graduate students. One of the questions that was asked that really stood out was, “Do you have any suggestions for new counselors in order to get to know students and staff?” I love this question, because it is something that I have made career priority. First and foremost, the answer is that while we are counselors and the assumption might be to spend most of our time in our offices with students, the key to getting to know the people in the building is getting out of the counseling office and venturing out into the rest of the school. Most recently, I worked in an elementary school with over 400 students. I can honestly say that if all of the students were lined up in front of me, I could name all but a few and tell you a little something about each one. (Without breaking confidentiality, of course.) I highly encourage counselors to get to know the people in the school building, both kids and adults. My suggestion is: be visible, be approachable, be in touch, and be in classrooms as much as possible. Be Visible A school counselor can easily get trapped in his or her office during times when they are not seeing students (which isn’t much) with phone calls to make, emails to return, groups to prepare, lessons to write, etc. But, while it is important to get all of those things done, I can’t stress the value in getting out for a lap around the building from time-to-time. This allows counselors to be visible to students and staff, and be known as a trusted and familiar face in the school. In my previous position, my custodian used to joke with me about looking like I was lost when he would see me wandering the building. It was a good laugh, but the truth was, I was walking the halls with purpose, listening to conversations and sounds, hearing if students were struggling and needed my help, listening to teacher’s as I passed classrooms and making mental notes of colleagues to visit later to suggest strategies for classroom management, or even pop into a class at just the right time to offer support. Plus, a nice, brisk walk is a great way to get your steps in. Walking

the halls not only helps to introduce you to the people inside the building, but is a great way to learn the physical building as a new employee. It makes it much easier to get acclimated early on. Be Approachable Prior to becoming a school counselor, I spent a decade in Public Relations. It wasn’t for me, and I am much more suited as a counselor. But one thing I did learn in the PR field is the art of promoting. That’s what counselors have to do: promote themselves as trusted adults that students can look to for care, and as compassionate colleagues that staff can lean on for support. Having an open-door policy helps, but being outside of the office and collaborating with others is invaluable. It’s nice to post signage outside of the counseling office that explains what you can offer like career advice, help with family and personal issues, friendship groups and other services. I also like to leave a sign on my door that says where I am when I am away from my office like “in a meeting,” “in a classroom,” or “in the cafeteria” so that people can get a sense of when I’ll be available again and so they can find me in the case of an emergency. Staff and students should know that you are there for them and that you want to see them. Posting office hours and providing a way for staff and students to leave notes is another nice idea. Whether it’s a white board on the door with dry erase markers, an anonymous mailbox, or post-it notes, allowing the opportunity for communication that you are needed lets students and staff know you care, especially when you get back to them within 24 hours. While you can’t be free every time you are approached, it’s important for staff and students to know you are someone they can seek out. Be in Touch My undergraduate degree in communications also comes in handy as I realized the importance of staying connected with families and staff. The work of a school counselor only does so much without the support of other stakeholders. I suggest sending regular emails to teachers and staff about what skills you are currently working

on with their students so that they can reinforce and practice them in the classroom and other areas at school. If your school uses a communication website like ClassDojo or Remind, posting similar weekly messages geared towards families is a great idea for parents/guardians to practice and discuss subjects at home, strengthening the home-school connection. A bi-weekly or monthly school counseling newsletter sent to homes and/or posted on school websites can include information on subjects being taught in social skills classes, tips for families around topics like bullying, self-care, and organization, suggested books for students, and any other school related information like important dates and contact information. Be in Classrooms Once you’ve toured the building and schmoozed through the school, my last suggestion is to ask teachers if there is a time that would be convenient for you to visit their classroom and sit in for a bit. If there is a student on your caseload who you know has a particularly difficult time in a certain subject, you can ask to join class for that period and observe in order to offer the teacher helpful strategies and you can spend the class supporting the student with tools for success. Seeing students in the classroom environment is much different than seeing them in the counseling setting. This can even be done remotely by getting invited to a teacher’s video lesson, for example on Zoom or Google Meet. It’s helpful to get this perspective as a viewer in an alternative environment than what you may be used to since students may present differently in distinct locations and around various peers and adults. As I have recently started a new position myself, I am making it a point to practice what I preach. Getting to know my building, colleagues, and students has been the priority for my first week of work and continuing to foster those relationships through frequent communication and collaboration will continue indefinitely. And if the custodian thinks I look a little lost, I’ll know my method is serving its purpose.

COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Calling Retirees for MASCA 60th Birthday Party Planning! Please consider virtually joining other retirees to brainstorm MASCA 60th birthday events & activities. Email helenod@att.net with your name and email address so you can be invited to a virtual meeting.

The mission of MASCA is to promote excellence in the school counseling profession by advocating for, connecting, supporting, and empowering school counselors in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts through leadership, collaboration, and professional development. Visit us on the web at www.MASCA.org

NOVEMBER 2020