Going Beyond Internship: School Board Meetings

Earlier I stated that one of my goals for the year was to attend an average of a school board meeting a month. To make it more realistic, I count attendance as staying for at least an hour of the meeting. Today I wanted to take some time exploring why I chose that specifically as a goal.

Let's be real, school board meetings are fairly long and may not be incredibly exciting. Most of the time, there is a lot of discussion on different policies and expectations for the district. Within District 81, they also include a time devoted to highlighting something positive. This is the "Good News" section of the evening and usually my favorite piece. Beyond that there is "Old Items" and "New Items" and lots of discussion. Sometimes this discussion is valuable and sometimes it is simply too much information to process at one point.

For me, I attend primarily because I am trying to understand the system in which I am currently interning and may work in my future. Through these meetings, if nothing else, I have developed a better understanding of those individuals who are intensely dedicated to the success of the district. However, I've also learned about an  incredible number of programs and supports that the district has access to and often uses. For instance, at the last meeting I attended the Good News piece honored the district's community partners and acknowledged their role in the increase of the district's graduation rate.

Moral of my story: yes school board meetings are long, but the public has a right to be there and you never know what you will learn. You might as well attend one, or at least check the agenda for the meetings to see if it could be interesting!

Going Beyond Internship: Professional Goals

In this Going Beyond section, let's talk about goals. One format my program emphasizes is the SMART goal-setting model. This model highlights that for goals to be most effective they ought to be:

• Specific - Goals should be detailed and defined. This includes answering the Who, What, Where, When, and Why questions of the goal.
• Measurable - How will you measure your goal and when will you know if it has been achieved?
• Attainable - Is this a realistic goal? Can you break it down into smaller, more reasonable chunks?
• Relevant - Goals should be personally worthwhile - otherwise there may be no motivation to achieve it.
• Time-Bound - How likely are you to put off a chore if you know you have forever to complete it? Creating a deadline can reduce the opportunity for constant procrastination.

So, I am not the best with intentionally creating and evaluating my SMART Goals. More often than not, I make them too broad and not necessarily attainable. Knowing that, I have tried to take on goals that I care more about to ensure that the relevance keeps me motivated.

One of my goals for this year has been to attend a portion (at least an hour) of a school board meeting each month. I'm not going to make it for November. Does that mean I fail? Technically yes I guess. Can I rework my goal to make it more reasonable? I think I can. Now I'm thinking of it as an average of one meeting per month. This allows some flexibility for my past and future self to navigate the busy life of a graduate student.

Moral of the story: goals are important, but it can be just as important to give yourself the grace to modify your goals.

Going Beyond Internship: Conferences

Going Beyond Internship will be a series of reflections about what I have experienced that may go beyond the "typical" internship experience. I hope to address these experiences as they arise and cover such topics as presenting at conferences, attending school board meetings, creating professionally focused goals, and getting published (beyond the blogger realm). Honestly, I have yet to experience all of these but I am in the process and would love to share.

Today's topic: Conferences
More specifically: Getting the most out of attending and/or presenting

In a earlier post I mentioned how I presented with a group at ISCA and WSCA. These were both interactive-based oral presentations. This month, I, with two of my professors, facilitated a Round Table Discussion at the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference (WACES). In the past I have presented posters at the Washington Counselor Association Conference (WCA), and the American Psychological Association Conference (APA). Most of these opportunities have arisen from the fact that I have been blessed and honored to attend institutions where research and presenting have been greatly encouraged. From these experiences, I have learned that conferences are a brilliant time to network, and discover something new. Sometimes, the new discovery is a sandwich shop in Seattle, but sometimes it is a new way to function as a counselor. Therefore, I wanted to share a couple of tips for how you can get the most out of a conference!

1. Find out what conferences are nearby -- ISCA was only a 30 minute drive away which made the conference incredibly convenient. You can also look for different states and see where national organizations are hosting their annual conferences. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it does not.
2. Volunteer -- If you are not presenting (or even if you are) you can see if it is worth your while to volunteer. Not only are you able to add volunteering to your resume but you may be able to attend multiple sessions for free. Volunteering at ASCA when it was in my city was my first real introduction to the school counseling world and I left completely pumped for what I want to pursue for the rest of my life. Also - you can often get a free t-shirt!
3. Know the submission deadlines -- I have missed many deadlines and been bummed out. If you are passionate about presenting on something, get the application in!
4. Meet people -- Having business cards is a great way to get your name out there, but even by introducing yourself to one person at each session, you are building your networking skills. Who knows what resources the others in the room can provide unless you make that connection!
5. Follow up -- Especially if you are presenting. It is obnoxious when you sign up for more information or to receive the PowerPoint and no one gets back to you, ever. Don't be that person.
6. Try out different formats -- This upcoming presentation will be my first round table! By switching up the format, you can challenge yourself to learn more and stretch your creativity. It also prevents you from getting board with the same presentation (which is what the APA poster session felt like since it was the 3rd time we presented).
7. Check out the freebies -- You can always get pens at conferences. You might also leave with a ton more information or toolkit that you were not expecting.
8. Check with yourself -- Was this experience worthwhile? For me, that means leaving with at least one new piece of information or one new strategy to approach counseling. Maybe for you worthwhile means you have another entry for your resume, or you really built relationships, or you are excited for next year, or you cannot wait to get that sandwich. Check in with yourself.

Conferences and presenting at them is not for everyone. It may seem that presenting is simply a good resume booster. However, conferences are a fact of our professional lives. Sometimes this means that you have to push yourself to be social or learn a new technique and sometimes it means that the location of the national conference will dictate your family vacations. 

Starting Groups

Entering the world of school counseling, one of my greatest interests is in facilitating groups. There are endless possibilities for potential groups and it is a key way to be able to serve multiple students. However, I entered an internship site where there are no groups currently in place.

Bummer dude.

So what have I done? Well, besides talking about how I want to have at least one group at my site, I will begin a Girls Lunch Group this week! I am uncertain on if it was because I was an intern and had limited time or if it was because there has not been a group at this site in who knows how long, but this has been an intense process. With a plan of intention, and multiple conversations involving both my counseling supervisor and our administration, I have finally reached the point where I have approval, a few participants and a plan to proceed!

I am excited to provide an opportunity to build relationships and inner resilience with these students. I will keep you updates on how the group goes but for now I'm wondering what group experience you have and have stuck with you?

Intentionally Incorporating Careers

I have been incredibly fortunate to be invited to present with my peers and professor at Idaho School Counselor Association's Annual Conference this past week. Our presentation focuses on incorporating career guidance into the elementary level and was an updated version of a presentation we facilitated at the Washington School Counselor Association Conference last year.

We discussed different strategies and techniques to better incorporate a career focus into the school counseling program. These strategies primarily included becoming more intentional about using "career" as a category. For example, one of the activities we presented was the game Scattegories. In this game you have participants think of as many things as possible within a category that start with a specified letter. At ISCA we played a round where participants worked in team to come up and write down as many careers as they could think of that begin with the letter "N" within 2 minutes. The true exposure to different careers comes when you go around the room and everyone reads off their lists. Once a career has been stated, everyone with that career crosses it off. The final "winner" is the group with the most answers left. This encourages students to be creative and realize that there can be a lot of career options in the world.

We used the same strategy of intentionally focusing on careers for other "games" as well. Between the two presentations we altered the following games:

• Get to know the class Bingo - Find Someone who is an Expert on... 
• 2 Truths and a lie - Have each student pick a career that they get to research and use the 2 Truths format as a way to present the information. 
• Would you Rather - Question Handout
• Alphabet game - Come up with a career for each letter. See who can be most creative/fastest.

  

  Found Here

We also suggested strategies such as creating a "Career Library" where the books are all about different careers, or working with math teachers to do a lesson on how much different careers make.

There are many options for integrating careers, and I would love to hear what you do in the comments below!

Keys to Excellence

The 8 Keys of Excellence

One of the missions of my internship site this year is to integrate "The 8 Keys of Excellence" into our middle school. Now these 8 Keys are strategies that are explored through the book of the same title by Bobbi DePorter. You can find out more here!

Our school has used Homeroom as a conduit for introducing and following up on these 8 Keys. After a brief overview of all of them, we are dedicating each month to a different key. Besides discussing them in homeroom, teachers are able to nominate students who are exemplifying the key of the month. I am in the beginning phase of creating a way for students to also nominate their peers.

The 8 Keys Created through Tagxedo

But what are these keys? Honestly, I just finished the book and am using the website for reference. But here are the descriptions of the keys:

1. Integrity - Match behavior with values
2. Failure Leads to Success - Learn from mistakes
3. Speak with Good Purpose - Speak honestly and kindly
4. This Is It! - Make the most of every moment
5. Commitment - Make your dreams happen
6. Ownership - Take responsibility for actions
7. Flexibility - Be willing to do things differently
8. Balance - Live your best life

Reading through all of these and seeing how they are exemplified through DePorter's book, I kept coming back to the feeling that we are using these words and keys to help our 6-8 grade students more intentional about their actions and their lives. As a graduate student, my program focuses on the same theme of intentionality and purpose.  

What areas are "locked" in your life?

After the introduction of the 8 Keys, our students were challenged to think of which key they would like to work on for the following week. At that time I decided I needed to work on the Balance Key which has thus resulted in updating my G-Calendar much more regularly and referring back to my scheduling tools. This upcoming week, I want to work on This Is It! and finding the value in every moment of my life. I'll let you know how that is going for me and I challenge you to to focus on one of the keys to help "unlock" an area where you might be struggling! I would love to hear which Key you are working on in the comments below!

Counseling Blog in the Making

"Becoming is better than being" - Carol Dweck 

Hello and Welcome!

The heading quote is from Carol Dweck's book "Mindset" which I just read this past summer. The approach and understanding that Dweck provides such an incredible shift in my understanding of relating to others and appreciating my mindsets!   

The above quote will truly guide what is posted on this blog. This is a place where I will share about my experiences as a developing school counselor. Starting out, I am in my final year of the MA in School Counseling Program at Gonzaga University. Prior to that I earned my BA in Psychology and Liberal Arts for the Human Services from the University of Minnesota Morris. I hope to continue this blog following my graduation and throughout my career as a professional. After all, there is always more to reflect on, and ways to grow. In that way, I hope to always be in the making!