The Hub of Our Schools: School Counselors

0:01 Hello, everyone. Welcome back again to The Road to an Effective Classroom Environment. I am your host, Dr. Lashanta, and it has been a great few weeks. And when I say few, I really do mean few weeks since I have uh been out of school. Um, we'll be going back in a couple of weeks, but um it has been just a great um time to get with family, friends. So wanted to jump back into these episodes, and I know as promised, that last episode that I did that was a part two to CTE and what an effective CTE classroom looks like, and I was supposed to be coming before you all every week.

0:50 Well, let me just say this I have had some uh epiphanies about my life and some things that I needed to work on during that time frame, so I apologize for keeping you all waiting. So our episodes may not be coming once a week as I had planned and as I had said in that last episode, but I am gonna do my very best to do so because I have a new adventure in my life that I've added on. I have decided to fully invest myself into my LLC, my consulting business. It's called Lee Jane's Consulting. And so I've been working on that since that last episode and really just trying to make some moves and to make some pivotal steps in what I would like to do.

1:42 So I wanted to come back because, as promised, the episode that was next after CTE was about school counselors, and so this episode is about the hub of our schools, which are that counseling, the student support services, whatever you might call that particular area. But school counselors serve an important part to the school, and I consider them to be that hub, and we're gonna talk about that in just a minute about what that hub really means and what it looks like when you're talking about the work that counselors updo at the school level.

2:22 But just wanted to um recognize some of my listeners out there in other countries. Thank you so much. I do appreciate the fact that there are listeners that are outside of the United States. I love my United States folks as well, but I definitely wanted to give a special shout out to you all because you guys are really out there listening to what I really have to put out. You're the ones that are really over the top as far as the number of people who are listening to each of these episodes. So, again, I want to thank everyone.

2:56 So, this is not just a um a national podcast, it is international. There are so many countries out there of individuals who are listening. So, again, just want to take a little bit of time to just say thank you. I appreciate it. If you would like to be a part of helping with another vision that I have with this podcast, want to be able to help those classroom teachers and and different other um people who work in the school settings. So if you want to uh join, as far as uh there's a$3 a month contribution that you can give as being a listener to the podcast, and that money is going back to those educators, wanting to send them gift cards or goodie bags, and it's not just local, it's not just for the people here in South Carolina because that's where I am, but it's also for those individuals who are other places because I'll be doing drawings, uh pulling their names out of uh a drawing and sending them little tokens of appreciation saying, Hey, I know you're an educator and I appreciate what you're doing, even though I'm in education.

4:04 I want to be able to still tell others I appreciate the work that you're doing in whatever city, town, state, or country that you're in. So if you'd like to be uh a participant in that, that is just three dollars a month and it's a subscription and it goes to support what I'm doing so that I can give back to those individuals. So, again, enough about that. We're gonna go ahead and dive into this the hub of our schools that student support services and looking at the school counselors. And just also, I wanted to add that as I was doing some research, because I'm like, okay, I have listeners who are in other parts of the world, not just in the United States.

4:48 So, school counseling can look different from city, town, and state just within the US. But guess what? School counseling looks different internationally in different countries, and so this is primarily geared towards what it looks like in the US. But did want to share this that there are countries that do have school counselors and they serve in the same capacity or role, but there are some countries who don't actually have a person who serves in that role, just that role. Sometimes that falls on the special education teacher or the classroom teacher or someone in some other capacity within that building.

5:30 Um, but there are countries that have some type of support when it comes to the needs of the students from that counseling perspective, but there is not one person who is a counselor in that building. Okay, so just want to throw out that little bit of um little bit of information that this is geared more towards uh US, but I did wanted to at least share that you may be in a country in which there are school counselors and this does apply. And even if you're in a country in which you don't have a specific person who's only a school counselor, there is still someone in your building who operates in that role.

6:07 There also, but that person is doing their main role, which may be teaching or it may be a media specialist, but is also doing the role of what a counselor would do. Okay, all right. So let's take a look at this. Wanted to start off by looking at and just talking about AskA. And those of you who are counselors, you know, that AskA is your uh your professional association, is the associate the American School Counselor Association, and every counselor is evaluated based on these standards and these these particular competencies and so forth.

6:48 But I wanted to take a look at and just talk about and share the mindsets uh which fall up under those professional standards and competencies. And I love how this is broken down. Asker breaks this down very beautifully because it does coincide with what other professionals within education they do. So those there are seven minds for school counselors. The first mindset is that every student can learn and every student can succeed. That sounds very familiar, doesn't it? Yes, if you're in education, you've heard this as the classroom teacher.

7:29 This is what we we are believers of. Every student can learn, they may learn differently and they may learn at a different pace, but we believe this as well. Every student can learn and every student can succeed. The second mindset is that every student should have access to an opportunity for a high-quality education. Again, this is the mindset of the classroom teacher, of the administrator, of the custodial staff. This is this is another mindset that coincides with that same thinking. So you see where I'm going with this.

8:04 Every student should graduate. The third mindset, every student should graduate from high school, prepared for post-secondary opportunities. Again, another shared belief. Our school counselors may focus a little bit more in a targeted way and making sure that there is documentation behind this. But this is a common thought as well amongst educators. The fourth mindset is that every student should have access to a school counseling program. If you're a school counselor, you should believe this. Every student should have access to a counselor in some way, shape, or form.

8:38 So even if you are in a country in which you don't have a person designated, there is someone who's sharing that role along with another role. The fifth mindset is that effective school counseling is collaborative, is a collaborative process involving school counselors, students, families, teachers, administrators, and other staff and education stakeholders. So it's a process in which we all we all have to work together. So that is another mindset, working together. We saw those first four mindsets, they're shared, and here's another shared idea that we have to work collaboratively when it comes to the education process of our students.

9:21 The sixth mindset is that school counselors are leaders in the school district, in the school, the district, the state, and the nation. If you're working in the school system, you are a leader in your role. And that also pertains to our counselors as well. And then the last mindset is that school counseling programs promote and enhance student academic career and social emotional outcomes. This I feel like is a very powerful um mindset here because I feel that it's a culminating statement for all the other mindsets, because that program that's developed in that building, that program is supposed to help our students in their academics as well as their career choices, as well as helping them socially and emotionally.

10:16 And that is why I see the school counseling program, that student support services area within the school as the hub. It's an extension of all the other aspects of being a student in a school. All right. So I just wanted to share those mindsets first with you. So when we look at the word hub, Webster Dictionary, the Webster Dictionary defines hub as an effective center of an activity, a region, or network. So that that student support services office serves as a center for where a lot of you know a lot of activity is taking place.

11:01 Um, and then I love the other word used for a hub, is the center of the network. Because when you're looking at you have a student coming into a school, before that student can even make it to a classroom, the student has to know what class he or she is going to. So you may have where even if the administrator is doing the master's schedule, guess who is doing the scheduling? Nine times out of ten, it's that school counselor. You have in some school settings in which the database specialists may be plugging those students into classes, but the counselor has a part in that in that process and making sure that students are where they should be.

11:44 And so that's why I see that um that entity as a hub. So, how does that impact an effective classroom environment? Because we're still talking about the effective classroom environment. So, how do school counselors play in that role? Well, if you look at we'll look at three different ways in which school counselors can impact the classroom environment. Number one, just kind of touched on it briefly a few seconds ago, looking at scheduling.

12:22 When you're looking at how to schedule the students and placing them in the appropriate classes, that is a very, very important step. You want to make sure that students are placed where they should be placed so that they do not create situations where they're bored or where they're not being challenged. And sometimes that can happen in a school setting, is that if you have students coming in, let's say that you're waiting on documentation to show that the student should be in that attendance area and so forth.

12:56 If there isn't due diligence that's done, even just sliding that child into a class as a holding spot, you still want to make sure it's the right setting. Because if you slide that child into the wrong setting and it's not a good match with as far as the student and the course and the teacher and the students in the classroom, it can really affect the environment in that room. It could cause a disturbance, it could cause um not enough learning taking place. So, scheduling is so very important in looking at the appropriate placement, looking at the dynamics in a classroom, and making sure that you have that teacher input.

13:45 Sometimes when scheduling is done in isolation, this is where you miss out on making sure that all the dots are connecting and that you have the right people in the right places. So it is going back to that mindset that it is a collaborative effort in everyone working together. So working in isolation when it comes to scheduling, it is not the best if you're trying to make sure that every classroom in the building has an effective environment. Now keep in mind, we've talked about so many different topics when it comes to the effectiveness of the classroom, and that the teacher is that number one determination, uh, is that number one factor in determining whether or not that classroom is going to be effective.

14:42 We know this. We know that that teacher is seeing that student every school day. But some of that pre-work and making sure that some things are connecting in the right order, you want to make sure that the scheduling is done correctly. So, as a school counselor, that being in that hub and making sure that those connections are made, very, very important role when it comes to scheduling. The second place in which a counselor can uh have an impact on the classroom environment is just the counselor's presence.

15:17 Whether that presence is in the hallways or or in the classrooms or in the cafeteria, some school counselors they have a duty spot, some schools don't have where counselors are on duty because of the influx of uh parents that may come through because their numbers are larger. More of the larger schools, if you have a population of more than 800 students, um, let's say if that 800 for elementary school, middle school, high schools over a thousand, you may not have where the counselors are on duty, but then you have those that may.

15:54 So again, however your school, school district does when it comes down to um duty, that is determined by that principal, and by that the school district uh that is um also making sure certain things are taking place. So when we look at the presence of the counselor, just students knowing who their counselor is is important, and so that presence is important in being in those particular areas, and it doesn't take um having to be in those areas for hours and hours at a time, but making sure that students know who you are is very, very important because that can have an effect on that classroom environment.

16:41 Students who know that they need to have a conversation because of what they have going on at home, they need to know who their counselor is, building that relationship, building that rapport so that he or she is able to open up to the counselor in order to get some help and to get some support. So that presence is very, very impactful because it does have an impact on the classroom environment. Specifically, when you're taking a look at presence in the classroom, counselors are in some states may, some states might not, but for the most part, you have where counselors are expected to do classroom um lessons, classroom guidance in some way, shape, or form.

17:29 That may look different in every building. In um, in some of the schools that I am aware of in South Carolina, I've I have uh taught in South Carolina, been an administrator in South Carolina, I've also been an administrator in uh Georgia, and so just remembering how things were in at the elementary level, you saw a lot more uh counselors at the elementary level doing classroom guidance on a regular basis, teaching those those uh particular soft skills and and teaching them um responsibility, being honest, teaching all those um different types of uh of skills of life that they need, and starting off very young, which it should start in those early years.

18:14 As you get further along, and you're looking at middle and high school, you may not see as much classroom guidance, but there are some important um specifics that can come out of that classroom guidance piece, and part of that is that presence and being able to identify the students can identify who their counselor is, especially when they start to begin having those conversations about what is that you want to do upon graduating from high school? Do you plan to go into the armed forces? Do you plan to go into a junior college or going on to a four-year school?

18:55 Do you plan on going to straight into work because you've done some work-based learning? Do you want to just go straight into being an entrepreneur and you starting your own business? So these are those conversations that can be had based on that classroom guidance piece that takes place. So it looks differently in every school, every district, um, every state, but that that school, that classroom guidance piece serves a very, very important part of um having an impact on that classroom environment.

19:30 When students are where they should be, when they know why they're taking a class, and more than just the reason of why, of saying um you have to take this class because you need this in order to graduate. But being able to have a conversation about having this particular class is better preparing you for what it is that you want to do in life, giving those examples. If you cannot give those students examples of uh why this class is important, that's when you lose them. And when you start losing them, guess what?

20:04 That's when you begin to see it has an impact on the entire environment in the class. So, classroom guidance is extremely important. That presence in the building. That's the second one. So we've talked about scheduling and we've talked about the presence of the counselor, and then the last thing just wanted to touch on is the assessment of the students. Assessing students has an impact on the environment. And what I mean by assessment, when you're looking at uh different resources to help students determine what it is that they want to do after high school, some students may have exposure to different career inventories, and those career inventories are given, and it helps the students to narrow down what their interests are, and you have to be you know pretty um pretty careful about how you actually present that information because again, you can lose students altogether if they see this as just one more test.

21:12 But a career assessment is meant to help students uh decide uh what it is that they want to do after high school based on their current interests, and this can change. So, giving that career inventory every year, in my opinion, as an administrator, in my opinion, I think that is very important, especially when you are starting out in elementary school and middle school. I think those are the time frames in which those career inventories should be given. Because every year a student is changing. There are some things that they're gonna keep, but based on the classes that they're in and things that they're learning about, they could gear an interest in an area that.

22:00 They take off with, and it could happen as early as second grade, but it could also happen as late as their eighth and ninth grade year, in which there's something that they find that they really truly enjoy and want to do. So assessing the students is a very important part, um, and it's an important part of the role of being a school counselor that will help the classroom environment. Because when you're assessing those students, you're giving them an opportunity to see exactly what it is that they may be interested in.

22:38 They could find out that they're interested in a field that they knew nothing about. And so, giving that assessment every year, in my opinion, I believe that this will give you the most bang for your buck when it comes to helping our children make some sound decisions, along with their parents, of course, some sound decisions about what it is that they want to do with their life and knowing what their options are and taking a look at every aspect of those particular uh careers. So, just to sum up what we've kind of talked about, school counselors serve an important role in the school.

23:21 Their student support services, that area is the hub of the school because it connects to the academics, it connects to social, the social awareness of the students, it connects to so many other aspects of what our students are doing in that building. And so when we looked at those three particular areas that affect classroom environment, as far as the school counselors, we talked about scheduling, we talked about presence, the presence of the counselors, and we talked about how the students are assessed.

24:04 And so those three areas they have an impact on the classroom environment. And so we want to make sure that as educators, no matter what role that we are in, that we are ensuring that our students are ready for the world, they are ready for what will come upon graduation. So that's all I have for you today. And we have had a look at school counselors and their office and their role and how they are the hub of the schools. I'm signing off now, but I'll be back before you next week. We're going to talk a little bit about some AI artificial intelligence, and so that will be one of our next episodes.

24:55 And um, I will be in Nashville, Tennessee, presenting at a conference. So if you happen to be attending the Making Schools Work Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, come on out to my presentation and um hope you enjoy it. And if you are a listener of the podcast and you hear this and you're going to the conference, just say hello to me at the end of the presentation, and uh we'll we'll just go from there. But it'll be it would be awesome if I could meet someone who's actually listening to my podcast at that conference.

25:32 But again, we're gonna end on that note. This is Dr. LaShante. This has been The Road to an Effective Classroom Environment. I hope you enjoy. Until next time, bye bye.