Re: Need Advice for working in small school
Posted by c.s. on 4/16/08

I do currently have administrator support, but my
administrator has gotten a promotion and will be leaving the
first of June. I also do classroom guidance in the classes
every other week.

I came to the school in February of last year...and hit the
ground running. When I first got there, I had teachers stop
me in the hall all the time and tell me about a kid w/ a bad
home life. This year, at a staff meeting, I had to tell the
teachers that if they need me to cancel a guidance class
please let me know before hand (and not 5 min. before I'm
supposed to teach). I also asked them to please fill out a
counseling referal form or put a note in my box if they want
to refer a kid (and not tell me in the hallway) and also asked
them to be flexible as sometimes crisis do occur...and I am
needed elsewhere. It seems as if they felt I was fussing at
them ....although I was very positive.

We have no idea who are new administrator will be nor do we
have any input into this decision. I would love to apply the
ASCA model, but I think that one thing I have learned (and
spoken to my administrator about...she agrees) is that at this
school, you have to start small so as not to "overwhelm" the
staff and then make enemies. Working with women has it's
great moments...but also has it's downfalls :). About half of
the teachers at this school are on their way out the door
close to retirement...and the world of high stakes testing has
put a huge emphasis on academics and not missing academic
instruction. Also, many of the children come from "bad" home
lives...which I can not change. I think I need to remind
myself that I can not make "huge" changes overnight, and that
even though I do not see the fruits of my labor...I'm doing
the best I can. I probably also should read more about the
ASCA national model. I'm not real good a PR...any ideas on
how to do that?

mainly, I just needed to vent.

Thanks!On 4/15/08, lacey wrote:
> sorry to hear you are struggling. do you have
> administrative support? how are you supposed to run groups
> and not have them during instructional time? a half-hour
> once a week isn't a horrble amount of time to be out of
> class. it sounds like you need some admin support and a
> restructuring of your guidance program. do you do classroom
> guidance? getting into the classes will help you to get to
> know the students and teachers better and may help with both
> your relationships with teachers and your effectiveness with
> students. have you considered trying to apply the ASCA
> model to your program? shouldn't be too hard with a smaller
> school and i think doing so will greatly improve your
> program. you may need to do a little PR for your program
> and really inform teachers about the great services that
> benefit their students (and them) so they will work more
> cooperatively with you. good luck!
>
> On 4/15/08, C.S. wrote:
>> I'm working in a very small school in a very rural town.
>> The counselor turn over at this school has been high.
>> They tell me their first counselor started in 1994 and
>> that the most a counselor stayed was 3 years. I've been
>> there for 1.5 years. I'm struggling with how to work best
>> with teachers and students in this small environment.
>> Some teachers do refer for small groups. I struggle with
>> feeling effective w/ these small groups b/c I often am
>> unable to communicate effectively with teachers. I can
>> not interrupt their teaching time, and most do not stay
>> late during the school day. Also, a lot of these children
>> do not have support at home (especially the ones refered
>> to me!)
>> In addition, i struggle with the best way to help a child
>> who is from a very broken home life. In the area in which
>> I work, CPS/DSS does not do a lot of good. I've had kids
>> and families both tell me that DSS did not do anything. I
>> have had social workers call me and ask me questions that
>> they should know the answer to. I have a school social
>> worker, but she is streched very thin and is not very
>> involved at my school. Any advice?
>>
>> Thanks

Posts on this thread, including this one

• Need Advice for working in small school, 4/15/08, by C.S..
• Re: Need Advice for working in small school, 4/15/08, by lacey.
• Re: Need Advice for working in small school, 4/16/08, by c.s..