Site You Should Know About: Alliance for Excellent Education

The Alliance for Excellent Education is this awesome site that has all this information about what is going on currently in the world of education. For instance, want to know where the US stacks up against other countries for education? The PISA 2009 results are right on their website, right now. Or go check out the actual stats here.

Want to know more about College Access? Visit here. They have issues briefs, facts sheets, reports, press releases, and more! Everything you could want to know about what's going on in American ed.

Need to know about the achievement gap? Try here.

They also have information on many other important topics, so go visit NOW!

Great Workshop Website: Regulation of Unpaid Internships The Uncertain Future

So, GWU hosted this amazing workshop on Unpaid Internship back in October entitled The Regulation fo Unpaid Internships: The Uncertain Future which basically discussed how the Fair Labor Standards Act is applicable today to internships and whether or not unpaid internships, in the private, public, or nonprofit sectors, are legal. The weigh in? Probably not. Still, doesn't mean school counselors are going to be paid for their Master's internships any time soon!

To learn more about the conference, see YouTube videos of the panel discussions, and generally get all the awesome dish, visit this website: Regulation of Unpaid Internships

Site You Should Know About

New Site You Should Know About: Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, is a wonderful site that includes a variety of classroom activities and teaching kits that can be used to help teach students about tolerance. Included in the website is the DVD Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History. For any school counselors who have not seen this DVD, I implore you, GO SEE IT NOW. Order your free copy from this website! It truly is an important message about tolerance that we all need to remember. You can order your free copy and learn more about the DVD here: http://www.tolerance.org/bullied.

In addition, take some time to learn more about the amazing organization that is the Southern Poverty Law Center. They have some amazing resources that can be helpful to school counselors that can be located here: http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/publications, including:

Best Blogs for School Counselors!

Masters Degree has made our lives easier! They have named the 50 top blogs for school counselors! Visit the following site to find out more: http://www.mastersdegree.net/blog/2010/50-best-blogs-for-school-counselors/

Or read here:

Skimming news stories and headlines related to your industry is easier if you visit these blogs.

1. ASCA Scene: You'll have to become a member with the American School Counselor Association website in order to view their blog that fuels discussion about policies, tips, and more. Recommended Posts: From the discussion board:Graduate Student – Tips for Portfolio and Compassion
2. SU School Counseling Program Blog: Although this blog is filled with personal stories and news relating to Suffolk University's school counseling program, school counselors at the university level and below will find inspiring testimonials about working in the industry and reaching out to students. Recommended Posts:Proposal for Graduate Certificate in College Admission Counseling andRemember the SATs?
3. Ohio School Counselor Association Blog: There's a lot of Ohio-focused news on this blog, but also good tips and information about school counseling in general. Recommended Posts: Free Cyber-Bullying Resources from Federal Trade Commission and Registration Open for 2nd Annual International Conference for Educators to Support LGBTGIA Youth
4. FSCA Blog: The news blog for the Florida School Counselor Association archives headlines about new initiatives, policy and legislation, and ideas for activities you can bring to your school. Recommended Posts: NSCH 2007 Mental Emotional Well-Being of Children Chartbook and Teen Dating Violence and Abuse Policy Requirements
5. My.Counseling.org: The American Counseling Association Weblog is full of thoughtful, helpful posts from counselors writing to help other counselors. Recommended Posts: One Approach to Helping Young Girls Today and Coaching and Attention Deficit Disorder
6. The School Counseling Guide: This blog, organized like a social message feed, tackles school counseling topics in five major categories: academic, career, emotional, personal and social, and is written by school counselors. Recommended Posts: Study Skills Group Agenda and Assessing Threats of School Violence: Implications for Counselor

Release Statement from GLSEN, PFLAG, and the Trevor Project on Recent Tragedies

In relation to my last post, I wanted to share this Release Statement emailed last night from LGBTQ organizations on the recent tragedies of several LGBTQ youth due to bullying. Hopefully you will find it inspiring and useful as I did.

Note of Caution: In an effort not to sensationalize these events, GLSEN is refraining from posting this statement to our social networking sites, including Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc. We ask that you please take the same caution to reduce the risk of future tragedies.

Recently, there has been heightened media attention surrounding the suicides in New Jersey,Texas, California, Indiana, and Minnesota of several youth who were known to be bullied relentlessly because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

These horrific stories across the country reflect on school bullying culture and how it can lead to tragedy. Such cases are not new, but actually do reveal an important trend: the public is becoming more informed and in tune to the realities that adversely affect our youth. However, it is now up to the public to not just be aware, but to be active in changing this reality.

LGBTQ Teens and Suicide

Read a tragic article today. A gay teen at Rutgers University committed suicide after his roommate posted video of him on the internet making out with another male student. The article raised some interesting issues and provided video commentary as well. Take a look: http://abcnews.go.com/US/victim-secret-dorm-sex-tape-commits-suicide/story?id=11758716

The video mentioned Dan Savage's You Tube project "It Get's Better" located here: http://www.youtube.com/user/itgetsbetterproject which is a collection of videos from LGBTQ adults sending messages of hope to LGBTQ youth assuring them that even though they may be experiencing bullying and other discouraging behaviors now, "it will get better." This may be a helpful resource to school counselors working with LGBTQ youth who are feeling discouraged and are looking for a message of hope.

Bullying Prevention Week: October 4-10

It's coming up folks! While the whole month of October is technically bully prevention month, bully prevention week is usually celebrated during the first week of October-- this year October 4th through 10th. The PACER Center has put together a number of resources that counselors can use to infuse their school with anti-bullying preventative messages. Check it out here: http://www.pacer.org/bullying/bpam/index.asp.

There are obviously many other bullying resources available in publications and online. You may want to take this time to start becoming familiar with them as Bully Prevention week and month come closer. Think about ways that you can start infusing bully prevention into your everyday work with all the students you encounter. We may be just interns, but this is something we can always be considering!

My New Fave Book: My Mouth is a Volcano!

What: My Mouth is a Volcano! (Book and Activity Book)

By: Julia Cook

Ages: 4-8

Year: 2006

Pages: 32

Description: (from Amazon) All of Louis' thoughts are very important to him. In fact, his thoughts are so important to him that when he has something to say, his words begin to wiggle, and then they do the jiggle, then his tongue pushes all of his important words up against his teeth and he erupts, or interrupts others. His mouth is a volcano! My Mouth Is A Volcano takes an empathetic approach to the habit of interrupting and teaches children a witty technique to capture their rambunctious thoughts and words for expression at an appropriate time. Told from Louis' perspective, this story provides parents, teachers, and counselors with an entertaining way to teach children the value of respecting others by listening and waiting for their turn to speak.

My thoughts: This is a fantastic book! So fantastic that I sat the other intern at my elementary school down today so that I could read it to her! Together we are in charge of leading a social skills group for five, third grade boys with ADHD/attention difficulties. While last week we did introductions, tomorrow is our first official lesson day with the group. We are going to use this book with them! One, it's super funny. Two, it gets the lesson across in a clear, but not preachy manner. And three, it's told from a boy's perspective which is something we really wanted to find so that it would reach these particular boys in our group. And four, you can purchase the activity book to go along with it! Your work is already done for your fellow school counselors!

GO BUY IT NOW!

I'm sorry!

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!

It's just so difficult to keep up a blog when you're trying to do your internship!

So- just as an fyi on what I'm up to, have I read the girls yet- No. Why not? Because I went to go buy it at Barnes and Nobles two weekends ago and then didn't have it. Did I order it from Amazon and it's on it's way? Yes. Will I be using it in a girls group at my elementary school in the coming weeks and be updating you with the questions we use in our girls group? Yes. So don't worry your pretty little heads too much.

What I'll Be Reading this Weekend: The Girls

The Girls, by Amy Goldman Koss, appropriate for grades 5 through 8. After seeing the bibliotherapy seminar a few weeks ago, the other intern and I at our elementary school though it would be interesting to follow in the speaker's footsteps and develop a group curriculum for fifth grade girls based on this novel. The speaker at the seminar could not recommend this book enough and said that her fifth grade girls could NOT put it down! Let's see if I feel the same way :)

Here's a description from Amazon.com:

When the other members of Maya's clique decide to ostracize her, the girl is shocked and devastated. She has no clue what she could have done wrong, and neither do Brianna, Renee, or Darcy. However, Candace is their leader, the self-assured one, the one who decides who's in and who's not, and, suddenly, Maya's not. In brief chapters that jump from one girl's perspective to another, a picture emerges of social status and peer pressure among middle schoolers who are struggling to figure out who they are, where they belong, and maybe even what is right.

Middle school cliques, relational aggression, queen bees, what more could a girl ask for, right?

Website You Should Know About: Transition Year!

All you school counselors interning in high schools out there! Check this website out: Transition Year!

According to their website:

" Whether you need help picking a school that is the best fit, are looking for tips on managing stress once on campus, or want guidance in making a smooth transition for a student dealing with an issue like depression, this site has the tools and information you need. The Transition Year is an online resource center to help parents and students focus on emotional health before, during and after the college transition.

It's common to assume that the major obstacle in adjusting to campus life will be academic. However, research shows that emotional issues are most likely to interfere with success at college. Transition Year helps you prepare."

Sounds great to me!

Sexting!

To go along with my previous post about cyberbullying, Sexting (sending sexually explicit messages or photographs, usually via cell phones) is becoming a more and more common phenomenon, and is often included in cyberbullying. For those of you who may be dealing with this issue in your middle or high school, here are some resources you may find useful:

Sexting Fact Sheet: http://www.ncpc.org/resources/files/pdf/internet-safety/NCPC-FactSheet1.pdf

The Lowdown on Sexting: http://www.greatschools.org/parenting/behavior-discipline/sexting.gs?content=2079&print=true&fromPage=all

Talking to Kids and Teens about Social Media and Sexting: http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/june09socialmedia.htm

Safety Tips for Tweens and Teens: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/tech/tec14.shtm

Girl Scouts Cyberbullying (Sexting): http://lmk.girlscouts.org/

The Truth About Teens and Sexting: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7337547&page=1

Rosalind Wiseman "Sext-Ed": http://rosalindwiseman.com/2010/01/12/sexted/

Gosh, time does fly! Let's talk about...Cyberbullying!

Well, folks, time certainly does fly when you're learning how to be an intern! As you can see, I haven't been updating as frequently as I suspected might occur. I promise, I will try an do better.

Today I want to talk about Cyberbullying. We all know about bullying and how harmful its effects can be on the bully, the victim, and the bystander. And I'm sure, by now, you've all heard about cyberbullying-- the 21st century, technological version of run-of-the-mill bullying--whether it's on the internet, through social media networks like Facebook or MySpace, through cell phones, wherever! -- If it uses technology and it's bullying, then it's cyberbullying.

Read Read Read

Something I keep meaning to do (when I get that oh-so-coveted free time I've always been looking for) is read some more psycho-educational books. We talked about some great ones today that I wanted to share with you, as well as a few more that I've put on the list myself:

The Motivation Breakthrough by Richard Lavoie

Hidden Gifts of an Introverted Child by Marti Olsen Laney

The Trouble with Boys by Peg Tyre

Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys by Dan Kindlon

Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman

The Curse of the Good Girl by Rachel Simmons

Happy reading!

And the school year begins!

Welcome back folks! And the school year begins. Some of you may be just beginning your Master's program, others of you may be beginning your second year and that means beginning your internship, getting involved at your on-site internship (whether school or otherwise) and a whole gag of other wonderful things. For my internship site I had the wonderful opportunity of attending a bibliotherapy seminar this morning, and for the next couple of posts I thought I would share some of the books I learned about. Feel free to check them out for yourself!

First, the wonderful seminar was offered by a school counselor by the name of Amy Sauder Lehman who has written the book "That's My Story Too"-- check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Story-Brambrut-Sauder-Lehman/dp/1598500821/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283385367&sr=8-1. This is a book for K-5th grade that includes 4 books/grade with lesson plans and reproducibles for each book. She was a great speaker and clearly knew what she was talking about and could get adults, and surely children, engaged in the material. I highly suggest this resource, and I plan on buying it myself!

Wonderful Websites: TWO College Websites

Education.Com is my crush website of the week folks, and it has TWO amazing sections on colleges that any of you heading off to work in high schools MUST check out. First, their "College Hub" (http://www.education.com/special-edition/college-and-beyond/) is extremely extensive and includes everything a gal (or guy) could want-- choosing a college, college alternatives, planning for financial aid, paying for college, transitioning to college, the list goes on! They also have a nice little section on job preparation, summer jobs, resumes, career development, and more, which of course made made my heart go a-flutter with joy. After you're done perusing through there, head on over (with your students) to the "Find a College" page (http://www.education.com/colleges/) where they can search colleges by location, admissions criteria, interest, etc, as well as community colleges and career trainings. Overall great site and easy-to-use.

Study Skills Resource

Need a great resource for a study skills group? Or just working one-on-one with a student who just can't seem to get the hang of that math problem? Education.com has a great "Study Skills and Practice Problems" webpage that might be able to help you out. Head on over!

And we're back!

Get ready folks! The new school year is upon us and for those of us in our second year at GW we all know what that means: Internship is here. Late nights at the CCSC. Bonding over crazy chores we're required to do. Learning about ourselves as we wile away at our internship sites. And meanwhile trying to fit in oh two, three, maybe four classes while we're at it. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

Here's what I promise: I will try to keep up this blog throughout the year.
Here's what I ask of you: Please don't be too sad if my posts are more sporadic.

Unfortunately, I am going to have to take a break from my work at the American School Counselor Association this year due to my time commitments at internship, but I hope to keep up on this blog the high quality and interesting breadth of information that I have been able to provide thus far.

And we're off!

Gone fishin'!

I'll be unable to make posts for the next couple of days as I'll be away on vacation, but don't worry, your blog will be back and up and running soon!

More assessments!

I posted a couple days ago about some great assessments to use in career planning. Well, here are some more specifically to be used with students.

Assessments, Exploration Resources, Workforce Preparation: http://www.hartdistrict.org/careervisions/Student/Assessments.html
My Student Edge. Com: http://www.studentedge.com/mystudentedge/prompt.aspx
Holland Party Game: http://www.bacareerguide.org/home/images/stories/Holland_Party_GameFINAL1.pdf
O*Net Computerized Interest Profiler: http://www.onetcenter.org/CIP.html

Wonderful Websites: Education Planner & Campus Compare

Yeah Yeah Yeah-- there are plenty of great college planning websites out there: The College Board, Petersons, Princeton Review, etc etc etc.... Well, here are two more!

Check out:

1. Education Planner: http://www.educationplanner.org/education_planner/default.asp?sponsor=2859
Education Planner is a free website that allows students to think about college, choose a college, and then learn about paying for college. Students can build their resumes, compare colleges, learn how NOT to choose a college, and more!

2. Campus Compare: http://www.campuscompare.com/
Campus Compare is this awesome site that allows students to explore colleges based on size, area of the country, majors offered, their career goals, extracurricular offerings, etc etc etc. They can compare colleges, learn about their chances of getting in, and calculate their financial aid. It's a great website!

Classroom Management Resources

As school counselors we're often sometimes not prepared for dealing with the utter chaos that can arise when dealing with a classroom full of 5, 13, or 18 year olds. One-on-one? We're golden. One on thirty? Not so much. So here are some suggestions for those of us who might be a little apprehensive about the classroom management side of our internships:

1. If you're a GW student, take the one credit course being offered in the spring if you can.
2. As I mentioned before- sign up for the ASCA SCENE Groupsite and share your woes with experienced school counselors! They are ripe with advice and willing to help you out!
3. Check out these awesome resources:

Working with LGBTQ Families

Six to twelve million children in the United States come from LGBTQ families, yet unfortunately the research exists indicating that school counselors are sorely lacking in their knowledge and abilities to serve this population. An important goal is to help children become aware and knowledgeable (and, in my opinion, accepting) of all types of diverse families.

To help in this process, if you're school district is willing, I recommend Todd Parr's book, "The Family Book" which includes depictions of all types of families, including those with two same-sex parents.

Also, if you're interested in this topic, check out the paper I wrote for my multicultural class in the resources section. It is entitled "Considerations for School Counselors working with LGBT Families."

Wonderful Website: Ed Data Express

I believe that no matter what level you work at, it is important for all educators to be aware of what is going on in education policy and in their state specifically. To aid in this process, the US Government has recently released a new website entitled "Ed Data Express." This website is here to help all educators learn about the education statistics regarding their state. You can look at a snapshot of your state, create your own state tables, explore particular data elements and more. Check it out!

Bullying Books!

Just realized you need to do a bullying lesson tomorrow with your 4th graders? Check out the following great illustrated books with a bullying theme:

Alley Oops by Janice Levy
Band- ‐Aid Chicken by Becky Henton
Billy Bully by Ana Galan
Bullies Are A Pain in the Brain by Trevor Romain
Bully B.E.A.N.S. by Julia Cook
Carla’s Sandwich by Debbie Herman
Don’t Laugh At Me by Steven Seskin and Allen Shamblin
Good- ‐Bye Bully Machine by Debbie Fox and Allan Beane
Hey Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose
Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Bullies by Howard Binkow
Jungle Bullies by Steven Kroll
Just Kidding by Trudy Ludwig
My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig
Nobody Knew What To Do by Becky Ray McCain
Oliver Button Is A Sissy by Tomie DePaola
One by Kathryn Otoshi
Our Friendship Rules byPeggy Moss and Dee Dee Tardif
Say Something by Peggy Moss
Simon’s Hook: A story about teases and put- ‐downs by Karen Gedig Burnett
Stop Bullying Bobby! by Dana Smith Mansell
Stop Picking On Me by Pat Thomas
The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill
Trouble Talk by Trudy Ludwig

College and K-12 Career Counseling!

Now back to my main populations- K-12 and college age. Career counseling is so important throughout the lifespan, yet whenever I talk about doing career activities with elementary school students everyone always looks at me weirdly and says, "Whaaat??". No matter. It is important to start getting kids to think about careers early because this is when they start to form their gender assumptions and other ideas about what types of careers they might be able to work in. This is when a 6 year old boy decides he can't be a nurse because only women are nurses. We need to change this!

Check out the following resources for working with K-12 through college aged populations:

College:

Career One Stop: http://www.acinet.org/

Students and Career Advisors: http://www.careeronestop.org/studentsandcareeradvisors/studentsandcareeradvisors.aspx

The Riley Guide: http://www.rileyguide.com/

CDDQ.org http://kivunim.huji.ac.il/cddq/

Online Career Assessments

There are tons of great assessments to use when career counseling. If you're interested in this field I suggest you check out the NCDA's publication:

Whitfield, E.A., FEller, R.W., Wood, C. (2009). A counselor's guide to career assessment instruments (5th edition). Broken Arrow, OK: NCDA.

But if you don't have the time or money to order paper and pencil assessments, check out the following online options:

Assessments:

Work/Life Balance Calculator: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/06/04/balance.calculator/

Values Card Sort: http://www.dws.state.nm.us/careersolutions/CSS-workimport.html

Kiersey Temperament Sorter: http://www.keirsey.com/sorter/instruments2.aspx?partid=0

The Big 5 Personality Test: http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/

Jist Publishing: http://www.jist.com/shop/web

Skills Profiler: http://www.careerinfonet.org/acinet/skills/default.aspx

Skill Scan: Identify your Transferable Skills: http://www.skillscan.com/

Special Population #3: LGBTQ

LGBTQ persons also face unique challenges in the workforce, including how to come out on their resume and whether or not to do so, how to come out in the workforce, finding companies that support LGBTQ workers and provide domestic partner benefits, finding work in states that support LGBTQ rights, and more. Check out the following resources for working with this population. Also check out my resources folders for a group counseling framework for working with this population.

LGBTQ:

Human Rights Campaign State of the Workforce: http://www.hrc.org/about_us/7061.htm

HRC Employer Database: http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/search.asp?form=private_quick_search.aspx

HRC Corporate Equality Index: http://www.hrc.org/issues/cei.htm

•Gay Financial Network: http://www.gfn.com/

•Queer Resources Directory: http://www.qrd.org/qrd/

•Gay Yellow Pages: http://gayellowpages.com

•LGBT Career Link: http://www.lgbtcareerlink.com/

•Out Professionals: http://www.outprofessionals.org/

Some Other Special Populations

Some other special populations career counselors oftentimes work with are ex-offenders, retirees looking for new work, and persons with disabilities. Check back for updated resources regarding these populations.

Ex-Offenders:

National Institute of Corrections: http://nicic.gov/

Persons with Disabilities:

Disability.gov: http://www.disability.gov/employment

Job Accommodation Network: http://askjan.org/

Enable America: http://www.enableamerica.org/index.html?gclid=CI7n5dDuqqMCFQwIswod3xHR4Q

AAPD Employment Resources: http://www.aapd.com/site/c.pvI1IkNWJqE/b.5612009/k.62C1/Employment_Resources.htm

Entry Point! Internships: http://ehrweb.aaas.org/entrypoint/

Getting Hired: http://gettinghired.com/

Re-Careering:

AARP Employment: http://www.aarp.org/work/

Vocation Vacations: http://www.vocationvacations.com/

Special Population #1: Veterans

Veterans face unique career challenges, including mental health issues with PTSD, the need to transfer military skills into civilian skills, and more. Check out these resources for career counseling veterans:

Veterans:

Army Career and Alumni Program: http://www.acap.army.mil/

Military Transferable Skills Identification: http://www.vetsuccess.gov/resources/milskills/

Find Civilian Credentials for your Military Skills: https://www.cool.army.mil/

Find Civilian Credentials: https://www.cool.navy.mil/

Military to Civilian Occupation Translator: http://www.acinet.org/acinet/moc/

Military Transition Planning: http://www.careeronestop.org/MilitaryTransition/

Veterans Resources: http://www.auburn.edu/academic/provost/undergrad_studies/career/resources/wrvets.html

Veterans Career Services: http://www.career.arizona.edu/Webresources/?veterans

Job Boards

There are tons of great online job sites out there now- Indeed.com; simplyhired.com; Craigslist, Monster, etc. etc. etc. Here are some more specific job boards to check out:

Job Boards:

Clearance jobs: http://www.clearancejobs.com/index.php

Careers for Transitioning Military: http://www.taonline.com/

Military.com Veteran Careers: http://www.military.com/Careers/Home/

Job Fox: http://jobfox.com/

Executive Jobs: http://www.theladders.com/

Technology Jobs: dice.com

Government: http://www.usajobs.com/

The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/section/Jobs/61/

Higher Ed Jobs: http://www.higheredjobs.com/

School Spring: http://www.schoolspring.com/

Jobster: http://www.jobster.com/

After College: http://www.aftercollege.com/

Getting Hired: http://gettinghired.com/

NonProfit: http://idealist.org/

Also check out the NCDA's Top Web Tools for America's Job Seekers:

Top Web Tools for America’s Job Seekers: http://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/28864/_PARENT/layout_details/true

Career Counseling: Employment Statistics

Whenever career counseling someone, it is important to know about the state of the economy, what jobs are on the rise, which ones are on the way out, and generally what's going on in the world. Visit the following sites to find out more about the state of employment:

BLS Local Area Unemployment Stats: http://www.bls.gov/lau/data.htm
State Labor Sites: http://www.bls.gov/oco/oco20024.htm
Occupational Outlook Handbook: http://www.bls.gov/oco/
Occupational Outlook Quarterly: http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/ooqhome.htm
State Occupational Projections: http://www.projectionscentral.com/
Center on Education and the Workforce: http://cew.georgetown.edu/
O*Net Online: http://online.onetcenter.org/

Also check out the Wall Street Journal's "Careers" Section, Money Magazine, Forbes Magazine, and any other business focused newspapers or magazines.

Career Websites Galore!

So, for the next couple of posts I'm going to be straying a bit from pure K-12 school counseling. These next posts will be focusing on career counseling web resources. While career is one of the three ASCA domains, these posts will be focusing on career counseling throughout the lifespan, from K-12 through retirees, as well as some focusing on special population. I hope they're helpful!

Response-to-Intervention (RTI)

As some of us learned yesterday in individual assessment, response-to-intervention, or RTI as most know it, is the wave of the future in terms of assessing learning disabilities, as well as just generally working towards providing evidence-based interventions that are proven to work for all issues in schools. For those of you who would like to learn more about the subject, check out the following resources:

RTI Links:

Intervention Central: http://interventioncentral.org/

RTI Wire: http://www.jimwrightonline.com/php/rti/rti_wire.php

http://www.houstonisd.org/LeadershipExcellence/Home/Administrators/Summer%20Leadership/2009%20Summer%20Leadership%20Institute/Workshops%20and%20Campus%20Presentations/Helms.pdf

My Favorite State College/Career Sites

Each state these days seems to have their own "Career Zone" website which is aimed at helping students, parents, teacher, counselors, and educators alike learn about college and career options, particularly focused on those in that state. While they are run by the states, many of the resources are useful for counselors nation-wide. The following are my favorites:

1) Virginia Career View: http://www.vaview.vt.edu/
Broken down by grades K-5, 6-8, 9-12, 18+, parents, and professionals, it includes information on career and college options.

2) Learn More Indiana: http://www.learnmoreindiana.org/Pages/default.aspx
For those of you who know about the Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP), Indiana has their own system to make sure that their state's guidance programs are up to snuff. How could their site not be great?

Books I Love #1: Richard Scarry

Richard Scarry's books "What Do People Do All Day?" and "Busy Busy Town" are fantastic books for teaching children about careers. In fact, I plan to use them in my internship this fall for our "Elementary Career Day." These books are just wonderful, anyone who has read them cannot gush enough. They are full of illustrations and great storylines to help children learn about what different workers do. My only complaint? They're still a little gender biased.

Loan Forgiveness/Deferment for School Counselors

Many school counseling graduate students are often wondering how to pay off that $80,000 of debt they accrued while attending graduate school. Well, it's not easy, but there are some loan deferment programs out there for school counselors and educators. Take a look at some of the following links to learn more about what you can do with those loans:

http://www.schoolcounselor.org/files/Loan%20Forgiveness.doc

http://www.fsa4counselors.ed.gov/clcf/loans.html

http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/PSF.jsp

Bunches and Bunches of Scholarship Websites, Oh My!

SCHOLARSHIP RESOURCES

THE ART LIST

www.theartlist.com

Provides a list of opportunities for visual artists and photographers, including contests with prizes up to $15,000.

BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION

www.gatesfoundation.org/topics/Pages/scholarships.aspx

Awards eight scholarship programs for undergraduate and graduate students, minority students, low income students, and others. Provides information on eligibility and how to apply for each program.

Wonderful Website #1: Lisa Savinon, School Counselor

Found out about this one on the ASCA Scene folks. If you click on "files for everyone" on her website you'll find some great counselor resources, including lesson plans. She includes a bunch of different topics, including bibliotherapy, response services, guidance, gifted, etc. She also includes great links on how to build family connections, links for children with special needs, and more. Give it a look!

Do you know about....CSCOR?

The Center for School Counseling Outcome Research located at the University of Massachusetts often seems like an overwhelming site to me. But, it does have some great resources that you should know about.

For one, if you're trying to learn more about how to conduct school counseling research or incorporate data into your practice, visit their ppts section: http://www.umass.edu/schoolcounseling/CSCORPowerPoints.htm There you can learn about evidence-based practice, using data to plan intervnetions, and more.

Also, if you're a doctoral student, NOSCA and CSCOR offer a doctoral fellowship program that you might be interested in.

Regardless, it's a site you should know about.

Lesson Plans Galore!

So, you've just meant your internship supervisor and she's asked you to create a three week lesson plan on responsibilty for third graders. Now, you could come up with some new lessons all on your lonesome. OR, you could visit these two sites and see some lesson plans already prepared by practicing school counselors! Your choice.

1. Missouri Comprehensive Guidance Program: http://missouricareereducation.org/curr/cmd/guidanceplacementG/lessons/index.php
K-12, elementary, middle, and high school lesson plans, totaling 352 in all, PDF downloadable.

2. Florida Dept. of Education Career and Guidance Lesson Plans: http://www.fldoe.org/workforce/programs/cd_lesson.asp
Contains lesson plans for K-12, broken down by age group, focusing on careers, interpersonal communication, self management, and more. Each lesson comes in a PDF or Word Doc for your use.

What Money is Being Spent on Our Kids?

Not something we learn about much in grad school, but have you ever wondered how much money the federal government and states are actually spending on our nation's children?

I recently had the opportunity to attend First Focus' Children's Budget Summit, and I learned some pretty deplorable statistics. Overall, less than 10% of our federal budget is spent on all children's programs.

To learn more about federal spending on children, check out the following resources:

1. Kids Share 2010: http://www.firstfocus.net/library/reports/kids-share-2010-report-on-federal-expenditures-on-children-through-2009
Kids Share 2010 is the fourth annual examination of the federal spending trends and tax policies that support and affect children and families. This years report finds that less than one tenth of the federal budget was spent on children in 2009.

2. Children's Budget Summit: http://www.firstfocus.net/childrens-budget-summit
Download the powerpoint presentations, download the booklet on the 180 policies, and learn how depressing the whole subject really is.

For those of you in Quantitative Methods...

Check out EZAnalyze! EZ analyze provides free, excel based tools that school counselors can download to help them with their data needs. You must have excel to use this product, but it is free and loads right into Excel. Need to disaggregate your data? EZ analyze can do it. Need to calculate a correlation or a regression line? EZ analyze can do that too!

And for those of you trying to keep track of all that time you spend working with kids and clients, check out their Time Tracker program as well!

Do you know about...Counselor's Room?

Counselor's Room is a great resource for lesson plans. Find classroom lesson plans for K-12 focused on the career, academic, and personal/social domains, as well as group curriculums and games. Check out their enhancing social skills group or their coping with family changes group.

Fantastic Blog #2: School Counselor Blog

Danielle is a K-12 school counselor, who, like me, has tried to pull some resources together to help school counselors. Check her out to see a video on how to use a pool noodle as a stress-relief tool, career resources, and more!

Do you know about...CESCaL?

CESCaL is the Center for excellence in school counseling and leadership. The site contains great tools to help you implement the ASCA National Model, with a specific section on tips for graduate students. They also have a resources section, information on a two national fellowship programs for post-master's or post-doc students, and more! Definitely check them out.

Fantastic Blog #1: Books that Heal Kids

Fantastic Blog to check out: http://booksthathealkids.blogspot.com/

This is written by an elementary school counselor and ASCA member. She posts about different books she uses in bibliocounseling in her work as a school counselor. Wonderful resource if you're looking for books to use in your internship or work. Great character education resource.

ASCA's SCENE Groupsite

Check out ASCA's SCENE Groupsite: https://schoolcounselor.groupsite.com/main/summary. The SCENE allows you to post discussions (for free!) to other school counselors and school counseling students. You can ask for advice regarding work, possible ideas for lessons, post files, download others' lesson plans, anything. There are over 12,000 members to draw information from!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! I know as school counselors at GWU we oftentimes feel as if we are being pushed to the side and not always given the resources we need. As an intern for the American School Counselor Association this past year, I have come across numerous valuable resources that I hope to share with you. I hope these will help you in your internships, in finding a job, and in a future career. Please leave any comments about things you'd like to see, and I will try to find them for you!