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!