This past week has been a busy week. As I have been watching and learning the ins and outs of what a school counselor really does I realize that a counselor wears many hats! This past week was our first Family Night of the year and the principal asked our counselor to head the Family Night because he had to attend a meeting. Without much warning and heads-up my counselor takes on the challenge and I got to help her set-up the activities and schedule for the evening. I was able to set up stations with the bridges Family Resource Center, PTA, and Library for some of the stations for parents and their student to visit. The turnout was a little lower than I had expected with about 150 people.
This has been a busy week for conflict as well. As I shadowed my school counselor I was surprised of how many calls she received for bullying, aggression, and other conflicts among students. I have seen first-hand of how difficult it can be to follow a daily schedule with various interruptions as instances surfaced that needed immediate attention. Flexibility is a must in being a school counselor.
My school counselor reminded me that a counselor’s obligation is to the students benefit, and sometimes other adults will become frustrated when they think that the counselor is just ‘hiding out’ in their office. Sometimes a school counselor hears staff gossiping about how they think the counselor is slacking and be able to extinguish those conversations when they are over heard in a professional manner.
Counselors definitely wear many hats. I think the idea of a family night is awesome because it allows the counselor to interact with multiple families at one time. Interacting with families in a fun, relaxed atmosphere enables them to open up to you regarding concerns they may have regarding their child's educational experience.
ReplyDeleteI think that family night was a fun way to interact with families and dit did allow for a bit more relaxed environment.
ReplyDeleteBy observing and shadowing my school counselor, I have also learned the importance of flexibility and about the different roles that a school counselor plays in the system. She doesn’t have a guaranteed schedule, since she’s always interrupted to tend to a variety of situations. I really do admire her patience, and her willingness to accept and deal with these daily challenges.
ReplyDeleteWow, Sounds Like you had a busy couple of days, You really are learning the ropes, nothing like a little baptism by fire I guess. It has been sort of the same kind of month for me. I'm sure a family night gives you some insight into more of the dynamics that students are encountering when they are not at school.
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