Mar 01 2008
Paperless Guidance Office
A paperless guidance office would change my role from that of a paperpusher to one of facilitator of learning, a guide on the side as students and parents take in and interact with the information we have for them. If the guidance office went paperless, we would save a ton of money that could be used for other services. There is no reason why parents and students could not register for school online. Any communications with the school, can be done on email or through our Blackboard Internet system. Parent permission slips for many things can be done online: registration for gifted testing, changes in class schedules, permission for group or individual counseling. Invites for special events can be posted online. Other areas of information that can be put online are: Developmental guidance lessons, parenting strategies, Strengthening Families pod or video casts, Family Home Evening ideas, things to do with your at-risk students, summer activities, teenage job leads, college and career search links, surveys, and resource information for parents, teachers, and students. Information would be out to parents, students and staff in a more timely manner and feedback would be received quicker.
Students who interact with guidance curriculum on Wikis and Blogs will retain more information than if they just sat and listed to a counselor lecture. Learning would be measured by choices the students make as they apply guidance curriculum principles. The students would create a learning community that would enrich their learning as they apply what they learned and write about the results of their choices,and the ideas they have about those results. I would feel more comfortable as a guidance counselor if I knew that I was reaching all my staff, students and parents with the correct guidance information if we communicated with Web 2.0 technology tools instead of paper. Web 2.0 tools facilitate a two-way communicationn in a much more user friendly way.
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I agree that it is much easier to contact my parents through email rather than trying to connect by phone with everyone’s busy schedules. It also allows me to distribute more information quickly and easier. Sometimes I worry though about losing that personal touch and that parents will use electronic means as a way to avoid ever coming into a school or meeting face to face with a teacher.