Teaching and Guidance Counseling

Guidance Counselors should make Podcasting part of their approach to developmental guidance counseling.  The National Standards for School Counseling can give you the framework you need to start your developmental guidance program.  The standards contain a multitude of topics that you can use in your Podcasting.  These Podcasts need to be timely, pertinant, interesting, concise and show that you know your audience  (5 to 10 minutes at the maximum). 

Ideas for Guidance Podcasting include:

• Students telling their experiences and advice for transitioning to a new school or grade level.

• Guidance Counselors recording interviews with students about Time Management, Study Skills and Test Taking Strategies.

• Guidance Counselors recording the upcoming calendar of college speakers, standardized tests, or other guidance activities.

• Guidance Counselors giving strategies for dealing with stress, decision making, goal setting, implementing the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, and bullying.  bullying.   CAS007 - Bullying: Intervention Strategies for the Victim and Bully w/ Dr.  Walter B. Roberts.  Airdate 2/16/2006.   I would recommend using this Podcast in staff development or with students in small group or individual counseling as you work with the bullies, bystanders, or the targets.   

• Guidance Counselors recording presentations for students or parents who could not attend (this may need to be longer than the 5-10 minutes maximum-it depends on the content and who the presenter is).

 The easiest way to begin is to create a podcast or vodcast (video podcast) of  a presentation or topic you have already worked with for years.   Check out Podcasts for Educators, Schools and Colleges for help getting started.    The Counselor’s Podcast™, a service of the Naviance Network™, features leading voices from the  school counseling community speaking on topics of professional interest.  The CounselorAudioSourse.net is another great site for examples of  School Counselor Podcasting. 

Tags: bcejan08pls, Bullying, Guidance Counseling, Parenting Teens, Podcsting

The Emotional Bank Account is a useful way to consider the relationships which contribute to your success. Think of it in the same way that you would an actual bank account. If you deposit money in the bank, the bank pays you interest and your account continues to grow. If you withdraw money from the account too often, your account will shrink quickly. 

In the same way, your relationships with teachers, teammates, coaches, parents and friends can be thought of as individual bank accounts. You can either make deposits to build and strengthen the relationship or you can make repeated withdrawals from the relationship and cause it to fall apart. This is the idea behind the Emotional Bank Account.

 Relationships take time to build, and strong relationships are based on many Emotional Deposits over time. What is an Emotional Deposit?

Unfortunately, it is much easier to damage or destroy a relationship than it is to build and improve one. Making one withdrawal from a friendship can erase many months of hard work making deposits. Some Emotional Withdrawals might include:

We all want to have friends, and we all want to be well liked. Understanding the Emotional Bank Account and making repeated deposits in your relationships is the key to being trusted and liked. And when you are trusted and liked, your Circle of Influence expands!

Please comment to me about your experiences applying the Emotional Bank Account Concepts. 

 This information is adapted directly from the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, by Steven Covey. Please read the real book, or one of the many companion books in the series.

Tags: , Deposits, Emotional Bank Account, Guidance Counseling, Relationships, Teens, Withdrawals

Bullying.  It seems like it has been around as long as people have been around.  One young student wrote the following: 

“Thousands of Jews were dying, and nobody stopped the Nazis . . .We just watched it happen, as if it were a movie. We were bystanders. . . The main point is that you should never be a bystander, whether on the playground or in a war. For if you do, you never know, history might just repeat itself.”

http://trinityweblog.org/emmku0708/2008/01/23/disbelieving-the-disaster/#comment-92

What is the answer? 

National Crime Prevention Council says:

 http://www.ncpc.org/topics/by-audience/parents/bullying/bystanders 

What can kids do?  “There are effective and safe ways for kids to step in and help others being bullied.

Some work better in certain situations than others. You can help kids decide when to use each method by role-playing bullying situations with them. Remember to emphasize that kids should only step in when they feel safe.

• Walk away. This shows bullies that their behavior is not funny or okay.

• Speak up. Tell bullies that what they are doing is wrong. By saying, “that’s not funny, let’s get out of here” or something similar, kids can stand up for each other. This may also give other bystanders the confidence to speak up or walk away.

• Be a friend. Sometimes kids get picked on because they don’t have any friends or anyone to stand up for them. When kids befriend someone being bullied, bullies are less likely to pick on them. Friendship can also give children the support and the confidence to stand up for themselves.

• Ask others to help. When more kids stand up to bullies, the bullies will be more likely to realize their actions are not okay.

• Get an adult. Sometime kids who are bullied are scared to ask an adult for help because they think it will make the bullying worse. Kids can help by telling an adult what is happening, or going to speak to an adult with kids being bullied. “

What can parents do? 

Standing up to peers is a hard thing to do for people of all ages. But you can make it easier for kids by giving them the confidence and the support they need to do so. Here are some ways parents can help children develop these traits:

• Teach children to be assertive. Emphasize peaceful ways to solve problems and encourage kids to stand up for themselves verbally, not violently.

• Show kids safe ways to help others. Make it clear that you expect kids to take action if they see someone being hurt, or if they are hurt themselves.

• Hold kids accountable. If children stand by and watch someone being bullied, make it clear that their behavior hurts the victim too.

• Get to know their friends. Encourage your children to invite their friends to your home or accompany you on family outings.

• Be a good example. If you see someone being bullied or hurt, help them.

• Build empathy in your kids. If you see examples of people being bullied or hurt in movies, television, or books, talk with your children about how these people must feel. Ask your children how they would feel in that situation and what they would do to make it better. Point out ways characters helped out, or didn’t, and have your children think up different ways to help.

• Help them develop social skills. From a young age, encourage your children to play with others and to be friends with many different people. Have them spend time with people of different ages, backgrounds, races, ethnicities, religions, and mental and physical abilities.