School Counseling Simplified Podcast

Latest Episodes:

94: Classroom Management Mistakes You May Not Know You're Making with Kindergarten Teacher Kristina Harrill Jun 07, 2022

Show notes

Everybody loves tips and tricks for making classroom management easier, especially when you're working with a range of grades. Kindergarten classrooms are a completely different world than upper elementary classrooms. Oftentimes, these students are in a formal school setting for the first time. This brings unique challenges to specialists, like school counselors, who may only be in these classrooms one or two times a month. Today, I have a special guest sharing her best advice on how to have successful lessons when you're going into early elementary classrooms.

In this episode, I am talking with Kristina Harrill. Kristina is a former kindergarten teacher with wonderful insight into classroom management. She has seen what works and what doesn't when teaching little learners. Kristina shares what is important for specialists to consider when going into these classrooms the first few times and gives some great tips on how to build rapport and be successful when teaching lessons in kindergarten classrooms.

I hope you'll take the easy-to-implement tips she gives and use them next school year to make your lessons with little learners be the best they can be!

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/classroom-management-mistakes

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93. Using Parent/Teacher Feedback Data to Modify Your Counseling Program May 31, 2022

Show notes

Data is a powerful tool. The more data we can collect on our counseling programs, the more effective our programs will be and the more students we will be able to serve and impact. All month, I've been sharing my favorite data tools that I've found super helpful in my own program, and I've been joined by guests who have shared how they have used these tools in their own programs. In episode 89, I interviewed Jessica Weinberg about how she uses Behavior Surveys to transform her program. Katherine Guerrero joined me in episode 90 to discuss how she uses the End of the Year report, and in Episode 92, I shared how to create an End of the Year Report. Episode 91 was all about how to use attendance data to form school counseling groups. I hope you've had a chance to try out some of these data tools and see how you can use them to help you in your school counseling program. I have one more data tool I want to share with you as you're wrapping up your program this year and starting to look toward next school year.

In this episode, I discuss how you can use Parent/Teacher Feedback Survey data to modify your school counseling program. The feedback survey provides valuable information about how parents and teachers feel about the counseling program in general and if it has been beneficial to their child/student's life now. I hope you'll be inspired to create a simple yet effective feedback survey for your program that will help you make your counseling program even better next year.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/parent-teacher-feedback

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92: How to Create an End of the Year Report May 24, 2022

Show notes

Clarity brings purpose. A lot of times people don't really know what a school counselor does, and there's a lot of confusion around the role of the counselor. The more clear we can be about who we are, what we offer, and how we help students, the more purposeful our school counseling programs can be. One of the ways we bring clarity to our role is by sharing data that we've collected about the services we've provided and the progress our students have made. Data can help us modify our school counseling programs so we are more effective. We can also use data to show teachers, administrators, parents, and the community the important work we do. No one can argue with the cold, hard data.

Today, I'm sharing with you my all-time favorite school counseling data tracking tool…the End of the Year Report. I'll do a deep dive on what the End of the Year Report is, what to include in your report, and how to use it to help you transform your counseling program so you can better serve your students and advocate for your role. I also have an editable template you can use to make creating your End of the Year Report super simple and will give you a way to share all of your hard work and data-driven results with a year-long reflection of your comprehensive school counseling program. Be sure to grab your copy of the School Counseling Editable End of the Year Report here.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/end-of-year-report

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91: How to Use Attendance Data to Form School Counseling Groups May 17, 2022

Show notes

Attendance is important. You may be surprised to learn that even a small number of days missed can put students at risk of struggling academically. Even though we know it's important, sometimes it can feel like we're fighting an uphill battle when it comes to improving attendance for students who struggle. Beyond offering incentives, what more can we as counselors do to help?

In today's episode, we are talking about how to use attendance data to support students. As counselors, we need to do a little work to uncover why students are missing school and then intentionally address those issues. This crucial information helps us form groups and create individualized programs that can improve attendance and give our students a better chance for academic success. When you're able to show parents, teachers, and administrators how your counseling program is impacting student attendance, they will become some of your biggest fans.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/attendance-data

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90: How This School Counselor Uses an End of the Year Report to Transform Her Program with Katherine Guerrero May 10, 2022

Show notes

What if you had a simple, easy-to-use data tool that would help you make improvements to your program and give you a visual display you can show to your administrators and teachers so they can actually see the impact your program is having because of the work you do? This month, we are talking about data tools, and I have a special guest with me today to talk about one of my favorites.

In this episode, I interview Katherine Guerrero. Katherine will share her experiences as a school counselor. She also shares how she uses the End of the Year report to analyze her program's progress as well as how she shares those results with her teachers and administrators. As a member of my school counseling membership IMPACT, Katherine shares how being a part of the community has helped her as a school counselor.

Katherine is a 3rd-year elementary school counselor in Southern California. She loves to see her students light up when they have that "ah-ha" moment and she can tell that they understand the concepts they're working on.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/end-of-year-reports

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89: How This School Counselor Uses Behavior Surveys to Transform Her Program with Jessica Weinberg May 03, 2022

Show notes

Data collection is key to making improvements to your counseling program and advocating for your role. This month on the podcast we're talking about data tools that I love to use. Today, we're kicking it off with one of my all-time favorites, the behavior surveys.

Joining us for this episode is a special guest, Jessica Weinberg. Jessica is a member of IMPACT, my membership for school counselors. Today she shares about her journey as a school counselor and how she uses data tools in her own school counseling program. I love hearing about how she is using the behavior surveys in her program. She will also share how being an IMPACT member has helped her as a school counselor. We would love to have you join us in the program. Learn more about it here.

Jessica has been an Elementary School Counselor for just over 2 years. Prior to that, she was a Special Education Instructional Aide and a Preschool teacher. Originally from Aurora, Colorado, she now lives in Salinas, California. In her free time, she likes to read, cook and exercise.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/behavior-surveys

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If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

88: Strategically Selecting Internship Experiences to Build Portfolio Apr 26, 2022

Show notes

All month we've been talking about the interview process. First, I shared my own interview experience as a school counselor in episode 85. In episode 86, Lauren Tingle joined me to talk through questions and we did a mock interview. Last week, in episode 87, we learned about resume must-haves from Carol Miller, the go-to resume person for school counselors. Whether you're a new counselor looking for your first job or an experienced counselor wanting to brush up on your interviewing skills, be sure to go back and listen to all the episodes in the series.

In this episode, I'm sharing 4 tips you can use to strategically select internship experiences that will build your portfolio. To wrap up this series, I'll help you think about yourself in the future interviews you're going to land and guide you through things you can do during your internship to gain hands-on experience with students. When you maximize your internship, you'll feel totally prepared and confident in the knowledge and skills you have gained, and you can stand out from the competition.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/internship-experiences

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87: Resume Must-Haves with Carol Miller from Counseling Essentials Apr 19, 2022

Show notes

Today, I interview the go-to resume person, Carol Miller. This episode is full of advice and wisdom from someone who knows exactly what school districts look for when they are going through resumes. According to Carol, only 1-2% of resumes she has seen are what would be considered "quality" resumes. Most of the resumes she sees are "really, really awful."

Tune in to find out exactly what you can do to make sure your resume stands out in a good way so you are chosen for interviews, getting you one step closer to landing your dream job. From resume must-haves and no-no's to the type of paper you should use, Carol covers it all. She even goes over her best interview tips that will have you feeling confident and prepared.

Carol is currently an elementary school counselor, and she is the face behind Counseling Essentials. She has been a counselor for almost three decades and has worked as an elementary, middle, and high school counselor. She has also spent time helping other districts go through and review resumes, and she has helped people put together resumes.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/resume-tips

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If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

86: Mock Interview Questions with Lauren Tingle from Counselor Clique Apr 12, 2022

Show notes

If you're a recent graduate who is looking for your first school counseling job or if you're an experienced counselor who is looking for a new job and you need to brush up on your interview skills, this episode is for you!

Today I am joined by guest, Lauren Tingle. Together, we go over some of the common questions you may encounter in an interview for a school counseling position and discuss how we would answer them.

These questions come directly from the ASCA website. There are so many questions on the website, and we only had time to cover a few, so I encourage you to go check them out for yourself and find a friend to practice with! Not only does Lauren bring her perspective as an experienced high school counselor, but she has also sat on the other side of the table asking these questions to interviewees, so her insight is priceless!

Lauren is a former high school counselor turned content creator and curriculum writer. She is the high school counseling hype girl behind Counselor Clique helping other high school counselors energize and breathe life into their programs through creative and engaging counseling resources. She's also the host of the podcast High School Counseling Conversations where she brings value and fun into high school counseling!

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/mock-interview-questions

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If you are enjoying School Counseling Simplified please follow and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!

85: What I Learned Interviewing as a School Counselor Apr 05, 2022

Show notes

Are you looking for a school counseling job? Whether you're getting ready to graduate and trying to land your very first school counseling position or you're a seasoned counselor who is looking for a new position, interviewing can be stressful. This episode comes straight out of my Stress Free School Counseling Bootcamp program. It's totally FREE to join! If you're an intern, just graduated, or recently hired, this bootcamp is for you! You'll get the tools, inspiration, and support you need to transform your counseling program and hit the ground running from day one.

In today's episode, I'm sharing 5 steps that will have you feeling totally prepared to rock the interview process. I was super disappointed when I didn't land the job of my dreams my first year out of grad school, but I didn't let that disappointment stop me from gaining invaluable experience and preparing myself to land my dream job the next year. I want you to learn from my mistakes and experiences so you can have a stress-free and enjoyable interview process and land the job you want!

I decided to do this episode after a listener reached out to me and told me she and other students from her cohort were stressing out about upcoming interviews. I love to hear from my listeners, so please reach out to me on Instagram and let me know if there's a topic you'd like me to cover.

Show Notes: https://brightfutures-counseling.com/podcast-episodes/interviewing-as-school-counselor

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