Have school counseling questions? No biggie! Read on to find 6 tough school counseling questions and answers!

When I started blogging, I had no idea the type of response I would get. It started out slow (which I was ecstatic that one person looked) and then moved into this amazing counseling community, where we all share common struggles.

Over time, I started getting emails and Facebook questions about certain sticky situations. Which is funny because after receiving some of those, I took on the role of researcher, because…I too am a school counselor… some of your questions applied to me!

When I say we are in this together and we can all learn from each other, I really mean it! It’s a two-way street! You make me a better counselor with your creative insight and question because I force myself to research and find what others say on the topic.

Below are some of the questions I received over the last year…

School Counseling Software

“I really enjoyed your article on data collection for school counselors. I am working with a nonprofit that provides school counseling to a few private schools. They are looking at adopting a software system, and I was wondering if you had any recommendations or research on software to support school counseling specifically. Please also let me know if there are any software systems that other counselors have used that have not worked well. All the best, and thanks in advance!”A

Hey! Thanks for writing to me and reading my article on data collection! Personally, I do not use a software system to manage my school counseling program. I have used SCUTA in the past and LOVED it (if I could be 100% paper-free). Personally, I love having my planner/calendar with me and writing my notes in it. For data, I am a Google Forms & Excel kinda girl, just because I can change the questions being asked to get the exact data I need. If you’re looking for quick and easy… check out my Needs Assessments!

SCUTA does have an amazing lesson feature where you can make sure you are meeting all the standards and then schedule them throughout your school year. I would definitely check out SCUTA if you are looking to go that route. Below are some of the links when I was searching (the only ones I have tried are SCUTA and Emote).

Emote was really neat to use! It is a building-wide emotional support system for all staff. So, it’s not a school counseling software, but it is something to check out in regards to SEL support. I absolutely loved it, but the teachers felt a little overwhelmed during our trial period. It would have been more helpful if we approached it with our staff differently and went through some training.

www.counselorapp.com (SCUTA)

www.emotenow.com (Building-Wide Emotional Support Service)

How to be Available

“I am a first-year counselor and I am the counselor for the whole district K-12 I am struggling with how to be that available. My primary office is in the Junior high/high school building so I almost never make it to elementary and I am so busy (most of the time) at High school level that I am not sure how to prioritize things. Anyways thanks for letting me tell you my struggles.”

The struggle is real… I totally get it! So, the first thing I would do is set a schedule. Decide what part of the day (or which days) are more important to be at the Junior High/High School building and schedule around that. Then I would take that schedule to your principal or admin and discuss your strategy for reaching all students. Make sure to advocate for what’s best for ALL students, not just HS.

One of my professors used to say, “it’s not that you’re wanting to get out of things, it’s that you’re wanting to get into the right things”. So, spending your time wisely between buildings and setting the expectations that you will be gone at this time/day. There are always going to be emergencies or crisis come up, which may need your attention, but for the small things, have a system in place where students can become more self-sufficient and then check-in with them on your days there.

Advocate, Advocate, Advocate! To keep track of where you’re spending the most time on a daily basis, do a Time Task Analysis (TTA). I have TTAs built right into my planner so it eliminates the extra step when scheduling! Check it out here… Perfect Planner for School Counselors.

Preventing Burn-Out

“I guess my biggest concern is keeping up with the expectations and not burning out.  The last couple of years have been hard! How do you prevent yourself from burn out?”A

That is a great question! I am constantly telling myself to relax and calm down. It’s really easy to just keep working and overdo it. I have started taking time for myself at night and on the weekends. I get email notifications on my phone and I have started not responding until the next workday unless it’s an emergency. Usually, teachers or admin have questions about things and if it’s not an emergency, I just leave it alone, until I’m at school. Otherwise, I would be working all night. 🙂

Also, take time to have fun! Go do things you like to do and make sure to take care of your body, mind, and spirit! Fuel yourself with good nutritious foods, limit caffeine, get some movement going, and make sure to smile and laugh throughout the day. This will help a lot with the stress of our workloads! During the school year, try to plan a few fun things that get you passionate about your job. If you’re excited about implementing something it feels good and you want to do it. You don’t have to implement something new every year, but go ahead and tweak what didn’t work.

School Counseling Lesson Planning

“I was a high school teacher we’re just recently got an Elementary counseling position. I’m super excited, but lost! One of my questions/problems is how and where do you come up with all the short lessons you do in the classroom? In other words, it’s back to school season.

How do you go around and visit all the classes with a back to school theme and make it different for grades K-6?  I guess it feels like I’m starting over from scratch. I’m used to teaching big kids with long lessons. I’m really in need of some great lessons to use.”
Thanks!A

Hey! I totally get where you’re coming from! It is really hard to shift gears from little ones to big kids on the same day. In my schedule, I have about 4 classes a day ranging from Kindergarten to 4th Grade. My K-2 lessons are 30 minutes long and my 3rd & 4th lessons are 45 minutes long. I like to organize my files like this (see below)! I have red for Kindergarten and it goes to green for 4th Grade.

The very first lesson in all of those colors is my back to school lesson. So, my red Kindergarten lesson about back to school is labeled lesson #1 and it houses an easy lesson with a Kindergarten level book and age-related activity. Then it progressively gets more age-appropriate as you go through the colors.

By the time I get to the green 4th Grade lesson, we will be talking about school success and how to start the year off right (after a shorter introduction of what I do at school). By the time my students get to 4th grade, they know me pretty well. I focus more on Meet the Counselor with my K-1… then touch on that with older students. I also introduce myself individually to new students throughout the year.

Remember, you will only have to create from scratch once, then it gets a lot easier to just tweak things as the years go! To keep everything in order, I like to use the different forms in my School Counseling Office Bundle! I hope this helps answer your question!

First Year Implementation

“I’m new and although I have all the info to get started, it’s hard to know where to begin and how to implement things that have never been done. How many new ideas are realistic to implement in your first year?”

Thanks for writing to me!! I would say look at your needs and pick a couple of areas that you are excited about and start there. Everything we do essentially needs to serve a purpose for our students. So, if there is a need to ramp up attendance, then start a fun incentive. If the need is to create better college & career focus, then start there with a fun week, like Career Cafe. Just remember to collect the before and after data to make sure it’s going in the right direction.

In our jobs, it’s so easy to get started on a million things and not make any progress! 🙂 As the years go on, the built up routines will stay in place and you can implement new ideas that you are excited about! Have fun!

Managing Time & Caseload

“My administrator directed me to your Pinterest page. I briefly looked through it and really liked what I saw.  I’ve even subscribed to your page and I’m ready to borrow some of your resources!  However, I’m curious as to how much mandated counseling you do for your 504 and IEP students in addition to all these push-ins? 

Also, if you don’t mind me asking, what is your caseload at your school? I appreciate you taking the time to answer these questions.  Thank you and may you have an awesome school year!”

“Thank you so much for your kind words! Collaborating with other counselors and working together to help more kids is a passion of mine! I am super blessed to work at a school district that doesn’t require me to be involved with 504 and IEPs. In Missouri, our Counseling Model states that we should not be written into the IEPs because this would limit our ability to provide services for all students. However, we should be adapting our lessons and activities to include students with 504s and IEPs… because we do serve ALL students. 

The Missouri Model’s Stance

The info below is taken straight from the Missouri Manual (pg. 52)…
The School Counselor’s Role in IEPs:

School Counselors…..

• do not function as case managers for students with special needs.
• may be members of the team involved in the diagnostic aspects of the IEP. 
• are not responsible for the development, implementation, and monitoring of the IEP.
• take part when appropriate, but should not coordinate or chair staffings, conferences, or IEP meetings.
• should not be written into IEP’s for on‐going counseling services for specific students as this would limit their ability to provide services for all students.

Here is a link to check out the whole thing! https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/cnsl-missouri-comprehensive-school-counseling-manual-2017.pdf

Our state board, MSCA put out a position paper on both these topics and referenced ASCAs position as well! This could help you advocate! 🙂
IEP Position Paper: https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/cnsl-iep-msca-position-paper-fall-2015.pdf
504 Position Paper: https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/cnsl-504-msca-position-paper-fall-2015.pdf

At my school, we have a Testing Coordinator who handles all the district testing and we have a Special Education Director who handles all the Sped. and 504 stuff. I have a caseload of about 500 students (PreK – 4th). I don’t do counseling lessons with PreK at this time… but I do individually see some PreK students.

My best advice is to advocate, advocate, advocate! I hope this help answer some of your questions! I really appreciate you following me and reaching out! Have an AMAZING school year!

Question Wrap-Up

So, guys, that’s some of the top questions I got over the last year! I hope the questions and answers can help you along your counseling journey! We are all in this together and learning from each other. That is the beauty of being a school counselor…. consulting together makes us better!

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