DELIVERY
The delivery portion of the school counseling program contains lesson plans and interventions based upon the results of our needs assessment. The majority of the responses for the needs assessment showed a need for information or tools related to college/career, stress management, time management, and dealing with feelings of depression. As our group considered the responses from the students, we researched and created interventions to fill their requested needs.
Classroom Guidance Lessons:
In order to adequately serve our students, we created three lessons based on our needs assessment results for each domain of the ASCA model: academic, personal/social, and college/career. For each of the classroom guidance lessons, the facilitating school counselor will administer a pre-test at the beginning of each lesson and a post-test at the completion of a lesson. These tests will allow the counselor to ensure the effectiveness and overall student understanding of the concepts presented.
Academic:
The “Time Management” lesson was created to cover the academic domain of the ASCA model. The lesson begins with students working on completing a homework calendar activity. Afterwards, students will discuss aspects that were easy to complete, and those that were more difficult. During this lesson, students will learn how to prioritize their time by recognizing tasks that would be described as “wants” or as “needs.” Students will learn to identify that different tasks take different amounts of time to complete and that time completion should be taken into consideration when planning out a schedule. By the end of the lesson, students should be able to accurately describe different ways to improve their time management skills.
Personal/Social:
The “Managing Stress” lesson covers the personal/social domain of the ASCA model. During this lesson, students will identify a variety of factors that cause stress in their lives. After sharing their stressors, students will identify the different coping mechanisms used to handle stress. It is important for students to recognize that there are both healthy and unhealthy ways of coping with stress. The discussion will allow students to determine different individuals they can turn to when they are experiencing stress. At the end of this lesson, students will be able to recognize at least one person in their lives whom they can go to when they are stressed while also utilizing effective methods to cope with stress.
College/Career:
For the college and career domain, students will be given a lesson on “What Career Might Be Best For Me?” In this lesson, students will discuss careers they may have considered going into once they have completed their high school education. Although answers may vary, it is important for students to start thinking about their post-secondary options. Students will complete a variety of worksheets that help them to discover more about themselves and their interests. After analyzing their answers, students will access the Occupational Outlook Handbook online to search possible careers they may be interested in. Students will then complete a post-test. At the conclusion of this lesson, students will be able to discover more about their interests and how these can tie into possible careers.
Small Group Lessons:
In our needs assessment we asked students what type of group they feel they would benefit from. Our results indicated that students preferred groups that focused on college, time and stress management, and depression. This small group is focused on depression and feeling sad as the other main interests were addressed in classroom guidance lessons. The Find the Light Group was designed to assist students in learning more about depression, recognizing depression symptoms, as well as giving them techniques and time to improve their mood and to practice these techniques. The first session of the Find the Light Group will begin with students learning about the levels of depression and what depression looks like. Once having this basic understanding, members will evaluate their own lives and determine where their own mood fits on a depression scale. The second session focuses on students noticing similarities between themselves and their peers. By recognizing and acknowledging similarities, students learn that they are not alone in the emotions they are dealing with. By the third session, students will begin discussing possible treatments for depression and other mental health disorders. This lesson will help students to identify useful treatments for those living with depression and help them to focus on what may be useful for their own lives. The final session focuses on students developing a positive mindset. Students will share percentages of how positive and negative they feel, and will then receive positive statements from their peers. This activity aims to show students that it is OK to feel sad, but to recognize the positive aspects in their life. Find the Light will help students to recognize their own emotions and help them learn techniques to be positive.
Closing the Gap:
For our Closing the Gap program was developed from the data that was the most present in our needs assessment results. This program is designed to be implemented for sophomore students as they are often overlooked in schools. For almost every question that pertained, students indicated that they were interested in receiving more information and guidance pertaining to college. In order to close this gap and better serve the sophomores, students will participate in a lesson that requires them to look back at how their past experiences are shaping their future plans for college and careers. This project is meant to help students connect the main events in their lives which have left an impression on them, to their actions and decision making.
Students will begin by discussing possible career interests that they have considered for their future. The key takeaway message in this lesson is that planning for a career is a process, and is not something that needs to be set in stone just yet. Students will then complete the Timeline worksheet that helps them to view events in their life and why these events are significant. This activity allows students to also include feelings associated with their experiences. By the end of the lesson, students should be able to make a connection between careers they expressed interest in and their life experiences. Students will gain insight into their own lives, and learn more about how their own unique life story affects future decision making.
Classroom Guidance Lessons:
In order to adequately serve our students, we created three lessons based on our needs assessment results for each domain of the ASCA model: academic, personal/social, and college/career. For each of the classroom guidance lessons, the facilitating school counselor will administer a pre-test at the beginning of each lesson and a post-test at the completion of a lesson. These tests will allow the counselor to ensure the effectiveness and overall student understanding of the concepts presented.
Academic:
The “Time Management” lesson was created to cover the academic domain of the ASCA model. The lesson begins with students working on completing a homework calendar activity. Afterwards, students will discuss aspects that were easy to complete, and those that were more difficult. During this lesson, students will learn how to prioritize their time by recognizing tasks that would be described as “wants” or as “needs.” Students will learn to identify that different tasks take different amounts of time to complete and that time completion should be taken into consideration when planning out a schedule. By the end of the lesson, students should be able to accurately describe different ways to improve their time management skills.
Personal/Social:
The “Managing Stress” lesson covers the personal/social domain of the ASCA model. During this lesson, students will identify a variety of factors that cause stress in their lives. After sharing their stressors, students will identify the different coping mechanisms used to handle stress. It is important for students to recognize that there are both healthy and unhealthy ways of coping with stress. The discussion will allow students to determine different individuals they can turn to when they are experiencing stress. At the end of this lesson, students will be able to recognize at least one person in their lives whom they can go to when they are stressed while also utilizing effective methods to cope with stress.
College/Career:
For the college and career domain, students will be given a lesson on “What Career Might Be Best For Me?” In this lesson, students will discuss careers they may have considered going into once they have completed their high school education. Although answers may vary, it is important for students to start thinking about their post-secondary options. Students will complete a variety of worksheets that help them to discover more about themselves and their interests. After analyzing their answers, students will access the Occupational Outlook Handbook online to search possible careers they may be interested in. Students will then complete a post-test. At the conclusion of this lesson, students will be able to discover more about their interests and how these can tie into possible careers.
Small Group Lessons:
In our needs assessment we asked students what type of group they feel they would benefit from. Our results indicated that students preferred groups that focused on college, time and stress management, and depression. This small group is focused on depression and feeling sad as the other main interests were addressed in classroom guidance lessons. The Find the Light Group was designed to assist students in learning more about depression, recognizing depression symptoms, as well as giving them techniques and time to improve their mood and to practice these techniques. The first session of the Find the Light Group will begin with students learning about the levels of depression and what depression looks like. Once having this basic understanding, members will evaluate their own lives and determine where their own mood fits on a depression scale. The second session focuses on students noticing similarities between themselves and their peers. By recognizing and acknowledging similarities, students learn that they are not alone in the emotions they are dealing with. By the third session, students will begin discussing possible treatments for depression and other mental health disorders. This lesson will help students to identify useful treatments for those living with depression and help them to focus on what may be useful for their own lives. The final session focuses on students developing a positive mindset. Students will share percentages of how positive and negative they feel, and will then receive positive statements from their peers. This activity aims to show students that it is OK to feel sad, but to recognize the positive aspects in their life. Find the Light will help students to recognize their own emotions and help them learn techniques to be positive.
Closing the Gap:
For our Closing the Gap program was developed from the data that was the most present in our needs assessment results. This program is designed to be implemented for sophomore students as they are often overlooked in schools. For almost every question that pertained, students indicated that they were interested in receiving more information and guidance pertaining to college. In order to close this gap and better serve the sophomores, students will participate in a lesson that requires them to look back at how their past experiences are shaping their future plans for college and careers. This project is meant to help students connect the main events in their lives which have left an impression on them, to their actions and decision making.
Students will begin by discussing possible career interests that they have considered for their future. The key takeaway message in this lesson is that planning for a career is a process, and is not something that needs to be set in stone just yet. Students will then complete the Timeline worksheet that helps them to view events in their life and why these events are significant. This activity allows students to also include feelings associated with their experiences. By the end of the lesson, students should be able to make a connection between careers they expressed interest in and their life experiences. Students will gain insight into their own lives, and learn more about how their own unique life story affects future decision making.