Counselor's Notebook, April 2015

MASCA

MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOL COUNSELORS ASSOCIATION

Keeping Our Cool While Keeping Warm

By THERESA COOGAN MASCA Past President

VOL. 50, NO. 8

APRIL 2015

MASCA Spring Conference 2015 Holiday Inn, Boxborough Tuesday, April 7, 2015 Registration / Breakfast / Exhibits 7:00 a.m. – 7:50 a.m.

Morning Learning Sessions

T

he winter weather has been harsh for everyone across Massachusetts and New England. Several school districts have already met their quota of days planned for snow days, and everyone has felt the challenge and inconvenience this winter has already brought.

I want to offer a perspective for school counselors to consider as a way to showcase our role and unique skill sets.

Counselors are usually one of the only persons in the school who have been trained from a prevention model. We can highlight this skill set and apply the MA Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs, which advocates for prevention programming through several delivery methods. This effort applies to the entire school community, and it demonstrates to other stakeholders how we address challenges.

Here are some topics for you to consider when building a one-unit or multiunit curriculum that supports and fosters adaptive growth and development: • time management and organizational skills • healthy and adaptive coping skills • constructive communication during stressful and challenging situations • self-advocacy for needs • online communication skills (for (continued on page 3)

8:00 a.m. – 9:50 a.m.

Keynote Session 10:20 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Dr. David L. Blustein “College & Career Readiness: Preparing for Work in the Second Machine Age”

Luncheon 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Graduate Student Poster Presentation Session 12:40 p.m. – 1:35 p.m.

Afternoon Learning Sessions 1:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.

MASCA General Session 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Resources at Your Fingertips

By DONNA BROWN MASCA Executive Director

H

ave you taken a look at the website www.Kids.gov yet? It’s a great site for counselors, teachers, and parents of elementary and middle school students.

Sponsored by the federal government, this site provides information, activities, lesson plans, and more in a clean, easyto-read format. If you sign up for the newsletter, you will receive updates every few days.

Some of the information is oriented towards classroom teachers. I often download it, print it out, and share it with my colleagues. For example, today’s update

features an announcement from the Office of the President: “Starting this fall, every 4th-grader

SHARING RESOURCES Curriculum templates and MA Model research can be found on MASCA’s website. To share your own materials, go to: MAmodel@masca.org

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across the country will receive a family pass for one year’s free admission to all of our national parks, monuments, forests, wildlife refuges, and waterways. It’s part of the President’s initiative to help kids take a break from their screens and go out and explore our amazing public lands.”

One of the best sections on the website is “Jobs.” This section is full of video interviews with everyone from a marine pilot to a chef to an FBI agent. These are really useful when addressing college and career readiness and can serve as a substitute for a career fair or classroom career visits. Most of the interviews are in the three to four minute range.

Additional references are made to sites like the Smithsonian’s “Q?rius,” which deals with Natural Science and History.

Here I found a very well-done video, Earth Science Careers: Not Just Rocks, by the U.S. Geological Survey. Several career games are also presented. I’ve used several of these resources very successfully with both upper elementary and lower middle school.

An entire section is dedicated to “Online Safety.” Here, counselors can find a wealth of materials on bullying, cyberbullying, the FCC, and games to help students understand the concepts of bullying and harassment and how to stay safe while using the internet. Articles, videos, and games help explain the problems and reinforce safety issues. All of these can enhance lessons on bullying and safety.

Other sections that can support MASCA standards include “Exercise and Eating Healthy” and “Health and Safety.” Lessons can also be developed from the “Money” section, which provides games and videos.

Additionally, if counselors are team teaching or if they are using subject specific materials to teach study skills, I recommend taking a look at the teacher resources in the sections: Math, Social Studies, Government, History, Art and Music, Reading and Writing, and Science. Included are lesson plans, videos, worksheets, and more. This is your tax dollar at work! Take advantage of this splendid opportunity. ■ COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

2014 – 2015 OFFICERS PRESIDENT TINA KARIDOYANES Mansfield High School 250 East Street, Mansfield, MA 02048 E-mail: president@masca.org PAST PRESIDENT THERESA A. COOGAN, Ph.D. Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, MA 02325 Tel. 508-531-2640 E-mail: theresa.coogan@bridgew.edu PRESIDENT-ELECT RUTH CARRIGAN Whitman-Hanson Regional High School 600 Franklin Street, Whitman, MA 02382 Tel. 781-618-7434 • Fax 781-618-7098 E-mail: Ruth.Carrigan@whrsd.org VICE PRESIDENT ELEMENTARY VERONICA KNIGHT Lowell Elementary School 175 Orchard Street, Watertown, MA 02472 Tel. 617-926-2666 E-mail: veronica.knight@watertown.k12.ma.us VICE PRESIDENT MIDDLE / JUNIOR HIGH KATHLEEN SCOTT E-mail: scottk@amesburyma.gov VICE PRESIDENT SECONDARY JOHN S. STEERE Wellesley High School 50 Rice Street, Wellesley, MA 02481 Tel. 781-446-6290 x4653 • Fax 781-446-6308 E-mail: john_steere@wellesley.k12.ma.us VICE PRESIDENT ADMINISTRATORS TBA VICE PRESIDENT POSTSECONDARY JOHN MARCUS Dean College 99 Main Street, Franklin, MA 02038 Tel. 508-541-1509 • Fax 508-541-8726 E-mail: jmarcus@dean.edu

COOGAN (continued from page 1) when students have extra time to be on computers/tablets/other electronic devices) • making new friends • strategies for staying active and healthy when indoors • healthy eating habits and ideas for cooking/baking when kept indoors • exploring apps recommended for reinforcing age-appropriate developmental skills • suggestions for parents about how to keep children engaged in learning during weather-related school closures While all of these topics can be helpful in our immediate winter months, they are all broader skill sets that will inform students as citizens in the twenty-first century. And these skill sets are integral parts of the MA Model and the ASCA National Model.

Remember: Know your audience. Are you targeting students, parents, or teachers /staff at the school? Secondly, identify your topic area and create learning objectives so that you will be most effective. As you create learning objectives, use the S.M.A.R.T. Goal approach, making each goal specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-oriented. For information on the S.M.A.R.T Goals, refer

to the MASCA or ASCA websites. Having these learning objectives will also help you identify an evaluation method in order to ensure that your curriculum was effective.

Delivery options include, but are not limited to: individual meetings, smallgroup meetings, large-group meetings, newsletters that are made in hard copy or electronically available, e-mail communications, letters mailed home to families, and assemblies with the entire school.

Collaborating and sharing strategies for how other schools are managing the obstacles of this winter can also be helpful. Many MASCA affiliates have been able to hold their scheduled meetings.

And, the beginning of April will showcase the Annual Spring MASCA Conference as a platform to encourage partnership, networking, and sharing of great ideas.

School counselors are among the best trained personnel in the school to help the entire school community navigate through the challenges of this winter. By using our training, we can guide the school community forward, and by showcasing some of our training and skill sets, we can indirectly advocate for our role.

Stay warm, Massachusetts! ■

VICE PRESIDENT COUNSELOR EDUCATORS MEGAN KRELL, Ph.D.; AMY L. COOK, Ph.D. E-mail: vpcounselored@masca.org VICE PRESIDENT RETIREES JOSEPH D. FITZGERALD, Ed.D. 5 Progress Street, Weymouth, MA 02188 Tel. 781-264-3426 E-mail: jdfitz1831@gmail.com EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DONNA M. BROWN Adjunct Professor, UMass Boston P.O. Box 366, 779 Center Street Bryantville, MA 02327 Tel. 781-293-2835 E-mail: executivedirector@masca.org TREASURER ASHLEY CARON 25 Belmont Ave., Stoughton, MA 02072 Tel. 508-212-0676 E-mail: ashcicero@hotmail.com SECRETARY KATIE KOZAK E-mail: secretary@masca.org MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR DONNA BROWN E-mail: membership@masca.org WEBMASTER / TECHNOLOGY COORDINATOR ROSS WOLFSON E-mail: webmaster@masca.org; info@masca.org COORDINATOR OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT HELEN O’DONNELL, Ed.D. E-mail: pdchair@masca.org COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK EDITOR SALLY ANN CONNOLLY 19 Bayberry Road, Danvers, MA 01923 Tel. 978-774-8158 • Fax 978-750-8154 E-mail: sallyconnolly@att.net

APRIL 2015

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Professional Development Updates

By HELEN C. O’DONNELL, Ed.D. MASCA Professional Development Coordinator

S

pring is finally arriving! It is not too late to consider participating in professional development offered by your local affiliates or MASCA. Keep an eye on the MASCA website (www.masca.org) for current news and updates.

Registration is now open for 2015 MA

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Model Institutes. Dates and sites are being confirmed soon. E-mail me at helenod@ att.net or MAmodel@masca.org for information about Institute training during the summer and fall.

Can you believe the MA Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Pro-

grams is approaching its 10th birthday?

Congratulations to the original writing team for making this MA initiative possible. And thanks to former Commissioner of Education, Dr. David Driscoll, for facilitating the endorsement of the MA Model.

Watch for information about three new graduate course opportunities offering PDPs or three graduate credits and for recorded PD webinars. You will be kept current via MASCA e-blasts and website postings. The courses being designed are: • College Advising • Financing Postsecondary Education (online), fall offering • Building School Counseling Curriculum As you organize your materials from the MASCA Spring Conference and past MASCA PD workshops, gather your Certificates of Attendance/Evidence of Learning Forms. You must have a minimum of 10 documented hours of PD to earn a PDP certificate. You can yoke together certificates to meet the minimum of 10 hours.

If you have paid the $25 PDP fee and have not submitted your paperwork for a PDP certificate, send your paperwork to me at 10 Maplewood Terrace, Hadley, MA 01035. If you have not paid for your PDPs, mail a $25 check made out to MASCA. Don’t forget to submit the original and a copy of your Certificates of Attendance PLUS a self-addressed, stamped envelope. (PDP protocol is available on MASCA’s website.)

I am taking this opportunity to announce that my tenure as MASCA’s Professional Development Chair has ended.

MASCA by-laws state that the position is a three-year appointment with a limit of three consecutive terms.

The other position that I have served in has been as Coordinator of Professional Development, an appointment made by each MASCA president when his /her term of office begins. I will also not be continuing in this position.

It has been a pleasure to plan and work with wonderful colleagues to bring you current and relevant professional development opportunities.

Have a wonderful spring. ■ COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

NEWS FROM DESE College and Career Readiness: Tools and Resources DESE has created materials for schools, districts, and their partners to assist in planning for college and career readiness.

The Early Warning Implementation Guide is designed for districts and schools in Massachusetts that are using EWIS and other sources of local data to identify, diagnose, support, and monitor students in grades 1-12. Tools and checklists are given for each step in the process.

It is available online and, by request, in printed form.

A STATEWIDE COLLABORATIVE HELPING ALL STUDENTS BECOME COLLEGE AND CAREER READY If you have implemented a new or different counseling activity to help your students “reach higher,” please let us know by following the link below. We are excited to hear about the impact you are making on the lives of your students.

Reach Higher Pledge Link: http://goo.gl/forms/lJ6GnmxzLL To learn more about the initiative, e-mail Ruth.Carrigan@whsrd.org.

The Career Development Education Guide provides a variety of career development education (CDE) activities offered by many schools and communities in Massachusetts, along with definitions and frameworks to assist with efforts to create, expand and/or improve CDE. The Massachusetts Work-Based Learning Plan is a diagnostic, goal-setting, and assessment tool designed to drive learning and productivity on the job.

The Massachusetts Guide for Implementing Individual Learning Plans (ILP) provides guidance for the implementation and use of the Individual Learning Plan (ILP) as a student-directed college and career planning tool. The MassGrad Minute, which gives a synopsis of the guide, is a student-directed, multi-year planning tool designed to increase student understanding of the relevance of what they do now to their future success.

Massachusetts Early College Designs provides an overview of early college models in the Commonwealth and describes a spectrum of programming, a dashboard of information, and highlights of local implementation.

Operation AmeriCorps: Funding Opportunity: This is a new opportunity from AmeriCorps members, with a focus on two areas, one specifically around high school graduation and postsecondary outcomes. For information, contact Massachusetts Service Alliance, 617-542-2544. ■ APRIL 2015

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MASCA Spring Pre-Conference

RESEARCH NOTES

Holiday Inn, Boxborough Monday, April 6, 2015

“Americans buy more soft drinks per capita than people in any other country.

These drinks are consumed by individuals of all ages.”

Registration

— The Journal of Pediatrics, Cincinnati, OH, August 16, 2013.

2:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

For both pre-conference workshops and general conference attendees and exhibitors

Preconference Workshop* 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Speaker: Dr. Seda Ebrahimi “Eating Disorders in Adolescence” The workshop will discuss eating disorders in both girls and boys and recommended interventions and strategies.

MASCA President’s Opening Reception & Awards Ceremony 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Sponsor: Bentley University *No extra fee for workshop attendance. A small fee will be charged for earning Workshop PDPs. The Professional Development Coordinator will provide information upon check-in.

Young people change their sources of caffeine “Children and teens are increasingly getting their caffeine from coffee and energy drinks, according to a Pediatrics study.

Using dietary recall data from the 19992010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), researchers assessed caffeine intake of children and young adults aged 2 to 22 years. They found that nearly three quarters drank caffeine on a given day, a proportion that held relatively stable over the decade. Soda accounted for 62% of caffeine intake in 1999, dropping to 38% in 2010. Coffee’s influence increased from 10% to 24%, and energy drinks, which were not a category in 1999, accounted for 6% of caffeine consumption in 2010.”

— Kelly Young, “More Children Getting Their Caffeine from Coffee and Energy Drinks,” NEJM Journal Watch, February 11, 2014.

Energy drinks linked to hyperactivity “A study of middle school children who consume energy drinks are at a 66 percent higher risk for inattention and hyperactivity symptoms, says a study by the Yale School of Public Health. The research was announced on Feb. 9, 2015, and was published in the journal Academic Pediatrics. Researchers say that this finding supports current recommendations that limit or ban the consumption of energy drinks by children….

Researchers say that more research is required to improve their understanding of the association between sweetened beverages and hyperactivity. Previous research shows a strong link between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and increased susceptibility to injuries, poor academic outcomes, and more problems with peer relationships.”

— Carola Finch, “Energy drinks increase kids’ risk for developing hyperactivity and inattention,” http://www.examiner.com/article/energy-drinksincrease-kids-risk-for-developing-hyperactivityand-inattention, February 9, 2015. ■

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COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK

Helping Students Handle Grief and Loss

By KIMBERLY LEFEBVRE M.Ed. Student in School Counseling at Bridgewater State University

G

rief affects everyone in a different manner and can take years to resolve, so it is imperative that we have appropriate strategies to help our students cope after they have experienced a traumatic loss. Working with students who have suffered the loss of a loved one or who are, in some way, grieving can be a challenge for those of us who have minimal experience in this situation.

I first worked with a student who was grieving the sudden loss of one of her parents during my practicum experience as a graduate student. Needless to say, this was a unique experience as I scrambled to think what I could say to this young girl to try and console her. I quickly realized that there wasn’t anything specific that I could say. I could not take away or reduce her emotional pain with words, as many of us might feel compelled to do.

So how could I help her?

Each counselor has his or her own

APRIL 2015

strategies to use when working with grieving students, and it’s important to determine which strategy works best for ourselves. The strategy that I found to be most effective is to allow students to express themselves in an artistic manner.

Because children and adolescents are still in the process of cognitive development, simply talking about their feelings may not be the most effective way to help them process their grief. It may not necessarily be the case that students do not wish to talk, but rather they do not know how to verbalize their thoughts and feelings. It may also be the first time the student is going through grief or loss, thus compounding the experience for them.

When using an artistic approach, the counselor can provide materials such as markers and paper and allow the student to visually express his/her thoughts. This method provides students with an outlet for their emotional energy or even ex-

haustion from having an endless array of thoughts that accompany grief. Students may find it easier to talk to the counselor when their energy is directed toward a drawing.

Some students may not speak at all.

In that case, the student could write down their thoughts for their counselor to read.

What is important is that you are providing your student with a safe space to process his or her grief. Even if there is only minimal communication, the student will leave your office with some relief, knowing that you were there to provide a quiet space to grieve and process.

There are many more strategies counselors can consider when working with grieving students. Most importantly, for those students who need in-depth, outside counseling assistance, we should keep an updated list of local professionals who specialize in grief counseling. â–

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Massachusetts School Counselors Association, Inc. COUNSELOR’S NOTEBOOK Sally Ann Connolly, Editor

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID NEWBURYPORT, MA PERMIT NO. 96

IN CASE OF NON-DELIVERY, RETURN TO: Donna M. Brown P.O. Box 366 Bryantville, MA 02327

Your membership renewal date is indicated by year and month on your address label above.

To renew your membership, go to MASCA’s website, www.masca.org.

DESE Monthly Webinars 4/14/15 Summer Transition Programs 5/12/15 Individual Learning Plans 6/09/15 MA Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs

MassGrad Showcase May 6, 2015 An opportunity to celebrate and share the great work happening across the state in increasing graduation rates and reducing dropout rates.

Register online at www.surveymonkey.com/ MassGradShowcase

MASCA Pre-Conference Monday, April 6 & MASCA Spring Conference Tuesday, April 7 Holiday Inn, Boxborough