Category: Administrators

YOUR School Counsellor discusses YOUR REPUTATION ON AND OFFLINE

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It is our choices … that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
– J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets)

If I search the internet …what will I find about you?

Your reputation is very important to you on and off line so how do you keep or get a positive reputation?

  • Act As If The World Is Watching. (because they probably are) Make sure you become the person you want to be on the internet. Everything we do nowadays is recorded. It seems every move we make someone is either taking a picture or videoing us. So it is up to you to be the kind of person you want the world to see, because they just might.

   

Your Digital Dossier . Think about it!

 

  • What You Give Out Is Probably What You Will Get Back. So give out the positive vibes that you want to get back. Treat everyone as you would like to be treated on and off the internet. Put out positive messages on and off line. Flood the internet with positive posts by you. You decide what you want your reputation to be. Don’t wait for others to create it for you.
  • Self- reflect. Check out who you are on and off line.  It is always a good thing to do. Do a search on line to see what is being said about you. Google yourself on a regular basis. Build up positive stories on line if nothing is out there. Decide who you want to be and become that person. Who do you admire the most? What qualities do they have? Work on those qualities in yourself and be honest about who you are online.
  •  Be Real Be Yourself. All of us are not perfect and all we can really be is who we are, so discover the real you and make sure your reputation is really what you want it to be. If you were writing a news story about yourself what would it say? Be authentic.
  •  Live and Learn. If someone makes a bad remark about you on or off line. Don’t give it any energy. Don’t react, don’t retaliate. You know who you are and if you respond you will only fuel the fire and often that is what people want is to see your reaction. So believe in yourself and make sure you are surrounded by positive people who know who you really are. Build your allies. Block people who are inappropriate.
  •  Use Common Sense. I know this sounds easy, but some people really don’t understand this concept. Ask yourself would I make that comment to someone I respect on or off line? THINK before you post. THINK before you say something you will regret.
  • Recognize That You Are Someone Who Can Make a Difference Having a positive influence on line and off is really up to you. You can create what it is that you want. Be your own PR person. Start with making a decision to have a positive reputation.
  • Just for Today recognize that you can build a positive reputation. Even if you have said or done negative things in the past, start today to be honest, reliable and reputable.
  • Get supports Helpful and healthy relationships are important. Ask for guidance from people who know how to be ethical. Read more about being an ethical person on and off line. Learn how to have healthy relationships. Go online to research how to be the best person you can be. Take leadership courses. Volunteer. Help others less fortunate. Learn from great leaders. Who do you know that has a great reputation on and off line? Ask them how they did it. Tweet them … they just might respond.
  • Your reputation is created by you SMILE your on YOU TUBE. . How you act, what you say, what you do. It is all up to you! Build the kind of reputation you want. The world is watching now more than ever before.  
  • Safety Are you sure you are being safe on line? Ask for help if you need it.

Inspired by Janine Wariner’s talk at the Telus Convention Centre March 2010

Check out her video here:

http://jcwarner.com/speeches.html

I value digitally responsibility. I am a learner won’t you join me?

Digital Citizenship is a concept which helps teachers and technology leaders understand what students should know to use technology appropriately. But Digital Citizenship is more that just a teaching tool, it is a way to prepare students for a society full of technology. Too often we are seeing students as well as adults misusing and abusing technology. The issue is more than what the users do not know but instead what is considered appropriate technology usage.

Alec Couros

 

For School Counsellors Resources:

Check out the University of British Columbia’s Information on your  Digital Tattoo .

My livebinder on DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP which will be updated as we move along in the next two weeks

Videos on cyberbullying:

A very helpful resource for Creative Commons that can assist in students being digitally responsible:

http://search.creativecommons.org/

For parents:

Digital Citizenship is so important . Our digital identity begins at birth. We need to be more vigilant than ever before about becoming the person we want to be. It doesn’t mean we won’t make mistakes. It means we need to learn and grow and be responsible for who we are and will become.

Maybe because the world may be watching ,we will all become better citizens.

Teacher Advisor Second Collaborative Post

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At Bishop Carroll High School, the Teacher Advisor program is central to the working of a self-directed model. Teachers are committed to ensuring that each individual is known personally by at least one adult. There are many components to the teacher advisor program including continuous dialogue. Advisors meet at least once a week for fifteen minutes or more with each student in their TA. They also meet daily for 15 minutes. The Teacher Advisor stays with this student throughout their three years of high school.

There is a 69 page document that Bishop Carroll has developed that describes the TA role to new staff members. The advisory role is taken very seriously at this school,so much so that teachers are thought to be teacher advisors first and subject teachers second.. It is a big reason why Bishop Carroll works so well.

According to CCSDL http://ccsdl.ca/ (The Canadian Coalition of Self- Directed Learners) “the single most important relationship between student and teacher is embodied in the teacher advisor program.” Teachers serve as coaches, mentors, facilitators and guides as well as stressing collaboration and high expectations.”

At Bishop Carroll one of the focal points of our ( ePD) embedded professional development, is on the TA role and how we can continue to engage learners and assist them in every way possible.

Heather Enzie and Kevin Warriner, Religion teachers at Bishop Carroll, have some creative ways to engage their students in their 15 minute check-in each morning. “We want kids coming to school each morning engaged and ready to go – we want them to be excited to be here,” explains Warriner. The two educators, who’ve shared a “check-in space” for the past two years, have developed daily themes that are meant to inspire the 55 students that check-in with them explains Enzie. “I like to find good, short videos to show to the students, meeting them on their turf. We’ve developed themes for each day such as:

  • Motivational Mondays
  • Trivia Tuesdays
  • Wacky Wednesdays
  • Thoughtful Thursdays
  • Pop Up Video Vendredi’s (Fridays referring to the music videos from the late 90’s which are both educational and entertaining.

According to Warriner, the different themes are drawing a crowd, “Kids are engaged – they’re excited. There is anticipation for the themes each day.” Enzie argues that perhaps the most important trend that has come about from this initiative is student involvement, saying, “Our students send us videos. They see stuff online and send them to us thinking it would be a good fit for check-in. More and more they are taking ownership of the content that is shared during check-in.”

Both Warriner and Enzie feel that the check-in themes provide students with many different tools to help them succeed in a self-directed learning environment and develop skills and habits to becoming a life-long learner.

Check in varies from TA to TA, but ideas are shared and generated regarding best practices through our ePD. Some TA’s like to celebrate breakfasts, lunches and birthdays with their students. Also, information about post-secondary options is encouraged, supported and provided in TA. Susan Spellman Cann has initiated a daily tellagami where she sends her TA daily quotes.

These are but a few ideas for celebrating our students. Sharing, collaborating, connecting and problem solving are all modeled through the TA relationship. Engaging our students is an ongoing process, but the benefits of a lasting positive relationship are lifelong.

What do you do to engage students in your teacher advisory group? We’d love you to share your ideas.

Collaborative post by :Susan Spellman Cann, Kevin Warriner and Heather Enzie

The nice thing about collaborating on a post is that several ideas come out of the discussion. We thought of all kinds of ideas for each day after we discussed this post. All of which will benefit students.

Check out this haiku deck . It is one of many you can share with students.

http://www.haikudeck.com/p/tkA9BQRtVD/one-kind-word

Sharing: Unlocking the Key to My Filing Cabinet and Keeping it Open … HOPE

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This blog is the beginning of me keeping my filing cabinet open. I have many resources I have wanted to share with school counsellors,but did not realize I could do it. This blog is how and the time is now thanks to the fantastic open sharing in ETMOOC and especially because of Alec Couros. The process stated with me being referred to Alec’s work by Vianne Timmons, so I went to his workshop and got going on twitter. So began the best PD ever. I have been following the fantastic work of Dr. Erin Mason and other school counsellors in the United States and beyond, but I was still not ready to jump into a blog. Fears got in the way. I have been fortunate to have many, many great dialogues with Erin Luong which also helped with my decision making. ETMOOC was the final push and as a result I believe I will share, share, share and in an OPEN EDUCATOR way. I have so much more to learn and as I do this I am very GRATEFUL for all of ETMOOC participants who have inspired me to share openly.

My first THEME HOPE.. I hope school counsellors can use some of the ideas and materials. Take what you like REMIX ( a term I now really understand because of ETMOOC ) and leave the rest.

“Once you choose hope, anything is possible” Christopher Reeve

HOPE is essential when it comes to school counselling. School Counsellors can take a leadership role when it comes to instilling hope in students. Listen to Derek’s story of not giving up which demonstrates the power of HOPE. We know that if students are resilient they are better able to self- regulate and that means they can cope more effectively. According to Barbara Frederickson a psychological researcher at the University of North Carolina, “a positive mood makes people more resilient physically”.  Resiliency and hope definitely go hand in hand.

Shane Lopez, psychologist and author of Making Hope Happen helps us understand more about hope and the steps needed to help students be more hopeful. www.Hopemonger.com

We want students to never give up and if we can access resources to help us do this we will make a difference and possibly save a life.

How can we spread hope throughout the school in a digital way?

  • We can post videos like Derek’s story on our counselling website.
  • We can tweet out to stories of hope on twitter.
  • We can post stories of hope on our school Facebook site as well as our school website.
  • We can embed Hope themes and pictures into our curriculum guides

Hope is an Open Heart a book by Lauren Thompson can be used with younger students to discuss losses and the overcoming of hardship.

Students could be encouraged to:

  • Make videos of HOPE
  • Create Art pieces around the theme of HOPE
  • Make @haikudecks on iPad with a HOPE theme
  • Design hopeful songs or music
  • Find people who inspire HOPE and write about them
  • Brainstorm ways to inspire hope in others
  • Make bulletin boards on themes of HOPE and Suicide Prevention
  • For younger students they could make trading cards the size of hockey cards and design cards of HOPE that they can trade with others
  • Performing Random Acts of Kindness can inspire hope as well.

RESOURCES:

  1. At http://www.helpothers.org/ you can find smile cards which you can download and hand out.
  2. Who I am Makes a Difference ribbons can be ordered at www.blueribbons.org. These ribbons are great to use in a Celebration of HOPE assembly or as a beginning of the year activity.
  3. Some great books for school counsellors are called :The Power To Prevent Suicide  A Guide To Helping teens by Richard E Nelson, A Parent’s Guide for Suicidal and Depressed Teens by Kate Williams Beyond the Blues a workbook to help teens overcome depression by Lisa M Schab
  4.  At http://www.values.com/ you can make your own bulletin boards or make them and post for all kids to see.
  5. At pinterest you can see some ideas for HOPE on this board http://pinterest.com/susansc/hope-theme/
  6. Search institute has done extensive research on what adolescents need to be resilient. They have great resources. Go to http://www.search-institute.org/content/40-developmental-assets-adolescents-ages-12-18

As a school counsellor incorporating a suicide prevention theme with the theme of hope just makes sense. Running suicide prevention workshops for your students at the beginning of the school year is also very valueable.

Look Listen and Link is a video which could be very helpful for Suicide Prevention for teens. You can find it on Youtube. Here is another message of hope.

The Centre for Suicide Prevention has fantastic resources for school counsellors. www.suicideinfo.ca

  1. A great book for students is When Nothing Matters Anymore by Bev Cobain

At the APP store students can access a digital blue ribbon that they can share with others sending positive messages to anyone they feel makes a difference. You can find a link to the blue ribbon in my livebinder.

Finally you can access my livebinder on HOPE for more ideas.

These are but a few ideas. Please share yours so we can help students everywhere.

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=425596

This blog post will be a work in progress and as I continue to learn. I will share more and more.

Topic #4: The Open Movement – Open Access, Open Educational Resources & Future of Education … So Much to Think About …

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What do I think about topic 4? Well I think there are so many things within this topic that I will reflect on for a long time. ETMOOC is just a piece of the process when it comes to challenging what I believe about these topics.

Open Movement: While I had heard about this before ETMOOC, I had not really given it much thought. I certainly love the philosophical discussions I have been having with colleagues and most likely will continue to have discussions around this movement.

RIP Remixer’s Manifesto was interesting to view. It challenges my belief system around fair use, remix, copyright and makes me question where are we going in society around these issues. How does this impact students and where do I stand on these issues? There is so much to think about. I am hoping to learn more about these issues and as a result I will better be able to reflect on my beliefs as topic 4 progresses.

The future of education… I think that could be a whole book. I appreciate the time to reflect on these issues as they impact what I do and how I will reframe my own thinking.

I am slowly realizing why the ETMOOC has been set up the way it has. It is purposeful and process oriented. I look forward to hearing others thoughts and ideas.

Being in ETMOOC has made me think, challenge what I think, reflect, revise what I think and continue to learn and challenge myself and as a result impacts what I say and do.

Hope in My Ideal School … What Does Your Ideal School Look Like?

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After listening to Will Richardson’s blackboard collaborate talk I had to reflect on what it is that I would really want my ideal school to look like. I believe this will be an ongoing reflection as I continue to engage in my own process of learning in this digital age.

I believe I am very fortunate to be working in a self- directed learning model. I love the way students learn at Bishop Carroll High School. This model has been in action for over forty–years and is fantastic, but still evolving.

As I really reflect on what it is I would like to see in a school, the school counsellor comes out in me as my first thought is a school filled with HOPE.

Do hope and technology go hand in hand? I believe they most certainly can.  This video I discovered after receiving a tweet demonstrates the importance of HOPE. Shane Lopez’s interview expresses why I want my ideal school to be full of HOPE.

http://www.gallup.com/video/123893/Engage-Students-Improve-Community.aspx

The next video called, “If students designed their own schools” made me want what these students have done in their school to be a part of what I would want in my ideal school.

What might my ideal school look like? :

  • Hope filled
  • Engaged students and staff
  • Mutual Respect
  • Low student teacher ratio where all students can be heard and helped
  • Creativity is encouraged and abounds
  • Grades would not matter
  • Teachers would not ever feel they had to teach to tests
  • Counsellors would be essential in every school starting in elementary to high school
  • Counsellor to student ratio would be low and every school counsellor would not have to teach a class, but would engage students through workshops or through resources online or groups or whatever the schools and most importantly the students needs were
  • Exercise would be a part of every students and teachers day
  • Positive Connections would be evident
  • Capable, confident students would emerge and have opportunities to move in the direction of their dreams
  • Students would have available to them a variety of resources and opportunities
  • A students needs and personality would be highly considered
  • Safe Learning Spaces
  • The building would feel more like a comfy home than an institution
  • Students and staff are in a constant process of being technology savvy and literate
  • Professional development is ongoing and supported. Funding is readily available
  • Breaks where students and staff were nourished and had time to connect happen on a daily basis
  • Celebrations of staff and students occur on a regular basis
  • Passion is evident

I think I could go on and on, but for today I will stop here.

HOPE abounds in my ideal school, but what will schools look like in the future? I really am not sure.

After watching the video The Future of Education: Epic 2O20.  I have to really wonder are schools really prepared for what education might look like in 2020.

What do you think?

For today, my ideal school is right where I am.  I love working and counselling in a Self- Directed High School.  It makes me very happy and it is a very hopeful place where  I belong.

Digital Storytelling At Its Finest

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What an amazing story for school counsellors to utilize as a discussion starting point with students. This is a don’t miss story that can lead to dialogue that could impact students greatly.

Digital Literacies … My Passion Motivates Me

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Being in ETMOOC is like being at a fabulous movie at home snuggled in my basement watching a movie of my choice on the big screen. Those of you in ETMOOC will understand what I am saying.

  • I can learn in a comfortable place
  • I can choose what and how I want to learn
  • There are so many things I can choose from
  • I can even get up move around, put things on pause and come back to enjoy what I am doing
  • I decide if what I am doing is useful to me. I get to take what I like and leave the rest
  • I am constantly learning even if I am not fully aware of the learning at the time
  • I can sit back , relax , and absolutely enjoy the anticipation and the experience
  • It is so enjoyable I do not look forward to it ending

The reason I am even getting better at technology is that I wanted to learn how technology could help me with my Comprehensive School Counselling Program.

I love what I do and technology is able to move me to what Doug Belshaw calls moving from digital elegance to remix.

T3S1: Digital Literacies with Dr. Doug Belshaw (#etmooc)

Certainly a few years ago I would not have believed that possible. I dabbled with technology the same way a small child would and because the tools are easier and easier I grew with the changes.

As Doug Belshaw says, “I think Mozilla understands that digital literacy is a condition, but not a threshold. It affects your identity because every time you are given a new tool, it gives you a different way of impacting upon the world.” I have found this to be more accurate as I move through this ETMOOC and try more and more ways of communicating. Being able to utilize a variety of tools has allowed me to assist students and school counsellors in a way I did not realize was possible.

I look forward in the next few weeks to be able to understand the essential elements of digital literacies in an even deeper way. Thanks to the School Counselling and ETMOOC communities, I will develop literacies and grow and change as a school counsellor which can only affect the students I serve in a positive way.

I look forward to learning more about digital literacies in blackboard collaborate tonight with Doug. Check out his TED video:

Sometimes you need so few words #ETMOOC STORY

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Click here:

OUR ETMOOC STORY… sometimes you need so few words

julie

 

Another #sixwordstory

Administrators and Counsellors Partnering in Educational Leadership … Idea Inspired by ETMOOC

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Image I never underestimate the importance of the administration in any school, but an administrator who is showing digital leadership today is so important. George Couros http://georgecouros.ca/blog/ models this extremely well.

In one of my first twitter chats the topic I chose to engage in was the Principal and School Counsellor Relationship. http://www.schcounselor.com/2012/11/scchat-transcript-principal-and-school.html

Administration seeing counsellors as part of the leadership team is so important to me and I have been very fortunate to have leaders who absolutely view their school counsellors this way.  One of the main ideas I got from that chat was the possibility of the principal and counsellor presenting together, which I really liked.  I have presented many times in many ways to both counsellors, teachers and administrators, but never in all my years have I presented with my administrator. We have worked together, collaborated together, thought of ideas together, but never presented together.

After listening to George’s presentation on Becoming a Networked Educational Leader and linking the #scchat and his presentation together another idea has come to me. What a great idea it would be for an administrator  and counsellor to do a collaborative blog together. In fact that will be my goal this year before this course is over to do a collaborative blog with one of our administrative team members. I know how open and supportive they are so I look forward to writing a great blog with one of them. As a matter of fact this really inspires me in ways I had not thought of before.

So today I asked our VP if he would be interested in collaborating on a blog with me and he said YES. So stay tuned for our future blog… not sure what topic will be yet, but it doesn’t matter . This will be a first for both of us. To me this is educational leadership at its finest!

Go to:http://www.haikudeck.com/p/Eqgh61bZMC

 

Connection In a Self- Directed Learning Environment: Learning and Teaching in the Digital Age

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What’s going on inside the building of Bishop Carroll is not only exciting, but innovative, educational and engaging. Not only are the halls of Bishop Carroll High School buzzing, but inside the offices of several educators learning is taking place.

Bishop Carroll High School is a part of the Canadian Coalition of Self- Directed Learning

Bishop Carroll works together with other members of the coalition to improve the self-directed experience of all the learners. These schools meet together on an ongoing basis as well as convene at a yearly conference to look at ways of improving the model for students.

All of us at Bishop Carroll agree that we have never been in a school where so much focus and dialogue on instruction takes place on a regular basis. In fact, our staff has biweekly professional development meetings to ensure that we are able to collaborate on best practices and share new ideas. Teachers are continually focusing on how they can make things better for students in a self-directed learning environment.

Bishop Carroll has been around and functioning for over 40 years. Changing visions and learners have meant that staff has also adjusted to honor the shift.  Within the last four years, the staff started making a technological commitment. Innovative practices, sharing, collaboration, encouraging our students to experiment with different formats and technological materials has produced growth for not only students, but also teachers. Students have many choices in how they choose to receive information ranging from personal exploration of a topic, pod casts, discussion forums, Google- docs, multimedia presentations, digital learning guides and a focus on digital citizenship.

Technology has not replaced teachers, but has enhanced the learning experience for both the teacher and the student. Technology can be seen as a launching pad for further and more in depth discussions.

Three of us at Bishop Carroll have signed up for an educational experience like none other.  Seeing as we already focus on technology as part of our teacher professional growth plans, we felt that getting involved at an international level would be very beneficial. This is a first MOOC for all three of us. What is a MOOC? It is a Massive Open Online Course. We are taking #ETMOOC and are so happy we are involved in this process as it reminds us of what it is like to be a student in the 21st century. For more information go to ETMOOC

How are #etmoocers like students in our self-directed school?

Both:

  1. are self- directed learners.
  2. set our own learning goals
  3. at first experience an increase of  anxiety in a new learning environment
  4. are following a personalized program
  5. are excited about learning in a place that honors the way we want to learn
  6. are encouraged to be autonomous and have opportunities to direct our own learning
  7. are taking risks (we ask students to do this every day)
  8. are critically examining what we do and why we do it
  9. look to teachers to guide them through the process
  10. are self- paced, involving continuous progress
  11. are student centered environments with a focus on active learning, reflection and collaboration
  12. ask for HELP, and often it’s  just a click away

Today we chose to collaborate to write this blog post as part of the sharing experience. As we progress through this open forum we hope to continue to share best practice in both the teaching realm as well as what we are doing in the role as school counsellors.
Happy blogging
erin heather susan

http://www.sspellmancann.wordpress.com
http://www.erinluong.wordpress.com
http://www.heatherenzie.wordpress.com