In my first year as a school counselor, in the late 1990s, I worked with some amazing school counselors. We were teaching classroom lessons on empathy and conflict resolution. We didn’t yet have the ASCA National Model or learning objectives aligned to grade-level competencies, and we weren’t collecting perception data. But I’ll never forget Patti Peplow telling me, “School counselors need to be the best teachers.” This was in part because we were very fortunate to have classroom time and we needed to keep (or earn) the respect of the teachers. In many Washington state schools, unfortunately, this is still the case. To deliver and keep delivering our school counseling curriculum at the Tier 1 level, we need to prove that we can affect grade-level competencies and ultimately student outcome data. You can’t impact the students if you can’t engage them in your lessons, differentiate instruction, transition to new activities and other basics of classroom management.
My first suggestion is to get a mentor who can give honest feedback on your classroom management. If you’re on a team of school counselors this could be a respected colleague, or consider a master teacher on your campus or specialist at the district level. When I’ve observed a master teacher or specialist, I’ve been shocked by what they can do with a lesson. Technology also lets us find mentors – this could be as simple as someone reviewing your lesson plan or answering questions or, far more complex, reviewing a taped lesson. You owe it to yourself and your students to obtain you honest feedback on your teaching.
Second, use the tools within the ASCA National Model, especially the ASCA lesson plan template. The process of writing out your plan is critical to organizing your lesson. The template forces you to be clear about exactly what you want the students to know and be able to do, how you’ll ensure that they know or can do it, and what materials and resources you’ll need. I’ll admit that I’m guilty of writing lesson plans after the fact during particularly busy times. While not ideal, this at least challenges you to reflect on your lesson and make improvements. Formalizing our lessons in the template enhances the profession. When we’re all using the lesson plan template, we can communicate using a common language and identify and refine best practices.
My last suggestion is to take advantage of our training and background. We know that relationships are central to our work and this skill can pave the way to classroom management. Get to know your students’ names and interests, then use what you know to influence your learning objectives, procedure and materials. You might, for instance, need to adapt to students with disabilities or English-language learners. Your students might prefer content that reflects the culture of the group, they may want to utilize technology, or they may want to work in groups. You can address potentially challenging students by giving them choices that align with their interests or making sure that they are engaged immediately. If you have a large caseload, one strategy to get to know the group might be to survey the students before your lesson. Another idea is to meet with the teacher beforehand to ask about the group or, even better, collaborate with the teacher on a lesson. For example, I was able to integrate a lesson on empathy into a social studies unit on immigration. This served to build a relationship with the teacher and invest them in the lesson itself.
If you are a school counselor who’s frequently in the classroom, concentrate on refining and mastering the art of teaching. If you’re just starting your career or just starting to implement the school counseling curriculum, work on writing, teaching, and then refining one really great lesson. For us to fully implement the ASCA National Model and improve student results at the Tier 1 level, we need to develop the confidence and skills to manage a classroom lesson. Unlike the teachers, who perform this magic all day, every day, we simply have to be at our very best at select times throughout the year. We don’t always teach classroom lessons, but when we do we should be the very best teachers.