Respond to all 6 students discussion 100 word minimum

Due Sunday JUNE 11, 2023

Must Read: 

**Please write response as a direct response to the classmate. Please don’t write the response addressing the student as a third person. Correct way to response…… 

***Example: Hi James I agree with you and so on….. 

****Example: Please DO NOT say According to Ashley. Because we’re supposed to respond directly to the student.

*****PLEASE RESPOND IN DEPTH

PRACTICUM II**************************************************************

Response 1- Jamie 

Share an “aha” moment from the week.

            This week is graduation week. My aha moment was the realization of how much work goes into putting on a student’s graduation. It starts with finding a location and planning, then from there as a counselor we need to review all senior credits and see what needs to be completed for seniors to graduate. For graduation there needs to be speakers, name readers, directors of student’s, music, presentation, board members, and someone to facilitate parents. Graduation also requires getting cap and gowns ordered, handed out and student’s informed on times to meet as well as the process for graduation. As a school counselor we are in charge to handing out scholarships and reading the names of the students under our role such as if you have AA to MA students with those last names are your responsibility to read. As a counselor we are also responsible for calling parents and informing them if their student is not graduation and those conversation are not fun. Graduation is such an honorary moment for student’s, the “rite of passage.” The rite of passage has three stages: separation, transition, and incorporation. The student’s journey is similar to these stages. For the graduate, separation is during the struggles of school, transition is the ceremony process, and incorporation is “turning the tassel.” The ritual of graduation adds a touch of melancholy and pride to the rite of passage. Parents watch their children pass to a new stage of life, and graduates feel satisfied in their accomplishments. I can’t wait to be a part of my first High School graduation as a staff member and see the success of our student’s and the joy of there parents.

Response 2 – Stacie

Share an “aha” moment from the week.

The ‘aha” moment I had for the week would be one of favoritism. The counselor I am working with currently was going to have that hard conversation with a staff member because they were making incorrect choices due to an event that happened. The reason she did this is because the student did something to her previously and she did not like it, so I guess it’s a form of retaliation. The teacher is a female teacher and therefore did not care for the student and started picking on him. Why would a teacher make the active choice to do this? Why would she not take the time to assess the situation and think about what or why he would have said this? Background the class is a Behavior class and therefore there are more of different types of issues. The student “Bob” called her a “B” and because of her not likely him she started making fun of him and not helping him. The aha moment, I guess there are two ways that a grown person who is supposed to be teaching our children is acting this way and then also that as counselors even though we are not administrators will sometime need to have these hard conversations with staff members. After being able to listen to the conversation, the counselors told the teacher that “Bob” was in fact high (which he usually is) and just need a moment to calm down after he was being pushed to do work in class. As a secretary, I would have students come in a claim things all the time, but Liz (counselor) researched and looked into the issues (observed in class and spoke to other staff) prior to speaking to the teacher. There are many times that since I have been here I have noticed these said teachers have her “favorites” is this because they have fewer behaviors or maybe because they listen? Not sure but this should never happen blatantly.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL******************************************************

Response 3- Michelle

I have worked in special education for 17 years+ so I was familiar with antecedent intervention within that community but didn’t know what it was called. We definitely gave our students plenty of tailored intervention to subside behaviors that might have interfered with their education. One student might have 5 minutes on the classroom iPad if they complete their work/task and the iPad in in plain view so they can see it (as well as PECS-picture exchange communication system to follow). Or as a class, we would have ‘sticker sheets’ and would give everyone a sticker once their task was done. If they didn’t receive a sticker, we made sure to write a quick note explaining what happened (because sticker sheets went home daily). I know it was very different because most of our small class of 12 students or less had some sort of behavioral issues that were addressed daily so we just wanted to make sure that days went smoothly for everyone in the classroom and did everything we could to promote positivity before anything else. Usually, consequent control was not used so much (besides no sticker) because it did more harm than good to our students. 

One great intervention would be to be clear about rules and expectations of the classroom and school. Post them where everyone can see them and the students have an understanding of what we expect from them.  If we review them throughout the day or week, it is a constant reminder to the students on what they should be following. Another intervention would be positive feedback from all of the adults on campus not only the teachers. When students get praised for something, not only will they be likely to continue that, but it gives the other children an example to follow and desire praise themselves. This positive feedback can happen in the classroom, recess, in the office, the cafeteria, anywhere at school! And although it doesn’t sound like an antecedent intervention, sharing with students the consequences for certain behaviors is a way for student to embed in their minds what happens if we cross those lines. Alot of students look back and realize that they wouldn’t have done a certain thing if they would have known what was going to happen.

I think as a counselor we can have a little antecedent training before school starts or I can at least send them a powerpoint explaining the different ways we can promote positive behavior rather than focus on consequences and negative behavior. Or, we can enter classrooms early in the year and discuss the school rules and what we expect of them. 

Response 4- Kayla

Before the readings, this week I had already considered the concept of antecedent intervention because I work in education and specifically in the classrooms with students who already have these interventions in place. My son is also on an IEP for behavior accommodations that involve antecedent interventions like preferential seating, an aid will push in with him during carpet time every day because that is when he will be the most disruptive and noncompliant. The teacher often offers him choices to reinforce on task behavior and at times testing is altered in the manner of instruction provided. The first two interventions modify his environment, and the other interventions modify instruction so interfering behaviors will be less likely to occur.  

What three different antecedent interventions would work on increasing a student’s motivation to behave or comply with adult task demands?  

One intervention I would work on to increase a student’s motivation to behave or comply with instruction/task demands would be altering the physical environment. I can implement this by making physical adjustments to the classroom, such as having a student sit in a place where there is little distraction, managing the classroom’s noise level, closing the door to block noise or distractions from the hallway, and adjusting the lighting to reduce sensory-related concerns. The second intervention would be cueing or prompting the student by modeling. Modeling is a simple and effective technique to teach children a difficult social skill by showing them how to carry out an action, which can help promote desired behaviors (Gresham, 2017). My third intervention would be recognizing the preferred tasks and activities of the students and determining which of these might be changed to make them more fun and boost participation and motivation. 

As a school counselor, how could you help implement antecedent interventions in the schools? 

As a school counselor I could help implement antecedent interventions in the school by having tier 2 students on a Check In/Check Out (CICO) intervention. This intervention relies heavily on the communication of behavioral expectations and consistencies’ (Gresham, 2017). I could help to enforce and clearly specify the school rules to eliminate any confusion and provide student’s structure. Rules are easy to understand, universal, and apply to everyone in the setting (Fabiano, 2022). In helping ensure rules are followed, we should also explain the consequences for both positive and negative behaviors so students know what they are working toward and what will happen should they fall short (Fabiano, 2022). 

*****Professionalism and Ethics*****

—->Response 5- Cynthia

My comments and reactions to Child Abuse Advocacy and Interface and Who must report?

Child Abuse, as many other issues related to students’ safety, is a very delicate matter.  At first glance reporting should be a straightforward procedure.  But the Article Child Abuse Reporting: Advocacy vs. Interference made by Williams (2009) realize that things are not as simple or as black and white.  From a counselor’s standpoint, I would want to be close to my student to give him/her any kind of support he/she would need from me.  Of course, from the legal side, there are a lot more issue to take into account as Williams (2009) states.  We need to remain apart from the direct investigation in order to prevent damaging the legal process.  But, as a counselor, it makes me feel sad, that after reporting I have to kind of abandon my student to let the investigation flow as smoothly as possible.  I feel that after reporting is when our student needs us the most.  The article also highlights the lack of guidance for counselor and training after reporting a child abuse.  It seems to be true since the writer has felt overwhelmed for not being able to be close to the students.  However, in the end, what we really want is to protect our student and one good advice is to document everything to be prepared in case you are being subpoena.  This is the only best shot at helping and protecting our student; and, make sure we collaborate with agencies and individuals investigating the case in a professional and ethical way.  Another advice is to follow the case with the case worker in order to be informed and support our student from the distance.  This article is basically indicating us to make sure we don’t interfere. 

On an additional point, the action of reporting, and the person responsible and liable for not doing so, seems to be another complicated topic.  We must be well informed of the statues of our state in order to act ethically, professionally, and do our best to protect a child suspected of abuse.  There are basically three ways to report a case: by passing the report to the designated person in charge in charge (mandated reporter), by reporting directly to appropriate authorities, and by reporting to supervisor and you (the counselor) and your supervisor each report the reasonable suspicion of abused.   It is shocking reading the two real life examples provide by Stone (2011) in the article Child Abuse: Who Must Report?  The case of the counselor who asked the student to who was being victim of sexual assault to video record any future assault.  This is unconceivable.  It is common sense to any person on their right mind to act immediate on  reporting to protect our student.  The second case, I feel the truant officer was to naïve in his way of handling the situation.  I can only imagine how morally guilty he must have felt for not acting approximately to protect the child’s life.  These cases make us think on possibilities and alert us about always being cautious.  It is better to report a suspected abused, than to not report and put the child at risk.  We have plenty agencies to report to: the police, the National Child Abuse Hotline (4-A-CHILD), local child abuse hotline.  We Must act and always protect our children in our schools.

It is enriching reading articles with this kind of information.  They make us think in the possibility and prepare us by remembering these suggestions.  Of course, we will be worried and anxious when facing a case like this, but at least we will have an idea of the best course of action, and not just paralyzed in face of child abuse.

Response 6- Courtney

As Stone (2011) mentions, each state has different laws regarding child abuse reporting, and therefore, it is imperative for school counselors to familiarize themselves with their state’s requirements to ensure they are compliant. In California, all school employees are considered mandated reporters and are required by law to report known or suspected child abuse (“California Department of Education,” n.d.). The law also states that supervisors and/or administrators are not allowed to intervene or hinder a report from being made (“California Department of Education,” n.d.), and therefore, the scenario described in the article would not follow California law. In fact, if the counselor in this situation found out that the principal failed to make the report, the counselor would be required to report the suspected child abuse themselves (Child Abuse Mandated Reporter Training, n.d.). 

In the schools I’ve worked in, mandated reporter training was completed and reviewed yearly by all staff to ensure everyone fully understood their duty to report. Unfortunately, I’ve had to make calls to DCFS numerous times, and it’s never easy. However, I always err on the side of caution and will call to consult a DCFS employee to determine whether the situation is reportable. With child abuse being significantly underreported (Stone, 2011), I wonder if others realize consultation is available to support when making a report. As school counselors, I feel we can help ensure staff members are thoroughly trained on mandated reporting requirements and provide staff with resources to guide them through the process, such as a document with phone numbers, protocols, and the student information the reporter will need to have accessible during the call. When staff are trained on their responsibilities and understand their school’s protocols and procedures, they will be more equipped to handle child abuse reporting and protect their students’ safety.  

School counselors are advocates for students and must always ensure they feel protected and safe (Williams, 2009). Reading through this article, I found myself feeling conflicted with how to best support a student after a child abuse report has been made while ensuring to not interfere with the legal process. While I do understand the importance of not asking leading questions to a student, as it can influence their response, and understand why we wouldn’t be allowed to discuss the case further with the student after a report has been made (Williams, 2009), I’m unclear whether or not we are allowed to talk with the student at all during the investigation. Can we talk to the student if they come to see us as long as we don’t discuss the case, or do we have to inform them we aren’t allowed to communicate until the case is closed? I’ve worked with social workers in the past during these situations but was never told I couldn’t speak to the student while they were investigating. As Williams (2009) states, school counselors have an ethical obligation to collaborate with agencies and other professionals to provide the best support for their students, and so I will continue to lean into consultation and collaboration to ensure I fulfill my duties as a counselor while adhering to the law.