Counselor Connect is a district-led and championed community of practice, offering high quality professional development, resources, and support for Student Service Professionals to foster the delivery of equitable, accessible, and data-informed services to students in the areas of academic, postsecondary, and social-emotional learning.
September’s Topic: Connection
Each month, we will feature some resources and professional development opportunities to align to our Counselor Connect priority topic!
Resources to Connection
- Connect with students using brain aligned bell work and co-regulation in the classroom: Templates and Lessons
- School Connectedness: Strategies for Increasing Protective Factors Among Youth \\ A Summary for School Districts
- Loneliness & Connection: A Brené Brown podcast episode, “Relationship is the foundation of dialogue.” – Dr. Vivek Murthy
- How to Stay Connected During Times of Physical Distancing
- Book Study from Dr. Desautels on Connections Over Compliance, Rewiring our Perceptions of Discipline
- School Connectedness: Improving Students’ Lives
- Strategic Direction for the Prevention of Suicidal Behavior: Promoting Individual, Family, and Community Connectedness to Prevent Suicidal Behavior
- A full list of priority topic resources featured in previous monthly newsletters can be found here.
Professional Development Opportunities
COUNSELOR CONNECTions: Regional Networking and Professional Learning for School Counselors and Social Workers
Counselor Connect, Indiana’s Educational Service Centers (ESCs), and the Indiana School Counselor Association (ISCA) are excited to announce regional networking opportunities for Student Service Professionals! COUNSELOR CONNECTions will offer regional (in-person or virtual) meet ups at various ESCs this fall, allowing School Counselors and Social Workers to share ideas and best practices, collaborate, network, and grow professionally! For more information and to find the session(s) near you, click here.
Stay tuned for fall professional learning opportunities, including Restorative Practices and a Comprehensive School Counseling series!
Check out our Keep Indiana Learning & Counselor Connect OnDemand Library!
INTERESTED IN PRESENTING?
We are always looking for educational voices to share expertise, tips, and resources. If you are interested in presenting, co-presenting, or sharing a component of your program, please complete the presenter proposal form here!
- CASEL Weekly Webinars
- Panorama Webinars and Mindfulness Mondays
- Character Strong – Free Webinars
Counselor Connects recorded in September 2020 and beyond can be accessed at our OnDemand site.
- Technology Tips (April 20, 2020)
- Communication Strategies During School Closures (May 7, 2020)
- School Reentry (May 21, 2020)
- How Brain Development, Learning and Behaviors are Affected by Adversity, Part 1 by Dr. Desautels (July 24, 2020) Presentation | Recording | Resources
- Resiliency Through the Adversity: Our Brains and Bodies Respond when the Conditions of Safety and Connection are Present, with Dr. Desautels | Recordings (September 23 & 30 2020)
-
Diving Into Our Brain & Body Well-Being with Dr. Desautels, from Westfield Washington Schools Parent University – View the recorded sessions here!
- ASCA Annual Conference, July 11-14, 2021 in Las Vegas | Registration
- ASCA Webinars – All webinars recorded from March 15-August 31, 2020 are free to nonmembers. Some really timely topics include:
- Ethical Considerations: School Counseling in a Virtual Setting
- Virtual High School Counseling: Tier 1 How-to
- Online Safety Education for Kids
- The Power to Motivate
- Ethics on Virtual Counseling
COVID-19 Resources
- Education in a Pandemic: The Disparate Impacts of Covid-19 on America’s Students
- Study Shows Kids Made Progress During Covid-19
- ED Covid-19 Handbook: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students’ Needs
- Covid-19 Webinars by School Counselors for MTSS
- Helping Children and Families Cope with the Covid-19 Pandemic
- Covid-19 Resources from Dr. Desautels
- Solution-focused Tools to Help School Counselors in a Pandemic – Counseling Today
Equity & Inclusion
- Humanizing Asian Americans in the Classroom Through Children’s Literature
- Let’s Talk About It! A guide for facilitating critical conversations with students from Learning for Justice
- Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Resources
- Exploring Equity: Race and Ethnicity – The Role that Racial and Ethnic Identity Play with Respect to Equity and Opportunity in Education
- The ASCA U Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Specialist Training is FREE to ASCA members and nonmembers!
- Resources for Educators (compiled by the California Association of School Counselors)
- Resources for Talking About Race, Racism, and Radicalized Violence with Kids (Center for Racial Justice in Education)
- Teaching Tolerance: Race & Ethnicity
- ASCA Race and Equity Resources
- CASEL Resources
- New Jersey School Counseling Association
- Guidance for Facilitating Classroom Meetings on Race
School Counseling
We will continue to add resources so check back often!
- Sample Bitmoji Slideshow
- Sample Videos: Elementary (Westfield) | Fishers High School (Fishers)
- Sample Scripts for Counselor Introduction Messages
- How to Create a Virtual Classroom | Bitmoji Classroom Tutorial | Bitmoji Classroom Tutorials
- Virtual Elementary School Counseling Toolkit (ASCA)
- Virtual Middle School Counseling Toolkit (ASCA)
- Virtual High School Counseling Toolkit (ASCA)
- Ethical Considerations: School Counseling in a Virtual Setting: Part 1 Webinar | Part 2 Webinar
A resource for counselors on how to help students, staff members, and families reenter school while navigating a range of emotions from excitement to anxiety.
- Course Planning
- Effective Study Skills
- Organization and Study Skills Crash Course
- How to Study Effectively Video (High School Level)
- Everyday Study Skills (lesson plan and materials)
- Graduation Plans
- Best Practices for Effective Schools
- How to Engage and Support Urban Students
- Empirical Research Studies Supporting the Value of School Counseling
- Student Engagement Research
- Student Orientation Connected to Successful Completions
- ASCA’s Academic Development video library includes webinars regarding motivating students, using noncognitive skills to improve student success, improving attendance, attitude and achievement for at-risk students, and help students develop executive functioning skills.
Resources to support Social-Emotional Learning for students and adults are available here.
Check back often as new resources will continuously be added!
- Measuring Impact
- Data-Driven School Counseling in a Multi-Tiered System of Supports
- SCUTA (Tool for Data-Driven School Counseling Programs): Try it for Free!
- MTSS
- RAMP
- Resource Sharing
- Strategies Shared by Comprehensive Counseling Initiative (Lilly Endowment) Grant Recipients
Parents/Families
Helping Children Cope with Changes Resulting from COVID-19
Tips for parents and educators for talking about COVID-19 and establishing a new “normal” in the home (available in multiple languages).
COVID-19: Five Helpful Responses for Families
Creating a sense of safety, connecting, and cultivating a new sense of normal with these five tips.
COVID-19 Remote Learning Resources
Resources for families to use when providing at-home learning opportunities for Indiana students.
Stay up-to-date with Counselor Connect!
About Counselor Connect
Counselor Connect launched in the spring of 2020, with the support of a Steering Committee, consisting of Student Service Professionals, Administrators, and organizations, who helped shape the vision and mission.
Tactic Teams
Counselor Connect values the member expertise and ongoing support from our four tactic teams, including: Comprehensive School Counseling, Postsecondary Options, Social-Emotional Learning, and Student and Family Advocacy. Each team consists of content experts from across the state who assist in identifying needs and contribute to creating and identifying content and resources to meet those areas of need.
Meet the team members!
Counselor Connect Coordinating Team
- Amanda Culhan, Coordinator
- Dr. Andrew Melin, CIESC Executive Director
- Rachel Bauer, CIESC Program Coordinator
- Dawn Meadows, CIESC Program Specialist