Reflection on the Blogging Experience

1. I used the course blog in a few ways. It was useful to create a professional line of communication between myself and some of my classmates. The feedback that I received as a result of the blog posts was useful, because it contributed to my learning and growth as a school counselor.     

2. I would have to say that my experience with the course blog was both beneficial and time consuming. While the responses from my classmates were useful, it was difficult to always make time to create a blog post.

3. For me, the following stands out in my mind: it was interesting and enjoyable to read my classmates posts about their thoughts in regards to their experiences at their school sites and other related topics about the practicum class.  

4. Reading the blog posts from my classmates and receiving their feedback are the aspects of this course blog that stand out in my mind. For instance, the cyberbullying post was insightful, since we had the chance to share our thoughts about the subject matter and about the impact that it has on students.

5. The main advantage to using the course blog was that it allowed me to communicate with my peers about modern topics and experiences, as opposed to the traditional journaling activity. However, I think that this course blog was more time consuming in comparison to journaling on our own on the Blackboard site about the practicum experience.     

6. Initially, I was looking forward to the entire practicum class and school site experience. It was overwhelming because of the time constraints and amount of work that I needed to complete for this practicum class. In addition, because I have been really busy with this class, work, hours at the school sites, and the homework; the semester has flown by for me.      

7. It seems that everything was jammed into only one school semester. I think that it would have been more beneficial if the practicum course was spread out over the course of two semesters. Spending one semester at the elementary school and the other time period at the high school would allow practicum students to gain a better experience from both of the school levels. In regards to the course blog, there are a few thoughts that stand out for me. For instance, as I mentioned earlier, the cyberbullying post was interesting to read. The classroom guidance lesson post was useful because we had to chance to share various lessons that could be used in the classroom with the students. In addition, one of my favorite blog posts was the magic wand post, because it was enjoyable to read about the various ideas from my classmates.

8. I have become more open minded about using blogging as a source of professional communication.

9. I don’t think that my personal values and assumptions were influenced by this practicum course blog.     

10. I think that the blog did enhance reflection because we had a chance to expand upon each other’s ideas and thoughts about our own experiences at the school sites and about the practicum course.

11. Honesty, I have mixed feeling about the entire blogging experience. While the post and feedback from my classmates was useful, I didn’t expect it to be as time consuming as it turned out to be for me. In addition, I didn’t assume that we would have to discuss certain topics. Instead, I expected the course blog to be more of reflection activity.   

12. The only thing that I found to be challenging about the blogging experience was that it was time consuming.

13. If I could make a suggestion about using the blog in a future course, I would suggest that it be more of reflection blog assignment.   

14. Yes, I believe that I have shared everything that was significant with reference to my overall practicum class experience.

Growth

Since I started my counseling classes, especially my practicum course, I have been growing as a counselor, both professionally and personally. After this course is over, I plan to continue my growth as a counselor through a variety of methods. Keeping up to date with new developments and collaborating with other professionals are great ways for me to continue my learning. In addition, by having a membership to the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), I will have access to new information about the field. One of the things that I’m looking forward to is the professional conference days that are offered to the counselors in my school district

Reflection of Yourself

Since I started this practicum course, my skills as a counselor have developed and improved. I think that one of my strengths is conveying: empathy, genuine, communication, and my listening skills. However, I think that I still need to work on my doubtful thoughts. I still overthink what I’m going to say to a student during an individual session due to the fact that I’m afraid of asking the wrong questions or to give a wrong impression. As a counselor, I have become more comfortable with: giving guidance lessons, conducting individual sessions, and consulting with the teachers and other faculty members. I think that I have become more open-minded in regards to slightly alternating my approach according to the student and his or her personality.

Post of Choice

For my post of choice, I wanted to talk about how being a counselor is really a continuous learning experience. With new situations and technology developing every day, counselors have to learn how to deal with these novice circumstances. For instance, Facebook and Instagram are now linked to cyberbullying and other issues. When new problems arise such as these, school counselors and teachers have to learn: how to deal with them, familiarize themselves with the school regulations in regards to them, and to develop preventive measures.

Both of my site supervisors have stressed to me the fact that counselors have to continuous adapt as new situations occur. I wonder what other original challenges I will have to encounter as a school counselor. I’m also wondering: what other guidelines and regulations will be established as a result from the issues that have occurred because of technology.     

Time is a Thief.

One metaphor that I prefer to use with students, especially in the high school setting, is: “Time is a Thief.” High school students do not only have to deal with the typical homework assignment deadlines, but also their college related paperwork. Usually, this could involve: ACT testing, college applications, scholarships, grants, other financial assistance, and any other necessary paperwork that’s needed for preparing students for college life. This metaphor could also be used with elementary and middle school students in order to also assist them with their time management and planning skills.

Week 12- Reflection Post

For the post of my choice, I decided to write a reflection piece. 

So far, I have learned a great deal from my practicum experience at both of the school sites. While I was at the elementary school, I was able to participate in a variety of experiences from leading guidance lessons to sitting in on Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings with the faculty and sometimes the parents. Because I spent about 60% of my time at the elementary school site, I will only be spending November and the rest of the semester at the high school site. Up to now, my experience at the high school site has been going very well, and I have been able to gain most of my hours from individual counseling sessions.   

On another note, this semester has been the most stressful for me. Lately, I have been: working a full time job, trying to get all of my hours in at the school sites, finishing up all my weekly homework, keeping up with completing my case notes, and attempting to find the time to study for the exit exam. As a result, I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep, but I keep telling myself that the semester is almost over, which has been helping me with all of the stress. With everything occurring, our wedding planning has been put on hold until the end of the semester. After we found our locations for the ceremony and the reception, William and I both agreed that the rest of the wedding planning can wait until this practicum class is over.