Simple Strategies to Reach More Students and Advocate for your Role
It's easy to get overwhelmed as the school year is winding down, but these scheduling, organization, and data collection strategies will give you the tools to stay stress free! Plus they allow you to advocate for your role and reach more students than ever before.
How you can batch communication to reach more students and advocate for your role
Batching is doing multiple tasks at once to save time. In terms of communication, I’m referring to email, phone calls, and possibly even meetings! These are must-dos, but they don’t have to dominate your schedule and leave you feeling like your brain has too many tabs open.
How to Batch Respond to Emails
Set a time block on your calendar to answer email and only check email during your designated email window
Turn off notifications
Consider removing your work email on mobile
Clearly communicate when parents and teachers can expect a response
So how does this help me reach more students and advocate for my role?
When you optimize your schedule using batching, you spend less time checking your email allowing you more time to see students. Setting clear boundaries communicates the value of your schedule and allows others to respect your time.
How you can use a counseling log to reach more students and advocate for your role
A counseling log is a super simple way to stay organized. Create a spreadsheet that includes the following columns:
Date
Student Name
Area of Need: anger management, grief, etc
Counseling Type: individual or group
Duration: the amount of time your session lasted
Strategies Used
Notes
Parent Communication
Then you simply input the information immediately following your counseling session. You can leave this open on your computer all day. Doing this allows you to have data on how much time you spent with students, track parent contact, and remember what you did in the last session!
So how does this help me reach more students and advocate for my role?
You'll spend less time trying to organize your notes which creates more time to see kids. You can then easily show how many students you are impacting to communicate your program's value.
Click here to download my stress free organization freebie!
How you can use an End of the Year Report to reach more students and advocate for your role
And End of the Year Report is exactly what it sounds like; a report you create at the end of the year to show how many students you served, how many class lessons you taught, and even how much time you spent with students!
Be sure to include these types of data:
Services provided: think the number of students you have seen, lessons taught, etc
Student progress: Show any graphs or charts that demonstrate how students have changed since they started counseling services.
An End of the Year Report is a great way to reflect on your program's progress and feel proud of all of your hard work!
So how does this help me reach more students and advocate for my role?
You can interpret the data to see what's working well...and what's not! You can then modify your counseling program improve services. Showcasing this information is the ultimate self-advocating tool! This is a chance for you to brag on yourself and show the need for your program.
Want to create an End of the Year Report but not sure where to start? Read this blog post for tips and check out this editable template.
Click here to download my stress free data collection freebie!
3 strategies to increase your impact and get the recognition you deserve!
You can reach more students than ever before and effectively advocate for your role by streamlining your schedule, getting hyper-organized, and mastering data collection.
Schedule in a planning period
Teachers get one, so should you! Create a designated space in your schedule to plan lessons. You'll reach more students by creating engaging activities that they'll love, and you'll advocate for your role by communicating the value of your time.
Use voice memos to keep your notes organized
This is superior to jotting notes down on scratch paper or a sticky note because you can stay digitally organized easily, access from multiple devices, and avoid a confidentiality mishap. You'll have easily accessible notes to reference which creates more space in your day to deliver direct services rather than looking for papers. And having organized notes allows you to communicate the services you provided, further advocating for your position.
Use self-assessments as a data collection tool
Create a self-assessment in Google Forms to use with students before and after the services you provide. You can then use this data to impact more students because you'll know when to end services (so you can see a new round of kids!) based on student progress. You can then advocate for your role by using the data to show how students have benefitted from counseling services. Check out my editable self-assessment templates here.
