<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>ASCA Attitudes</title><link>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/</link><description></description><copyright>Powered by: Forest Blog Copyright 2006 Host Forest</copyright><item><title>A Teachable Moment – For Me</title><description><![CDATA[The dinner table at my house is often full of revelations. Two nights ago was no different. In the middle of dinner, Katarina, six, rests her forehead on her hand and says to her sister, Gabriella, 12, with a dramatic flair, “There is something pressuring me to tell you something.” I perk up because with a lead in like that, this is sure to play out in interesting fashion.<BR>]]></description><guid>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=41</guid><link>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=41</link><pubDate>Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:19:45 0000</pubDate></item><item><title>The Countdown Is On</title><description><![CDATA[10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Oh where has the summer gone? I have three days left. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Julia Taylor, and I am a middle school counselor for Wake County Public Schools in North Carolina. This is my third year at Apex Middle School. I have seen my students through sixth and seventh grade, and eighth grade brings a realm of excitement, newness and trepidation to me. ]]></description><guid>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=40</guid><link>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=40</link><pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:30:35 0000</pubDate></item><item><title>A Desert Celebration</title><description><![CDATA[My 50th birthday was on the third day of the ASCA Leadership Development Institute in Tucson, Ariz. That afternoon, Judi Schmitz and Patti Deutsch, ASCA members from Pennsylvania, were nice enough to invite me to take a hike in the desert to see the Seven Falls. The different cactuses, desert flowers and stream between the mountains were so beautiful. Although it was hot, really hot, it was an experience I would have never wanted to miss.<BR><BR>]]></description><guid>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=39</guid><link>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=39</link><pubDate>Sat, 9 Aug 2008 11:13:24 0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Starting Fresh</title><description><![CDATA[As the summer speeds by, I am thinking of the beginning of the school year and how fortunate school counselors are to begin anew every year. It is an occasion to rethink the reason for working in the school setting, ensure the school counseling program is embedded in the school culture, and an opportunity to commit to evaluate the school counseling program’s effectiveness.<BR><BR>]]></description><guid>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=38</guid><link>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=38</link><pubDate>Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:41:36 0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Keeping Youth Safe</title><description><![CDATA[May is National Youth Traffic Safety Month, and school counselors often direct considerable effort toward addressing safety issues, particularly in the spring. I devote an entire chapter of my <a href="http://www.empoweryouthleaders.org/">book</a> to the topic of safety -- it's identified as one of the 40 Developmental Assets, and empowerment is a key component.]]></description><guid>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=37</guid><link>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=37</link><pubDate>Mon, 5 May 2008 13:22:53 0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Honor in Work</title><description><![CDATA[My friend John retired from the Navy a few years ago with a simple plan for the rest of his life. He wanted to be a school janitor so his biggest responsibility would be to change light bulbs. He’s not a janitor, but he got his wish. At 50, an age when the rest of us are at the height of our earning potential, John mows lawns, shovels snow and does odd jobs. He works when he wants and tinkers in his garage when he doesn’t. John doesn’t have a college degree, and he doesn’t have a “profession,” but he is socially acceptable because he is retired from the military. If John led his current lifestyle when he was in his 20s, he might have been called lazy, unambitious or worse.]]></description><guid>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=36</guid><link>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=36</link><pubDate>Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:39:59 0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Rainy Days</title><description><![CDATA[It has been a long winter here in southern Minnesota, and at this moment it is 36 degrees, gloomy, with a rain/snow mix forecast for the next couple of days.  As I talk to people, I hear lots of talk about how worn out we all are by the winter. People talk about how the weather is affecting their mood. We of course know about people with Seasonal Affective Disorder, but this is much more pervasive (if less serious). Minnesotans are grumpy about the weather.]]></description><guid>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=35</guid><link>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=35</link><pubDate>Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:46:07 0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Lighting a SPARC</title><description><![CDATA[

The Support Personnel Accountability Report Card (SPARC) is a tool used by California school counselors to let others see the positive results coming out of their comprehensive school counseling programs. It’s a great way for school counselors to show stakeholders how students are different as a result of what school counselors do. I recently had the chance to represent ASCA at a SPARC meeting in Lake Arrowhead, Calif.]]></description><guid>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=34</guid><link>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=34</link><pubDate>Tue, 8 Apr 2008 15:21:34 0000</pubDate></item><item><title>Miss Guided</title><description><![CDATA[A few ASCA members have contacted us with concerns about “Miss Guided,” a new television show on ABC about a school counselor returning to her old high school. Several months ago, when we first heard that it was airing, we contacted ABC but were told that the episodes had been filmed and no changes could be made, even if the studio would make changes for us. We were able to preview some scenes, and I was surprised that I wasn’t offended by the way the school counselor was depicted, and in fact, I found the clips to be very funny.]]></description><guid>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=33</guid><link>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=33</link><pubDate>Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:43:53 0000</pubDate></item><item><title>To PSC or Not to PSC</title><description><![CDATA[A few of us had an interesting discussion today about the use of “PSC” in articles published in <i>Professional School Counseling</i> – at least interesting if you are the sort of person like me who gets excited by discussions about apostrophes and semi-colons and acronyms. The discussion was spurred by a comment from one of the editorial board reviewers for Professional School Counseling, who objected to the use of “PSC” as an abbreviation for “professional school counselor.”]]></description><guid>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=32</guid><link>http://blog2.schoolcounselor.org/default.asp?Display=32</link><pubDate>Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:38:15 0000</pubDate></item></channel></rss>