1. How Counselors Can Team with Teachers

2. Ideas Have chocolate in your office for teachers. Introduce yourself to all the new teachers by visiting their rooms. (Visit all the teachers if you’d like, but with the new teachers will be more nervous.) Host a “Counselor Open House” to treat the teachers to some snacks, post curriuculum standards and program ideas, have brochures, ask teachers complete a needs assessment.needs assessment

3. When meeting with individual students, ask teachers “when is a good time” or “is this a good time” to see the student. Decide how you will see individuals, how you will plan groups, and how you will find the best time for classroom lessons. (Ask what has been done, and don’t be afraid to try a new way… always ask for feedback.) When you are teaching core curriculum lessons, ask teachers stay in the room (This way they know what your role is and what it is not. Also, they can generalize the lessons to the classroom culture.) Use lunch time for small groups so that students aren’t missing instructional time. Share data by with teachers who you have included on your advisory team. Share data at staff meetings. Place copies of graphs, charts, data, and results outside your office to show how you make a difference in the lives of students.

4. Start small! Don’t do it alone! ◦Build relationships and collaborate Don’t reinvent the wheel! ◦Tap into school-wide data and what has worked previously (use online resources!) Be your own advocate! ◦How are you impacting student achievement? ◦Share Report Results to let teachers know what you do and how it helps students.

5. Be available! Offer to attend conferences for difficult parents/students. Respond quickly to teacher emails/requests. Be aware of barriers: personalities, rigidness, different perspectives