Group Proposal

Group Proposal COUN 571 Kate Knochel

Schools conduct needs assessments routinely to determine what interventions are needed at a school. One type o intervention is runnin! small !roups. " interviewed #e!an #oe a middle school

Group Proposal

counselor in $eaverton School %istrict. She has &een in the $eaverton school district or 15 years. She has always run !roups' &ut this year is severely limited due to &ein! one o two school counselors or 1()) students. *here are so many duties she must ul illed that this year she is not a&le to run all the !roups she wants to run and has run in the past. She typically selects the !roups &ased on teacher needs' students needs' and needs she sees as a school counselor. %ata also plays an important role in decidin! what to o er. She loo+s at re errals' attendance' and !rades. ,t the middle school level students are selected &y her or recommended &y teachers' administration' and dependin! on the !roup students sometimes sel select. She also uses eed&ac+ rom classroom lessons to help identi y students who could &e a it or certain !roups. "n her career she has run many di erent +inds o !roups- stress mana!ement' social s+ills' study s+ills' !rie and loss' !roups speci ic to !irls' !roups speci ic to &oys' &ullyin! awareness !roup' new student !roups' %$* s+ills !roup' challen!e !roups' and !roups speci ic to events or speci ic issues that came up in school or community. Currently' due to time she runs several stress mana!ement !roups a year' new student !roup' and a social s+ills !roup. She prioriti.ed these &ecause she elt many students could &ene it rom the stress mana!ement !roup' it covers a wide ran!e o s+ills and it eels more normali.ed in its title. *he new student !roup was necessary to support the hi!h num&er o new students. *he social s+ills !roup is a way or her to tar!et certain !roups. *hese are her most challen!in! !roups. She eels that they can &e power ul to help /hi!h lyer0 students ' otherwise +nown as students with consistent &ehavior pro&lems. *hese !roups can also help shy students' &ut warns the a!!ressive students and shy students shouldn1t &e mi2ed. *he selection or the social s+ills !roup is very important. "t1s imperative to have the correct mi2 or it will &e disastrous. ,lso' it1s &etter to have a smaller !roup 5 or 3 students wor+s &est. 4er theoretical orientation is C$*' &rie 5solution ocused' and humanistic.

6iterature 7eview

Group Proposal

, ter spea+in! with #e!an " ocused my literature review on social s+ills !roups in schools. " elt this was an important !roup to &e a&le to run. 4owever' " also loo+ed at academic s+ills !roups. *his is &ecause many administrators need to see how counselin! wor+in! is aidin! academic achievement. Sometimes its hard or administrators to see the lin+ &etween social s+ills and stress mana!ement helpin! student improvement. 8indin! literature that speci ically pertained to social s+ills !roups in schools was challen!in!' &ut " ound many sources that were valua&le to me relatin! to runnin! !roups in schools and then some sources related to runnin! social s+ills !roups or children 9not necessarily in schools:. " have included our o the most &ene icial sources to this pro;ect. 1. #ac%onald <' Chowdhury U.' %a&ney =.' 9>))(: /, social s+ills !roup or children0' <motional and $ehavioral %i iculties' ? 91:' @(55>. *his detailed the results o a !roup run &y a mental health or!ani.ation or children with &ehavior issues. , !roup was also run simultaneously or the parents. *eachers and parents were as+ed Auestions a&out &ehavior o the student &e ore and a ter the !roup. *he !roup was B) minutes and ran or si2 wee+s. *he !roup used a variety o co!nitive &ehavioral techniAues and ocused on the themes o eelin!s' developin! riendship and communication s+ills. #ost parents and teachers saw improvement in the childCs &ehavior and attitude upon completion o the !roup. 2. Perusse' 7.' Goodnou!h G.<.' 6ee' D.D.' 9>))B: /Group Counselin! in the Schools0' the Schools. @3 9(:' >>55>((. Psycholo!y in

*his article details the importance o runnin! !roups in schools and emphasi.es the school counselors should &e trained to lead !roups. "t descri&es di erent types o !roups that are &ene icial includin! social s+ills !roups. Psychoeducation !roups have an important place in schools. " ound this article interestin! &ecause it stated that socials s+ills !roups could &e hetero!enous in that some students mi!ht &e in the !roup as an e2ample rather than there havin! to wor+ on social s+ills themselves. *his wasn1t completely in a!reement with what #e!an had told me. 3. Steen' S.=.' 9>))7: /"nte!ratin! ,cademic "nterventions into Small Group Counselin! in <lementary School0' Pro essional School Counselin!' 1)95:' 513551B.

Group Proposal

*his article was a summary and evaluation o a small !roup counselin! pro!ram that addressed &oth academic s+ills and social s+ills. *he !oal was to improve academic s+ills while addressin! social s+ills such as riendship and an!er mana!ement. *hey counselor used a variety o techniAues includin! &i&liotherapy' communication strate!ies' artwor+' role5play' modelin!' and a &oard !ame in order to acilitate !roups. *he school counselor used multiple orms o data to evaluate e ectiveness. 4. Stevens' %.' Sachin =.' Kioh K.' /Group Counselin!- *echniAues or *eachin! Social S+ills to Students with Special Needs0' <ducation' 1()9(:' 5)B551>. *his paper a!ain discussed the importance o !roups in schools and hi!hli!hted studies that indicated it was the most e ective ways to teach social s+ills to students with a variety o special needs' includin! &ehavioral issues such as a!!ression. 7ational , social s+ills !roup is necessary at almost any middle school or students who are havin! a hard time ma+in! riends and eelin! a part o the environment. "t is also &ene icial or students who are havin! issues positively interactin! with teachers and parents. Ehen students are unctionin! &etter in the school environment they are more li+ely to achieve academically. Goal and O&;ectives Goals,SC, PersonalFSocial Standard ,- Students will acAuire the +nowled!e' attitudes' and interpersonal s+ills to help them understand and respect sel and others. O&;ectivesG Students will &e a&le to identi y riendship Aualities and discuss &asic riendship concepts. G Students will &e a&le to e ectively initiate and maintain a conversation and understand how conversation s+ills are important to riendship development and maintenance. G students will &e a&le to e ectively demonstrate and descri&e positive and ne!ative &ody lan!ua!e and relate these s+ills to riendship enhancement. *ype o Group

Group Proposal

*his is a psychoeducational !roup aimed at helpin! students acAuire social s+ills. *he tar!et population will &e students who are havin! trou&le ma+in! and and maintainin! riendships. 8or this particular !roup students who had had issues with severe a!!ression will not &e included. $asic "n ormation Ehile this !roup will &e considered voluntary. *he students will &e as+ and encoura!ed to ;oin. "t will &e ramed as somethin! special they !et to &e a part o . *he !roup will &e closed' " will &e wor+in! with the same si2 students or the entire si2 wee+s. *he !roup will &e limited to si2 students. *he !roups will &e ()5@) minutes in len!th students will &e ta+en out o irst period advisory. *he !roup will meet at the &e!innin! o the day on *uesdays as soon as school starts. "deally my o ice would &e lar!e enou!h to it everyone &ut i not it would ta+e place in a con erence room' not a classroom. *he !roup will &e limited to 3th and 7th !rade students' it will include &oth &oys and !irls.

7ecruitment Procedures Group mem&ers will &e selected &ased on teacher and parent recommendation. " must also eel that a student is a !ood it or the !roup. "n order to !et students prepared' our initial meetin! will &e !oin! over con identiality' in ormed consent' and any Auestions they may have as well as a short activity. *hey will also have met one on one with me and discussed the &asics o the !roup. Parents will &e mailed or !iven my pro essional disclosure statement and in ormed consent which will &e returned &e ore !roup starts. Parents will &e !iven &e ore and a ter surveys to determine !roup e ectiveness. Students will &e e2cused rom the !roup i they &rea+ school rules or !roup rulesFnorms. $ein! in the !roup is a privile!e. NormsFGround 7ules Students must ollow school wide e2pectations in !roup. *hey must &e sa e' respect ul and responsi&le. *hey can eat their &rea+ ast since it is the &e!innin! o the day. $ecause this is a !roup desi!ned to enhance riendship s+ills our norms will &e usin! those s+ills with each other in !roup. 6istenin! when someone is tal+in!' &ody lan!ua!e communication and pro&lem solvin! will all &e e2perienced in the !roup as it is tau!ht.

Group Proposal

Session OneH 7eview con identiality and e2plain the &asic structure o !roup. <ach wee+ will involve a chec+ in 955? minutes each student !ets a&out a minute:' then there will &e an activity' discussion and a chec+ out.

,ctivity- *he Spider Ee& G Give the &all o yarn to one student and as+ him or her to name one Auality that they consider as important in a riendship. 4ave the student pass the &all o yarn to another student to continue the /we&0 until everyone has identi ied one Auality that is important to her or him. %iscussion- 4ave students continue to tal+ a&out riendship Aualities. Some Auestions to as+ includeG "s your view o riendship the same as everyone else in the !roupI Ehat is di erentI G Ehy is a certain Auality more important to you than othersI G ,re there di erent ways to act with di erent riendsI 9e2- acAuaintances' close riends: G Ehat are some easyFdi icult thin!s a&out maintainin! riendshipsI G %o they have riends that have some o these AualitiesI G Ehat do they thin+ ma+es them a !ood riendI 4omewor+- 4ave students pay attention to interactions that they have with their peers until the ne2t session. Ehat riendship Aualities do they already e2hi&itI ,re they happy with their riendshipsI Session *wo Chec+ in and homewor+ discussion. #a+in! new riends conversation and listenin! s+ills wor+sheet. G ,s+ student to discuss what is scaryFeasy a&out startin! new conversations' and what is challen!in! or them a&out havin! conversations' especially with new people. G Pass out /Conversation s+ills and 6istenin! S+ills0 wor+sheet and discuss. G 4ave !roup mem&ers role play conversation s+ills 9as+ or volunteers:. <ncoura!e all students to participate. ,s+ mem&ers to come up with situations that mi!ht &e challen!in! or them. <2amples mi!ht include meetin! a new person' as+in! or help' pairin! up with someone or a class pro;ect. G 4ave student re lect on role5play. 4ow did it eel to &e the one initiatin! the conversationI 7espondin!I

Group Proposal

4omewor+- ,s+ students to initiate at least one conversation with a new peer over the ne2t wee+. 4ave them write down the results o the conversation' includin! how they elt' a&out the interaction. Session *hree Check in and review homework. Body Language Communication G Body Language in Communication worksheet and discuss body language dos and donts and review worksheet. Practice body language styles on sheet, and encourage students to have fun with it, especially the donts category. G Students get into pairs. One pair at a time, have student briefly talk about any topic. One person should talk and the other should demonstrate body language dontshow it made them feel (as the listener and talker). G Did members notice any ways that they (or others) use body language effectively in the group? Go around and ask people how they think their body language impacts how peers view them. How can body language impact friendship? Session 8our Chec+ in Problem Solving: G Explain to students that sometimes, even with good friends, we can encounter conflicts with our friends that might be difficult to solve. G Complete problem solving steps worksheetl G Ask students to volunteer a situation (real or imaginary) that demonstrates a problem that friends can experience. Session 8ive Chec+ in and process how students may eel a&out this &ein! the second to last !roup. 7esponsi&ilityG %iscuss responsi&ility with the !roup what can we &e respons&ile orI and what can1t &e &e repsonsi&le orI G Students complete responsi&ility chec+list and discuss with !roup. G ,s+ or volunteers to share. Chec+ out

Group Proposal

Session Si2 Chec+ in Termination: G Use the go around method to have each participant talk about what they feel that they are best taking away from the group. Have they made progress with making and keeping friendships? What has been useful to them? How confident are they feeling about being able to use the skills in the group to help improve their friendships in the future? Bring treats last day!

,ppendices

,. Personal %isclosure Statement to &e !iven to parents $. Permission to &e in !roup to &e !iven to parents C. "n ormed consent 9student version: %. Small !roups needs assessment <. $ody 6an!ua!e Communication wor+sheet 8. Pro&lem Solvin! Eor+sheet G. 7esponsi&ility or *hin!s wor+sheet 4. 6istenin! S+ills wor+sheet