CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 1

School Counseling Program

FALL SEMESTER 2014
Practicum Site: __Monroe Clark Middle School __
Cantor
______________

___________

Supervisor: ____ Karen

Activities Required of All Students in CSP 740 Practicum: Schools

Required Activity
Reflection on & Self-Evaluation of this
Activity
e.g., highlight your
strengths/weaknesses
Obtain & discuss the school's
As a group we looked up Monroe Clark Middle
report card
Schools website and printed out its SARC. As
(Consider ASCA Data Profile)
a cohort we took the time to read it together,
but independently in order to be able to
analytically discuss the data presented.
Generally, the most important details of our
school to highlight were the impact of its
geographic location and its correlation to
socioeconomic disadvantages, plus the vast
diversity that leads to the need to implement
a comprehensive curriculum with strong focus
on literacy.
Discuss time, resource, priority
management for balanced service
delivery
(Consider ASCA Agreement)
Apprentice to a teacher (min. 1
Throughout this semester I had the honor of
hr/day for 10 weeks); become
working along side Ms. Tania Magaa. Ms. T
familiar with curriculum,
and I engaged students in collaborative
expectations, instruction,
learning by encouraging teamwork. In our
classroom management
classroom students had a voice and their
cultural self was taken into account in order
to make the students feel included. After Ms.
(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

Date
Complete
d
10/2/14

Various
dates
10/9-12/16

Supervi
sor
Initials

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 2

Tutor one student in your masterteacher's class (min. 20 min/day

for 8 weeks

Shadow/interview the SC (min. 4

hr)

Shadow/interview the SP (min. 2

hr.)

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

T provided students with the days lesson, we

both helped students out as they practiced
the recently learned material.
During the ten weeks in the semester I took
part of my time in my apprentice with Ms. T to
work one on one with student EMS who had
difficulty focusing and therefore learning the
material. Reviewing class notes and breaking
down math problems step by step and
including visuals helped the student learn.
Our cohort also began an afterschool-tutoring
program to serve varying student needs.
Providing students and parents with the
additional support they had ben asking for
with this tutoring program made me very
proud.
Being assigned to the 6th grade I worked with
Ms. Cantor on a daily basis. My time with Ms.
Cantor was very hands on overlooking her
work in IEP meetings, peer conflict resolution,
and suicide assessment. Ms. Cantor provided
me with detailed descriptions of her job
description and allowed access to aspects of
the job such as Powerschools and some
trainings that we would have the opportunity
to assist without being faculty members. I felt
very nervous, yet very excited at the same
time to be living the SC experience at such an
early stage in my education.
Ms. Diane Tanigawa described the struggle of
her jobs as she is working at two different
sites consecutively, as well as describing her
passion in psych. Ms. Tanigawas daily routine

Ongoing
10/1612/16

Ongoing
10/9-12/16

12/4/14
(1st hour)

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 3

Observe in classroom(s) at grade

level different from your masterteacher, examine curriculum &
instruction, discuss comparisons

Shadow/interview/observe
administrative personnel (e.g.,
principal, VP/AP, attendance clerks,
principals secretary)
(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

consists of four tops things to do 1)

assessments 2) consultation 3) counseling 4)
crisis intervention. This interview made me
feel a sense of connection as I now have an
idea of what this job (psych) entails,
particularly because Ms. T clarified the
connection between school counselors and
school psychs. SCs are considered the first
line of support given to students to aid them
in problem solving and well being before
making the reference to assessing for IEPs.
Mr. Zimmerman (Social Science) provided
insight to a different mode of instruction and
classroom management. It was impacting to
see the need between this class when
compared to the 6th graders next door.
Instruction was very strict and limiting for
student creativity. Students were expected to
behave at a superior level than that of their
current age .
Ms. Pheal (English) had recently returned from
maternity leave, which provided her with a
blank slate to her approach to students. Ms. P
incorporated a democratic classroom setting
but still marinated order.
During these two observations a weakness I
encountered was presenting one of the
teacher with feedback, when asked for it,
specially when I had more criticism than
complements.
Mr. Del Principe, Clarks Vice Principal,
provided us with his job description providing
school scheduling, and student behavior

12/11/14
(2nd hour)

11/6/14
11/20/14

10/9/14

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 4

Shadow/interview/observe special
education personnel (e.g., RSP
teacher, SDC teacher, speech
therapist)

Shadow/interview/observe
personnel who address biologically
based issues (e.g., nurse, OT, PT,
APE teacher)

Shadow/interview/observe teachers
who address needs of English
language learners (e.g., bilingual,
ESL, ELD teachers)

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

management, including home visits. Mr. D

described his emphasis on teamwork with
parents, teachers and students, for he
believes we should function as one to provide
students with the best services. He them
described his view on SC as a compassionate
role that builds relationships with students in
order to be able to them discipline them.
Ms. Green is a SPED teacher in the 7th grade.
During our observation Ms. Green worked
with a very small class of 9 students and
counted with the help of one assistant. this
class counted on learning supports such as
audio and visual learning through computer
programs individualized for the students
needs. During this time the assistant worked
with two students to increase reading
comprehension while she called students out
one on one to complete a reading fluency
exam.
Ms. Duran, Clarks head nurse, informed us
about the high prominence psychosomatic
(such as headaches and stomach aches) and
psychological problems in our students.
Having taken in this information provided me
with the strength to recognize the prominence
of varying problems in low SES students. I
made an immediate connection to the high
occurrence of 504s and IEPs .
ELD teacher and Newcomer Center workers
were interviewed to identify student supports.
Newcomer students count with specific class
grouping where they receive additional

11/20/14

11/20/14

12/11/14

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 5

Shadow/interview/observe noncertificated personnel (e.g.,

secretary, custodian, bus driver,
aide, security)

Observe student-focused school

meeting (e.g., SST, IEP, 504)

Observe and/or co-facilitate (with

professional SC) individual & group
counseling sessions

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

language acquisition supports. We helped

these students by participating in reading
groups.
Jesus, Clarks head counselor, took the time
to provide us with his job description and a
brief explanation of the services he provides
to school counselors. A strength that occurred
during our questioning was that we were able
to get Jesus to recognize is impact on the
students and how his daily interaction with
them can serve as an asset.
I was very honored to be able to observe an
ongoing IEP annual meeting. It was a relief to
have the knowledge of how these meeting
occur and the collaboration needed between
teachers. A highlight of the meeting was the
connection of home life with school life and
teachers included the parent in her
daughthers school activities and assured to
do their best to modify instruction/ classroom
management to best serve her needs.
Teachers agreed to take an extra step to
make instruction comprehensible for their
student by teaching at a slower pace,
changing her seat closer to the board to aid
her poor eye sight, reminding the student to
turn in her homework and providing parent
with suggestion to how she can help student
out at home.
I had the privilege of facilitating a few peer
conflict resolutions with the help of my
cohort. During these interventions we helped
students clear up false allegations in order to

10/2/14

10/2/14

10/16/14
11/6/14

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 6

Observe guidance curriculum in the

areas of academic, career or
personal/social development
(Consider ASCA Core Curriculum
Action Plan)
Become familiar with community
resources available to families.

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

deescalate the occurring problem and well as

taking the time to rekindle broken friendships.
A highlight of my strengths would be my
ability to empathize with the students and
normalize the problems they are going
through. I found it essential to validate each
students feelings and make them feel heard.

The school years first Open House initiated

by providing parents with various community
resources to help them get better acquainted
in the community and help their students
succeed. Organization present included the
YMCA, the schools clinic introducing its free of
charge services open to all, along with clubs
and activities students can join as an
afterschool program. It was very rewarding to
be presented with the opportunity to get to
know the some of schools community
resources in a time when I needed to bridge
community to school in order to know what
services are my students service.

9/25/14

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 7

School Counseling Program

SPRING SEMESTER
Practicum Site: __Monroe Clark Middle School

Supervisor: Karen Cantor

Activities to Fulfill Assignments in Other Courses

Required Activity
Reflection on & Self-Evaluation of this Activity
e.g., highlight your strengths/weaknesses
CSP 662B Interventions with
Child & Adolescents (3)

CSP 670 Group Counseling (3)

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

Solution Focused Brief Counseling is one of

the counseling techniques that will be most
beneficial in our careers as school counselors.
I am very excited to have seen its effects
myself when some of my own caseload
students achieved their goals in a short
period of time, or a least progressed
accordingly. The SFBC steps: building rapport,
setting positive goals, miracle questions,
finding exceptions, scaling and ending with a
message seem to have been designed
specifically for the school system because it
works perfectly. I was very excited to write my
final case study because I was able to write
about how I was able to prove the positive
effects of SFBC myself.
Group Counseling was definitely one of the
most rewarding classes of the program.
Practicing the implementation of group
counseling curriculum between cohort
members was a true learning experience. The
feedback given after each session allowed for
most growth when compared to getting a

Date
Complet
ed
5/7/15

5/13/15

Superviso
r Initials

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 8

CSP 740 Practicum: Schools

ARP 660 Theory and Process of

Counseling

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

report handed back with bulleted suggestions.

The end of the course assignment of
developing a group curriculum from scratch
was very effective for me because I am a
hands-on learner; plus, I really appreciate
having different group counseling topics at
my disposal for future use.
Practicum during the Spring 2015 semester
was a lot more hands on and engaging. First
semester consisted of a lot of shadowing and
observations while this semester was
completely occupied by individual counseling
sessions for our student caseload and the
implementation of a needs assessment group
curriculum. All while arranging student
presentations with our supervisors for course
planning and 8th graders meeting promotion
requirements. The individualized counseling
sessions where the most impactful for me as I
was able to witness first hand the difficulty of
getting all students to collaborate and most
importantly the beauty of seeing students
attain their proposed goals thanks to our
guidance.
This 5 session course carried through a five
month period provided us time to adequately
read and analyze counseling theories as
developed throughout the years. The creating
of the Individualized Personal Counseling
Approach was the most beneficial assignment
for myself; I really appreciated taking the
time to analyze how these theories would be
applied in our role as school counselors. Being

5/14/15

5/9/15

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 9

CSP 742 School Policy, Politics, Law

and Ethics

able to critically analyze these theories and

determine effectiveness within our career
description made this class worthwhile.
Having the theories presented by classmates
was also very beneficial as different
presentation techniques made each and
everyone of the theory presentations very
engaging.
This class as very insightful as it introduced
topics for which I had no prior knowledge.
Learning about the ethical decision making
model, the five moral principals and where to
locate appropriate ethics, laws and politics to
act accordingly in the job site was very
beneficial. I now feel very comfortable making
ethical decision making because I will have a
valid justification for my actions as I would be
confident I acted ethically, and had consulted
with professional colleagues and/or
professional organizations.

Activities Required of All Students in CSP 740 Practicum: Schools

Required Activity
Reflection on & Self-Evaluation of this Activity
e.g., highlight your strengths/weaknesses
Observe school governance
meetings (e.g., site council, faculty
meetings, committee meetings,
school board)

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

After school we accompanied Ms. Cantor to this

months School Site Council meeting that took place
from 3-4pm. Monroe Clarks principal Mr. Liberto led
the meeting, which had teachers, administration,
counselors, and parents present. Here we
addressed budget distribution and explained the
Title I for parent involvement. Mr. Liberto explained

5/12/15

Date
Complet
ed
2/26/15

Superviso
r Initials

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 10

Carry an individual counseling load

(at least ten students once/week
for five weeks)

Co-Facilitate (with SC supervision)

a topic-focused counseling group
for a minimum of 6-8 sessions; a
group must have at least 5
students (Consider ASCA Small
Group Action Plan).

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

how LCFF works and proposed ways of utilizing the

money that would be given to Monroe Clark based
on what teachers and parents have been
requesting. The two entailing requests were
computer software and funding for intersession. Mr.
Liberto also addressed the possibility of receiving
additional funds due to their high percentage of low
income and EL students, for which he proposed
using it in hiring an additional EL teacher for the
school year.
Our ten-student caseload began very early in the
semester because we knew we would face a month
off for spring break. Within the ten students we
touched on subjects such as academic
achievement, behavior, personal/social themes such
as self-esteem and/or family relations. A solution
focused approach was taken given the brevity of our
time together by building rapport, establishing
positive goals, utilizing the miracle question to get a
sense of direction and secure goal setting and
utilizing scaling to measure progress. Homework
assignments were also incorporated given that we
only see each other once a week and we wanted to
continue progressing during our time off. Our
intention was to care for personal/social issue while
influencing academic wellbeing simultaneously.
My cohort site implemented a six-week absenteeism
counseling group, which we named The Attenders.
We divided the students into two groups in order to
co-facilitate, creating one group for 6th and 7th
graders, and one for 8th graders, so the total number
of students per group would be 8-12 students. We
met once a week for six continuous weeks covering
topics that can influence absenteeism such as

2/19/15
2/26/15
3/5/15
3/19/15
3/26/15

2/19/15
2/26/15
3/5/15
3/12/15
3/19/15
3/26/15

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 11

Observe process of how school

determines student placement in
classes in next grade level for
upcoming year.

Develop, implement, and evaluate

an intentional guidance activity in
one of the following areas:
academic, career, or
personal/social development
(Consider ASCA Results Report)

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

priorities, barriers, motivation and the creating of an

action plan. The group results were measured by a
pre and post-test, which proved to have effective
results mostly for the 8th grade group, as well as a
decrease of tardies and absences at the begging of
the third quarter.
Naviance was utilized for 6th and 7th graders in a
one hours classroom presentation. Students were
guided step by step on how to navigate through
Naviance and how to interpret information on their
transcript. Student placement was determined by
their current enrollment in either accelerated or
regular classes assuring to have all four key subject
areas, a PE class and one elective.
Cardinal for a Day took place at Hoover High School
for 8th graders. During a half day at this site,
upcoming 8th graders were given a campus tour,
student testimonials regarding the different
academies available for them to join, and a
presentation of required units and available classes
for their first year in high school.
At the beginning of the semester we co-designed an
attendance group counseling curriculum targeting
Clarks needs assessment for absenteeism as was
reflected in the sites SARC. With this we targeted
the academic aspect of ASCAs domains, where we
analyzed direct correlation between attendance and
academic achievement. Six sessions were designed
to reinforce and attribute skills to get to school
regularly and on time. In order to evaluate the
intentional guidance curriculum students completed
a group evaluation and a pre-post test. Data was
taken based on the students increase in pre test
scaling, attainment of appropriate skills, and a

3/12/15
4/30/15

2/5/15

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 12

decrease in absences within the period of time the
group began until the end of the year.
Continue monitoring academic
progress of case study student
(from 622A) and evaluating
effectiveness of interventions.
Modify interventions if needed.

Conduct parent conference with at

least two of the students on your
caseload to discuss students
academic progress

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

Student Eric M. was contacted approximately three

weeks after coming back from winter break. During
the first quarter of the school year Eric was having
behavioral difficulties in the classroom. During our
time together Eric had shown some improvement,
and measures were taken to help Erick continue
growth during winter break. During this follow up
Erics grades were in a low plateau, and he
disclosed having difficulties adjusting because his
teacher Ms.T was transferred to a different school
and didnt come back after break. The whole class
seemed to be taking time to adjust to the drastic
change. Eric and I reviewed the coping strategies
we had developed the previous semester, flagged
the minefield for future trouble to arise and
scheduled a second follow up session before the
end of the semester.
Numerous attempts where made to contact one my
case study student who displayed emotional trauma
and some symptoms of social dyslexia. Further
steps were referred to the school psychologist in
order to begin assessing for an IEP. The students
mother was contacted to notify her of the need for
assessment and set up a IEP meeting for after
assessment results were available which would
most likely be in June. No contact was possible.
Second caseload student came in with emotional
trauma that had caused a strain in his academic
achievement. During our time together solution
focused interventions were conducted to which he
responded positively. This students mother was

2/26/15

4/30/15

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 13

scheduled to come into the office but wasn't able to
make it in, for which a telephone conference was set
up in order to notify her of her childs academic
improvement I two core classes from a C to an A in
both Math and Science class. The mother thanked
be for the attention given to her student as she could
see the effects in Dan attitude toward school herself

Record of Additional Major Practicum Activities

Activity
Reflection on & Self-Evaluation of this Activity
e.g., highlight your strengths/weaknesses
GSA: Gender and Sexuality Alliance
Club

After School Tutoring

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)

GSA was carried through the entire school

year and carried out during lunchtime every
Thursday. The group consisted of 5-7
students, who were exposed to learning
topics and activities, such as healthy
relationships, gay pride, equity and selfperception. Students were also taken to a
field trip to the YES conference, a gay youth
conference at San Diego State University.
After school tutoring was offered afterschool
every Thursday for an hour and fifteen
minutes. Help was Available for every subject
matter, although help for math and science
was requested more often. The club began
quite slowly but it gained momentum ranging
from 7-12 students with us. This after school
program provided for a safe space for
students to be vulnerable and ask for help.

Date
Complet
ed
5/14/15

5/14/15

Superviso
r Initials

CSP 740 Practicum Experience Profile for Monica Echegaray 14

(SDSU Practicum, 2014-2015)