1) How do the guidance services being delivered in the new normal?

2) What do you think are the challenges in delivering the guidance services in the new normal?

 

Working from home has taken on a whole new sense with COVID 19. Most school counselors left their schools one afternoon and were unable to return the next day. Others became more aware that their school system was being closed down and that they were able to collect materials. School counselors are also tasked with creating online lessons and discovering the best ways to communicate and support students while keeping details confidential. Some of you may think this isn't school counseling. And you're right about that. This isn't exactly what you're used to. This is a new normal phenomenon, and many school counselors are grappling with the concept of what it means to be a school counselor in this digital world.

As a counselor myself, we've checked in with our families, posted resources, added materials to Google Classroom or Blackboard, registered our self reading books, put ourselves in a special rotation, and provided virtual meeting times to communicate with our students and families. After all this work has been completed, the lack of response may be deafening. Now we feel discouraged because we don't think we're getting the same effect we've had when we deal with students and families in person.

Many families are still trying to sort out their new schedule with these shifts. Schools provide the framework that so many of our students need and parents are struggling to provide the same structure for their children while working from home and juggling everything else that is going on. We feel that families are not appreciative of everything we have done so far, but we must note that families are still feeling exhausted and trying to find that balance and new purpose in their lives, just as we are.

On a positive note, we appreciate all that we do and have done to help our students, their families and our colleagues. As we move on with the rest of our school year, join the online classes and see the warm welcome we get from our students. When they're all settled on this new schedule, the parents will reach out to us for help. Teachers will once again ask us to check on the student who hasn't turned up for their online session and ask for our support to fix any problems that have arisen that day. When time goes on we're going to find meaning in becoming a school counselor again. It may not be the same thing as before but it's going to happen.