Group Planning: Preparing for College Entry and Qualifications - Assignment Example

Group Plan Group: 11th Grade Students and their parents. This group is targeted because they have reached a stage in their academic and career development in which they should be preparing for a post-secondary education. With one year left in high school after completion of the 11th grade students should have some idea of where they stand academically and how far they can go if they continue as they are or improve their efforts. At this stage students can assess their academic and social skills, their financial resources and determine career choices in light of these considerations. When they enter the 12th Grade they are in a better position to determine what they need to achieve in order to realize their academic and career goals. Parent involvement is important for motivation as well as academic and emotional support. These group sessions will be conducted in the computer lab since a majority of the activities require use of the internet and the computer. Group counseling will be conducted by teachers/counselors whose expertise is matched by each session’s goals and objectives. The workshop will consist of eight 45 minute sessions. Purpose: The purpose of this group counseling workshop is to prepare high school students for college entry and qualifications. Qualifications in this regard, refer to individual academic, career and financial resources. In other words, this group counseling workshop will help students plan and apply for college and financial aid bases on individual career aspirations, resources and qualifications. In keeping with Virginia’s Board of Education Standard of learning, this workshop seeks to ensure that 11th graders go into their final year poised to complete the compilation of skills and knowledge calculated to go onto to higher education, be technologically competitive and to be “informed citizens.” (Standards for School Counseling Programs in Virginia Public Schools) In this regard, the group plan focuses on social, career and academic counseling. Social counseling focuses on helping students gain an “understanding of themselves,” to identify their own goals so that they capitalize on their own interests, abilities and aptitudes.” (Standards for School Counseling Programs in Virginia Public Schools) Career counseling aids students in the acquisition of information and preparedness with respect to jobs, apprenticeships, work and post-secondary education. Academic counseling helps students as well as parents understand and plat the dynamics of curricula options made available to the student body and to plan studies, prepare for academic examinations and to explore post-secondary educational options and opportunities. (Standards for School Counseling Programs in Virginia Public Schools) Session 1: Introduction to college 101. Objective: To help students understand what steps they should follow to successfully complete the college application process and what factors are important for entry qualifications. In keeping with the Virginia Standard, this part of the group workshop will help students to gain an understanding of how to meet the requirements for post-secondary options and to help them identify the link between academic achievement goals and their actual academic status. For instance, students will become acquainted with the college entry requirements and can compare those academic requirements to their current academic status. Looking ahead, they will know what improvements are required to successfully complete the college application. The focus however will be on obtaining the application Warm up/Ice Breaker: To begin with, the counselor will welcome all students and parents to the group session and emphasize that all participants share a common goal and that is to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary tools for exploring and utilizing career options via a post-secondary education. A brief overview of the ultimate goal of the workshop and how the first session will initiate accomplishing that goal will be given. Participants will be reminded that they should ask questions anytime they do not understand anything or have any difficulties with the material. Activity: Students will be required to log onto the ACT’s Discover website for the purpose of researching material that would assist with options in four-year college, two-year college, professional/graduate school, career/technical training, military service or employment options. The idea is to assess what majors students are likely to pursue in light of career options and deciding what college is best suited to both the career options, student’s current qualification and resources and how best to achieve the minimum requirements for entry into those careers via a post-secondary education. ACT’s Discover will guide students by providing career and academic options and the requirements for achieving those goals. Session 2: What Colleges Do I Apply for? Objective: Having researched and identified career goals/desired majors and requirements in the first session, students will engage in the exploration of colleges that comport with individual qualifications, resources, goals and aspirations. Warm up/Ice Breaker: The counselor will spend a few minutes recapping the previous lesson and tying it into this session. Students will be reminded of the significance of identifying potential, realizing it and setting realistic and rewarding career goals as they determine what colleges they choose. Students will be encouraged to bring up anything that needs clarification or that raises any concerns to ensure the smooth transition from the previous session into the current session. Virginia Standard: This session ties in with Virginia’s Standard of helping students “understand the variety of post-secondary options available to them and the requirements of those options..” (Standards for School Counseling Programs in Virginia Public Schools) Activity: Students will be introduced to major college websites with a view to exploring concentrations and requirements for entry including fees, scholarship and financial aid options. Session 3: How to Apply for College. Objective: This exercise provides for the initial practical stages of applying for college entry. In this regard students will be introduced to the process of completing college application forms. Warm Up/Ice Breaker: It will be explained to students that successful completion of the college application form is no insignificant or merely formal requirement. The ability to follow instructions and answer questions accurately are also reflected in the college application completion process and can be a determining factor if the student’s academic qualifications fall slightly short of college requirements or in the event college space is limited and the students are similarly qualified. Virginia Standard: This step is obviously an elementary step but nonetheless essential for academic counseling. Students will bear in mind that ultimate goal of understanding curriculum choices, program studies, strategies for passing and preparing for academic tests and in exploring and selecting “post-secondary academic opportunities.” (Standards for School Counseling Programs in Virginia Public Schools) Activity: During this session students will log onto the internet and will be asked to conduct searches designed to locate college applications that are assessable online. Session 4: Writing Personal Statements Objective: This session aims to acquaint student with the significance of preparing and writing a persuasive, yet honest, personal statement. This session aims to emphasize that the personal statement is no less important than meeting the college application requirements. It reflects career goals and values as much as academic qualifications do. Warm Up/Ice Breaker: A few minutes will be spent at the beginning of the session recapping the highlights of what was learned about the college application process and this will be tied in the next significant part of the college application process: writing personal statements. The counselor will describe the fundamentals and significance of the personal statements. Virginia Standard: The persona statement should primarily reflect the Virginia standard for social and personal development. In this regard, students’ personal statements should reflect an understanding not only of self respect, but respect for others, and good and responsible citizenship. Activity: Students will be provided with guidelines for planning and a preparing a personal statement and will be asked to prepare a practice personal statement. Session 5: Research options for diverse methods for funding college tuition. Objective: This session is calculated to help students understand the steps that necessary for applying for and qualifying for financial aid with respect to a post-secondary education. Warm Up/Ice Breaker: The group counselor will open the session by informing students that financial shortcomings does not have to be a barrier to a post-secondary education. This opening will ease into the main objective of the session. Virginia Standard: This session capitalizes on the Virginia standard of academic counseling which is designed to equip students with all the information necessary for exploring post-secondary career and academic options. Financial qualifications and opportunities for funding is part of the knowledge and information necessary for exploring those options. Activity: Students will be directed to conduct research on various payment options for college funding. This includes scholarships and loans as well as other financial aid services. One useful website is the FastWeb Scholarship search engine. How to qualify for financial aid will be explored via http://www.salliemae.com/before_college/parents_plan/financial_needs/financial_aid/ and http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/ Session 6: Preparation for college entrance exams/ACT and SAT Objective: The purpose of this session is to help students set realistic goals for academic achievement throughout the remainder of their high school years. By realizing the reliance on and the significance of standardized college entrance examinations students can manage their time and resources accordingly. This session will instill in students the significance of putting time aside for preparation of these exams and understanding how they supplement other academic requirements for college admission. Warm up/Ice Breaker: The session will start with exploring what students already know about standardized testing and will gradually expose what is not known and what students should know about college entrance examination preparation and success. Virginia Standard: This session further capitalizes on Virginia standards of academic counseling in that it acquaints students with the tools for post-secondary options and the measures for exploring and choosing those options. Activities: Students will be acquainted with past ACT and SAT examinations, courses and practice sessions for successfully preparing for these examinations. Session 7: Personal Reference Objective: The objective of this session is to ensure that 11th grade students are well on the way to satisfying the requirement for successful social and personal development as a supplement to successful academic and career development. In this regard, students will be acquainted with the significance of forging mentor relationships among professionals and educators who can and are willing to provide good academic and personal references for the purpose of college admission requirements. The purpose is to get students to focus on obtaining referees in the time remaining Ice Breaker/Warm up: This session will begin by explaining to students that separate and apart from academic qualifications, personal referrals are likewise important for the purpose of gaining admission into college. In this regard, students will be asked to consider whether or not they know any educators, employers or professional who are willing to highly recommend their admission into college. This will be a lead in for explaining the significance of securing personal references and how to go about obtaining them. Virginia Standard: The ability to obtain personal references for college demonstrates that students are not only developing academic and career skills but are responsible citizens, a prerequisite for pursuing post-secondary academic and career options. Activities: Students will be asked to draft personal references reflecting what they would like mentors to say about them. The idea is to get students thinking about earning these accolades. Session 8: Improve your chances of getting into college! Objective: The objective of this session is to ensure that all the previous sessions have provided a greater understanding of the college application and qualification process. This will be achieved by going through how students can use the information and tools acquired throughout these sessions to improve the chances of getting into and funding college careers. Ice Breaker/Warm Up: This session will begin by asking students whether or not they feel they are in a better position to choose a college and apply for it than they felt prior to participating in the session. The counselor will explain that whether or not they do feel that the sessions have improved their ability to choose and apply for college entrance, the instructions in this session should ensure that result. Virginia Standard: This session will capitalize on Virginia’s standard of academic, career and personal counseling by recapping each of the highlights in each session. Activity: This last session will fully engage group discussion and the counselor will invite student input as to how the information obtained throughout these sessions can help them improve their chances of getting into a college. Any questions with respect to all of the sessions will be addressed at this point. Bibliography Board of Education. (Jan. 2004) Standard for School Counseling Programs in Virginia Public Schools. Read More