SHOW TOPIC
Finding our Groove - Secondary School
SPECIAL GUEST
Ms. Lisa Graham
Ms. Lisa Graham is in her third year as the school counselor at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School, grades 9-10. She previously was an emotional and autistic support teacher with Seneca Valley for 12 years. Currently, she supports the individual growth of each student by working closely with parents, teachers, and community members. Her role as a school counselor is to serve as a front-line support system by addressing the academic, career and social/emotional needs and development of students through individual and group settings and programs.
IN THIS EPISODE, WE WILL REVIEW
• Staying motivated at home
• Creating a workspace
• Getting organized
• Establishing a routine and sticking to it
• Asking for help and staying connected
USEFUL INFORMATION
https://www.svsd.net/domain/2293
SHOW TOPIC
Finding our Groove - Secondary School
SPECIAL GUEST
Ms. Lisa Graham
Ms. Lisa Graham is in her third year as the school counselor at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School, grades 9-10. She previously was an emotional and autistic support teacher with Seneca Valley for 12 years. Currently, she supports the individual growth of each student by working closely with parents, teachers, and community members. Her role as a school counselor is to serve as a front-line support system by addressing the academic, career and social/emotional needs and development of students through individual and group settings and programs.
IN THIS EPISODE, WE WILL REVIEW
• Staying motivated at home
• Creating a workspace
• Getting organized
• Establishing a routine and sticking to it
• Asking for help and staying connected
USEFUL INFORMATION
https://www.svsd.net/domain/2293
FULL TRANSCRIPT (with timecode)
File Name: Voices E16 Lisa Graham.mp3
File Length: 00:10:15
00:00:02:24 - 00:00:07:24
Introduction: Welcome to Voices, a podcast brought to you by the Seneca Valley School District.
00:00:10:24 - 00:00:18:14
Jeff Krakoff: Today I'm here with Lisa Graham who's a school counselor at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School. Thanks for joining us today.
00:00:18:16 - 00:00:19:01
Lisa Graham: Yeah.
00:00:19:08 - 00:00:35:05
Jeff Krakoff: So with going back to school lots of students and parents have a lot of questions, concerns about the current model. Do you have any advice on how to keep students more motivated while working from home?
00:00:35:09 - 00:00:46:19
Lisa Graham: Yeah, Jeff you know I would say that is probably the number one question we get asked. I know that so the first thing I often go to is to remember what our goals are, right?
00:00:47:17 - 00:01:00:28
Lisa Graham: So there's the bell, being a high school. So you know our goals. So our students you know often by seventh, eighth grade, high school they can tell us you know other than just.
00:01:01:02 - 00:01:15:27
Lisa Graham: We're here because our mom and dad say we have to be here, you know why are they here at school. What are they. What is their long term goal? And they know they're headed in a certain career path or they want to go to college or you know a specific college.
00:01:15:29 - 00:01:25:12
Lisa Graham: So then taking that long term goal and then thinking about how does what I'm doing now connect to that long term goal?
00:01:25:14 - 00:01:55:13
Lisa Graham: So what kind of grades do I want to earn this year? And so keeping that all in the forefront of our mind I think is really important. And then I think it's really important for our parents to be on the same page with students with that because I know sometimes when there's a discrepancy that can create some tension and then you know that makes things more difficult at home. But I think if everybody is on the same page that definitely can help. You know another thing to think about is to remember that this COVID, this situation that we're in right now,
00:01:55:18 - 00:02:11:22
Lisa Graham: it is something that was forced upon us. You hear a lot of "Oh, but I didn't choose this, I don't want to do it this way," but if we can reframe it and think that you know this is an opportunity that we have to learn how to be an online learner because in the real world we do have to learn online.
00:02:11:24 - 00:02:19:12
Lisa Graham: I have professional development online, some people work from home. We have you know people take college classes and things online. So
00:02:19:14 - 00:02:24:18
Lisa Graham: So this is a great opportunity really that our students have to learn in this kind of environment.
00:02:24:20 - 00:02:40:18
Jeff Krakoff: So it's actually a little bit of a silver lining in preparing students for for the real world that's moving more and more online. What about while working at the home? Do you have any advice or suggestions on how to set up a workplace that works well for students?
00:02:40:25 - 00:03:14:24
Lisa Graham: Yes. So you know the first thing I think about is where you're gonna do that work right. I know a lot of our students like to work in bed, right? Or on the couch in these really comfortable places and while that's great and we can stay in our sweat pants all day, you know too comfortable isn't always the best. So to have a designated space is a good thing. And you know somewhere that's so is that separate from the couch separate from the bed and a desk at a table. You want to have somewhere that's going to be free of distractions so that you're not interrupted.
00:03:14:26 - 00:03:40:07
Lisa Graham: Speaking of distractions and thinking about the cell phone is an important thing I know I've had that conversation a lot with parents. They're saying you know we're telling them to turn the cell phone off or you know put the cell phone over here when our students are in school they have to put those cell phones you know in caddies, you know with the teachers you know they don't let them have them. So if you're at home you know I think the same thing is going to be important to keep yourself focused.
00:03:40:20 - 00:03:45:06
Lisa Graham: Yeah. Interruptions are tough. Another thing of a day you think about
00:03:46:25 - 00:03:51:11
Lisa Graham: you know keeping that space as well like motivational in a sense.
00:03:51:13 - 00:04:08:03
Lisa Graham: So those goals that we talked about earlier, writing them down, hanging them in front of you, having some sort of motivational you know whether it's quotes or artwork or something that makes the space inspirational for you might also be a good idea.
00:04:08:05 - 00:04:14:09
Jeff Krakoff: OK. Great advice. What about just getting more organized and keeping yourself organized.
00:04:14:11 - 00:04:50:21
Lisa Graham: Yeah. You know I would say organization this is this situation is definitely a challenge for organization. And so it's going to be really important to have a system that you can kind of take between school and home. A lot of students use their cell phone these days. TEAMS is what the other platform Seneca Valley is using for a lot of their online learning. And that is there's an app that you can download on your phone for teens so that can be something then that students can take to and from school, but then also knowing how TEAMS works, know that technology.
00:04:50:23 - 00:05:19:06
Lisa Graham: How does that app work? How does the calendar work? Can I make notes for myself there that I can use, are all really important things. You know also if you're student is a completely virtual learner from home. Our Edgenuity program that a lot of our students use has a calendar in there for assignments that students can keep track of so that those are all going to be really important things moving back and forth.
00:05:19:26 - 00:05:36:19
Jeff Krakoff: OK, so you mentioned setting up a specific workspace. You're talking about systems. So it sounds like routines are awfully important. How do you best establish a routine? Probably the more important part, how do you stick with that routine
00:05:36:22 - 00:05:57:03
Lisa Graham: Yeah. So I think the routine has to be set up based on something that works for you and what's effective for you first of all, but you know if we think about the fact that our students are here one day and off the next and then here again and then off the next. It's like every day could be Friday and Monday. Right? Or Monday and Friday.
00:05:57:09 - 00:05:57:24
Jeff Krakoff: Yeah.
00:05:57:26 - 00:06:06:27
Lisa Graham: Yeah. And we know how do we feel on Monday mornings? Not so great, right? So if we had every day is Monday that doesn't go so well for anybody.
00:06:06:29 - 00:06:31:00
Lisa Graham: So the first thing I would say is make sure that we are not getting up or that we are or we are getting up at the same time every day. So if you get up at six or seven o'clock to come to school, get up at six or seven o'clock on the days that you're not coming to school. And even if you're learning virtually, right? I would say try not to sleep in all day you know and stay up
00:06:32:16 - 00:06:51:10
Lisa Graham: real late because it's it's not as effective. I think for students so you know getting up at the same time you know when you do get up even though you're at home I would still say change, you know even if you want to wsweatpants at ear sweatpantsat the end. That's OK. But I wouldn't stay in your pajamas all day. Just something about changing makes us feel a little bit more productive.
00:06:53:26 - 00:07:10:01
Lisa Graham: I would if we think oh and keeping the same schedule, right, is going to be important. So if you are doing like your schedule at school right. We have eight periods that we go through. If you try to keep with those eight periods on your days off.
00:07:10:03 - 00:07:17:18
Lisa Graham: I think it's also going to help our students stay with that routine and stay motivated and on track to get their work done.
00:07:17:29 - 00:07:20:16
Lisa Graham: Time management kind of comes in, right?
00:07:20:18 - 00:07:31:23
Jeff Krakoff: That's really interesting. I think a lot of parents and students are thinking of in-class and online as two different things. But what I'm hearing very clearly is treat every day the same regardless of where you are.
00:07:32:04 - 00:07:32:19
Lisa Graham: Yeah.
00:07:32:21 - 00:07:41:01
Jeff Krakoff: it's a great tip. High school was probably more than than some of the younger grades usually are you know it's hard to ask for help.
00:07:41:03 - 00:07:41:18
Lisa Graham: Yes.
00:07:41:20 - 00:07:50:26
Jeff Krakoff: So what advice do you have for a student that you should be asking for help, maybe feels like they're not connected or disconnected?
00:07:51:07 - 00:08:02:11
Lisa Graham: Yeah, yeah I think that's critical. I think this is probably the most important thing that if we could you know let our parents know that's so important and that's just please reach out. You
00:08:02:13 - 00:08:36:09
Lisa Graham: You know if you need something, especially while you're at home. On those off days that we have, the teachers, the counselors, we are all still here at school and we are happy to support our students and we would much rather know that someone is struggling than to be keeping that stuff all at home frustrated, right? So TEAMS has an awesome chat feature that students can message their teachers, they can message their counselors. I was messaging with students today from TEAMS who are at-home learning, you know virtually.
00:08:36:11 - 00:08:40:02
Lisa Graham: So I think that's an awesome place to start.
00:08:40:11 - 00:09:18:01
Lisa Graham: But you know we also know that students who are learning virtually are more successful, more likely to complete a class when they are actively involved in messaging with their teachers and messaging with their classmates. You know I would say even set up like study sessions with friends or ask friends if you're not comfortable asking teachers, but I think it's just getting over that fear of like you know it's OK to ask and you know and if you can just send it in an email or in chat that can be a little easier than having to approach somebody face-to-face. So I'm hoping,
00:09:18:03 - 00:09:22:15
Lisa Graham: fingers crossed, this is going to be a little easier for our students to ask for help this way.
00:09:22:26 - 00:09:37:01
Jeff Krakoff: All right. Well all great advice, do you have any parting thoughts that if I'm a parent or a or a student I need to think about them to make the most out of this this fall, beginning of school?
00:09:37:03 - 00:09:37:18
Lisa Graham: Yeah
00:09:37:20 - 00:09:45:07
Lisa Graham: Yeah, I would just say you know first you know we've heard a lot that we're not in this alone right. We're all here to support and help you.
00:09:45:12 - 00:09:57:16
Lisa Graham: And that biggest thing just ask questions you know if you need help reach out. We're here for you. Yeah. Don't go it alone because we're here.
00:09:57:18 - 00:09:58:03
Jeff Krakoff: Right
00:09:58:12 - 00:10:06:16
Jeff Krakoff: Well, thanks so much again. I hope that the school year continues to go well for everybody involved and take care. Have a great day.
00:10:06:21 - 00:10:07:12
Introduction: Thanks, you too.