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Mr. Drummond |
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FAQFrequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.
What does a counselor do in elementary school? 1. Classroom lessons on social skills and problem-solving 2. Small group counseling on divorce and decision-making 3. Short-term child-centered individual counseling 4. Consulting with teachers and parents 5. Lots of listening Does a counseling group meeting during class time? Yes. Mr. Drummond works with the teachers to find the best time during the school day for children to come to group. Children are expected to make up any work they miss. How many times does a group meet? Groups meet for 30 minutes every other week. Most groups meet for 5 sessions. How many kids are in a counseling group? The best number of children in a counseling group is usually 4. It is small enough for everyone to have time to share but large enough for a variety of viewpoints. Group counseling is effective as children learn that they are not alone in their situation. Other people understand. Groups work best for children in grade 2 and above. At that point they have become verbal enough to be able to express their feelings and analyze the things that are going on in their lives. How can my child qualify for a counseling group? A child must be in a situation or experiencing problems that are affecting his/her academic achievement. When a child has intense emotional issues to deal with, it is very hard to concentrate on learning. When we help a child deal with emotions, we begin to remove the roadblock to learning. Why can't the counselor see my child weekly all year? The guidance counselor wears many hats. While a private counselor might have 30 clients, a counselor sees hundreds of children in classes, groups, and individually. Time simply does not permit long-term counseling. The counselor can give parents a list of outside counselors who do long-term therapy. A kid is picking on my child. What can I do? Talk with the teacher, Mrs. Baus, or Mr. Drummond, who will be happy to do a mediation with the children. If your child is in grade 2 through 5 and the situation is not serious, ask your child to visit the peace corner first to see if s/he can work out the problem. If the problem is serious, alert the teacher, Mrs. Baus, or Mr. Drummond immediately so that action can be taken. All the kids are picking on my child. What do I do? Once in awhile, a child may be targeted. It is unusual at Venice Elementary, but not impossible. In situations where a group of children are involved, Mr. Drummond goes into the class and holds a class meeting. In round-robin fashion, children talk about what is on their minds. Without mentioning names, they may use this sentence-starter: "I like this class but someone has been _____________, and it makes me feel ____." Problems and feelings are listed on the board. The counselor helps the children look for behavior patterns and the feelings they create. The next round involves solutions, whether or not a child has been involved. After all, even a bystander is making a choice. Each child then decides what s/he can do in a situation "I can help _______ by ________." A class meeting is powerful because it brings a problem behavior into the open and lets kids see how THEIR PEERS feel about it. Peer influence increases in the upper elementary grades and it can be tapped into to change negative attitudes and behavior into positive ones. Are there mean kids at Venice Elementary? No. But there are kids who can act mean sometimes. Developmentally, children grow more sociable in 3rd grade and up. Friends become more and more important to them. Human nature, however, shows us that kids like ONE friend. So, we begin to see situations where jealousy rears its ugly head. Everyone is afraid that someone is going to take their friend away. So, some children become very possessive. And normally nice kids can do pretty mean things when they see their friend go off with someone else. While Mr. Drummond can't make kids be friends, he can help them listen to one another's feelings and better understand a situation. What is the #1 problem at Venice Elementary? The #1 most common issue is probably the #1 most common issue in any elementary school: THE CLIQUE. Friends invite people in. A clique is a group that keeps people out. When Mr. Drummond teaches lessons on cliques, the children begin to realize that the leader of a clique is after one thing: power. Some kids like to control what other childrem do and who they can play with. The purpose of the lesson is not to expose the leader (the children already know), but to alert them to the fact that there are people who will try to control them and their friendships. And it is up to them to decide if they are smart enough to choose their own friends. I have a 4th grade daughter. She says her friend is being mean to her. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that one! Girls at that age form very strong bonds. Their friend is their world. 4th graders can be very fickle, however. On Monday they were best friends. On Tuesday, however, your daughter's friend went off with someone else at recess and her world collapsed. And you wonder, "Should I call Mrs. Jones and tell her how awful her daughter is?!" Well, you might want to take a deep breath and think for a moment. If you intervene, will you make it better? Will it endear you to Mrs. Jones? WHO owns the problem? It is very likely that, on Wednesday, your daughter and her friend will be inseparable again and you'll wonder what on earth the fireworks were about. It's up to you. But, before you call Mrs. Jones to vent your frustration, you might want to wait awhile and watch for a pattern. The problem may resolve itself. If you see something that really concerns you, however, call Mr. Drummond. Can I contact Mr. Drummond via email? Yes, you can. His email address is: george_drummond@sarasota.k12.fl.us What if I have a question other parents may have? You can call or email Mr. Drummond with the question and he will include it and a possible answer on this website! Thanks. |
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