What is Your Super Power?

What is Your Super Power?

Juan (name has been changed) comes to my office.  The teacher sent Juan to me because I am supposed to "fix" Juan.  She has already redirected, reprimanded, punished, and rewarded Juan.  None of those worked.  She believes I might have the super power to "fix" Juan.

Juan is impulsive and makes poor choices.  His teacher needs help!  I spend 30 minutes with Juan doing activities and talking.  He returns to class.  Within one minute of returning to class, he has pushed another student.

I shake my head.  I can only imagine what the teacher is now thinking about my super power.

A Counselor's Doubts: Am I effective?

Counseling uses different methods to achieve a result.  Sometimes the method involves insight or challenging cognitions, and "results" may be more immediate.  However, sometimes we are teaching skills.  And just like any teacher, it takes repetition and practice.

Brain Development

The younger we are, the more our brains change.  In the case of a preschooler being exposed to ongoing violence, this can have detrimental consequences.  The preschooler's brain may become hyper alert - always scanning the environment for possible danger.

However, when counselors are able to work with children at a young age introducing positive skills, brain development is to our advantage.

The "ruts" in children's brains are less developed and deep than those of adults.  Children are more likely to create new neural pathways and  experience brain growth in areas that control learning, decision-making, and planning.  How do we promote positive brain growth in children?


4 Ways to Promote Positive Brain Development

1. Teach students the skills they need. Imagine that the student is from another planet.  How can we teach them this "human" rule?  Clearly define the steps for a particular skill on a pocket-sized card.  The student can keep the skill card in their pocket, tape it to their desk, or attach it to their book bag.

2. Model the skill for the student.  Imagine never having used a computer before.  You read books about typing, making spreadsheets, browsing the Internet, saving, and finding files.  Finally, one day, a computer is in front of you.  Let's see how fast you can create a PowerPoint presentation.  :)  First, you would need to learn how to power on a computer and open Microsoft PowerPoint. Once you learn how to open PowerPoint, you would learn much faster and more effectively if someone first showed you how to create a PowerPoint.  It is not enough to simply read about it.  We learn visually.  We need to see it.

3. Learning can begin in your office.  However, in order to promote optimal brain growth, the student must practice the skills in their daily life.  Use punch cards to reward students for each time they practice a skill.

4. We cannot expect a student doing addition to learn algebra in the same year.  In the same way, students need scaffolded support.  Ana (name has been changed) has a bad temper.  When she gets angry, she throws objects, hits, breaks objects, and runs from the teacher.  Which behavior do we target?  Start with the most simple behavior that is lacking.  See below for a sample plan to scaffold Ana's behavior when she is angry.

• Week 1: Help Ana recognize her body's warning signs for when she is angry (e.g. sweaty, clinched fists).
• Week 2: Help Ana recognize warning signs and say to herself, "I need to calm down."
• Week 3: Help Ana recognize warning signs, tell herself, "I need to calm down," and take 3 deep breaths.

Ana is still learning "addition" and must master this before she can become an expert in "algebra."