104. How to Plan for Small Groups in the Final Months of the School Year

Carol: You're listening to the Counselor Chat podcast, a show for school counselors looking for easy to implement strategies, how to tips, collaboration, and a little spark of joy. I'm Carol Miller, your host.

I'm a full time school counselor and the face behind counseling essentials. I'm all about creating simplified systems, data driven practices, and using creative approaches to engage students. If you're looking for a little inspiration to help you make a big impact on student growth and success, you're in the right place.

Because we're better together. Ready to chat. Let's dive in.

Carol: Hey there school counselors. Welcome back to Counselor Chat.

This is your place for school counseling, tips, tricks, and sometimes even the occasional reality check. And let's be honest, some days this job just feels like we're trying to herd caffeinated squirrels.

And other days, well, we actually nail it. Well, I'm Carolyn Miller and I'm your host for Counselor Chat. And today we're talking all about how to maximize small groups before summer break.

Now, I know what some of you are probably thinking. Carol, small groups now.

And yes, yes, my friend, I know it's the final stretch of the year and everything feels like controlled chaos. But hear me out. This is actually the perfect time to run your small groups.

Why?

Well, there's three reasons. One, you've got a solid grasp on which students actually need the extra support.

Two, the pressure of the early beginning of the year. Academics is finally starting to ease a little. And three,

small wins now equal fewer referrals next year.

So grab your planner, your coffee or whatever keeps you functioning. And let's chat about making small groups happen without losing your mind.

So I get it. May and June, they're really not for the week. I mean, there's field trips, there's the end of year testing, there's kids who've been completely forgotten or they have forgotten how to sit in a chair.

It's kind of a lot. But that's exactly why this is a really golden opportunity for small groups.

We have the kids who need it most. They're on our radar. I mean, at the start of the year, we're just getting to know our kids. And by now we actually know who needs the extra support.

Whether it's for emotional regulation or friendship skills or just learning how to raise their hand instead of learning out their entire life story. I mean, we love them, but also.

Come on, take a breath, buddy.

You know those little lovers.

There's also reason to Short term groups can equal really big impact. I mean, these groups that we run at this time of the year, they don't have to be 10 week masterpieces.

No, I want you to think four to six weeks max. If you're in New York, you could even run a full eight week group. And it really is enough time to build the skills and give them a boost before summer.

But it's also not so long that it drags into the end of year chaos.

And reason three really for starting the small groups now, it prevents the summer slide for our social emotional skills. I mean, come on, teachers talk about the summer slide with academics all the time.

But let's be real, social emotional skills, they slide too. By giving students a little extra support now can really mean some fewer behavior struggles next fall.

So yes, counselor friends, spring small groups are totally worth it.

But we also have to choose the right small group topics. So before you run off and try to start six groups at once,

I mean let's not, let's be strategic. I want you to think about what groups will give you the biggest bang for your buck.

So here are my top three small group ideas for spring.

It's the I've checked out group, AKA motivation and goal setting. I think right now this is what I'm spending a lot of time with with my kids right now. These motivation groups are perfect for the students who have lost all motivation after spring break or maybe for the last half of the school year.

You want to focus really in on building habits and setting goals and finishing the year strong.

Some activities for these groups can include maybe some vision boards for the last part of the year, the race to summer goal setting challenge, maybe even some self reflection exercise like where am I now?

Where do I want to be?

And in my school we are kind of finishing up our career lessons. These can actually tie so nicely together because one of the things that we do in my building is we do some career plans and we are always asking where am I now?

And where do I want to be? And part of that, where am I now? Has the kids look at their strengths as well as things they're not doing so well that they feel like they want to get better at.

So these self reflection exercises can be really great for your motivation and goal setting groups in the spring.

Another group that you can put together is the I have no friends group, aka your social skills 101 group. This is perfect for your students who are struggling with friendships.

They need practice with communication, boundaries, conflict resolution. Maybe they are the ones that they were great in the cafeteria for cafeteria recess, but now that you're having them Actually go outside because the weather's nice.

They have forgot all about their friendship skills and everything is a big fight from who's up to bat first or who's going to kick first in the in the kickball game or who's going to be the first to the slide or who how they even tag each other when they're playing tag without pushing each other in the dirt.

So these social skill groups are so important this time of year and you can focus on things like how to make and keep friends,

recognizing the red flags and friendships, and maybe even handling conflict like a pro. For activities you can do things like some friendship role playing scenarios, maybe a what would you do card game,

maybe some even some active listening challenges.

Let's face it too middle schoolers can really struggle with those active listening challenges.

So those are another great group to get going.

A third group that you can try right now is the feel your feelings group, also known as emotional regulation.

I think this group is perfect for those students who go from 0 to 100 emotionally fast. Can you think of a few? Because I have a couple on my radar right now.

For these groups you really want to focus in on coping skills, self awareness and handling stress without a meltdown. And some activities that you can include in this emotional regulation group.

Well, you can have a coping skills showdown, maybe. Students compete to come up with the best coping strategy you can. Do some sensory strategies with them. Get out your fidgets, the breathing exercises, do some movement breaks with them.

You might even want to do some guided journeys, guided meditations. My kids actually love this. Go for some sensory walks, do some mindfulness walks, it's nice outside. Take advantage of that.

And then you can also do stress detectives where you're really identifying the triggers and creating a self care plan with them.

So these are once again three really great groups for this time of year.

So while you might have now picked your group, let's really talk about making it manageable because we want to run these small groups without losing your sanity. And the first step is to really keep it simple.

Your group curriculum does not need to be a 50 page color coded masterpiece.

Use what you've already done. Maybe pull one or two resources per session and use a simple opening, check in activity and wrap up format. You really want to try to get the most out of your time together.

And so you're going to be doing a lot of talking.

And not just you talking, but having the kids talk as well. You could start with something like an opening. What's one thing that went really well, this week move into an activity.

Maybe you're going to role play a tough situation and then you're going to have a wrap up. What's the one thing you're taking away today?

Boom, 30 minutes and you're done.

Step two is to work with your schedule, not against it. I mean, pick a time that works. Lunch groups, morning check ins, or even during a low impact academic period.

Because let's face it, if you're in middle school, no one's paying attention during last period study hall anyway.

You might even want to consider co leading with a teacher. This lightens your load and gets some teacher buy in.

In step three, you really, you want to make your group fun. Because let's be honest, if your small group feels like extra work, students will hate it. You can use games like uno.

Would you rather Two Truths and a Lie?

Those are great for social skills. They're also really great for friendship. And if your kids are all into games,

I mean, I have a ton of Uno Lite games and my TPT store. I'll drop a couple links for those in the show notes.

I mean, you also want to give students ownership. You have to let them create group norms, pick topics, or even lead an activity.

And while I hate to do this because it's such a short amount of time,

you might even want to bring some snacks because seriously, snacks can make everything better and they don't have to be great. We in my, my last group that I had, our school always has like extra snacks for, for kids.

I just went in and I grabbed a box of Ritz crackers and the kids were like so excited by Ritz crackers. We didn't even have cheese or anything to put on them but Ritz crackers.

So just bring some snacks.

Now friends,

if you've been debating these small groups, I really want you to think of this as your sign to really go for it. Remember, small groups, they don't have to be perfect to be effective.

Even four weeks can make a huge difference.

And remember, you're planting seeds even if you don't see them grow right away. And we've talked about this a lot in past episodes.

Remember,

we just want to plant the seeds, get them wet a little bit. They might take time to grow and that's okay.

So go forth and group it up.

Yep, I said it. It was corny, it was bad. But my friends really go for it. And before I go, I want to give you an affirmation for this week.

You ready? I am making a difference. One small group one conversation and one student at a time.

You've got this.

You're doing amazing work, and I can't say that enough. And until next time, I hope you have a really great week. Bye for now.

Carol: Thanks for listening to today's episode of Counselor Chat. All of the links I talked about can be found in the show notes and at counselingessentials.org podcast. Be sure to hit follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast player.

And if you would be so kind to leave a review, I'd really appreciate it. Want to connect? Send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram at Counseling Essentials until next time.

Can't wait till we chat. Bye for now.