California School Counselor - Winter 2008 - (Page 5)

Presidential Perspectives By Nancy Schubb CASC President 2008-2009 Are You Prepared? This summer I purchased a T-shirt at the ASCA Conference in Atlanta that reads “Life comes at you fast. See your Counselor.” The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10-14 jobs by age 38. According to the former Secretary of Education Richard Riley, the top 10 jobs that will be in demand in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004. The average teen spends 6.5 hours a day with media. The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the population on the planet. There are 2.7 billion Google searches per month and as of September 2006 there were over 106 million registered users of MySpace. My question for you today is “Are you prepared?” By now you might be asking, what does this have to do with school counseling? Counselors play a critical role in preparing students to be successful in a global economy. Professional development for school counselors is more critical than ever before. According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, “To be eﬀective in the 21st century, citizens and workers must be able to exhibit a range of functional and critical thinking skills related to information, media and technology.” Do you know what a wiki is? Are you blogging with your students? The amount of new technology is doubling every two years which means for a student starting a four-year course of study, half of what they learn in their ﬁ rst year, will be outdated by their third year. We all have excuses for avoiding professional development. I don’t have time. It costs too much. My district won’t release me. A recent Google search for “professional development for school counselors” resulted in 470,000 results. The June 2008 edition of the California Teachers Association (CTA) publication California Educator was dedicated to professional development. ASCA believes professional development cannot be “overemphasized.” Standard 6 of the California Standards for the School Counseling Profession reads “Develop as a Professional School Counselor.” My challenge to you is to identify one professional development learning opportunity before the end of 2008. Most county oﬃces of education oﬀer inexpensive, late afternoon/evening/weekend options. The annual California Association of School Counselors (CASC) conference this year will once again provide many opportunities for professional development, and networking (www.schoolcounselor-ca.org). On line resources include www.crosscountryeducation.com, www.nea.org, www.homesteadschools.com and www.naceonline.com/page_Home-StudyCourses.php. The beauty of technology is that you can incorporate professional learning into your day, webinars or podcasts (www.podcastdirectory.com/ podcasts/6881) for example. I leave you with this thought from the great Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet and engineer Michelangelo. “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” ■ HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELORS: Do you have students ready to pursue a creative education in the design, fashion, and media arts fields? If so, please contact Melissa Romero, Senior Director of Admissions at The Art Institute of California – Hollywood, formerly California Design College, at 213.251.3636 ext. 155 and get more information on school presentations, scholarship competitions for seniors, high school student activities, and other information to help your creative students pursue their career goals. 3440 Wilshire Blvd., 10th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90010-2112 ATTENTION 393941_California.indd 1 The California School Counselor | winter 2008 8:19:53 PM 5 8/1/08 http://www.schoolcounselor-ca.org http://www.crosscountryeducation.com http://www.nea.org http://www.homesteadschools.com http://www.naceonline.com/page_Home-Study-Courses.php http://www.naceonline.com/page_Home-Study-Courses.php http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/6881 http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/6881 http://www.artinstitutes.edu/hollywood

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of California School Counselor - Winter 2008

California School Counselor - Winter 2008 Contents Presidential Perspectives Jackie’s Jottings Executive Director’s Report Creating Possibilities Through Language The Six C’s Orange County Counselors Form Book Review Legislative Update Research CASC’s 2008 Leadership ASCA Announces Hughes Middle School Memory Tips for School, Work and Life California Commission on Teacher Credentialing Releases Statistics on Pupil Personnel Services Credentials Technology Tips Pics, Clicks and Technics Calendar Index to Advertisers

California School Counselor - Winter 2008

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