PLANO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT
Counseling and Guidance – Grades Pre K - 8
Guidance Counseling
Presented by DeLynn Brennan, Barksdale Counselor and Elementary Cluster Leader
Sharlene Barton, Frankford Counselor and Middle School Cluster Leader
The purpose of the school guidance program is to promote and to enhance the learning process. School
counselors work closely with administrators, teachers, parents, and community to support the Plano ISD
mission and accomplish goals with focus on three strands of guidance:
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Academic Success
College and Careers
Personal/Social Development
The Plano ISD Guidance Plan is an integration of the American School Counseling Association National
Standards and the Texas Education Agency Guidance for Program Development. A developmental guidance
program emphasizes success for all students. This plan will enable all students to achieve success in school and
to develop into contributing members of society. Plano counselors have a Masters degree in School Counseling
and minimum of two years of classroom teaching experience.
Two new programs have been implemented this year – R-time is an elementary program designed to prevent
conflict through communication skills and acceptance. At the middle school level the program expands to
Negotiate – students learn to discuss differences without anger, to employ tolerance, and to show respect. The
underlying goal of these programs is to reduce bullying through communication and tolerance. Additional
lessons address the issues of bullying, cyber-bullying, and personal safety.
Guidance Topics:
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Anger Management
Bullying Prevention
Character Education
Communication
Conflict Resolution/Peer Mediation
Decision Making
Diversity
Drug Awareness (Red Ribbon Week)
Friendship
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Test Anxiety
Motivation
Organization
Peer Pressure
Personal Safety
Self Confidence
Social Skills
Study Skills
Stress Management
Red Ribbon Week – The last week in October is devoted to drug abuse awareness and prevention. Schools
offer specific guidance lessons, guest speakers, and motivational assemblies.
Yello Dyno – this program addresses bullying and includes lesson plans, videos, and activities highlighting
personal safety and making wise decisions.
WHO – We Help Ourselves – this anti-victimization program also includes a section on bullies and
information on staying safe, child abuse, and getting help from a trusted adult.
2012 key communicator k 8.doc
R-Time – this elementary program fosters cooperation and respect with an emphasis on manners. Students are
randomly paired and learn to greet one another using names and making eye contact. Activities are designed to
help students relate well to each other, raise self-confidence, and support learning.
Other guidance lessons – Many and varied classroom guidance lessons are available to address issues and
situations that occur on the campus. Guidance lessons are also available online. The majority of schools use
the following popular and effective lessons to address bullying, violence, and anger: Don’t Pop Your Cork on
Monday (Anger Management), Peacemaking Skills for Little Kids, Kelso’s Choice (Conflict Resolution),
Bullies Are a Pain in the Brain, and No More Teasing.
Negotiate - The philosophy of Negotiate is based on the principle that by placing students in a well-defined and
supportive situation, they will develop inter-personal skills and positive relationships. Negotiate is an extension
of R-time, the elementary school relationship program, for middle school students. Each 15-20 minute weekly
session requires cooperation with a randomly chosen partner. Fundamental to Negotiate is the expectation and
use of good manners, appropriate body language and courtesy, while students are engaged in mutually
respectful and productive dialogue. Lessons cover multiple topics including: self-respect, gossip, cell phone
bullying, friendship loyalty, honesty, and cheating.
Second Step - This program is available in all middle schools designed to promote social skills and academic
success. Students learn the protective skills to make good choices and stay engaged in school despite the
pitfalls of substance abuse, bullying, cyber bullying, and peer pressure.
Be EPIC – Educated, Pro-Active, Influential, and Changed - Trained presenters from The Turning Point make
classroom presentations about appropriate and inappropriate social interactions and sexual harassment. There is
a focus on this form of bullying.
Be Cool – This video based program presents the paradigm of self-control and assertion training. The modules
uses real-live, everyday classic situations to model the effective use of assertive strategies, as well as the
ineffective use of passive and aggressive styles in coping with difficult feelings and difficult people. Topics
include coping with stress, harassment, anger, and bullying.
The Harassment Workshop – a program designed specifically for high school students includes skits
demonstrating inappropriate behavior and solutions to dealing with harassment.
Bully Free – All 9-12 schools have grade level lessons on prevention that address the specific issues affecting
teenagers. The author of this program, Dr. Allan Beane, has been to Plano ISD to provide training and
information on the effects of bullying and how to address the issue. The lessons promote the Golden Rule,
develop empathy, help students understand the nature and destructiveness of bullying, help students who are
bullied cope with their feelings and with the bullying, as well as encourage those who bully to stop mistreating
others.
Plano counselors also conduct small group sessions with students. These may include groups about Changing
Families (divorce, separations), Grief, Social Skills/ Friendship, or New Students. These groups are supportive
in nature and not therapeutic. They are based on an educational model which is part of the educational
curriculum. Participation may be recommended by parents or teachers, and parental permission is always
required.
Plano ISD also offers online parenting classes addressing bullying, cyber-bulling, discipline, power struggles,
and sibling rivalry. Class Series offered are Back to Basics, Help, A Teenager has Moved Into My Child’s
Body, Parental Authority, Parenting the Strong-Willed Child, Building Bright Futures – ADD/ADHD, and
Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.
2012 key communicator k 8.doc