Minute Mtgs w/ a Tech Spin!

Want a great way to connect even more with your students?  Minutes meetings are for you!  Counselor buddy Danielle Schultz of The School Counselor Blog told us all about her concept of minute meetings and I thought the concept was absolutely brilliant!  These short but meaningful meetings consist of asking questions to students individually as a sort of check in.  These questions cover the ASCA Academic, Personal/Social and Career domains.

Here's some background planning that worked well for me on doing minute meetings:

-Make a schedule of which grade level(s), homeroom(s) you plan to visit each day.  It took me about  3 weeks to meet with all my students (in 1st -5th grades).  I scheduled 45-50 minute blocks to meet with each class. I usually meet with 2-3 classes each day.  The younger students usually don't have as much to say, so you may need less time.  As we got into 4th & 5th grades they have more to discuss, so we usually had to do 2 sessions of meetings. 

-Once your meeting schedule is done, email the teachers and let them know what day(s) & time you will be coming to their class.

-Print a copy of the class list for each homeroom that you plan on meeting with (to keep track of who you've seen, who's absent, make notes, etc).  I am very fortunate to have a counselor intern so we can split the list and we can work more efficiently. 

-Before you begin your meetings go in the class and tell them what will be happening.  Assure them that it's nothing to be afraid of, that minute meetings are a way to check in and have one-on-one time with the counselor.

-When you visit a class for your meetings.  Borrow 2 chairs from the class (1 for you, 1 for the student) and sit outside of the classroom.  When you finish your meeting with a student, ask them "can you please ask Michelle to come out for her meeting" this flows very well and you won't be a distraction by going in and out of the classroom.  In some cases, I've sat in the very back of the classroom and held my check-ins there (usually with the younger students).

-For students that tend to talk a little longer than others (we all have them, but I love seeing them), I put them towards the end of my list so that I can they can have longer than the few minutes I see the other students.

Minute mtg w/ a student

So of course I had to add my jyjcounselor tech spin as I did my minute meetings.

-I used Google Docs to create surveys for each grade level with the questions for the minute meetings (it's easier for me to sort through grade level data this way, however do what works best for you).

Creating a survey in Google Docs

-The survey questions are:
1.) How is your day going?  Very good, Good, Ok, Bad, Very bad
2.) How is your school year going?  Very good, Good, Ok, Bad, Very bad
3.) What do you want to be when you grow up?
4.) Do you know where the counselor's office is? Yes, No
5.) Is there anything you want to talk to the counselor about?

-Once you've completed creating your survey(s) and published it (on Google Docs), open the survey link provided from Google on your iPad (or if you're using your laptop or other tablet device make it a favorite) and add the link to your home screen (it looks like an app!)

Add link to the home screen (iPad) or make a favorite (laptop/computer)

-I created a folder on my home screen for all of my minute meeting surveys for each grade level. I just tap on the grade level that I'm working with and I'm ready to roll.

Create a folder on your iPad with all your min meeting surveys

-Students can answer the questions on the iPad and you don't have to keep up with a bunch of paper. The students LOVE answering the questions on the iPad.  For the younger students, I read the questions but they still tap on the response.  Trust me after a few days of minute mtgs, you will know the questions and answer choices by heart!

Screenshot of survey questions on iPad

Once you've met with all the students you can simply compile the data from your Google Docs.  You can view it in spreadsheet view or by responses view.

Spreadsheet view

Survey response view

I try to incorporate the use of the iPad in my day-to-day counselor activities as much as possible.  Using the iPad for minute meetings was very easy to create and implement.  It almost eliminated the need for paper and saved both mine and the counselor intern's sanity. We are currently doing minute meetings now for the month and will do a 2nd round of meetings in January as a mid-year check in.

Do you use minute meetings in your school?