Creating an online counseling experience
                                    By:  Ben Gitler, Michelle Castro, & Mike Manzer

Project at a Glance : 

Developing an online counseling program for virtual learning.
       
Driving Question:

How do we counsel virtually?             

Standards:

• Increase access to students during virtual learning, via email and video chat.

Stakeholders:

• CTC Students & their parents
• Counselors across Ottawa County
• Ottawa County Mental Health
• CTC Counselors & Administrators 

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• Counselors will collaborate with each other and peers in the county (other counselors, social workers, educators, ISD staff, and CMH people).  
• Collaborate with the  tech department to determine the best platform for online communication with students.​

Incubation:

• Meet with Mental Health committee
• Reach out to fellow counselors
• Goal: To offer counseling services to kids during virtual learning. Also, creating something that can put in place immediately in the event of another crisis.​

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Solution Building:

• Generate solution ideas using the Idea Quota protocol.
• Use  Google Meet+, Calendly+, and Google Calendar+Outlook to reach students virtually.
• Create a calendar that allows students to  access counselors during the weekdays.  ​​

•  Given the nature of counseling, and the same applies for most things in education, we need to think out of the box for students who don’t fit the “traditional mold.”  We have  to  offer a variety of ways to communicate because not all of  our students will be able to or feel comfortable using certain platforms.​

Click here for solution video.

Meet the Educators:  

Ben Gitler, Michelle Castro, and Mike Manzer are counselors at the OAISD's Careerline Tech Center.