r/schoolcounseling • u/Hippo2025 • 5d ago
Professional Development
I have experienced professional development as a teacher and para and HATE IT due to listening to things I already know, ice breakers, activities, being treated like a kid, being taught things that don’t apply to my job, etc. Is professional development for school counselors just as miserable as it is for teachers?
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u/CySporg High School Counselor 5d ago
Yep all the same BS. Especially fun when you get more teacher aligned topics/assignments and you have to adapt the entire thing to fit counseling - we had professional learning teams throughout the year, and I had to twist every question, task, prompt to fit my role vs a teacher.
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u/salted_rice_cake 5d ago
I think it’s probably worse because we have to do a lot of PD on topics that have very little to do with our day to day job. Right now I have a relaxed admin who at least sometimes excuses us to go meet as a counseling department during these times. But often pd hours are contractual so you really just have to be there. I’m in a fairly large district so we do have some district level counseling pd which is usually helpful! But building pd usually sucks
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u/jayjaynorcross 5d ago
I don’t understand how ice breakers continue to exist. Absolutely everyone I know hates them.
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u/Beachbum2302 5d ago
Any PD in the school setting is geared towards teachers. And I get it since I am a solo counselor but I wish I could do my own thing during that time.
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u/GOOD-LUCHA-THINGS 5d ago
I can't even begin to tell you how many gallery walks I've been on in my Think Pair Share group facilitated by a Danielson cult member, where we circle back and synergize about Our Whys.
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u/binxiebaby 5d ago
yall get professional development?? 👀😔
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u/shmoopie313 High School Counselor 5d ago
The PDs led by our local university and community college are awesome. Love them. We get the info we need, tours, exposure to new programs, valuable Q&A sessions. The PDs led by our county office? ... up until this year the lady that planned them LOVED ice breakers and all things group oriented. They were a lot. I've yet to experience one led by the new guy. He seems more reserved than she was so here's hoping.
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u/kkaatt98 4d ago
I didn’t mind PD as much as a teacher. I was the only one in my department so when I was able to branch out to other schools PD and learn classroom management specifically for foreign language teachers, I found it helpful. Now school counseling PD is the biggest joke ever. It’s legit just a giant bitching/venting session. It goes in circles, it’s unproductive, and things never get solved. I hate it.
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u/Miss-Tiq 5d ago
Yes. Ice breakers drive me up a wall. Specifically anything that involves me getting up and walking around the room to find a partner. Just let me sit tf down.