2013 Pre-Convention Workshops

2013 Pre-Convention Workshops

2013 Florida School Counselor Association Pre-Convention Workshops Note: Pre-convention attendance fees are not included in the convention registration. Each session is $35.

Morning Pre-Convention Sessions October 31, 2013 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

School Counseling and Technology Tips, Tricks, and Shortcuts Don't get caught trying to work with kids in a world that no longer exists, expand your technological literacy. This workshop will get you started. Learn about the most powerful features of various applications including word processing, spreadsheet, multimedia, Web 2.0 apps, Internet, and social networking. Dr. Sabella will share his most coveted tips, tricks, and short cuts to help you become more effective, efficient, and have more fun in your work! Lots of online handouts and time for questions and answers Presenter: Russell A. Sabella, Ph.D., Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Florida Russell A. Sabella, Ph.D. is currently a Professor of Counseling in the College of Education, Florida Gulf Coast University and President of Sabella & Associates, LLC. Russ is author of numerous articles published in journals, magazines, and newsletters. He is co-author of two books entitled Confronting Sexual Harassment: Learning Activities for Teens (Educational Media; 1995) and Counseling in the 21st Century: Using Technology to Improve Practice (American Counseling Association; 2004). He is also author of the popular SchoolCounselor.com: A Friendly and Practical Guide to the World Wide Web (2nd edition; Educational Media; 2003), GuardingKids.com A Practical Guide to Keeping Kids Out of High-Tech Trouble (2008, Educational Media Corporation) and well-known for his Technology Boot Camp for Counselor workshops conducted throughout the country. Dr. Sabella is past President (2003-2004) of the of the American School Counselor Association. Dr. Sabella has trained and consulted with thousands of school counselors, educators, parents, and organizational leaders throughout the country. Visitwww.schoolcounselor.com to learn more.

iCounselor: iPad and iPod Apps for the 21st Century Counseling Program The benefits of using iPads, iPod Touches, and iPhones are apparent for classroom teachers, but you may not realize the contributions they can make to your role as a counselor. There are countless apps with countless uses for the tech-savvy counselor, some of these uses include: keeping yourself organized, communicating with students, tracking data, sharing the results of your counseling program, and always carrying every bit of information you have about each of your students right in your hand. If you have any of these devices available at your school – or in your pocket – you should learn how to get the most out of them! Presenter: Dan Turk did not take the usual path to becoming a professional school counselor. He attended a magnet high school for math, science, and technology before continuing those studies at St. Petersburg College. After obtaining his AA, Turk attended the University of South Florida - St. Petersburg where he graduated with an Interdisciplinary Social Sciences degree with Sociology and Criminology as cognate areas. From there, Turk became a corporate trainer for one of the largest restaurant chains in the United States before deciding to head back to USF for another degree. He was unsure of what to study, other than he wanted a meaningful career where he could help others. Since one of the people who greatly affected his life for the better was his high school counselor, he chose to pursue a degree in Counselor Education with hopes he could help others in the same way his counselor helped him. During his second round at USF, Turk presided over his chapter of Chi Sigma Iota and worked as a graduate assistant responsible for creating and developing a sexual and relationship violence prevention program focused on enlisting men as allies. Turk is now the 7th-grade counselor at Osceola Middle School in Pinellas County, Florida. Having attending Pinellas County schools his entire upbringing, Turk is grateful to be able to give back to the system that gave him the opportunities he needed to be the success he is today.

Afternoon Pre-Convention Sessions October 31, 2013 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Gifted Students: Perspectives for School Counselors There are approximately 3 million (6%) academically gifted students in grades K-12 in the U.S. School based mental health professionals (school psychologists, school counselors, and school social workers) are charged with ensuring safe and healthy learning environments for all students, addressing classroom behavior and discipline issues, promoting students’ academic success, preventing and responding to crisis, supporting students’ social-emotional needs, identifying and responding to serious mental health problems, and supporting and partnering with at-risk families. Unfortunately, many school based mental health professionals are unaware of the unique characteristics of gifted students and even know less about their unique social and emotional needs. Gifted students are served the least often and least well by school based mental health professionals as much of their time is spent addressing the needs of students experiencing challenges with academic functioning. However, most school based mental health professionals lack training as it relates to servicing and identification of gifted children This pre-convention workshop will inform school counselors about all things gifted and will equip them with the tools they need to effectively service gifted students and their families! Workshop participants will learn about the origin of gifted education, the purpose of gifted education, and will become familiar with the current state of gifted education today in the U.S. and specifically in the state of Florida. Additionally, this workshop will ensure school counselors become familiar with the unique personality characteristics of gifted students, issues related to the misdiagnosis of gifted students, understand the concept of the twice-exceptional (2e) gifted student, and become cognizant of the specific social-emotional needs of gifted students. School counselors will learn about the various ways they can provide appropriate and effective prevention and/or intervention services to this population of students in an effort to ensure these students reach their full potential. Workshop participants will also become knowledgeable about the many non-profit organizations that provide a variety of services for gifted students so that they will be able to provide parents and caregivers of these students with appropriate non-school based resources. Presenters: Vidisha Patel, EdDSENG Finance Officer for Sarasota, Florida Vidisha.Patel@sengifted.org (NOTE: SENG is dedicated to fostering environments in which gifted adults and children, in all their diversity, understand and accept themselves and are understood, valued, nurtured, and supported by their families, schools, workplaces and communities.  Please use the links on the left to learn more about SENG’s History and Vision for the future). Dr. Vidisha Patel has a doctorate of Education in Counseling Psychology and practices as a therapist in Sarasota, Florida, where much of her work is with gifted children and their families, with a focus on stress and anxiety. She is licensed to teach stress management techniques. Dr. Patel is active in her local community and regularly speaks at conferences, schools, and parenting groups throughout the community, state and nationally. She has worked as a consultant for Florida State University training primary caregivers on infant mental health. She also works with teen parents in schools. Dr. Patel’s professional affiliations include The World Association of Infant Mental Health, The Zero to Three Society, Sarasota County Medical Society Alliance, and Pine View School Band Association. Dr. Patel holds an MBA from Columbia University and worked in finance on Wall Street and overseas before obtaining her doctorate in psychology. Dr. Patel is the mother of two gifted children. Tiombe Kendrick, SSP, NCSPSENG Secretary Miami, Florida Tiombe.Kendrick@sengifted.org Tiombe-Bisa Kendrick is a nationally certified school psychologist and is licensed to practice school psychology in the state of Florida. She has been employed with the Miami-Dade County Public School District as a school psychologist since 2005. In addition, Ms. Kendrick has a private practice that focuses on assessing and servicing the needs of gifted and talented children. Ms. Kendrick has a very strong passion for addressing the needs of gifted students from culturally and linguistically diverse populations and has been instrumental in significantly increasing the numbers of culturally diverse students participating in the Gifted Program at her schools. In addition, she has many helped parents find services outside the school district to help address the needs of their gifted children. In 2006, Ms. Kendrick was a member of Miami-Dade Public Schools Gifted Task Force Committee and was also awarded the Mary Frasier Scholarship sponsored by the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC). In She currently serves on the NAGC Diversity/Equity Committee and was awarded a grant by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Children Fund Inc to establish a resource center specifically designed for gifted students from culturally and linguistically diverse ackgrounds. Ms. Kendrick completed her undergraduate work at Miami Dade College and Florida State University. Her graduate work was completed at Barry University. Ms. Kendrick has presented at numerous professional conventions on the topic of gifted children.

The Legal and Ethical Complications of Working with Minors in Schools The school environment poses competing interests between a student’s need for confidentiality and the legal rights of parents as established by the U.S. Supreme Court to be the guiding voice in their children lives in value-laden issues. Participants will develop an ethical decision making framework for analyzing and resolving ethical issues through the application of ASCA ethical codes, case and statutory law, school board rules, and community standards. Through small group and large group discussion of 40 case studies, participants will be given the opportunity to increase their understanding of the complexities of respecting a minor’s right to confidentiality, to develop a sensitivity to the need to consider their actions in context of each situation for each individual student, and to understand the rights of parents. Topics of discussion will include areas such as confidentiality and duty to warn, minors’ rights to privacy, counselors’ responsibilities toward suicidal children, civil and criminal liability, sexually active minor clients, birth control, abortion counseling, defamation, child abuse, HIV positive students, case notes and educational records, malpractice in academic advising, sexual harassment, the Hatch Amendment and guidance curriculum, and personal conduct. Presenter: Dr. Carolyn Stone, University of North Florida Carolyn Stone is a Professor of Counselor Educator at the University of North Florida where she teaches and researches in the area of legal and ethical issues for school counselors and school counselors impacting the opportunity, information and achievement gaps. Prior to becoming a counselor educator in 1995, Carolyn spent 22 years with the Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, Florida where she served as a middle school teacher, elementary and high school counselor and Supervisor of Guidance for 225 counselors. Carolyn was the 2006 President of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) and is in her ninth year as their Ethics Chair. Dr. Stone has written the only book exclusively for school counselors on the subject. She was awarded the Mary Gerke Lifetime Achievement Award by ASCA in 2010 primarily for her work in the legal and ethical arena. In 2012 she was awarded the Bob Myrick Lifetime Achievement Award by the Florida School Counselor Association. Carolyn is a past President of the Florida Counseling Association and the Florida Association of Counselor Educators and Supervisors. Carolyn has delivered over 500 workshops in 49 states and 22 countries. She has authored six books, dozens of journal articles and serves the courts as an expert witness in cases involving school counselors. Her professional path in elementary and high school counseling, middle school teaching, Supervisor of Guidance for the nation’s seventeenth largest school district, and counselor educator has prepared her with first hand experience and understanding of the professional world of school counselors.

The Power of Stories, We Each Have One While students are not solely the products of their cultures and they vary in the degree to which they identify with them, school counselors must become knowledgeable about their students’ distinctive cultural backgrounds so they can translate that knowledge into effective counseling programs and services. Furthermore, there is a cultural gap in many of the nation’s schools as a growing number of educators struggle to better serve students from cultures other than their own. This concern is in response to dramatic demographic changes that have created culturally diverse schools in many areas of the U.S (Gay 2000). The purpose of this session will be for participants to revisit multiculturalism, understand the intersection between the value of school counseling and cultural competency, understand the importance of connecting with students and families, and learn how we can advocate for cultural sensitivity and high academic expectations on behalf of our students. Case conceptualizations will be used to make connections between theory and every day practices. Presenter: Sejal B. Parikh, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, School Counseling,  University of North Carolina, Charlotte Dr. Sejal B. Parikh is an Assistant Professor of Counselor Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As a former school counselor in both urban elementary and suburban high school settings, Dr. Parikh developed a passion for multicultural counseling with a special focus in social justice and advocacy. Determined to make a difference in the profession, in 2008, she earned her Ph.D. in Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her dissertation, which focused on social justice advocacy in school counseling, earned her the 2008-2009 Graduate Dean’s Distinguished Dissertation Award. In addition to teaching and research, Dr. Parikh has conducted numerous trainings around multiculturalism and diversity. She has presented to Fortune 500 companies such as Prudential Financial and CSX. Dr. Parikh has also presented various workshops and sessions at the district, state, regional, and national levels over the past decade.