Welcome
Welcome
to the 2011-2012 school year! My name is Kati Muhleman, and I am the elementary
school counselor. I am very excited to be a part of the Alexander School
District this year! I will be offering individual counseling, small group
counseling, and classroom guidance lessons on topics such as bullying,
character education, social skills, test taking skills, and study skills. I
welcome the opportunity to speak with parents and students so please feel free
to call me with any questions or concerns. I look forward to a wonderful and
successful school year!
Kati Muhleman
Elementary School Counselor
740.698.8831 ext. 1
kmuhleman@alexanderschools.org
Carrie Luce
Elementary Counseling Intern
740.698.8831 ext. 1
cluce@alexanderschools.org
Alexander School Counselors Mission Statement
The Alexander School Counselors will support students in the areas of Academic, Career, and Personal/Social Development so that they may become responsible members of a diverse community.
What does a School Counselor do?
A School Counselor promotes educational success by supporting the development of academic skills, interpersonal skills, and self-understanding. School counselors also educate students in decision making, problem solving, goal setting, self-esteem, and educational opportunities.
Services School Counselors Provide
Individual Counseling
Individual Counseling is personal and private interaction between a counselor and a student in which they work together on problems or topics of interest. School Counselors establish trust and build a helping relationship during one or more sessions. These face to face interactions with a counselor provide a student with the privacy in which to freely explore ideas, feelings and behaviors. Counselors respect the privacy of information, however counselors are under obligation by law and ethical standards to report when a person's well being and welfare is in jeopardy.
Small Group Counseling
Group counseling involves a counselor working with two or more students. Group discussion can be based on structured learning activities during which participants can share ideas, give and receive feedback, increase their awareness, gain new knowledge, learn positive behaviors, and practice skills. These groups provide an opportunity for students to learn from each other.
Classroom Guidance
Classroom Guidance consists of organized objectives and activities that are facilitated by the School Counselor in the classroom. Guidance curriculum gives attention to particular developmental issues and areas of concern voiced by students or in collaboration with teachers.
Test Taking Tips and Strategies
- Think positive thoughts.
- Make a conscious effort to relax your neck, shoulders and upper back.
- Don’t start writing immediately. Look over the entire test to learn the number and kinds of questions.
- Budget your time; allow yourself time after you have finished the test to check your answers.
- Read all the directions twice. Circle key words and be careful not to read more into questions than is actually there.
- Deliberately ignore the pace of classmates and proceed with a steady pace.
- Answer all questions. Intelligently guess the answers to the questions you are unsure of and flag these questions and come back to them to recheck your answers.
- Never change an answer unless it is clearly wrong.
- “Flag” questions you are unsure of and come back to them later.
- Your subconscious will continue to “work” on questions about which you are unsure. Sometimes a question or answer will trigger recall for another answer.
- If you get “stuck”…
¨ Reread the question and break it down into small units.
¨ Search for the “cue” or “clue’ words and define them mentally.
¨ Carefully reread the answer choices (read the stem first and then each answer with it – the stem is the “question” above the answers)
¨ Brainstorm associated concepts and try to recall similar information.
¨ Put the question into your own words for better understanding, being very careful not to change the meaning.
¨ Draw a picture or diagram to really “see” it.
- Check your answers.
¨ Are they readable?
¨ Do your answers, answer the questions asked?
¨ Are they in the correct answer spaces?
¨ Have they been transposed correctly from “workspace”?
¨ Have they been written well (if an essay)?
Spartan Sibs
The Big Brother/Big Sister program, Spartan Sibs, will be starting October 26th, 2011! Students involved in the program will engage in fun and meaningful activities with their "Bigs" from the middle school each Wednesday morning!
