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Social Media for School Counselors. NACAC Essentials of Professional Development – Detroit October 6, 2016 Holly M. Markiecki-Bennetts Director, College Counseling – U of D Jesuit High School and Academy. Goals and Outcomes for Today. Learn effective ways to communicate via social media
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Social Media for School Counselors NACAC Essentials of Professional Development – Detroit October 6, 2016 Holly M. Markiecki-Bennetts Director, College Counseling – U of D Jesuit High School and Academy
Goals and Outcomes for Today • Learn effective ways to communicate via social media • Develop a social media plan • Explore ethical concerns regarding social media • Explore a variety of social media tools to be used in a school counseling office
Why Use Social Media? • Email is not always an effective means of communication • Quick and easy way to share information • Easily accessible – even on a mobile device • Meet students where they are • Opportunity for teachable moments
Dangers of Social Media • Social media and technology change rapidly so there is a constant need to stay up to date • Reponses to posts can be inappropriate • Blurring the boundary between student/counselor • Liability (consult ethical guidelines) • Access by those not authorized to post • Posting pictures without parental permission
ASCA Ethical Guidelines • The American School Counselor Association provides guidance for practice – Dual Relationships Confidentiality Technology and records
Starting out • When starting a social media plan • See what’s out there that you can adapt other sites/pages for your own use • Realize that even utilizing your sites well, there are still students who “won’t see it” • Make sure your links work • Start small • Social media should reduce stress, not create it
Sites to Consider • Remind.com • Facebook Pages • Twitter
Remind.com • Text messaging program • Students and parents can use email instead if they do not have unlimited texting • Set message to arrive at a later date/time • Cannot respond directly to the text • Easy to set-up • No real social media footprint
Facebook Pages • Pages are the equivalent of an online bulletin board: • Use to share information from other sources, i.e. NACAC, Michigan College Access Network (MCAN), ACT, The College Board , etc.
Facebook tips • Create a professional account and make sure you are posting as your office • Type “Facebook for Educators” into any search engine and you will see many articles for tips • Search Facebook for School Counseling Pages • Pay attention to posts/comments under department posts
Twitter • Easy way to share “retweet” other sources • Better Make Room, MCAN, NACAC, College Admission Offices, Labor Statistics, Job Fairs, etc • Teens don’t always “follow” the account because you won’t follow them back • Helps connect your school to outside resources • More cumbersome to toggle between personal and professional account
Considerations • What do you need? • What are your limits? • Do you have time? • Set boundaries • What site(s) make the most sense? • For your students • For you • For your stakeholders
Advanced use • Ability to link multiple accounts (Facebook, twitter) • Embed in your website • The Hashtag # - this is how topics trend - try searching #NACAC2016 or #MACACinOhio on your social media sites • The @ sign tags a page/person/account • Use when you want to link to another source • At the NACAC Essentials Conference in #Detroit @NACAC
Scopes 4 School Counselors http://scope4scs.com/
Ethical Considerations Consult your district policies regarding social media. Look at your on-line presence – you don’t want to over share with students! Don’t use your personal account for your counseling media – create new accounts f for professional use Social media is another form of communication. Use the ASCA and ACA Ethical Standards to guide your use of Social Media. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/magazine/blogs/may-june-2012/the-brave-new-world-of-social-media
Questions Holly M. Markiecki-Bennetts U of D Jesuit High School and Academy holly.bennetts@uofdjesuit.org https://www.facebook.com/UDJCollegeCounseling https://twitter.com/UDJCollCoun