School Counselor Survival Guide

What to do on Day 1 of Work

Settling in

After completing your necessary paperwork, getting your surplus of keys, and checking into the school building; the moment you are given full access to officially settle into your new school, there are some steps you should consider that first day. 

This period of time is known as your “welcome back week,” “prep/plan month,” “professional development and training sessions,” etc. School Counselors usually come back to work with other administrators. In my case, my current school documents me as an administrator with a specification as a School Counselor. Essentially, during this time frame you are to decorate your room, explore your school and talk with the first round of staff members you meet to comfortably settle into your new place before the students enter the building. So, day one means your first day on the job when the students aren't there. 

That’s where this guide comes into play. During this time, it is essential you check through some or all of the following items in the list below (if applicable) to ensure your first day is the catalyst for an amazing school year.

(In no particular order)

Get to Know Your School Building

Traditional In-Person:

Tour the school:

All the grade levels you’ll be counseling have their own section(s) in your school building. Get to know it thoroughly on day one. 

• The counseling department

• Walk the hallways

• Visit classrooms and offices

• Take a look in the teacher’s lounge

• Visit the gymnasium, locker rooms, weightroom, pool area

• Look through the art, music and theater departments 

• Visit the computer room(s), library, additional elective spaces

• Go outside and walk around the playgrounds and recess areas

• Locate the sports fields and walk around those, too

• Go to each school building and school trailers if present

Walk through each nook and cranny of your school, explore it.

Truly get to know where you will work for the next one, two, five, or even 10 years!

Virtual/Digital:

If possible, tour the headquarters of your school.

• The office building, suite, or floor.

If your school has a physical school building, take a drive there and go through each area as listed above.

Additionally, find pictures online through your school’s website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Search YouTube for possible videos of your school as well.

Get to Know Your Office or Classroom

Traditional/In-Person:

Your new “home” away from home. 

If you can, take pictures or videos of your office space, that would be great! 

Look through the following:

• Cabinets, bins, folders, and storage (beware)

• Find any leftover posters, wall art, and other room decor.

• Are there other resources such as books, magazines, binders, papers, and trinkets?

• Take a look at the chairs, desk(s), rugs, lights, walls, and plugs. 

These actions will help guide you to know what to buy (or what else to buy) for your new office.

Virtual/Digital:

In getting this job, months or weeks (perhaps days) leading up to school starting, you were told how the school will operate.

On your first day, simply look through the necessary online resources you will be using, creating, or fixing. 

• Working in, or on your virtual office will be on your first week agenda, not day one. 

• But if you’ve had access to the office prior to officially starting your school year, you can choose day one to begin tackling your virtual office.

• For getting an idea of what you will work on, you can get inspiration from the former counselor, current counseling colleagues, current teachers and assistants, and social media groups.

• Again, this is the first day, so you will just be seeing the online classroom headquarters pre-designed for you or at least be given information on where to start.

Get to Know Your Colleagues

Traditional/In-Person:

On your first day settling in, greet everyone you see.

• Meetings with other staff, in the parking lot of your school building, walking the hallways - whenever you see another human, greet them with a pleasant smile.

Two main reasons why this action should start and continue from day one:

• A conversation may strike up or they may not even regard you; either way, start and continue this practice in your school. Especially as a School Counselor, I believe teaching students to show respect, kindness, and responsibility with other people are actions that we should reflect as well.  

• I go more into depth with this reason why saying “hello” is essential in “New School Counselor Survival Guide - What to do During the First Week of Work," but essentially, this action of greeting other people you see, regardless of job title, builds the foundation of your reputation at work.

Virtual/Digital:

You may most likely be a part of an already established school counseling team that is divided by grade level or alphabetical order of students’ last names. 

Your school principal or admin may pair you up with a buddy counselor or teacher to acclimate you into their school’s online system.

• Either of the two or other arrangements, is a great start because in addition to your principal, you also know at least one other person!

Continually, you may have to watch training videos or attend virtual training sessions on day one  to get introductory knowledge on a variety of programs, online resources, or websites.

• Use these activities listed above to get in your first round of meet and greets with other new school staff members or at least the IT team of your school.

Ask your first meet and greet folks to connect you to the grade level(s) teams you will be working with or other school staff such as elective teachers, coaches, interventionists, and the school psychologist.

For Your Consideration

Traditional/In-Person:

• Bulletin boards:

• Do you have a bulletin board inside your room? Are you in charge of a bulletin board in a nearby hallway? Ask questions to find out yes or no so you can then plan your decorations.

Traditional/In-person & Virtual/Digital

• Is your Principal or Assistant Principal available?

• Gather more information on their expectations of the school, staff, and students as a whole.

• Identify the direction they want the school to go in order for you to do your part effectively.  

• Additionally, you can obtain information on what the previous school counselor did that worked and didn’t work as well as school practices and procedures.

Traditional/In-person & Virtual/Digital

• Are other staff members available?

• Ask them for an unbiased summary of students as a collective, grade level, performance in subjects, and individuals.

• If you are not from the area, ask them about what goes on around the school. The good, bad, and not so pretty.

• Find and read through your school’s most up-to-date handbook. 

• Find the previous year’s yearbook to flip through.

Review

This first day of work will be your first day officially as a Professional School Counselor even when there are no students.

Take advantage of your working hours on this day.

After reading this guide, you now know the who, what, where, when, why, and hows of your school building, office and/or classroom, and colleagues. 

First day of work - check.