Training.

so today I missed school, but for a good reason! Instead of doing normal paperwork like always, there was a training today for the counselors at a charter school in Manchester Square so I decided to accompany my mentor aka my mother. The training wasnt focused on improving interaction with the client, but it was more of a chance for the counselors to debrief their experiences and give feedback. When I first got there, they were separated into groups and were told to answer a certain number  of  questions relating to their job and the company and to not be scared  to open up and be as honest as possible.  I was grouped with a mental health counselor, a parent counselor, a bed side counselor who offered services to teens who had been terribly injured in a gang related accident,  and  a counselor who dealt with teens who were heavily involved in gangs.  The stories these people told me were unbelievable and crazy but really gave me good insight on what they have to endure every single day.
It was a good experience.
                                             

Blog 12: Third Interview Questions

Content:

Post 10 open-ended questions for approval you want to ask an expert in the field of your senior project.  The first question should be your essential question and the other nine must be about the foundation of your essential question or help you answer your essential question.

1. How can a drug rehab counselor best help a teen with a history of substance abuse?

2.  What are the most common drugs that teens abuse?

3. From your experience, what are some factors that cause a teen to become addicted to drugs?

4. How likely are teens to relapse during rehab treatment?

5. What causes teens to relapse during treatment?

6. What is the best way to prevent a teen from relapsing during rehab treatment? 

7. Are there different types of therapies that work better depending on the substance that is being abused?

8. What therapies are currently being used and how successful are they?

9. How long must a teen stay in rehab in order to fully recover?

10. Why is it important to help a teen with a history of substance abuse?

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours

Content:

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
SEA Charter School in Pomona.

2.   Who is your contact?
Isabel Godoy.

3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?   
I've done 13 hours as of today.

4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.
On my first day there I got a tour of the entire school and office. After that, most of my hours came directly from working in the office. The counselors have time sheets and progress sheets about the clients that they have to fill out and submit every month, so I usually just help my mentor fill out those. When I'm there there's always a handful of employees and they are constantly telling me stories about their clients (without revealing names of course) or crazy things they've encountered (one almost got caught in a drive by in South Central when going to visit a client.) They keep it entertaining.

5.   Email your house teacher the name of your contact and their phone number confirming who they should call to verify it.  
Okay.

Senior Project, The Holiday

Content:

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you over the break with your senior project?
I can honestly say that I did absolutely nothing related to the senior project. All the teens were on break, as well as the counselors. 


2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did and why?  What was the source of what you learned?
The most important thing I learned is that I probably should have worked on it during the break because now I'm going to have to cram all my remaining hours into a few days before the hour check.

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers of your EQ, who would you talk to and why?
I would interview a counselor that comes directly from a Treatment Center due to their experience and knowledge of what it takes to actually help someone recover from an addiction. I've been looking up centers and actually found this one by googling "best treatment centers in the OC"

This treatment center is designed specifically for teens and I think it would be a great help, and also more reliable than treatment centers in Pomona, as I have mentioned my frustration earlier. My dad lives in Fullerton so getting there would not be any trouble. Hopefully I'll be able to get an interview.

Mentorshipppppp

I've been lagggggging on my Mentorship hours. I've completed maybe four hours, and I know the mentorship check is sometime in January so that's my new years resolution lol. The picture above is of my current mentorship location. The church is actually one of SEA's Charter Schools, and the main office is located in the back. Thats where I go and do my hours, which is honestly mostly office work. Since I've changed my essential question, I'm currently looking for a new mentorship opportunity that's focused specifically on substance abuse. I guess I'll just see how it goes.

Still got time....hopefully

So I finally started my independent component hours even though there's only like two months left. Better late than never though right? I started doing my hours at the SEA office in Pomona. It's located right next to a church on San Antonio st., which is also the charter school. I think I'll post a picture soon. Anyways, I got to meet a couple of my mentor's employees and they all seem really friendly and knowledgeable, hopefully I can use one of them for my interviews.  My independent component is starting out rough but I think the longer I keep going, the better it'll be.

Blog 9: EQ

Content

1. Review this. Confirm by stating "I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ."

Essential Question

Once a topic is chosen, the student will develop a working essential question. The purpose of the working essential question is to help the student build a strong foundation of research which will allow him or her to create an essential question that encourages depth and rigor in the chosen topic. An essential question must:

Provide a framework for studies (It calls for breadth and depth of research, Is not a yes/no question) Takes a stance (Allows you to argue some point, Cannot be a recitation of facts or a list)

Format (It is specific, The wording makes sense)

-I reviewed the rule of three for writing an EQ.

2. Review the following EQs and Tell us if it meets the rule of 3 criteria. Tell why it does or why it doesn't

a. What is the most important factor in healthy weight loss?

Yes, it meets the rule of 3 criteria because it allows for further research, allows different answers, and is clear and concise.

b. What is most important to securing a conviction in a criminal investigation?

I think it meets most of the criteria, but I think it should be worded a little bit different because the EQ itself can be a bit misleading as to what the actual topic is. (ex. is he a judge, lawyer, prosecuter, etc.)

c. What is most important in creating a hairstyle that best satisfies a customer?

I think it's a good start but I don't think it meets the criteria because the answer to the EQ is pretty obvious and doesn't call for a lot of additional research.

d. How can an Anesthesiologist best treat chronic pain?

I think the EQ is a little too specific to the point where the student may have trouble finding more than one answer.

3. Based on your review of the rule of 3 and your experience with assessing four EQs, please write another draft EQ for your senior project. How can counselors best help troubled teens?