School for School Counselors Podcast

Mastering Caseloads in School Counseling

• School for School Counselors • Episode 134

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In this episode of the School for School Counselors podcast, host Steph Johnson discusses managing school counseling caseloads efficiently. Using an iconic conveyer belt tv scene as an analogy, she highlights the overwhelmed feeling counselors often experience and the need to triage student needs effectively. 

Johnson shares her method for tracking her student interactions, stressing the importance of developing sustainable habits. She references James Clear's "Atomic Habits" to emphasize the significance of cues, cravings, responses, and rewards in creating lasting habits. 

Additionally, she touches on upcoming events like the listener feature opportunity and the upcoming 'Your Super Power Driven Program' masterclass on February 9th. 

Join her in improving your counseling practice and ensuring no student falls through the cracks.

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Overview

01:03 The Candy Factory Analogy

02:54 Challenges of Managing Caseloads

04:16 Strategies for Tracking Caseloads

14:05 Developing Effective Habits

22:22 Upcoming Events and Opportunities


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Our goal at School for School Counselors is to help school counselors stay on fire, make huge impacts for students, and catalyze change for our roles through grassroots advocacy and collaboration. Listen to get to know more about us and our mission, feel empowered and inspired, and set yourself up for success in the wonderful world of school counseling.

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Speaker 1:

How many pieces of candy do you wrap in a day? This is actually a school counseling podcast. Yes, and I know that seems like a strange question to ask, but I promise you it's all going to make sense in a minute and you're going to find out why I almost didn't record this podcast episode at all. Hey, I'm so glad that you're back here with me at the School for School Counselors podcast. I'm Steph Johnson, your host, a full-time school counselor just like you, on a mission to make school counseling more sustainable and more enjoyable. I want you to look forward to walking through those doors each and every day without hesitation, full of confidence, knowing that you have what it takes to make an impact on campus. This podcast is a work of heart, for sure, and I'm so flattered and so humbled that you're here with me for this episode.

Speaker 1:

Now back to the candy. What a strange way to introduce a podcast episode for school counseling. Once I say these three words, though, I think it will all start to make sense, especially if you are close to my age and you're old enough to remember this. Are you ready? I love Lucy. Do you remember now? I bet it has sprung into your mind. If you have any frame of reference whatsoever of the show I Love Lucy, and even if you've never seen it, you've likely seen a clip of the scene where two friends, lucy and Ethel, decide to go get a job working in a candy factory, and they are really determined to prove themselves and that they can do a great job in the factory. But the more they seem to be able to handle the workload picking the candies up off the conveyor belt, wrapping them in paper and then setting them back down to move on the faster and faster the conveyor belt starts to go and by the end of it they're doing anything that they can to keep up with the pace, including stuffing candies in their hats to hide the evidence, stuffing them down their shirts and even in their mouths, looking like chipmunks by the end of the whole debacle, just trying to stay afloat in their job.

Speaker 1:

No doubt you've had days where you've felt exactly like that as a school counselor, am I right? I have too. That's how I know. We have times of year where it feels like things just start going faster and faster and faster, don't we? And often we do wonder if we can keep up with the pace, and a common concern that I've seen from school counselors over the years, not only on social media but in my own School.

Speaker 1:

For School Counselors mastermind is a concern about keeping up with student needs, being able to keep up with lists of students that need to be seen and making sure that no one falls through the cracks, no one gets forgotten, and that we stay right on top of everything that needs to be done. On the surface, it seems like that should be pretty easy, right, we just write it down and cross it off as we get to it. But we know in our work and in the pace that we have to sustain day after day, that is much easier said than done. So I thought we might do a little bit simpler topic as I walk through how I manage my caseload list on my campus. Not because I think it's necessarily the way that you need to do it, but because I hope to spark some ideas in your own mind about how you can handle your caseload lists at your school. And then, after I tell you about how I manage my caseload list, I'm going to tell you why. Maybe that doesn't matter at all. Are you ready? All right, let's get started.

Speaker 1:

So, typically when we talk about caseload lists and I will tell you, we've had many conversations about this in our School for School Counselors Mastermind over the years, because we strive each and every week to help our school counselor members excel and reach their full potential on their campuses, and this topic comes up pretty often. Typically, what we hear is a variation of one of these scenarios. Typically, what we hear is a variation of one of these scenarios. Either a school counselor is struggling to track their student movement through their Google or Outlook calendars right, they're relying on calendar entries or meeting slots to jog their memories about who they've seen. That's option one. To jog their memories about who they've seen, that's option one. Option two is they're using some sort of online system like a Trello board or an Asana board or something like that, and they're moving student names on little cards all around. I think there are some confidentiality concerns with that approach, so if you haven't tried it yet, I wouldn't recommend it. Or the third option are school counselors who are effectively tracking their use of time day to day, and so they go back in their use of time logs. They can recreate who they've seen over the past week or two weeks and that's how they determine who's on their caseload list.

Speaker 1:

Now, again, that seems pretty simple, but the challenge really comes in two things. First, finding the time to do that. So many of you feel like you are running a thousand miles an hour. You don't even have a second to stop and catch your breath, and so the idea of having to go back and backtrack who you've seen, who you need to see again, why you need to see them, feels overwhelming, doesn't it? I know, I've been there. I understand what that is. But the second piece of that challenge comes in not only determining what those students need going forward, but triaging what those needs are as other things start popping up. If you have a list of 10 or 15 students that you need to get to in a week, and all of a sudden you have a major situation that you can't leave, you might not be able to get to those 10 or 15 students, and so if they're not prioritized, if they're not triaged in some way, you're going to constantly feel like you're behind the eight ball, even when you're doing everything you can to stay afloat. It feels frustrating. It feels like one of those mountains you're never going to be able to climb. But the good news is I think you can master it.

Speaker 1:

Let me tell you quickly how I manage my caseload, again, not because I think this is the best way or the way that you should do it, but hopefully it will give you some ideas for your own school counseling practice going forward. Now you know, if you've listened to the podcast for any amount of time, how dedicated and devoted I am to recording my use of time in my school counseling program. I, without fail, record my time each and every day because I want to know where are my efforts going, are they having the intended impacts? And just by going back and seeing what I've done, how much time I've spent on things, and then pulling a few basic data points on my campus, I'm able to see if I'm achieving the kind of impacts we need. So I'm always going to start in my use of time log. If, theoretically, I had any sort of student notes that do not exist somewhere, I might be relying on that as well.

Speaker 1:

All right, and as I'm looking at my information, I'm going to be looking at the students that I visited with, usually within the past three weeks. I try not to let anybody go any longer than that, and usually my preference is a week or two, but occasionally we have some situations where I've got to go back as far as three weeks and that's okay, particularly if it's a relatively benign issue, sort of minor. The student is not exceptionally distressed or concerned about it, but they'd like a check-in or a word of encouragement every now and again. They may be a three-week kiddo for me, but anyhow, I'm gonna go back and pull all of those names and I always start with just a basic list Student name, one or two words reminding me of what the situation is and maybe a couple more words about what I expect to do with them the next time. Short, sweet and easy. That probably takes me a grand total of three minutes to produce.

Speaker 1:

After I have that preliminary list down, I'm going to go back and revisit it. Sometimes I will write the last date that I've seen the student, particularly if it's been more than a minute, and I'm going to walk through that list and I'm going to triage the concerns. Now I would love to say that I'm able to get to everybody exactly when I want to get to them. But if I did say that, you would know that I was lying right, because being in this line of work, just like you and I'll tell you. I have a student caseload of over 600 students with just me by myself. I get it.

Speaker 1:

Stuff comes up. We get curveballs coming in from left field that we never imagined, and one of the best things about school counseling is that we never know what the day is going to hold, and one of the worst things about school counseling is that we never know what the day is going to hold, and one of the worst things about school counseling is that we never know what the day is going to hold. Right, it's just really, really hard to predict what happens moment to moment, but that's okay. If we can frame that in our minds the right way, we're going to work that to our advantage. So as I'm looking at this list, I'm triaging concerns who is an absolute, cannot pass them up kid? Who are the ones that absolutely 100% need some time? Those would be my tier three kids.

Speaker 1:

Then I might look toward my tier two kids and I conceptualize them as one of the former principals that I used to work for. She was so smart and she said you know, I understand tier one, tier two, tier three, but I really feel like tier two could be divided into two sections, and I agree with her. I don't think that kids are necessarily just a two or a three. Sometimes they're kind of hovering in the middle between two and three. So I say all that to explain I'm going to be looking at my tier two B students, next the ones who are not my tier three status. They're not my high flyers, but they're looking like they're leaning that direction. So I want to make sure I'm doing everything that I can do to prevent them from moving up the pyramid. Then I'm going to look at my tier two kiddos and then I'm going to look.

Speaker 1:

Now, that doesn't mean that my tier one and my tier two are just afterthoughts or that I only fit them in if I have the time. But this listing in this way helps me conceptualize where the most urgent needs are on my campus. And then, as I come across pockets of time, if I just have a few minutes, say in the cafeteria with students, I can focus on one of my tier one or tier two kids. If I have a block of more intentional time, I may be looking towards some of my two B's or threes. Does that make sense? And once you really start working with your process, you'll find that it doesn't take nearly as long as you felt it was going to and it's not nearly as intimidating as it feels at first. I can create that list with triage, with all of the notes and everything supporting it, in about five minutes a week. It doesn't take long and the great thing is we're making sure that those students are not falling through the cracks, that we're not forgetting anybody, that those students are not falling through the cracks, that we're not forgetting anybody.

Speaker 1:

I remember as a beginner counselor, sometimes I would have students find me in the hallway and they would say hey, mrs Johnson, I haven't seen you in a while. When are you going to come get me again? And I would think back to when I saw them last and go. Oh my goodness, it has been way too long. I completely missed that one. I forgot all about them and I felt horrible. I did not like that feeling. But at the same time I was on a high needs, high ratio campus and I was doing the best I could right. So, with limited time and resources, I had to start figuring out the best way to triage and plan my efforts on campus so that I could quit getting asked when are you going to pull me again. You haven't seen me since last month Because I did not like that at all. As I worked with school counselor interns in my office, training them up to start school counseling programs on campuses of their own and working with my mastermind members, I really kind of refined this practice and got it down where I want it to be.

Speaker 1:

But, as I said earlier, this isn't the whole story and I'm not sharing my process with you because it's groundbreaking right? It certainly is not. It's very simple and very unexciting, and I don't especially expect you to implement it just like I have. You may have other tools at your disposal or you may have other ways that your brain assimilates that information. That's okay.

Speaker 1:

Here's the real point of this episode. It's not about how you track the student caseload. The important part is developing the habit to sustain it. Now, as I'm releasing this episode, we're coming around the bend into February, which means you might have had a New Year's resolution or two that you set for yourself at the beginning of January. Think back what did you promise yourself you were going to be better at in 2025? And then not to be a pessimist, but just being real many of our resolutions have probably already slipped by the wayside. Right, we've lost the motivation. We never developed the habit to sustain the resolution. Whatever the case may have been, most people's New Year's resolutions have fallen completely flat by this time of year. And it's going to be the same with tracking your student caseload or tracking your use of time data or whatever similar initiative you might have in mind, because the importance isn't the act itself, it's developing the habit to see it through.

Speaker 1:

If you know me, if you've worked with me, you know that one of my most favorite books on the planet is James Clear's Atomic Habits. I think that's a book that everyone should read, especially school counselors, because it just gives so many great insights into how we develop habits and how we can really cultivate those habits for our own personal growth. And in Atomic Habits, james Clear talks about cue, craving, response and reward. Those are the four components that we need to have in place to sustain an effective habit loop. So how do we do that with something as simple as tracking student caseloads something as simple as tracking student caseloads. Let's walk through it really quickly.

Speaker 1:

First is the cue there has to be something to remind you to actually do it. How many times have you had the best of intentions, but you didn't have a reminder to bring you back into that new behavior and you forgot all about it. And then, maybe a few days or a few weeks later, you looked back and went oh man, I really meant to do that. It's frustrating, right. As I'm recording this episode in a Sunday evening, I just cleaned out my refrigerator from last week and I can attest to the fact that I did not cue myself to use up all the groceries that it ordered. Last week I had to throw some things away and it hurt my heart because I had the best of intentions to cook certain things or to take things to lunch with me that were better, healthier options, but it slipped by the wayside because I didn't effectively cue myself. So what can you do to cue yourself to track your student caseload?

Speaker 1:

A couple of options that come to mind you could set a calendar invite for yourself so that it pops up the same time every week. This is what I have set up for myself in my own online calendar at work. As a matter of fact, I have several of these. I have some to cue me to do certain tasks in my school counseling office. I have work that I have to do with regard to report cards believe it or not and so I have some reminders to do that. I have some reminders for handing out weekend food assistance. I have some reminders to track my use of time at the end of the week to make sure that's all wrapped up and ready to go, and right underneath that one is a reminder to set up my caseload list for the next week. It's very visible, it's on my calendar. I check that calendar, I swear, 2,000 times a day, because there are always things coming and going on, that different invites coming in, and I want to make sure that I don't miss anything. So that's one option.

Speaker 1:

Another option might be setting an alarm of some sort, whether that's a calendar alarm, a phone alarm, something on your smartwatch, just to give you a little reminder of, hey, it's time to get this done. Or perhaps you're into visual cues. Maybe you want to put a sticky note on your desktop monitor, maybe you need to put a note on the wall, or put something by the doorknob before you leave at the end of the week. Whatever helps you create that cue so that you don't forget to initiate the behavior Once the cue goes off. You need a craving. You need a reason to do the behavior right, because doing it just to check off a box, or doing it because you just think you're supposed to, or that everybody wants you to, probably isn't going to get you very far. We are experts in human nature and we know that if people don't have a reason to do things, that they don't feel compelled in some way to find a resolution to a concern or to engage in a particular behavior, they're not going to do it. And we are no different. We need a reason to be doing this.

Speaker 1:

What would be your reason for effectively tracking your caseload? Is it like mine, where you don't like students having to ask you when you're going to return for them, because that's a terrible feeling? Or is it something else? Is it wanting to get better insight into what things are presenting in your school counseling office? Insight into what things are presenting in your school counseling office? Is it so you can feel less discombobulated in your week and feel like you have a plan that's a little more effective? Whatever your reason might be, that's your craving.

Speaker 1:

So we have the cue to remind us to do it. We have the craving as our reason. Why? Then? We have our response. Our response is just doing the dang thing. So we need to make sure that we have the things that we need to be able to create this list. Are we going to sit down and type it out somewhere? I prefer paper, but I'm old school. But how are you going to do this? Are you going to have a certain place you're going to write this down? Do you have a certain place you're going to leave it so you don't lose it? Consider those things. So we've cued ourselves. We've had the craving for the why we're doing it, the response of tracking the caseload in an appropriate way.

Speaker 1:

And last is the reward. And a reward doesn't have to be a tangible, it doesn't have to be a self-care, me time kind of thing. It could be something as simple as leaving at the end of the day on Friday and knowing that you're ready to start running when the week starts next week, that you're not going to have to scramble and backtrack trying to figure out what needs to be addressed once you start your morning, that you know exactly what you need to be looking toward. It sounds silly, but that is such a powerful feeling, especially as you're walking in Monday morning and you have no idea what's in store for you. It's going to help give you a little bit more of a sense of control and feel like you are on top of your work, instead of your work just beating you down. So cue, craving, response and reward. If you can do that, I think you are going to feel so much better about juggling the students that come to see you in your school counseling office. So avoid the conveyor belt of overwhelm. Avoid trying to take those student names and concerns and stuff them away out of sight, hoping nobody notices that you haven't gotten to them yet, just like Lucy and Ethel trying to hide those candies. And get on top of your business. Make a concerted effort to stay on top of that caseload list and I promise you it is going to feel so good when you get it going.

Speaker 1:

Hey, as we're releasing this episode, we are coming into February, as I mentioned earlier, and National School Counseling Week, and there are only a few days left. If you want to be featured on the next episode of the School for School Counselors podcast, this is your chance and it is going to be so easy to do this. All you need to do is visit our podcast page. You can find it at podcastschoolforschoolcounselorscom and we'll have that link for you in the show notes. You can just go, click it, easy peasy. But once you get there, there's going to be a little peach microphone icon in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. Click that microphone and it's going to take you directly to a page that's going to allow you to record a quick voicemail that goes straight to my inbox.

Speaker 1:

Hey, that doesn't need to be fancy. You don't need to worry about how that goes down. All you need to worry about is speaking from the heart and answering this question what do you love most about school counseling? Most about school counseling? I have gotten several amazing submissions already, but I can't help feeling like there's a little something missing, and I really think the something that's missing is you. It's your ideas and your heart, and I would love to hear your thoughts about this amazing career that we call school counseling Podcastschoolforschoolcounselorscom. I cannot wait to hear from you and to feature you on the next podcast episode.

Speaker 1:

Last I want to tell you, because it's coming up here in just a week or so you've heard me mention my School for School Counselors Mastermind several times and we have a new masterclass headed your direction February 9th. That has been requested by our members for months and this is the first opportunity we've had to do it and we are all so stinking excited about it. It's called your Superpower Driven Program, and when I announced that I was finally going to teach this class, one of our members said, and I quote by far in all caps the most life-changing conversation in the Get the Job program was identifying my superpowers program was identifying my superpowers. This is the next step, can't wait.

Speaker 1:

You might be thinking as you hear that, hey, what's the big deal? Number one that sounds a little frou-frou to me. Number two I already know what I'm good at. I don't need to go to a class to tell me what I'm good at in school counseling. I got it. But I'm going to challenge that assumption a little bit and I'm going to tell you that one of the things that I love most on this planet is helping school counselors identify the uniqueness, the awesomeness that they bring to their school counseling programs in ways they were never able to see it before. I promise you, if you join us for this, it is going to change the way that you see your career, but also yourself, forever. I guarantee it and I would love for you to join us in the School for School Counselors Mastermind for that masterclass February 9th.

Speaker 1:

If you've been on the fence about joining the mastermind, here's your sign. It is time you do not want to miss this masterclass. Head to schoolforschoolcounselorscom slash mastermind for the details on our mastermind program and there will be a button there to get you all signed up. All right, my friend, I hope our conversation this week on tracking your caseload was helpful. Again, I know it wasn't groundbreaking there's no new revolutionary technique but I do think it's important to really examine not only how we're tracking our caseloads but the habits that we're intentionally putting into place to ensure our success. Because if we can do that and really be dedicated to the process, you are going to benefit, because you're going to feel less stressed, less frazzled and stretched a little less thin. But, more importantly, your students are going to benefit and, at the end of the day, that's what this is all about. I'll be back soon with another episode of the School for School Counselors podcast. In the meantime, I hope you have the absolute best week. I can't wait to talk to you again. Take care.