Counseling Workshops

 

SESSION 1

Melissa Berg
School: Seoul International School
Target Audience: K-12
Title: Ed Kids: Helping Your Child Succeed Where You Teach
Description: The children of educators in international schools face a unique set of challenges both in and out of school. Ed kids not only deal with issues that most TCKS face but grapple with an additional layer of managing the dual-roles of their parents and the other adults. This workshop will cover strategies to better support an Ed kid and work more effectively with them. This workshop is intended both for teachers who are parents and those who are not.
Biography: Melissa Berg is the middle school counselor at Seoul International School. She is from Minneapolis (Minnesota, USA) where she worked at Spanish Immersion Elementary School. Ms. Berg especially enjoys working with young students in the areas of talent development and team building as she believes that these skills will best equip children and teenagers to be happy, passionate and successful students.

Maja Kelly
School: Shanghai Community International School
Target Audience: MS,HS
Title: Understanding and Responding to Students Who Self-Harm
Description: The workshop will provide a comprehensive overview of nonsuicidal self injury in adolescents, including empirical findings and trends, and evidence-based intervention strategies. Issues of confidentiality, social contagion and cultural sensitivity will be addressed, and a protocol for working with students who self harm will be shared. Workshop participants will receive a workbook with ready-to-use worksheets and activities.
Biography: Maja Kelly is a counselor, psychotherapist and psychologist who has worked in international education for nearly ten years. She holds two master’s degrees – one in experimental psychology and one in child and adolescent development psychology, and has an extensive background in postmodern approaches to psychotherapy and counseling, namely constructivist and narrative psychotherapy.

Scott Lassey
School: Shanghai American School – Pudong Campus
Target Audience: HS counselors
Title: High School Counseling - How to create and implement a comprehensive Peer Counseling program.
Description: Being a peer counselor in high school not only gave me a purpose in life, it saved my life. In this workshop I will teach you how to create and implement a peer counseling program within your high school, beginning with the course proposal and ending with how to foster a strong program. If you want to create a warmer, more supportive climate within your school, this is the workshop for you!
Biography: Originally from northern California, Scott Lassey knew as a junior in high school he wanted to become a high school counselor. He received his BA in psychology from UC Santa Cruz in 2007, his MA in school counseling from Sonoma State University in 2009, and moved to the Middle East upon graduating. After six years in Dubai he is now working in Shanghai.

SESSION 2

John Everett
School: Shanghai American School
Target Audience: K-12
Title: Using Improvisational Theater to Enhance Social Emotional Learning
Description: This interactive workshop will use improvisational theatre exercises and activity processing techniques to provide participants with the skills and confidence they need to help the children they work with develop skills of self awareness, self management, social awareness, and relationship skills. Participants do not need to have any previous improvisational acting experience._
Biography: John Everett is a middle school counselor at Shanghai American School. In addition to his work as a counselor, John has also taught secondary theatre as well as applied improv to adults and corporations. John has found improv to be an accessible avenue for students of all ages to learn the social and emotional skills they need to develop into happy, well-adjusted members of their communities.

SESSION 3

Catherine Geisen-Kisch
School: Shanghai Community International School
Target Audience: MS
Title: Guidance Lesson for Affective Dev. of MS
Students
Description: This interactive presentation will provide counselors with a series of ready-to-deliver and differentiated guidance lessons focusing on student self-management.  Counselors will gain insight regarding the learning objectives and content of each lesson, along with familiarity in delivery through participation in several collaborative activities.  Strategies aim to help students practice and strengthen affective skills for emotional management, self-motivation, resilience and mindfulness. Full Keynote presentations, directions, resources/videos cited, and supply lists will be provided.

Biography: Described as having “contagious enthusiasm,” Catherine is a highly-engaged counselor who believes in a strength-based approach. Originally from Minnesota, U.S.A., Catherine serves as Middle School Counselor with Shanghai Community International School. Her interactive, push-and-play lessons have been delivered to nearly 300 students by 27 teacher advisors. In sharing her guidance programs and connecting with other counselors during the conference, she hopes to feed and foster her Gallup Strengths of positivity, input, arranger, woo and empathy.

Shelly Maldonado and Roseana Richards
School: Brent International School Manila
Target Audience: Pre-K - 12
Title: Do We Really Need Multicultural Crayons? Build Your Cultural Competence
Description: As an educator, we need to be as open-minded and culturally competent as possible. This workshop will challenge you to discover your own prejudices and why it is important to gain cultural awareness, especially as an international school educator.  This session will be interactive and insightful and give you ideas of how to provide diversity and cultural awareness trainings for your school.

Biography: Shelly Maldonado has been an elementary and/or middle school counselor for the past  nine years in the United States, South Korea, and the Philippines. Before school counseling, she was a high school social studies teacher and has worked with students, ages 3-19, in a variety of educational settings.

Roseana Richards worked as a vocational guidance/family counselor for several years as a State of Michigan employee in the United States.  For the last three years she has been overseas in the role of a school counselor/college placement and middle school counselor. Growing up in South America and later moving to the United States, Caribbean and Philippines, Roseana has extensive experience with cultural awareness from many perspectives and in many different roles.

SESSION 4

Kevin Davy
School: International School Bangkok
Target Audience: HS counselors
Title: Freshman Seminar-HS Transition Support
Description: This workshop provides an overview of the Freshman Seminar program ran at the International School of Bangkok. The program includes 20 + diverse classroom sessions geared towards supporting students towards a healthy transition to high school life. This session will also afford time for professionals to share best practices and creative ideas in relation to this important transition.

Biography: Kevin Davy is presently serving in his third year as a 9th grade counselor at the International School of Bangkok (ISB). Prior to that he had worked in ISB’s middle school for 2 years. This combination has served as fantastic viewpoint to observe the transition from middle to high. Due to this he has been able to adjust and renovate a 9th Grade program that has been in place at ISB for many years.

Gray Macklin / Melissa Berg
School: Seoul International School
Target Audience: MS
Title: Please Be Advised: Making Advisory Meaningful
Description: This workshop is designed to help teachers leverage their personal strengths to make their advisory meetings more meaningful and memorable. There will be activities so please bring something to write with and readiness to talk within a group.

Biography: Gray Macklin taught history for 10 years in the US and internationally. He has been a counselor and testing coordinator at Seoul International School since 2010, and has been a middle school advisor since the program began 2013. Gray is also a certified coaching clinic facilitator through corporate coach U; he is in the process of completing his EdD in educational Leadeship.

Melissa Berg is the middle school counselor at Seoul International School. She is from Minneapolis (Minnesota, USA) where she worked at Spanish Immersion Elementary School. Ms. Berg especially enjoys working with young students in the areas of talent development and team building as she believes that these skills will best equip children and teenagers to be happy, passionate and successful students.

Kathleen Schultz / Tara Holm
School: NIST International School
Target Audience: MS-HS
Title: Speak up! The Power of Adult Influence: Practical Advice for Talking to Students about Substance Abuse
Description: As a teacher, counselor or administrator, you are often some of the first adults to notice when something is troubling a student. One thing is certain about teen substance abuse: the power of a non-parent role model should not be underestimated. In this session learn signs, symptoms and current trends of substance use/abuse and strategies for having impactful and nonthreatening interaction with students about your concerns.

Biography: Kathleen Schultz has been a counselor for 23 years, and has worked in international schools for the last 14, first in Hamburg, then Prague and currently Bangkok, Thailand.  Previous to coming overseas, Kathleen was a Student Assistance Facilitator/Drug and Alcohol counselor and a Juvenile Probation Officer in the state of Oregon.

Tara Holm is in her 6th year of school counseling, 5 of those years in international schools. She started as an elementary counselor in Wisconsin then moved to Hanoi and worked as a middle school and high school counselor. Now Tara's at NIST International School in Bangkok as a middle school counselor.

SESSION 6

Doug McQueen
School: International School Manila
Target Audience: HS Counselors, HS Coaches and HS PE Teachers
Title: Advising International StudentAthletes on the NCAA (U.S.)
Description: The workshop will give a basic understanding of the NCAA. We will cover some best practices for advising international student athletes as it relates to the NCAA timeline. We will als o take a brief look at the NCAA Eligibility Center, the role of the NCAA Coordinator and what your high school can do to help students prepare for the transition to collegiate sports. It is assumed participants will have minimal knowledge regarding the NCAA and advising student¬-athletes.

Biography: Doug is from Toronto, Canada and is currently in his 6 th year as a high school counselor at International School Manila (ISM) in the Philippines. He is also the NCAA Coordinator at his school. Outside of work, Doug coaches the Varsity Girls Basketball team at ISM and occasionally runs a 5K. He is married with one son, who is currently a junior at ISM.

Lee Sterling III
School: International School Tianjin
Target Audience: HS
Title: The Metaphoric Life Road Map: Visualization
of College Goal-Setting
Description: After struggling in my college preparatory classes to help students set college goals, I resolved to create a non-threatening, pro-ESL activity that allowed students to discover their life goals.  By combining narrative pre-writing activities with a varied take on a Frayer Model, the framework of a goal setting vehicle emerged.  The detailing plunged students into production of a hands-on, inner child releasing artistic metaphor.  My students had drawn their future. Session attendees will experience their own Metaphoric Life Road Map.

Biography: Lee Sterling III taught in his hometown, Houston, Texas, for 12 years.  He has taught Theater, English, Social Studies, AP Psychology and AVID/College Path. He has also taught for seven years as an adjunct psychology professor at Lone Star Community College. This summer, he joined the International School of Tianjin as a college counselor, TOK teacher and ELL support.  He has published poems, essays, short stories, columns, and articles. He believes that teaching is an art form and that being a student is a thing of incurable wonder and beauty.  His wife joined him as a teacher IST and they have three young daughters, Persephone, Kitsune and Tzara

SESSION 7

Kris Bumpus and Erin Hawken
School: Saigon South International School
Target Audience: HS
Title: Enticing College Reps to Your School
Description: Hosting university representatives on your campus is invaluable to your school community and wonderful professional development as a counselor. This session will explore various ways to entice universities to your campus and how to make their visit to your region more productive. The SSIS University Visit Google doc will be used as an example of what information many university representatives have found useful before and during a visit to Ho Chi Minh City. Participants will be given the time to work on creating their own outreach document. To make this session more productive please bring a laptop.

Biography: Kris is a Nationally Certified School Counselor and earned her master’s degree in counseling from Prescott College in 2009. She began her journey in education in 2005 at a small private school in Portland, Oregon where she served as the assistant program director.  Her love for travel and adventure led her abroad where she has worked for seven years as a high school counselor at the Carol Morgan School in the Dominican Republic and currently at Saigon South International School in Vietnam. 

Erin began counseling in 2004, after receiving her Degree in Psychology and Masters in Educational Counseling from The University of California.  She has worked as a Personal Social and College Counselor in Sacramento, California, and San Francisco. After 8 years of working in Public Education, she and her family moved overseas to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Erin works as one of two High School Counselors/College Guidance at the Saigon South International School and loves the convergence of chaos, noise, food and people that add up to the multitude of interminable interactions which make life in Vietnam so enjoyable.

Clare McDermott
School: Ruamrudee International School
Target Audience: ES and MS
Title: It's Your Choice: Helping Students Make
Healthy Choices
Description: The workshop will include activities that ES and MS Counselors (or teachers) can use to promote healthy food choices by students during the school day, research on the importance of healthy choices, and simple changes that can transform school food service from acceptable to awesome. Information is based on worldwide research of children and how their dietary habits can impact learning.

Biography: Clare McDermott has been an international teacher for 12 years and is currently working and living in Bangkok.  Prior to earning teaching credentials, she was a Registered Dietitian in the United Stated for over 15 years. Her doctoral research blended her two passions; she examined school day eating habits of middle school students and how it impacted their achievement. 

Sue Nesbitt
School: Singapore American School
Target Audience: Grades 8 -12: HS Teachers and Counselors
Title: Advisory: Show, Don't Tell - 7 Factors for a Successful Program
Description: Cognitive skills continue to trump non-cognitive skills, but imagine if teaching to the test meant teaching students the skills they need to lead more meaningful lives? An effective advisory does that but you can’t just tell students, you have to show them. This workshop will model how to use a consistent structure to enhance the advisory experience and 7 success factors to keep it sustainable.
Biography: Sue Nesbitt is a grade 9 counselor at the Singapore American School (SAS) and she is a co-coordinator for the SAS HS Advisory program. Sue is currently completing her 7th year at SAS. Before coming to SAS, Sue was a counselor at the American Embassy School in New Delhi, India, and at both the International School of Bangalore and the American International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sue is a member of the American School Counselor Association and the National and International Association for College Admission Counseling. A Canadian citizen, Sue spent part of her childhood living in Africa, Australia and the U.K. She holds two Masters degrees; one in teaching and a second one in educational counseling. She loves to run, bike, and swim and she is the mother of two SAS graduates and a grade 6 SAS student.

 

SESSION 8

Rhonda Fisher
School: Surabaya International School
Target Audience: MS-HS others
Title: Teens and the Neuroscience of Anxiety
Description: It is perfectly normal for teens to feel stressed from time to time but when stress is chronic and prolonged, anxiety may result. This workshop will address the latest research in the neuroscience of teen anxiety with attention to our students’ various cultural backgrounds.

Biography: Rhonda Fisher has served in a variety of roles in secondary and tertiary education. As a college professor, she has taught courses in Family, Developmental Psychology, Education, Sexuality, Religion, Inequality, Research Methods etc. and uses that knowledge in her current role as university counselor at the Surabaya Intercultural School. She has also taught IB courses, served as an IBDP coordinator and created a university counseling programs in 2 international.

Mariella Vittetoe and Shellee Burroughs
School: Garden International School
Target Audience: K-12
Title: Thinking Outside the Box: Dealing With
Loss in the International School
Description: Through this workshop we will present the experience of grief and loss for Third Culture Kids and the different whole school initiatives implemented to support GIS students. We will also look at how these initiatives, in conjunction with personal counselling sessions fit in with addressing the different stages of loss in an international school setting.

Biography: Mariella Vittetoe is Head of Counselling at GIS who trained and worked in Honduras and Spain in Psychology and Systemic Family Therapy. Her areas of interest are systemic thinking and international schools as safe communities.

Shellee Burroughs is a counsellor at GIS who is an Art Psychotherapist and trauma specialist who trained and worked in Canada and the UK. Her areas of of interest include trauma, loss and the TCK experience.

SESSION 10

 

Jenny Franco-Marsh and Amanda Abel
School: Concordia International School Shanghai
Target Audience: ES,MS,HS Couns
Title: Sandplay Therapy (counseling)
Description: Are you looking for a more efficient and creative way to understand and support your students? Come and learn Sandplay Therapy techniques! After 25 combined years of practicing therapy, Amanda and Jenny brought Sandplay to their school’s counseling department and it has infused a new energy into their program. This technique crosses cultures, bringing healing and solutions to a wide range of difficulties encountered by children of all ages. Be prepared to observe Sandplay in action and engage in thoughtful discussions of the technique with colleagues in our field!

Biography: Jenny is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) for the state of Pennsylvania. She has experience working with children in individual and family therapy. She has also worked with elementary students in Kuwait and is currently a Social/Emotional Counselor in the Middle School at Concordia International School Shanghai. (Fun fact: Jenny loves to go on safaris in search of wild animals.)
Amanda is a Licensed School/Community Counselor for the state of Indiana. She has worked in private practice in the U.S and in Vietnam. She is currently a Social/Emotional Counselor in the Middle School at Concordia International School Shanghai. (Fun fact: In her spare time, Amanda enjoys collecting seashells in the beaches of South East Asia.)

Kira Galbraith
School: Hong Kong Academy
Target Audience: K-12 + others
Title: Challenging Negative Thought Patterns
Description: This presentation will provide, insight into common negative thought processes and patterns that individuals fall back on when faced with anxiety, stress and depression. Strategies and tools will be provided on how to challenge and replace them with healthier perceptions, thoughts and behaviors.

Biography: Kira recently transitioned from humanitarian aid to counseling because of her desire to support in preparing the next generation of global citizens, parents, workers, and leaders through offering support, guidance, and opportunities during adolescence. She will be graduating from the University of Massachusetts Boston with an MEd in School Counselling and a National Counsellor Certification in May 2016.

Noel Roberts
School: UIS, Guangzhou
Target Audience: IB K-12 Teachers and Counselors
Title: How Inquiry-Based Learning Promotes Student Self-Authorship, “Investigating the Provocative Moment”
Description: The objective of this workshop is to help participants assist students in an Inquiry-Based learning environment, to develop their internal voice and meet the challenges of adult life. The workshop outlines how our students move through different phases toward self-authorship. It defines the “Crossroads” and its relationship to the “Provocative Moment”, and discusses ways participants can identify, embrace and utilize the ‘Provocative Moment” to help students self-author. Finally, the workshop offers “Three Core Principles” for educational practice that help create student self-authorship.
Biography: Noel has seven years as an international school counselor; his undergraduate studies are in Community Psychology and Graduate studies in Social Work.  He has Certificates in Addiction Studies, Special Needs Support and is an ASCA Certified Bullying Prevention Specialist. In the past 27 years he has worked with NYC Public Schools, The NYC Administration of Children’s Services, NYC Family Court, NYC Department of Juvenile Justice, and the NYC Mayor’s Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator.

 

 

 

Updated Monday, March 28, 2016