Giving Students a Reality Check

Presenters

John Rossillo, Lindenhurst High SchoolFollow

First Presenter's Institution

Lindenhurst High School

First Presenter's Brief Biography

I have been in education for 29 years. I have enjoyed being both a School Counselor and Coach. I have been able to use techniques from reality therapy in both coaching and counseling. As a coach and counselor developing a relationship with the student or athlete is important. William Glasser is quoted as saying, "the helping person becomes both involved with and very real,” to the client. As a School Counselor we are all introduced to Reality Therapy. I have become engulfed in it. It has helped me in different fields. In New York, I am a frequent visitor to the Albert Ellis Institute. This presentation has been given to administrators, future School Counselors, teachers and fellow Colleagues. It has been used as a break out session in many of the School Counselor Associations in different states.

Document Type

Event

Primary Strand

Restorative Practices

Relevance to Primary Strand

This presentation is an explanations of William Glasser's "Choice Theory." The presentation will give an overview of the theory and how in my 29 years it has been effective for me and my students and athletes. Teaching students to be more accountable as an individual or team will strengthen a unit or team. The presentation emphasizes being accountable and teaches ways for people to become more accountable. We can start becoming more accountable if we know why we did it. What choice did we make and what were the results. We will stress living in the present and what are the future plans. The four concepts of Reality; Belonging, inner control, freedom and fun will be discussed and how it can bring out respect, responsibility, repair and reintegration. To help students or athletes it is important to recognize how it has positive or negative circumstances from their actions. Students and athletes should be taught how to self evaluate what is reasonable. I like to use a motivational term called, "Inner excellence." We want to bring out our "inner excellence" to train our heart and mind for inner strength and an extraordinary life.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Leadership/ Continuous Improvement

Brief Program Description

The session describes Dr. Glasser's theory for how and why we make the choices we do. The theory will cover the basic needs and how essential they are to making our choices. Counselors will learn how to apply Choice theory to motivate students to work toward their "quality world". Reality therapy teaches us that we may not be able to control how we feel, we can control how we think and behave. Additionally, the WDEP method will be introduced as a tool to help to bring out their inner excellence.

Summary

This presentation is designed to help counselors use Dr. Glasser’s “Choice Theory” to help any student, from the high anxiety to the underachieving, to help them reach their full potential.

The goal is to learn how Reality Therapy can help you teach students to meet problems head on. Teaching students to have rational thoughts and feelings will result in better ways of dealing with the real world. The theory can help counselors give students a “reality check” and teach them to reach new heights.

Teaching Reality Therapy begins with teaching total behavior - Act, Think, Feel, Physiology. We are to understand the five basic needs and have the student/client decide on what their goal would be. Counselors or coaches should learn to use the 7 Caring habits instead of the 7 deadly habits. Using the correct methods will help students learn about rational thinking. To assist with the heightened emotions of an adolescent is to use some type of cognitive thinking. Rational thinking is associated with Reality Therapy. Reality therapy can teach students to have rational thoughts, rational feelings, and a rational life that commits one to dealing with the real world.

Learning to use Choice theory will teach a philosophy that everything we do is an attempt to satisfy one or more of our basic needs. (Power, Fun, Love & Belonging, Freedom and Survival) After students learn about the innate needs born within us, and realize which need is more important to them (worksheet), we can help them set goals to change a behavior. People attending the session will learn the “WDEP” formula and how to apply it for a new behavior. The American School Counselors Association claims, “Reality Therapy helps clients learn better ways of fulfilling their needs.”

Evidence

It worries me that my session needs something written to show its success. As previously mentioned, this teaching and method has taught so many students to become better students, athletes, club members, council members, siblings and citizens. As a Counselor, Advisor and Coach, my results have been in the performance of students, club members, council members and athletes.

Learning Objective 1

Understand how Choice theory and Reality Therapy work. Learn how to have rational thoughts.

Learning Objective 2

Practice using the 7 Caring habits instead of the 7 Deadly habits in Coaching or Counseling.

Learning Objective 3

The student needs help in Teach students to delay the desire for immediate gratification and work for the gratification that will come from a long term goal.

Learning Objective 4

Help build rapport with a student with using the "First Five Minutes."es."

Recommended Citation

Rossillo, John, "Giving Students a Reality Check" (2023). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 43.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2023/2023/43

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.