Counselors and advisors do a lot in support of students and families. We’re here to ensure that you have what you need, when you need it.
Course Overview
Aspiration to Action is Contigo Ed’s on-demand learning course & resources for counselors and advisors. You deserve a single place where you can not only access information about advising students to and through career and college, but hear from real, live school practitioners on how this information translates into actual advising. At Contigo Ed, we aim to support school counselors and advisors by simplifying their work streams and making their work and student interactions more meaningful.
Dream it.
In 2009, I transitioned from being a high school and middle school social studies teacher to acting as a school counselor. I was thankful that I had an in-person learning opportunity to help me make that transition, and yet, I left with more questions (43 to be exact!) than answers. I fortunately had a mentor and community who was there for me every step of the way.
Build it.
I remember sitting at our favorite Greek restaurant in the Montrose neighborhood in Houston, Texas, and my mentor answered each of those questions - responding with statements like, “T.O. stands for Test Optional in this instance”, “Yeah, I know it says that, but it doesn’t really happen that way”, and “Hang on, I’m not sure, let me ask around.” This experience serves as the inspiration for Contigo Ed’s Aspiration to Action professional learning hub.
Share it.
You deserve a single place where you can not only access information about advising students to and through career and college, but hear from real, live school practitioners on how this information translates into actual advising. Explore the career and college going process through case studies. Access resources to build systems and structures to manage your caseload so that every student of yours can get the differentiated advising they need. Take and edit ready-made, student-facing resources.
Rhiannon Carabajal Killian
Partner, Professional Development and Product
Author and Designer, Aspiration to Action
FAQs
What resources are currently available through Contigo Ed’s Aspiration to Action digital offering?
Seventeen microcourses that are 30-40 minutes each. A completely
on-demand digital learning experience. Each course is focused on a particular topic related to career and college readiness and advising. Each microcourse includes summary pages, audio summaries, lesson plans, presentations, handouts!
Videos and resources to build systems and structures are available within each course. There’s nothing more frustrating than learning tons of new information, and not knowing how to apply and implement it. We’ll be providing resources and tips to help you become more efficient and effective in your role.
Ready-to-use, editable lessons and student-facing handouts for group and individual advising sessions. We know you are doing a lot and pressed for time. Each time you learn something new through our micro-courses, we’ll provide you with the lessons and handouts to deliver high-quality instruction with your students that same day!
Interactive learning modules within each microcourse make this course more engaging in support of your learning.
When can I start and finish micro courses?
Our microcourses are completely on-demand and can be started/completed at any time that works best for you.
Should I follow a particular sequence when taking microcourses?
Our microcourses are bundled by content themes with a suggested sequence. However, you can approach your learning and our offerings in an “a-la-carte fashion,” picking and choosing which courses you have the “appetite” for at that moment.
Do these microcourses have a live instructor or community?
The courses and resources were designed and delivered by real school practitioners, but all to be done on demand. Although there is no live instructor for our microcourses, there is now a new live online community! We encourage you to activate the community for questions you may have or to share your own areas of expertise. A moderator from our team will also be active in the online community.
Can I get professional development credits for taking these microcourses?
No. Professional development credits for school counselors vary widely from state-to-state. You will, however, earn certificates of completion at the end of each microcourse which can be used as documentation for your ongoing learning and development.
What platform is Aspiration to Action housed on?
Thinkific. In March 2024, we officially moved from Canvas to Thinkific to better support our evolving content and community. We hope you enjoy!
Can I take and edit these resources?
Throughout the course, you will find many downloadable resources created by Contigo Ed. They are meant for your use as a practitioner and we encourage you to edit them to make them useful for your school or community context. Please be mindful of how you utilize and edit our resources.
The works on this website are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You’re welcome to use and distribute our materials as long as you don’t modify them in any way*, except slight modifications to format. All of our materials are under copyright, so we ask that you credit us and respect the following limitations: Please don’t take our work and 1) claim it’s your own or 2) misrepresent or misconstrue it and then claim the ideas came from us.
*We welcome you to edit our practitioner facing materials to fit your context & community — lesson plans, handouts, powerpoints.