How to Use a Digital Group Planning Log to Organize Counseling Groups, Lessons, and Interventions

In my first year as a school counselor, I remember standing outside my office door with a stack of sticky notes, a clipboard, and no real idea what activity I had planned for that day’s group. I was juggling six groups, classroom lessons, and far too many individualized student needs to track in my head.

Then I created my Group Planning Log. It started as a simple Google Doc, but quickly became the central hub that helped me align every session to goals, track attendance, plan weeks in advance, and finally stop reinventing the wheel every Monday morning to reduce those Sunday Scaries.

If you're tired of running on empty when it comes to session planning, this post will walk you through how to use a digital Group Planning Log to bring structure and ease into your counseling work.

Why Planning Kid's Counseling Sessions Intentionally Matters

School counselors and social workers wear many hats, often switching from group sessions to individual interventions to whole-class lessons in a single morning. Without a reliable planning system, it is easy to fall into reactive mode, where each day feels like putting out fires instead of making intentional progress.

This is not just a time-management issue. It is also an effectiveness issue. Research shows that students benefit most from counseling services when those services are structured, data-informed, and aligned with measurable goals. In fact, coordinated interventions aligned with student needs are more likely to lead to improved academic performance and social-emotional development (American School Counselor Association, 2019).

Mindset Shift: From Survival to Strategy

Many counselors operate in survival mode, simply trying to get through each day. That is not because they lack passion or skills. It is because they are working without the right systems in place.

Using a Group Planning Log is not about adding more to your plate. It is about creating a repeatable, efficient framework so you can spend less energy spinning your wheels and more time delivering meaningful support to students.

Imagine opening your planning log on a Monday morning and seeing three weeks of sessions already mapped out, materials linked, and objectives noted. That kind of clarity builds confidence. This is why I created Skills for Big Feelings - because it gave me a mapped out curriculum I could use for a minimum of 12 weeks, or for the whole school year if I am using the games, crafts, and activities.

What Is the Counseling Digital Group Planning Log?

The Group Planning Log is a place to map out your group activities by directly referencing each student’s IEP or MTSS objectives. It also allows you to:

• Take group attendance

  
  

• Record the location of materials

  
  

• Add links and supplies needed for each session

  
  

• Include notes and objectives for each group

  
  

You can even use your Goal Summary Sheets and SEL Searchable Database to help create your group plans. Each week, you will refer to your Group Planning Log to build your Weekly Plan by copying and pasting your activities into your Weekly Plan (which you make from your Master Schedule Template.

Here is what the Group Planning log includes:

• Group Day and Time: Write the day and time of the group.

  
  

• Attendance: List group members and check off the box when they attend.

  
  

• Date: Log the session date.

  
  

• Activity and Supplies: Plan activities based on student goals. Include storage location and any digital links (such as YouTube, Boom Cards, or Google Slides).

  
  

• Notes: Add any session-specific notes.

  
  

• IEP or MTSS Objectives: Include the distilled version of student objectives from the Goal Summary Sheet.

  
  

The digital log can also be used to plan and organize class-wide lessons in addition to small groups or individual interventions. Here's a video look:

Step 1: Set Up Your Planning Log

• Start by making a copy of the Group Planning Log in your Google Drive.

• Create a Google Drive folder called “Organizational Templates” and place the log there.

• Rename the document with the school year (for example, “25–26 Group Planning Log”) and update the year in the header and title.

• This small step helps you stay organized year after year, especially when referencing past student objectives or group schedules.

Step 2: Add Group or Lesson Times

The log includes a clickable Table of Contents on the left-hand side. Customize each section by adding your group or lesson times. For example, replace placeholder text like “Monday Group 1 Time and Info” with “10:30 Mrs. Reardon’s Grade 5 Group.” This makes it easy to jump between sessions on the clickable table of contents and keeps your log structured and easy to navigate.

Step 3: Take Attendance and Track Progress

List student names in the attendance column. You'll be copying and pasting this into your Weekly Plan so you can check off boxes after each session if they attended. I also like to fill completed rows with gray to create a visual cue of which sessions have already been completed and which are upcoming, it's just easy to scroll that way. This attendance tracking is helpful for documentation and monitoring student participation over time.

Step 4: Plan Goal-Aligned Activities

Refer to your Goal Summary Sheet to distill student objectives. For example, instead of copying a long IEP goal like “Student will identify when to use their social filter in 4 out of 5 opportunities,” simplify it to “Social filter: 4/5.” Place these objectives in the designated box so you always know what skills you are targeting when you are planning your activities.

Step 5: Build Your Weekly Plan

Once your sessions are mapped out in the Group Planning Log, copy those rows into your Weekly Plan. You'll only do this once a week. Basically, once a year you create a Master Schedule. Then every week you make a copy of that Master Schedule to create your Weekly Plan. Lastly you put any appointments or meetings from your calendar and your activity info from your Group Planning Log right into your Weekly Plan. I like to print my weekly plan and have it on a clipboard, but some folks just keep a digital tab opened.

Step 6: Stay Flexible and Responsive

If a session needs to be rescheduled or a student is absent, simply:

• Add or delete rows

  
  

• Move activities around with copy/paste

  
  

• Insert additional group templates as needed

Step 7: Keep Everything in One Place

Paste your resources and links directly into your Weekly Log from the Group Planning log (use the links in your Searchable SEL Database). This might include:

• Names and Locations of Physical Activities

  
  

• Google Slides presentations

  
  

• YouTube videos

  
  

• Boom Cards

  
  

• Book titles

  
  

• Blog posts or printable worksheets

  
  

Keeping everything together in one document reduces morning prep time and ensures materials are ready to go.

Common Counseling Session Planning Pitfalls to Avoid

Even with a solid system, some common mistakes can derail your planning efforts:

• Skipping objective alignment: Engaging activities are only meaningful if they meet student needs.

  
  

• Forgetting to update links: Make sure links to slides or videos are current and accessible.

  
  

• Not recording attendance: Reliable documentation matters for reporting and progress monitoring.

  
  

• Using scattered tools: Stick to one central planning log instead of juggling multiple systems.

  
  

• Ignoring reflection: Brief post-session notes can help refine future lessons and track progress.

Ready to Shift from Reactive Planning to Intentional, Goal-Aligned Counseling Sessions?

Your Planning Log is more than a calendar, it's your counseling command center.

It helps you:

✅ Align sessions to student goals

✅ Plan multiple weeks in advance

✅ Quickly build your weekly plan

✅ Track attendance + document your work

✅ Access links and resources in seconds

And once you have your system set up? It takes just minutes a week to maintain. You can get started with the Digital Group Planning Log and it's available at a discount in my Counselor Organization Growing Bundle set.

Time-Saving Counseling Organization Tools You’ll Actually Use

You can get all of this template and many more at a huge discount in my Counselor Organization Growing Bundle. If you're like most school counselors, social workers, or psychologists, your job involves a lot more than just direct student support.

Between juggling resources, planning sessions, logging data, and tracking attendance, things can get messy fast. That’s why I created this Growing Bundle of digital and print organizational tools to help you stay organized, save time, and focus more on what matters: supporting your students.

This growing resource is full of ready-to-use tools designed to simplify your systems and streamline your workflow. Everything is editable, practical, and created with busy school-based mental health professionals in mind.

What’s Inside the Counseling Organization Growing Bundle?

✅ Editable Google Sheets to Keep Track of All Your Tools and Resources

• Searchable Resource Database to keep track of your SEL activities, TPT downloads, picture books, reference books, videos (yes, you can paste in YouTube links!), games, and more.

  
  

• Planning Tools to help you quickly organize your counseling sessions and classroom lessons.

  
  

✅ Counseling Logs & Trackers

• Contact Log for documenting phone calls and meetings

  
  

• Consult Log to track IEP consultations

  
  

• Attendance Log and Intervention Tracker to help with documentation and planning

  
  

• Goal Summary Sheet to align your sessions with IEP or MTSS objectives

  
  

• Weekly Planner, Master Schedule, and Group Planning Logs to map out your time and sessions

  
  

All of these digital tools are editable Google Docs and Sheets that you can personalize to fit your own systems. I’ve also included video and written directions so you can get started without any hassle.

What Makes This a Growing Bundle?

New tools are being added regularly! As of now, upcoming additions include:

• Camp Scholarship Log

  
  

• Loaned Supplies Log

  
  

• Binder Covers and Spines...and more!

  
  

When you purchase the bundle now, you’ll automatically get access to all future additions at no extra cost. The price will go up as more resources are added, so it’s a good idea to grab it early.

Ready to spend less time searching for that one game you know you have and more time doing the work you love? This bundle was made to support you as you support your students.

For more counselor organization ideas, be sure to check out this video and these blogs posts.