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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 6, Issue 8
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This Sunday, November 1st, most regions of the country gain an hour as we turn back the clock. So, seriously, what will you do with that "extra" hour? Many, if not most, people will sleep. Who can't use additional sleep?
But perhaps there are other enjoyable and useful activities that can refresh the spirit, refresh us. Spending real time with family talking, having a conversation; playing a game with your children; taking a walk; spending an hour reading a book you've been putting off; calling a parent, friend or relative whom you've not connected with for a time but are always "meaning to"; meditating; engaging in a craft activity; enjoying a glass of wine on the patio (for those lucky enough to have warm weather!); taking in a movie with your favorite date; trekking to the local library to see what's new on the shelves. There are many things we can do, need to do, to treat ourselves "right."
Ditch the cell phone. Really. Don't use the extra hour to do chores or catch up on paperwork, reports, and bills. Sometimes we need to put those things aside and just relax. Those activities can all wait for an hour as you re-energize. YOU are worth it. Your family, students, and colleagues will indirectly benefit as well!
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Are you looking for a free and easy to use Tier One intervention that screens for depression and teaches good mental health practices? Learn about a video-based curriculum which can be used in collaboration with teachers and counselors based on best practices for suicide prevention.
You can use all or part of this program, depending on your needs and circumstances. Each lesson can be taught in a 45-minute class, or streched out into a 60-minute class. More or less time than that would require a little creativity - maybe cutting a lesson into two, or combining lessons. Check it out.
The School Refusal/School Anxiety Treatment Team suggest some strategies and interventions for parents and school personnel to use with children and adolescents who are struggling with these issues.
Sample tips:
- Encourage children to enroll in school extracurricular activities to feel more connected to school. Have child choose at least one activity per school term.
- The student may benefit from a designated school personnel, such as the school social worker, to check in with the student and help the student to feel more connected to the school.
It is the nature of abuse within families to be as behaviorally nuanced and emotionally complex as the individuals involved. Relationship abuses nearly inevitably reveal a life-draining and self-perpetuating dynamic of power and control. It is within this dynamic that abuse is perpetuated. . . And though we often think of abuse as being inflicted by a perpetrator on a victim, or else between two perpetrators, we must be careful to recognize another disposition, an often secretly performed dynamic of abuse, that is inflicted by an emotionally troubled person onto himself or herself. More.
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Want to stand out as a leader? Excel at skills where there is a strong need and weak capacity.
CCL [Center for Creative Leadership] recently analyzed data from 2,339 managers in 24 organizations in 3 countries to understand the leadership gap--the skills that organizations need but their leaders don't have. Six key gaps were found. More.
Whether it's sending out an email newsletter, putting together a presentation for senior managers, or working on a special request for a client, many of us have to complete simple projects as part of our day-to-day responsibilities. These small- to medium-sized projects may, at first glance, not seem to need much thought. But, occasionally, we can overlook a key step or "to do" item that can derail all our efforts. . .
Action Plans are simple lists of all of the tasks that you need to finish to meet an objective. They differ from To-Do Lists in that they focus on the achievement of a single goal.
Action Plans are useful, because they give you a framework for thinking about how you'll complete a project efficiently. They help you finish activities in a sensible order, and they help you ensure that you don't miss any key steps. Also, because you can see each task laid out, you can quickly decide which tasks you'll delegate or outsource, and which tasks you may be able to ignore. Full Article.
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Autism spectrum disorder diagnoses sometimes change due to misdiagnosis, maturation, or treatment. . . Approximately 13% of the children ever diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder were estimated to have lost the diagnosis, and parents of 74% of them believed it was changed due to new information. Previously diagnosed children were less likely to have parents with early concerns about verbal skills, nonverbal communication, learning, and unusual gestures or movements. They were also less likely to have been referred to and diagnosed by a specialist. Previously diagnosed children were less likely to have ever received a diagnosis of Asperger's disorder or autistic disorder. Access study.
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The Community-Partnered School Behavioral Health Modules
~ Free Training Series and CEUs Offered ~
www.mdbehavioralhealth.com
Signs of Suicide Program & Gatekeeper Training Module 1.5 CEUs. Free.
from Teachers College Press. A hard copy will be mailed to you. Free.
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Recommended Read for October
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The New Bullying -- How Social Media, Social
Exclusion, Laws and Suicide Have Changed
Our Definition of Bullying, and What to Do
By MSU School of Journalism
Amazon: This book is primarily concerned with the issue of how bullying has changed from about 1997 to 2012. The authors' thesis was that bullying has changed considerably, but that some adults are not aware of the change. This book is intended to document that change. Among the changes that were examined are the rise of cyberbullying, social exclusion as a form of bullying, new laws about school bullying, computer crimes and threats and a growing willingness on the part of the public to talk about bullying and its perceived connection to suicide and violence, especially in schools.
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| Professional Development Opportunities |
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Survey Participation Request
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School Mental Health Professional Survey
School Mental Health Professionals (e.g. school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, school nurses and others) are invited to take an anonymous survey about inter-professional collaboration between school mental health clinicians and pediatric primary care providers. Participation involves answering questions about your current practices, comfort in collaborating with pediatric primary care providers, training needs, and beliefs about inter-professional collaboration. If you participate in this study you will have the option of providing your email address to be entered into a raffle for one of two $50 gift cards.
The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. By completing the survey, you are indicating your consent to participate in our study. Please contact Prerna Arora, Ph.D. with questions. Access survey. |
School Social Workers know the power of home visits. See what teachers learn as they go through this experience.
"When she became principal four years ago, [Tammy] Garrett decided to get her teachers out of their classrooms - and comfort zones - for an afternoon. Once a year, just before school starts, they board a pair of yellow buses and head for the neighborhoods and apartment complexes where Hobgood students live.
En route, the bus driver describes over the intercom how he picks up 50 children at one complex each morning. The teachers pump themselves up with a chant. After all, they're doing something most people don't enjoy: knocking on doors unannounced.
When the caravan arrives at a cluster of apartments, the teachers fan out and start knocking on doors of known Hobgood families. Some encounters don't get beyond awkward pleasantries and handing over fliers about first-of-the-year festivities. Others yield brief but substantive conversations with parents who might be strangers around school." Read more and/or listen to the story.
States and districts should not feel reluctant to use the terms dyslexia, dyscalculia, or dysgraphia when describing a particular child's learning needs, says guidance released Friday by the U.S. Department of Education. For those outside of the special education field, such guidance may seem obvious. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act names dyslexia as an example of a disability that would be included in the broader term "specific learning disabilities." About 40 percent of the students who are covered under the IDEA are classified as having a specific learning disability. Continue.
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School Social Work Positions
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Continued - listed by state abbreviation
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November 17, 2015 - 4:30-5:30 pm CST ~ Free
Beyond the Bus, a special publication of the Teaching the Movement initiative, brings together several resources Teaching Tolerance developed to help educators recognize and fill instructional gaps in their coverage of the civil rights movement. In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, we'll apply these key resources to the story of Rosa Parks. Join us to learn how you can apply Beyond the Bus to your civil rights instruction. Register.
Death and grief will affect the lives of almost all children at some point, often leading to struggles with academic performance, social relationships, and behavior. The death of a loved one is immensely challenging for anyone, but children and teens can find it particularly difficult. Scholastic.com, through the generosity of the New York Life Foundation, hosted a live, interactive webcast on the subject of Children and Grief. Using actual scenarios from children and parents, childhood grief expert, pediatrician, and author Dr. David Schonfeld, MD, and Chris Park, president of the New York Life Foundation, talked about misconceptions, and imparted valuable advice on how educators and all other caring adults can best support grieving children-whether it's right after the loss or years later. Download webcast.
Archived by SAMHSA & KSOC-TV
One Hour in Duration
This archived wepisode describes SAMHSA's definition of trauma, the long-term effects of unaddressed trauma, and ways communities can work together to minimize the impact of trauma. View webisode.
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SchoolGrants
SchoolGrants was created in 1999 as a way to share grant information with PK-12 educators. Grant writing can be intimidating to those who are new at it. SchoolGrants helps ease those fears by providing online tips to those who need them. Finding suitable grant opportunities requires a great deal of time and research - SchoolGrants reduces the effort by listing a variety of opportunities available to public and private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools and districts across the United States. Sample grants are available as well as the opportunity to sign up for a listserv and newsletter. More info.
4th Quarter Deadline: December 31, 2015
Grants of up to $500 are available for "innovative programs, events, or projects" from the Meemic Foundation for Michigan, Wisconsin or Illinois. Apply online using their easy application that takes less than 30 minutes to complete. These grants are open to any employee of a K-12 public or private school. Universities and colleges may also apply. Fill-in-the-blank application.
Grants are accepted year round, but the fourth quarter cycle ends December 31st. Grants are up to $500. Recipients will be notified by February 15th.
The foundation says it supports "basically anything that supports teachers and enhances the student's educational experience" - from field trips to books to behavior modification programs; science, music, or art equipment to professional development.
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