Category: Tools for Practice
Support Your Team: Define The Relationship and Improve Communication
I have been both a team member and leader who was not clear on my role and responsibilities. Through our research and practice, we have found at least two strategies that can help clarify expectations and communication processes teams need to accomplish tasks. These strategies include: defining team roles and improving communication.
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Implementing The Model School District Policy On Suicide Prevention: Part II
An important aspect of this professional development should include how to respond if a student approaches an adult for help. In addition, a coordinated approach through a single provider can further the adoption of a shared vocabulary across the entire school community, an important aspect of a high-quality Tier 1 program.
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How Data Became An Essential Part Of My SSW Self-Care Plan
SSW data did that. It wasn’t politicking, petitions, or a serious legal issue that moved the hand of the district- it was data on my SSW practice. Using a well thought-data collection system that was matched by the visual representations extracted-turned advocacy into action, and eventually results.
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Shifting Practice with LGBTQ+ Students: Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Schools, although sites of victimization, often are places where students feel safe to express their sexual and gender identities and receive mental health support and services. With the shift to remote learning, many LGBTQ+ are spending more time at home. Students who are not out to their families are experiencing increased stress related to concealing aspects of their identity and students who are out but do not receive support from their family are facing rejection and harassment (Salerno, Devadas, Pease, Nketia, & Fish, 2020).
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Supporting K-5 Students With Self-Regulation Skills During Covid-19
A consistent question from parents and teachers is, “how do I help my students regulate themselves?” A common answer has been to have parents act as the default co-regulators of their children’s learning. School social workers have an opportunity to directly address this concern during the pandemic.
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Climate Work is Not Just For Schools: Remembering Zappos CEO Toni Hsieh
People are mourning the passing of Toni Hsieh (46), the former CEO of Zappos Shoes. You may wonder why I would mention Toni on a blog dedicated to helping schools. When I connect with secondary educators, I often hear that we should not use positive approaches with our students. Their reason is that when students enter the “real world,” businesses do not do “soft skills” things like teaching and rewarding behavior. That’s true..except for companies that are both successful with their teams and their finances.
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Revisiting Trauma-Informed Care and The BLM Uprising in a June 2020 SSWNetwork LIveChat
We had a great conversation that day on SSWNetwork about ideas for a trauma-informed re-opening response for both the COVID-19 crisis and the BLM uprising that was happening around the country, and that is still challenging all of us as we head into 2021.
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Looking for strong Tier 3? We have to start at Tier 1!
What I’ve learned over the years working with a multitude of school teams is that it’s easy to mistakenly think that students require Tier 2 or Tier 3 interventions when in reality Tier 1 needs to be strengthened.
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