Hello world!
This blog is intended to be a chronicle of my first full year as a school social worker. I will also be providing any resources I find that are helpful, and brief updates on what is going on at the elementary school where I serve Pre-K through 5th grade students.
So here goes!
I am reflecting on the first full month of our school year (we started on August 19th here). September was a busy flurry, with a whole lot of newness and readjustment. I got an office for the first time in my life, and it was a time to settle in and settle down. When first meeting students, I try to start off with ice breakers that go a step deeper than the average name game. My students all completed a family tree during social work time, writing the names of their family members on apples and pasting them to a picture of a tree. They then got to color in the apples and the tree however they wished.
Visual metaphor seems extremely helpful when trying to communicate to children. The family tree activity allowed children to reflect on how they are all the same (we all have a tree [family] with apples [relatives]) and how they are different (those apples are all different and our trees may be colored in differently). This is also an exercise in relating to images and symbols (a tree = a family), which I think may help kids who are not good at abstract concepts. I may be guessing about that, though.
Beyond introductions, we have just finished units about sharing, knowing ourselves, communication and making good decisions. As I reflect on our exploration of these topics, I will post anything that seems relevant or helpful. Thanks for reading!
-Ms. OJ
This blog is intended to be a chronicle of my first full year as a school social worker. I will also be providing any resources I find that are helpful, and brief updates on what is going on at the elementary school where I serve Pre-K through 5th grade students.
So here goes!
I am reflecting on the first full month of our school year (we started on August 19th here). September was a busy flurry, with a whole lot of newness and readjustment. I got an office for the first time in my life, and it was a time to settle in and settle down. When first meeting students, I try to start off with ice breakers that go a step deeper than the average name game. My students all completed a family tree during social work time, writing the names of their family members on apples and pasting them to a picture of a tree. They then got to color in the apples and the tree however they wished.
Visual metaphor seems extremely helpful when trying to communicate to children. The family tree activity allowed children to reflect on how they are all the same (we all have a tree [family] with apples [relatives]) and how they are different (those apples are all different and our trees may be colored in differently). This is also an exercise in relating to images and symbols (a tree = a family), which I think may help kids who are not good at abstract concepts. I may be guessing about that, though.
Beyond introductions, we have just finished units about sharing, knowing ourselves, communication and making good decisions. As I reflect on our exploration of these topics, I will post anything that seems relevant or helpful. Thanks for reading!
-Ms. OJ
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