Matt and Molly and Another School Counseling Blog

Hi folks!

Ah yes, February. You long, slow, cold month, you. I will not miss you, but still I learned so much.

Just a couple quick things for you this time around.

First, a review of a curriculum I like so much!

Purposeful self disclosure time: this is my first year working with students that are this young. Prior to Giles, I worked almost exclusively with the high school set. Interestingly, I have learned that many counselors, if they had their druthers, would also be working with one age group or another but have had to become flexible in their preferences as their careers progress. But in any case, I walked into this job very, very new to the lower elementary kids, and even newer to the pre-school students with whom I work.

Enter Matt and Molly.

Matt and Molly are puppets who are also characters in a series of social narratives. They play with each other, their families and their friends. They also learn very simple lessons that translate very well to the pre-school environment. Their stories can be manipulated in several ways to provide students with an enriched learning experience, and to practice those key social skills that can be hard to pick up for our students on the Autism spectrum. Personally, I like the puppets a lot and use them as characters to tell stories, role play and review good behavior choices with students. If you are not a puppet person, however, the curriculum can still do a lot for you.

Matt and Molly are most useful for me with the much younger students, but they can be adapted for older grades quite easily. I have also used them in all of our general education kindergarten rooms mostly as puppets that role play, tell stories and teach important skills (eg. belly breathing and making up with friends). Check them out!

Second, a blog I have found useful!

Marissa Rex is someone whose blog I now have bookmarked because I really enjoy the resources and samples she posts. And they're FREE! She is an elementary school counselor who has some nice creative tips for those who work with the younger set. I did a Me-card activity with Kindergarten and 1st graders recently, as a means of learning more about them and them getting to share about themselves as a tool for friendship-making. I then played a simplified version of the game she discusses in that activity. The kids loved it, truly.

That's the update for now. Happy spring!
-Ms.OJ

Talking to kids about families and the Mad Monster

Long time no post!

I have been in the fog of the start of the new year, and as such it has taken me until now to post about the books and activities and other good stuff I am using with the kids over at Giles. It's been a great couple of weeks, and the students have finally settled back in to most of their routines.

I thought I would share two things that were successful in the past month, and give you a link to a book I really like.

First, back to before winter break. Two days before school let out, I was in a 4th grade classroom having been charged with the task of talking to children about families. I was supplementing the health textbook, which asks that we explain the ways that families can change, and gives the examples of divorce, birth of a sibling and death of a pet. The teacher was concerned in part because of the make up of her students. A little over half of the kids in her room are from families that are what I prefer to call non-nuclear. Many of them had experienced divorce, including one student whose parents are in the midst of the divorce process right now. She was concerned that bringing up the topics of family changes may be difficult or marginalizing for many of these students, and wanted my help discussing it with her kids.

I thought about this the way I imagine many social workers would. The curriculum calls for a discussion of families, and many of these students have probably at one point or another experienced some amount of pain, sadness or emotional discomfort regarding how their families have changed. So why not normalize family change? Talk about it in a way that makes it feel like they can share what they have felt because they will be understood.

I put together a lesson plan that used the concept of the family tree, in the sense of a cartoon tree with family members listed as different branches. Instead of just family trees, however, I used the idea of a "family forest." The students each got one tree to start with, but I explained that family trees are different from regular trees, because when a branch falls from a family tree, sometimes it makes a new tree all its own. That is how we get family forests. When branches leave our family tree and make new trees, we collect them together in the intricate way that human family is created. This is our own, dense family forest.

Some of the children really seemed to light up when I talked about their families this way. They were excited to add new trees to their forests and to show how big and beautiful their families are. I recommend finding ways like this to help students who may need assistance reframing their experiences and improving their outlook. Sometimes just changing the discussion a little and normalizing their lived experience is all it takes to really improve a kid's day.

Shifting gears a little bit, I wanted to share another great book I've been using. It's time to talk about the Mad Monster.

The Mad Monster comes out of this really great book called Sometimes I Like to Fight but I Don't Do It Much Anymore. It's a long title and long book, and it's all about a boy named Douglas who needs help dealing with anger.

I happened upon this book a few months ago in a thrift store when I was picking up a ton of social-emotional learning books for my room. It was a total gem of a find, as I have been working closely with a student this year who struggles significantly with anger management.

Douglas is introduced to the Mad Monster by his school social worker (ha!). The Mad Monster is the "thing that makes us mad at people who are just trying to help us." It is the part of us that says something snide to our significant other when they make a helpful suggestion or the voice inside some kids who mouth off to a parent that tells them to do their homework. Douglas' social worker says he should direct his anger at the Mad Monster instead of those people who care for him, and try punching a pillow or a blanket to show the Mad Monster just how mad he is.

I have started implementing this with my aforementioned student. When he comes to my office we talk a little bit about who might have made him mad that day, and while he talks I give him the chance to punch a pillow or stuffed animal. We work through why he is feeling this way, and I have gently started helping him redirect this anger at the Mad Monster inside him. He now requests the pillow or stuffed animal before we start talking, and is gradually getting used to the Mad Monster as a focus point. I think the symbolism is really helping him start manage his more abstract anger as well, and it's a nice coping mechanism for him. I definitely recommend the book for any student who needs help with anger and aggression.

That's all for now! Will post again soon.

Take care,
-Ms. OJ

Sesame Street's New Character Julia

Happy holidays to all!

At this time of year, it can be hard to focus on anything other than wrapping things up or moving things along. Fortunately, I was able to attend a professional development course today, which always forces me to slow down and really concentrate on one aspect of practice.

The course was on developing and deepening learning opportunities for preschool children on the Autism spectrum, and (most helpfully for me) included lots of visual and tactile ways to integrate curricula for students who may not respond as readily to the spoken word. There were tons of excellent resources offered to me during this session, which I will dig into a little deeper in a week or two. First though, something else that is exciting!

During the presentation I was reminded of a wonderful new addition to Sesame Street as of late. Her name is Julia, and she is the show's first autistic muppet. She is lovely, and her struggles are very reminiscent of many of my students. Julia has difficulty making eye contact, responding to questions and sometimes talks a little too loudly. She is funny and she likes to play with Elmo and Abby. Most of all, she is a normal and special kid.

Not only did Sesame Street introduce this new character, but they have also developed excellent resources for parents and siblings of children with Autism. There are also videos that can also be used for basic social narratives of daily routines with the youngest students.

May the warmth of this character bring a little joy into your holiday season!

-Ms. OJ

RtI vs. MTSS: Education alphabet soup!

Something new is going on at Giles this year that is being echoed in schools around the country.

RtI, or Response to Intervention, has now become (or really, evolved into) MTSS or Multi-Tiered Systems of Support.

I realized I didn't fully understand what this transition meant, so I decided to do a little digging after receiving a very helpful introductory staff newsletter in my inbox last week. Here is a little clarity for those who may be confused as I was.

RtI was, by name, a response to something that was already actively occurring. We wait until a student needs support and then we offer it to then, once they have "proven" their need (via various forms of testing). MTSS, conversely, is a support system, meaning it is pro-active and not just reactive. Wouldn't it be great if we could get students engaged in school supports before they are falling through the cracks? Well that's just what MTSS aims to do!

By seeing support staff as a part of the broader school context (and not just for "those" kids), MTSS provides every student with the opportunity to get a little extra boost. Thus MTSS is far more extensive and inclusive than RtI. It includes positive behavior intervention systems, overall curriculum design and more. It's like the difference between a major city's office of transportation and their public rail service (eg. the CTA in Chicago versus the Department of Transportation). While the CTA is a crucial part of Chicago transit, we can all agree that it's not the only component one considers when needing to get around the city. Similarly, RtI is just one aspect of a broader MTSS program.

Here is an excellent blog post about this and below is a handy graphic from that post to help explain more thoroughly the shift in thinking.

Hope this helps!

-Ms. OJ

Bullying Prevention Month Recap: Workshopping and Peacemaking

I will get to the recap in a second. First, another thing.

I did it!

I implemented a new program!

Okay, almost.

I have taken a bunch of free content from various sources and created my own version of Peacemakers, a peer mediation program for my 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students. Over the course of four days, I trained six students (two from each grade) in mediation techniques that include a peace path (which guides students in each step of the process of talking through a conflict), using "I" statements and promising to do better in the future. These students will mediate arguments on the playground between students in their grade, and hopefully build a little more self-sufficiency among the kids in solving their own issues.  I have almost finished, but I need to paint the peace path on the playground, and it keeps raining. I will update this blog with more information as it evolves.

Additionally, I did a bunch of anti-bullying with the information from the PACER Institute, and it was quite successful on the whole. Some of the activities (Above the Line/Below the Line and the Orange Unity chain) were big hits. The videos, to be honest, were less thrilling, but did a good job of introducing certain ideas about what bullying is and how students can help stop it. This is the only start of a larger conversation we need to have here at Giles. I intend to make regular mention of the subject and to be as present in the classroom as I can be in order to make sure it keeps happening.

For now, signing off.
-Ms. OJ

Diving into fall and Personal Space

Hello all!

PHEW! What a week! Giles is a-buzz with activity in October. Social work in the school is a complex dance, and that feels true now more than ever. Kids are getting a hang on what school is again, and the staff is teaching new material, tracking progress, intervening where needed and stepping back to see where the chips fall. Also it feels like every day there is a new after school activity or program. Student council, volleyball, soccer, band and chorus all started in the past week, and I swear, every child in the school is involved in all five activities.

I am implementing a new conflict resolution program, pushing in to the classroom, building the skills of students on my caseload and meeting with students as they are referred. It's heating up in a big, big way, but I am up to the challenge!

Last week I had the chance to push in to a class and do a quick workshop with second graders about personal space. A couple students seem to be having problems keeping their hands to themselves, and we (their teacher and I) thought it would make sense to take extra time out of the day to talk about why personal space is important. We read a great book, Personal Space Camp, and I used activities created by this wonderful special education teacher who sells her stuff on Teachers Pay Teachers. The story stars Louis, a boy who is struggling with controlling his body in the classroom and around the school. With the help of his teacher and Principal Goodkid, Louis learns about the importance of personal space and respect. If you are interested, I highly, HIGHLY recommend the book. The activities are lovely but you will probably want to create something that will work with your students and their needs in particular.

I am starting tomorrow with the anti-bullying programming I mentioned last week. I will reflect on that on Monday. For now, signing off.

-Ms. OJ

October is National Bullying Prevention Month!

This October, I am more keenly aware than ever that we are in the midst of bullying prevention month. As a first year school social worker, I am trying to implement new strategies while sticking to what I have time to accomplish.

Bullying happens all over, and as an adult who works in an elementary school, I am committed to making sure that every child I meet feels safe and supported. At  Giles, the school where I work, we have the wonderful advantage of two social workers, meaning that we are able to really support our students in ways that they need it most. I will be going into classrooms for the 1st through 5th graders and leading discussion and activities that are aimed at preventing bullying. Pretty much everything I will be doing came from the PACER National Bullying Prevention Center website. If you are thinking about doing work like this with your own children or in your school, this site will go a long way in providing you with some ideas. Additionally, the PACER Center itself is a great resource for parents of children with disabilities.

In the next couple of weeks, I will post some pictures and reflections about the various activities we do to get a sense of what works and what doesn't. Fingers crossed that it all works out beautifully!

-Ms. OJ