Items of Interest

National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens (NIDA for Teens)

First resource: website for National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens (NIDA for Teens). https://teens.drugabuse.gov/teens/videos

The first resource is the website: National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens (NIDA for Teens). NIDA for Teens is a component of the National Institute of Health (NIH). Information and resources (Spanish and English) provided are science-based (evidence-based). The focus is teens (11-17) and the purpose is to educate teens, parents, teachers and other educators on the facts about drugs and their effects on the brain and body. The goal is to help teens use critical thinking to be able to make informed decisions about possible drug usage and their health.

The site has separate sections and resources for teens, parents and teachers. 

For teens, there is a Q & A section with scientific facts about an extensive list of drugs, their effects on the body and brain and data of teen usage. There are a variety of videos, games, infographics, Drug & Health Blog and publications that can be viewed on the site. Brain Development (3 minutes long) is a good introductory video presented by a teen. 

For teachers, there are 90 science-based lessons with multimedia activities for classroom use. National standards, appropriate grade level and lesson plans can be downloaded and classroom materials ordered free.  Additionally, information about National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week (3/30/2020-4/5/2020) with resources for hosting school events is available. 

For parents, information is provided (scientific facts, videos and links to resources) for prevention of teen drug usage and drug treatment programs.

When working in School Social Work, the NIDA website is very helpful for Universal Substance Use Prevention programs and targeted work with student (in groups or individually), who have used or are using drugs. This website gives the School Social Worker important knowledge on a wide variety of drugs, their effects on different parts of the body and tools/resources that can be used when speaking with students about drug usage. With the legalization of marijuana in January 2020, research has suggested that teen usage of marijuana may escalate. Additionally, parents may not realize the increased potency of marijuana (compared to decades ago) and the dangers of marijuana usage on the developing adolescent brain.

Extra resource: School Services Sourcebook

Franklin, C., Harris, M. B., & Allen-Meares, P. (Eds.). (2013). The school services sourcebook:

A guide for school-based professionals (2^nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

This is a great resource filled with evidence-based practices for the School Social Worker. It focuses on many aspects of School Social Work including resources for improving Student Support Services (methods and frameworks); resources for working with students with mental health, developmental and/or physical disorders; resources for working with students with substance abuse, health, interpersonal and/or social problems; crisis intervention, etc. This book also illustrates efforts to deal with school engagement, attendance, dropout prevention, violence, bullying, conflict resolution, sexual assault, gangs and efforts to improve multicultural and community relations. Assessments, interventions (Tiers 1, 2 and 3), therapies, trainings, examples and extensive references are presented. This book can definitely increase the social worker’s knowledge and skill base working with students from elementary through high school age.

Stop, Breathe, & Think App

The Stop, Breathe, & Think app is a fantastic tool for guided meditation and mindfulness.  The app is free and is available through the app store and the google play store.  This program allows users to conduct a check in which gathers information about how users are feeling mentally, physically, and emotionally.  Once this information is gathered, the app generates up to four different mindfulness experiences tailored to users based on how they responded to the check-in.  These mindfulness experiences range from body scans, mindful walks, meditations, and more.

The mindfulness experiences are guided, and they give users the option to proceed in Spanish or English.  There is a free version of the app, though the paid version is free to educators!

Umoja - Student Development Corporation

Umoja- Student Development Corporation was founded in 1997 by Lila Leff. Umoja means "unity" in Swahili. Umoja- Student Development Corporation (https://www.umojacorporation.org/) is an organization that teaches educators how to better support students through social emotional learning (SEL) and restorative justice.  Umoja believes that by teaching and training educators on ways to support and better develop students, students will have a better chance of success in their futures. On the Umoja website it states, "We build deep social-emotional learning (SEL) skills in educators to transform the ways young people experience school and the ways schools exist to serve society." Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are at the center of Umoja’s work.

            One of the deans at my internship went to a professional development workshop at Umoja to learn more about SEL and restorative justice (because learning from the school social workers was apparently not enough). The information that was learned from Umoja was then presented at an all staff institute day. Even though social workers have been teaching and implementing SEL, other educational professionals are only starting to realize the importance and the ways in which SEL can improve other areas within the educational environment. Additionally at my internship, fighting has been a big issue this year. One of social work’s best practices for when there is conflict is through implementing a restorative justice process. At the all staff institute day, information from Umoja about restorative justice was also presented. Below is one of the information sheets that was presented when talking about restorative justice but is also just a good self-check in general when working with any student.

References

Umoja-Student Development Corporatin. Retrieved October 22, 2019, from

https://www.umojacorporation.org/.

IEP Goal Planning

https://iepq.education.illinois.edu/toolbox

My item of interest is the website called IEPQ which serves as a support for creating IEPs. The website offers a functional goal assistant which helps professionals identify possible goals for students based on State Standards. Additionally, the website offers a resource library which includes items such as planning sheets which help IEP team members gather information prior to the meeting so that they are well informed beforehand. The website offers fictionalized student examples to help professionals get a better understanding of how the IEP should be written. This website has been helpful for all the professionals in the student service office as well as the case managers and teachers. This is a useful tool especially as we are all just starting to work on IEPs. There are a number of resources that can be valuable in creating more personalized IEP goals. Additionally, the website saves the goals that you created so that you can reference them in the future. This website is completely free, but requires a log in to access the information on this site.

SEL Guide

https://schoolguide.casel.org/

My item of interest was given to me by my supervisor as a tool for self-reflection. The resource was found on the CASEL guide to school wide social emotional development. The assessment tool is intended to give staff the opportunity to reflect on areas of strength or defeict in working with students especially related to social emotional intelligence. Additionally, my school has used the guide to schoolwide social emotional learning to help develop our school wide social emotional development intuitive. The website walks you through the different steps of developing social emotional learning in your school. As the need continues to grow for social emotional learning its important that we know how to implement this system in our schools. This tool can serve as a great tool when speaking to administrators as they are often hesitant to implement systems that aren’t strictly academic in nature.