School Social Worker Priority Sheet

The item of interest that I chose was titled “Clinical School Social Work”.  Starting out at Hersey High School I was tossed right into the mix of things just as I was hoping.  What I quickly learned is that the role of a school social worker has many responsibilities and knowing how to prioritize can be difficult and drain on positive thoughts.  My supervisor created a priority sheet for me so I would know what takes precedence of others.  This was a mind saver for me and in a way, a form of self-care. 

School social workers are pulled in many directions and have a large number of responsibilities and tasks to complete in a short day.  This sheet helps me keep my day straight when things come up that are not planned.  Every school might have a different order that your supervisor wants you to follow but the top three things will be universal.  Crisis control always takes precedence over any other responsibility.  That does not mean that just because a student comes down to your office unexpectedly that you send your normal scheduled student back to class.  It means seeing what the crisis is and determining if it can wait.  Suicidal idealization is more important than a student who wants to talk about what his/her friend said to them.  The social worker still needs to use judgement while using this sheet.

SMART Goals Paint Swatches Activity

Item of Interest: SMART Goals Paint Swatches Activity

Specific

Measurable

Action orientated

Realistic and Relevant

Time based

This is a great way for students to be able to visually see their goals that they are working on everyday. The student can physically see the goals and how to work on achieving them all in one place. It’s colorful, so the student will be able to locate it when necessary. When the social worker has the time, he or she will check in on the goals and keep a chart of progress towards the student’s goals. Moreover, if the student has the paint swatches laminated, the student can physically “check-off” once they have completed the goal. This item of interest meets the Social Work Model under the practice feature of “Provide[s] evidence-based education, behavior, and mental health services”. This is done by implementing the practice, monitoring the progress of the goals, and evaluating if the student is making progress with this activity. Goals can be updated on the paint swatches and changed when necessary. SMART Goals are easy to relate to evidence-based practice as they are used throughout education and can be easily implemented.

Materials Need:

Paint Swatches (Multiple colors in one strip), Pens

Instructions:

Each student that you are working with should receive two paint swatches.

The paint swatches should be glued back to back.

Students will then develop SMART goals.

            The first swatch will be a SMART Goal for today.

            The second swatch will be a SMART goal for the week.

            The third swatch will be a SMART goal for the month.

            The fourth swatch will be a SMART goal for the year.

The SMART Goals will be in line with IEP goals for the year.

Example: Student needs to work on organization. A SMART Goal for today could be that their assignment notebook is filled out for the day completely before leaving school.

On the back of the SMART Goal will be ways to complete this goal.

Example: Assignment notebook has all homework listed, checkmarks of completion, or NONE if no homework was assigned.

Sources:

Activity: Created by myself, Katie Cuciarone

S.M.A.R.T Goals:

Jung, L. A. (2007). Writing SMART objectives and strategies that fit the ROUTINE. Teaching exceptional children, 39(4), 54-58.