Social Work Scrapbook (Ethical Dilemmas, Youtube Channel)

Social Work Scrapbook Youtube
Social Work Ethical Decision Making Guide

I found my item of interest in my SWK-611 Field Practicum class. My item of interest is, The Social Work Scrapbook, it a series of Youtube videos, blogs, social media and tools to use for social workers. All of these resources are run by a social worker from Texas, Lauren. Lauren offers a unique and modern approach to help social workers navigate the challenges and benefits of being a social worker. The topics Lauren presents are very applicable to social workers’ personal and professional lives. Her Youtube channel offers a number of vlogs on different topics across the social work profession. Her blog opens up a space for discussion on these topics and other tools that are useful, which are also available for free on TeachersPayTeachers.com. I have found Lauren’s perspective and tools to be helpful in my own learning and offer another approach to new information outside of the classroom. 

One of the most useful tools I have found in Lauren’s media is the “Social Workers Ethical Dilemma Decision Making Guide”. This tool, created by Lauren is paired with a short Youtube video discussing ethical dilemmas and how to navigate them best. The decision making guide presents simple questions to help the social worker assess and analyze the situation and how to approach the issue. 

Boardmaker Online

The item of interest I want to share is a multi-level approach website that is mainly utilized for the special education classroom, however, offers benefits to all educators and service providers. The website is https://goboardmaker.com/. Boardmaker online is an online resource that allows you to create, search and support interventions in place through visuals. Beyond the creation of visuals, boardmaker online also serves as a gateway to other resources. The boardmaker online website provides links to additional hands on games, manipulatives and actives that are evidenced-based practices, particularly relating to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).

Boardmaker also allows you to address behavior, and mental health services in a multi-level approach from of the school social work practice mode by creating or finding documents from the website that monitor progress and evaluate service effectiveness. Boardmaker can be an assistant to collecting data and tracking student progress towards IEP goals and educational standards.

Individuals with disabilities learn and manage their world better when visual strategies are used to support their, understanding, expression, and positive behavior.  Visual strategies encourage communication, emotional regulation, learning, and independence for our students. The visuals from Boardmaker also help with organization and structure for students who either struggle with organizational skills or require organization.

I have utilized Boardmaker to create data tracking documents, behavior charts, emotion cards to help students communicate, visual task cards to keep students on track, graphic organizers, visual schedules for school and home to ensure services are being implemented in all settings, and social stories to encourage positive behavior.

Boardmaker is not free however since this resource can be used by ELL teachers and general education teachers I would highly recommend advocating for access. This resource has been used by ELL and Gen. Ed. teachers by creating word walls that are visuals cards with sight or vocabulary words to help the students create sentences.

Prices:

Personal: 1 month/$9.99, 1 year/$99, 2 years/$190, 3 years/$270

Professional: 1 Month/$19.99, 1 Year/$199, 2 Years/$360, 3 Years/$540

District: Call for pricing (800) 588-4548



Free resource that offers premade visuals: http://www.victoriesnautism.com/communication--behavioral-cues.html

Social Stories

https://carolgraysocialstories.com/social-stories/what-is-it/

My item of interest is Social Stories. My supervisor asked me to start writing some stories for one of the student's on the case load with autism. The goal for this particular student was helping him to understand how to work with others. However, social stories can literally be used for anything social skills related. It is a great tool when you need to appropriately introduce students to concepts they are unfamiliar with. I think it is very beneficial for the elementary/ middle school age, but of course can be used for high school age students as well.  The website does give several examples of social stories, which I found helpful when writing my own. The topics the website has examples on are, safety, tragedies, discovery of self and others, and advanced concepts like stereotypes.

Suicidal Ideations

Last Friday at my internship, we had three crises. Three students had to be evaluated because of suicidal ideations. Since this was the most overwhelmed I have ever been at the school I decided to look into some resources to help with the process. I have provided some links as resources when faced with a student that has suicidal idealizations, and we as social workers have to hospitalize them. 

The first link, I find to be the most helpful, comes from the NASW website. Under school social work tool kit, you can find many articles. When I searched suicide, this and a few other tools came up. This PDF is extremely long, however, it gives step by step tools for all suicide related situations that come up in the school. Chapter two is the chapter I focused on because that chapter has guidelines and assessment tools for going through the process of hospitalizing a student. Chapter 3 discusses what to do when a student from the school commits suicide. Chapter 4 also has resources on a few training options social workers can take to be more prepared for the time they have a suicidal student. 

            The next link is also from the NASW website. This link does not go into what to do when you have a student who has suicidal ideations in your office, but just talks about preventative measures to take within the school. The article discuses warning signs to be on the lookout for. 

            The final link is to the Illinois Department of Human Services. This page explains what SASS is, how to get in contact with SASS, and what the purpose of SASS is. The link also explains who is eligible for the SASS services. 

            All these links I have provided are great resources for school social workers to have because unfortunately many students self-harm and have suicidal ideations. It is our job to assess them, call their parents to inform them, and get the students the help and care they need. Our job in this situation is very stressful and overwhelming, which is why understanding what to do is imperative. 

https://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//SMA12-4669/SMA12-4669.pdf

https://www.socialworkers.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=KAdzT4skAT8%3d&portalid

http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=92597