Should I or Shouldn’t I?

For my second item of interest I would like to share a game that I use with my supervisor
tailored to middle and high school students. The game is called Should I or Shouldn’t I? by Social Thinking. This game is used for students who struggle with problem solving, expected and unexpected behaviors, also helps with perspective taking, social thinking, and self-awareness. This can be played in large, small or induvial sessions. Asking follow up questions are beneficial to encourage deeper thinking. This game can be used with children who are on the autism spectrum, ADHD, nonverbal learning disorder, social communication disorder and other learning challenges. The junior high students seem to enjoy using this game and remain engaged throughout the session. On the website, there is also the same game for elementary students.

Social thinking is an evidence-based practice which takes characteristics related to cognitive behavioral therapy by allowing students to reframe their thoughts or behaviors by understanding how their reactions or behaviors affect others. There has been a vast amount of research done on the benefits of using the social thinking framework. On the website posted below you can excess more information on social thinking, the different products and curriculums offered though Social Thinking.


https://www.socialthinking.com/Products/should-i-or-shouldnt-i-middle-school-high-school-edition

Should I or Shouldn't I? Price: $26.99

Item of Interest: The Make or Break Year (Emily Krone Phillips)

This weeks item of interest is the book, The Make or Break Year: Solving the Dropout Crisis One Ninth Grader at a Time" by Emily Krone Phillips. In the past few decades students in CPS schools were just as likely to dropout as they were to graduate.This book follows the implementation of Freshman On-Track, an approach to education to address the dropout issues in school. The book follows the research provided by CPS schools in navigating effective intervention to meet freshman students' needs. Furthermore, the implementation of these effective interventions found to positively impact student graduation rates. As I read this book I am choosing to take a critical perspective as the book presents the solution to dropout rates as a series of "simple" solutions. Knowing that academic achievement can be rooted in socio-economic status, race, ethnicity and other factors I am interested to know how accurate the solutions presented in this book are to sustainable and effective change.
Emily Krone Phillips Book Reading

Amazon Link to Book

Win-Win Discipline Model

My first item of interest is one that is used throughout my internship to help create structure for our students. Thomas Jefferson Junior High School in Woodridge, IL, where I intern, is a PBIS school. At Jefferson, we use a Tier 1 intervention for discipline when working with our students. The discipline model that we use is called Win-Win Discipline and was created by Spencer Kagan, Ph.D. This discipline model encourages collaborative learning and takes the power struggle that often occurs out of the discipline process.

The Win-Win Discipline model has four sections and is set up like the graphic below. There are four types of classroom disruptions that are identified as ABCD within Win-Win Discipline. These disruptions are identified as Aggression, Confrontation, Disengagement, and Breaking the rules. Breaking the rules is listed last and the disruption is only labeled as so if it does not fall within the other three categories. Win-Win encourages us to look past the disruption to see why a student is being disruptive. There are 7 positions as to why a student would be disruptive. The student may be disruptive because they are: attention-seeking, avoiding failure, angry, control seeking, bored, energetic, or socially uninformed. These 7 positions help us to understand how to meet the student's needs. We are able to better understand a student’s needs through Win-Win’s 3 pillars of letting students know we are on the same-side through conversations, creating collaborative solutions with the student who caused the disruption, and helping the student gain learned responsibility through teaching them positive ways to get their needs met and to take ownership of their actions. Win-Win Discipline is built on a foundation of engaging in the prevention of disruptive behavior, engaging at the moment- of- disruption where we identify which of the 7 positions the student is in and decide how to respond in a mutually beneficial way through language of choice, and through follow-ups where we check-in, process and help the student understand their behavior and how to correctly and positively get their needs met in the future. This foundation helps to limit the number of disruptions that occur within the classroom.  Win-Win Discipline takes practice, especially when working through the conversations to have within the moment of disruption.

The Win-Win Discipline Model fits into the social work model under the area of promoting a school climate and culture that is conducive to student learning and teaching excellence through the collaborative learning that takes place between the school administration, staff, and students and can be used at all grade levels. This discipline model helps to eliminate the power struggle that often occurs in conflict resolutions in the classroom where one side has to lose. Win-Win Discipline promotes student engagement and ownership in creating a classroom and school environment which is not only inviting but also conducive to encouraging everyone to actively participate in their learning.

Please view the graphic and the PowerPoint below for a further explanation of Win-Win Discipline.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RCt_Qu-9fz4uSQav3qKFK6RNasyMeybQeZ9HyUfXKFA/edit?usp=sharing

The Mask You Live In

Being exposed to this documentary during Undergrad, was really eye opening and honestly felt a relief to see other men reflecting on the expectation to be a “man” today is toxic. The Mask You Live In discusses what it means to be a man in today’s society and the expectations and pressure that goes along with it. The idea of how exactly do we get these male gender norms that tell young boys that to be a man. Norms such as “You cannot cry, you have to play sports, get a girlfriend by treating them this way, and be this tough guy persona”. We live in a society that tell young boys to have this mindset at such a young age to just man up and move on. The Mask You Live In is a great tool to use in a school setting especially during their Freshman year and throughout as a way of exposure to themes such as defining what masculinity is to them, learned behaviors (nature vs nurture), resulting emotions feed into violence, and lastly the responsibility that men have today to towards the younger generation. By using this film and using the follow up questions from the film. Questions such as "How has your present-day definition of masculinity been informed? Have you actively challenged societal concepts of masculinity, or do you feel you have taken a more passive approach and absorbed gender norms?” I feel this is a great way to get young men to understand and reflect on where they stand and how they want to be. 

http://influencefilmclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/The-Mask-You-Live-In-Discussion-Guide.pdf

Anger Management Groups

Anger Management Groups

This item of interest is based off of a CBT-based anger management curriculum called Healthy Choices. This is geared towards high school students, but can be easily adapted for younger students. The goal of this group is to work towards three social and emotional learning goals: 1A.4a: Analyze how thoughts and emotions affect decision making and responsible behavior. This is achieved through focusing on the A, B, C model of the relationship between events, thoughts and feelings. The second goal it focuses on is: 1A. 3b: Apply strategies to manage stress and motivate successful performance. The focus of this goal is to help teach relaxation techniques, including deep breathing, counting backwards and positive imagery. The last goal is: 2D.3a: Evaluate strategies for preventing and resolving conflicts. In this strategy you will help students be able to use assertiveness and positive decision making to stay out of conflicts.

The format is an 8-week session with small groups of students who either have been identified from your experience, the Dean’s office or a teacher referral. Below is an example of what the 8-week outline resembles.

Session Outline

 Session 1 – Introduction

 Overview of the purpose and goals of group

 Review group rules, expectations, and confidentiality

 Icebreaker Activity

 Pre-Test

 Anger Thermometer

 Introduce Hassle Logs

 Session 2 – Triggers and Cues

 Identifying Triggers (Anger Buttons worksheet from Strategies for Anger Management workbook)

 Identifying Physical Cues (body signs) (Physical Cues to Anger worksheet from SAM workbook)

 Session 3 – Anger Reduction Techniques

 Deep Breathing

 Counting Backwards

 Positive Imagery

 Session 4 – ABCDE Model

 ABCDE of Anger Control

 ABCDE Analysis of Student Examples

 Session 5 – Effective Communication

 Assertiveness Training

 Conflict Resolution

 Session 6 – Skill Building #1

 Dealing with an Accusation

 Keeping Out of Fights

 Session 7 – Skill Building #2

 Dealing with Someone Else’s Anger

 Understanding the Feelings of Others

 Session 8 – Review and Closure

 Review of Past Sessions

 Completion Ceremony

Reference:

http://www.schoolsocialwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Anger-managment-group.pdf

TEEN DATING VIOLENCE INTERVENTIONS & RESOURCES

TEEN DATING VIOLENCE INTERVENTIONS & RESOURCES

• One in 10 high school students has experienced physical violence from a dating partner in the past year. 

• Among adult victims of rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner, 22.4% of women and 15.0% of men first experienced some form of partner violence between 11 and 17 years of age. 

• Across studies, 15-40% of youth report perpetrating some form of violence towards a dating partner. 

• Risk factors for teen dating violence include individual, peer, partner, parent, and neighborhood influences. 

• Perpetrating dating violence in adolescence increases the risk of perpetrating violence toward a partner in adulthood. 

• Exposure to dating violence significantly affects a range of mental and physical health problems.

CDC: Dating Matters™ Educator Training—Dating Matters™: Understanding Teen Dating Violence Prevention

Warning Signs of Dating Abuse:

Checking cell phones, emails or social networks without permission
Extreme jealousy or insecurity
Constant belittling or put-downs
Explosive temper
Isolation from family and friends
Making false accusations
Erratic mood swings
Physically inflicting pain or hurt in any way
Possessiveness
Telling someone what to do
Repeatedly pressuring someone to have sex

Resource Links:

Break the Cycle

Activity Guides with Students

Evidence Based and Free Curriculum on Teen Dating Violence

Love is Respect

Text Us

Text* loveis (capitalization does not matter) to 22522. You will receive a response from a peer advocate prompting you for your question. Go ahead and text your comment or question and we will reply.

Call Us

Speak to a peer advocate by calling 1-866-331-9474. When you call, be prepared for the advocate to first ask if you are in a safe place to talk. Once you are, the advocate will encourage you to explain your situation.

Love is Not Abuse iPhone App

Launched in August 2011, the free Love is Not Abuse iPhone app is an educational resource for parents that demonstrates the dangers of digital dating abuse and provides much needed information on the growing problem of teen dating violence and abuse.