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/.

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