My Role and Responsibiilties

Social and Emotional Learning
My main role as a school social worker is to positively impact children's social and emotional learning through working with students, staff and families.   Social and emotional learning is essential to a students success and is part of the Common Core Standards.  In order for a child to be able to learn and reach their full potential, they need social and emotional skills.

Some children have already built social and emotional skills and are able to display positive behaviors and actions without much additional support.  However, some children need a little extra help in gaining these skills, and that is where I come in.    

My Role at Heritage Trail

At Heritage Trail I work directly with students with special needs(IEP's and 504 plans) that have social, emotional, or behavioral challenges, as well as Tier 3 behavioral general education students.   I also work with general education students when they are experiencing challenges or changes that are impacting their ability to learn.  Some of the ways I support students are listed below:

Individual counseling
Small group counseling
Social Skills training
Anger Management Skills 
Working with students with disabilities such as Autism, Developmental Delays, ADHD, etc. to teach basic social thinking and functioning skills
Classroom Observations
Consultation on behavioral issues with teachers
Completing IEP/504 evaluations
Writing, implementing, and tracking progress on social, emotional, and behavioral goals as part of an IEP or 504 
Problem Solving team
Writing Functional Behavioral Analysis and Behavioral Intervention Plans
Providing resources to staff and families

* Some Curriculums I use include: 
Social Thinking Stategies, Superflex...A Superhero Social Thinking Curriculum, You are a Social Detective!, Strong Start/Strong Kids, Social Behavior Mapping, Zones of Regulation, Incredible Flexible You, The Incredible 5 Point Scale, research based strategies, etc.

Therapeutic Techiques used:

*Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
*Behavioral Modification
*Art Therapy techniques
*Play Therapy Techniques
*Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy
*Narrative Therapy
*Bibliotherapy
*Cognitive Therapy
* Many More!
 
I do a detailed evaluation of each of my students to make sure that I am using the best possible research based technique to meet the individual needs or my students.  If you have any questions about the therapeutic technique I am using with your child, please contact me.  I would love to discuss my process with you!