TT0207: Supporting Mental Health Through Social Work

Sharon Tillman has been a social worker in Chicago Public Schools for over 20 years and her expertise and experience has been invaluable to our students and staff. In this episode we will talk about the importance of SEL (Social and Emotional Instruction and Competencies) standards, utilizing a personalized learning rubric, recognizing when social services are needed, and tips on how to build relationships. Many schools are underfunded and don’t have adequate social services to support the demands and needs of their students. It is important for educators to develop some of these skills and know when to reach out for support of students at risk. Educators are vital to the development of academic and social and emotional skills. Building relationships may be hard for some educators but showing you care comes in many forms. Students are able to recognize educators who are genuine. The way we build our lessons, body language, and greetings go a long way in helping to connect with students. We have podcasts on these topics and resources on our website, but Mrs. Tillman stresses the importance of creating time and space for communication with students. It is important for both parties to express their feelings and rationale for behaviors and consequences to promote understanding. With the help of Mrs. Tillman and a variety of sources from the internet, we created a personalized learning rubric for SEL to try to help our students perform at their best and feel comfortable in the learning environment. Students will select three to four items from the different categories listed on rubric that they would like to improve on during the marking period. It is essential to have discussions with the students about their selections to ensure they understand their selections and they are selecting items that support and challenge them (see the action steps below). The purpose is for students to solve interpersonal problems and to make ethical decisions when facing adversity. Turning struggle into success is something our students need to understand and embrace. To help them with this there is a teacher SEL rubric where students will select items for the instructor to implement during the marking period. The instructor’s rubric is put together by the selections the students would like to see me implement for a productive and collaborative learning environment. Being vulnerable to your students will help them to better understand the growth mindset and that we are all constantly working towards improving. The conversations that come from these rubrics has transformed the way we relate to the students and understand. The post TT0207: Supporting Mental Health Through Social Work appeared first on Teacher Tribes.