SEBW Monthly April 2020 Edition
From IDOE
A Note from Christy Berger and Lisa Truitt
As we begin to settle into this new normal across our nation and our state, we would like to provide you with personal and professional mental wellness support. As we navigate this time it is important to do our part in managing self well-being. Below you will find reminders on how to stay on track during uncertain times.
Stay well,
Join us on #INedchat next Wednesday on Twitter!!
REL Midwest Quick Chat: Shifting Classroom Practices to a Virtual Environment
SEL TV Activities
Educator Wellness
Teacher Wellness / Technical Support
The Indiana Retired Teachers Association (IRTA), Indiana Retired Teachers Foundation (IRTF) and the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) have partnered up to create the Teacher Mentor Network (TMN) to assist in alleviating some of the stress and angst that has been caused by our circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.
By completing this form, you, as an educator (or parent) will be connected with a member of the IRTA. Your connection will offer wellness support, curriculum suggestions, tutoring, cookie recipes, and, most importantly, an ear when you need it.
These are unprecedented times, and the IRTA is proud to support our educators and has mobilized to meet this enormous need. So whether you need help adjusting that curriculum to a shorter time table or need a great Snickerdoodle recipe, reach out to the IRTA.
Click here to fill out the form.
Managing Your Stress Load and Caring for Yourself
Managing your stress load and caring for yourself during
COVID-19 is essential to your health and ability to support
others. Use the link below to review the source of your stress load and
create your own self-regulation plan. A special thank you to Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation for sharing this document with IDOE.
CASEL CARES: Strategies for Being Your Best Possible SELF with Dr. Marc Brackett
MTSS
Indiana's Self-Assessment of MTSS Implementation (SAM)
A note from Jess Yoder, Project AWARE Specialist
The mission behind Project AWARE: to increase awareness, capacity, early identification/intervention, and student/family access to mental health supports through school and community-based initiatives has never been as critical as it is today. Project AWARE partners at the local and state levels are adjusting resources and supports on a daily basis with the shared responsibility to advocate for the well-being of staff, students, and families in innovative ways. The Project AWARE Expansion funding opportunity will be released for local education agencies early next month (May) and the team is eager to support additional schools—starting in the 2020-2021 school year—that show commitment to Indiana’s Project AWARE mission at the local level. Please contact Jess Yoder with questions or concerns that may have at this time. Be well!
School Social Workers
A Note from Jeff Wittman
Hello again to our extremely dedicated School Social Work professionals throughout Indiana. So much of the world we know has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic public health crisis, but the urgent need for your work remains unchanged, if not heightened. While the school age children may miss your smiling faces, what they miss even more is your unwavering presence in their lives. We know that with crisis comes opportunity. Your skills, perspective, and ability to adapt and be creative under pressure are critical to joining with scared children and families, ensuring safety, and turning the challenges of today into the building blocks for a resilient tomorrow. The struggle is real, but a silver lining to this tumultuous time has emerged, which reinforces the idea of self-care as a prerequisite for social responsibility. Please make sure that each of you is taking time to prioritize the health and well-being of both yourself and your family, to help ensure there your compassionate service lives on for another day.
The House of Blue
COVID-19: Compassion in Action
“Staying Resilient During COVID -19”
They can be found here.
The blogs and videos can also be accessed from a banner link here.
We hope these blogs and videos will help build resilience in our communities during this challenging time.
We would love to hear from you as to how they have been shared and their impact.
-Your Rogers InHealth Team
Sue, Sarah, Emily, Alison, Karlee, Josh
wise@wisewisconsin.org
School Nurses
from Jolene Bracale
Dear School Nurses,
We are indeed in new territory. Over the past few weeks, I have heard from many of you regarding your questions, concerns, and role. I have heard stories that nurses are donating PPE to your community, assisting with food distribution, assisting with child care in your school, and staying current on latest information regarding COVID-19. I am so proud of all you for stepping up and making the health of your staff and students your top priority. I know you have many questions, but things are in such a state of evolution, that many of the answers are not yet available. Please be assured that as soon as I know more concrete answers, I will let you know. Some of the items that you may be wondering about are listed below.
We face some challenging times ahead, but we will face them together. Please take good care of yourself and your families.
Very best regards,
Jolene Bracale, MSN, RN – Indiana Department of Education
IDOE MOODLE
Now would be an excellent time to take courses in the IDOE Moodle and browse through all of the folders in the School Nurse Community. For instructions on creating an account please click here. For a list of the enrollment keys for the courses and the School Nurse Community, please click here. If you have questions regarding the Moodle, the courses, or the School Nurse Community, please feel free to contact Katie Skeen at kskeen@doe.in.gov.
ACTIVITIES FOR SCHOOL NURSES DURING SCHOOL CLOSURE
This list is intended to offer suggested activities that may be used to guide the work of school nurses or establish a telework plan during the currently evolving COVID-19 pandemic while schools are closed.
- Continue to keep in touch with your local public health agency
- Stay up to date with the most current CDC information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic
- Review your school policies/procedures/handbook/forms and update as needed
- Create a newsletter and include local resources and CDC educational materials to share with parents
- If able, check the immunization status of your students and make a list of those that are incomplete for the upcoming school year (do not contact parents until sites are open and available for children to obtain immunizations)
- If able, complete the NASN DATA SURVEY
- Link to the INDIVIDUAL BUILDING SURVEY
- Link to the CORPORATION SURVEY
Please contact Cindy Hill at cindhill@iu.edu with any questions you may have regarding this survey
The SEL and School Safety Connection
SCHOOL CORPORATION CRISIS RESPONSE AND RECOVERY GUIDE
Attendance Tracking During COVID-19
Many schools are reaching out and asking how to track attendance while schools are operating with remote learning or e-learning. Attendance policies are local decisions. Please note that if your district does not already have a remote learning policy in place, you should count your students present on days you are offering learning opportunities. Attendance policies are locally created. They need to be approved by your local school board, and made available for public viewing and awareness before being put into action. It is up to each school district to determine whether or not they want to create and adopt a remote learning attendance policy. IDOE's COVID-19 Resources page has a wealth of information and I encourage you to visit it often. Dr. McCormick's Weekly Webinar for School Leaders on COVID-19 (Tuesday's at 10:00 am) can be found here. Any questions you have that are COVID-19 specific can be emailed to IDOECOVID-19@doe.in.gov.
Stay well,
Lisa Truitt, IN State Attendance Officer
School Counselors Newsletter
Upcoming Events
Thought Leadership: Remote Learning Best Practice Webinar Series
Learn from Achieve3000's webinar series. If you would like to learn more click here.
IDOE Webinar: Student Supports for Remote Learning
Meeting number (access code): 613 092 839
Meeting password: 2Q5gWNVurx9
Panorama and IDOE Webinar: Building Belonging & Connectedness for Students
Description: Curious about how to virtually foster a sense of belonging for your school community? Looking for new strategies and systems to build your classroom community from a distance? Attend this webinar to learn some “use tomorrow” strategies, as well as virtual systems that can help you to maintain and foster meaningful relationships from afar. Downloadable templates will be provided to support virtual connections as well!
Time: Apr 24, 2020 11:30 AM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Restorative Practices Train the Trainer - FREE Opportunity
Have you been interested in implementing Restorative Practices in your school to:
-Align your discipline to best practices in neuroscience and trauma-informed care?
-Reduce the disproportionality in your discipline?
-Create more positive, welcoming culture in your school?
To help your school tap into these transformative practices, Peace Learning Center, in partnership with DMHA, has created a FREE train-the-trainer program for schools across the state of Indiana*. In the fall of 2020, the module for the southern region of Indiana will begin. If you are in Central or Northern Indiana, there will be sessions held near you in the spring of 2021 or fall of 2021.
Each participating school will send a small team who will:
- Receive five days of training and will emerge as trainers, capable of training the rest of your staff
- Receive all training materials and resources
- Create a restorative discipline plan to help move your practices from punitive to restorative
- Be connected to a cohort of other schools to learn from and share resources
- Receive support and consultation from Peace Learning Center
*If in-person trainings are not an option, we will offer online trainings, certification, and resource distribution!
It is also important to note that starting school year 2019-2020 school districts need to ensure that they are continuing to meet the letter and intent of HEA 1421. This train the trainer opportunity and creation of restorative discipline plan would meet these statutory requirements!
The Fall 2020 Cohort will be trained in southern Indiana at the Carriage House at the Howard Steamboat Museum.
1101 E. Market St, Jeffersonville, IN 47130
Cost of training, lodging and a per diem for each participant are covered. Cost of travel and substitutes are not covered.
Read our Frequently Asked Questions below:
Apply here
CASEL CARES Webinar April 17
Let's Listen to Our Young People: What Supports Do They Need?
CASEL CARES is a new initiative that connects the SEL community with experts to address how SEL can be most helpful in today’s circumstances. Have you asked yourself, "Are adults providing students with what they need during this crisis?" If so, join CASEL for a discussion with PDK CEO Josh Starr and Educators Rising high school students. PDK’s recent survey shares more from high school students on what kind of social and emotional supports they need and from educators on what they’re providing. While there is a lot of great work happening to attend to the needs of our kids, there are some clear disconnects. During this webinar, we’ll look at the student voice data together and invite high school students to discuss strategies for bridging that gap. If you are unable to join us for the live webinar, go ahead and register. We will email you a recording to watch at a later time when it's convenient. Click here to register.
Archive
Lisa Truitt
State Attendance Officer
Email: LTruitt1@doe.in.gov
Website: www.doe.in.gov/sebw
Location: 115 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone: 317-233-6016
Twitter: @LisaTruitt_SEL