Leigh Anne Boyd » Mrs. Boyd - School Social Worker

Mrs. Boyd - School Social Worker

I am the school social worker, Mrs. Boyd.  My role is to teach and support our students with their social and emotional needs so that they can do well in school.  I provide in class lessons in all of the K-5 classrooms on coping skills, conflict resolution, and relationship skills.  For students in crisis, I can give emotional and behavioral support.  I am a counselor for students with IEPs, 504s, and MTSS plans for students the team identifies to be in need.  Families can also reach out to me for support with community resources for their child.  I reach out by Talking Points to all families with information about classroom lessons, skills, and resources.  Families can always respond to my messages with questions.  
 
Check out my Links page for access to many community resources you might find helpful.  Click on Social Emotional Classroom Lessons to find info and resources from the lessons we are working on this month.  My Posts include information about how you can help your child with their social and emotional development from past years.
 
Mrs. Boyd - a middle aged, caucasan woman with grey and brown hair
SEL Stadium Shark
 

Posts

Calm Down Corner

At school this month I have been introducing materials that they can use to help them calm down when they are upset.  Each teacher had their own rules about when, where and for how long they can use these items to ensure students are able to have optimal learning in school.
 
I am sharing them here so that you can help your child. Some need materials (Putty, Worry Box/Monster, Build, Mind Jar, Stuffed Animal, etc.) but you can always replace putty with anything they can squeeze or any other replacement that gets the kids to calm down.  You can make your own box with these visuals, your own items, or other calming ideas that work for your child.
 
Here's a few ways to use them:
 
1. Put together a calm down box of your own. - Use visuals of things that your child finds calming and put them with items they might need to help them calm down in a box.  Visual prompts can help encourage them to try it without a verbal argument.  (If you need more options, I do have them.  Please feel free to ask).  Give them a space and time to use these items when they have some difficult feelings.
2. Practice using the skills with your child.  Pull them up on your phone or print them out if you want. Do them with your kids when they are already calm.  The more we practice coping skills the more likely we will be to use them effectively when we are upset.  Practice one at meal time or bedtime or another time when they can see it is for all family members and helpful for all to manage our feelings.
3.  Model using these (or similar skills) when you are upset.  I like to say, "I am feeling upset, I think I need to try some deep breathing (or other skill) before I try to talk about this with you".
4.  When your child knows how to use these skills, remind them to try them when they are upset.  Usually it's best to practice it slightly upset before trying them if they are out of control upset.  If you can plan to gradually increase the challenge of calming down it usually is more successful.
 
How to...  Also many students were asking about 2 of the items that they would like to have at home.  I am including two links:  How to make a Calm Down (Glitter) Jar and How to make a Worry Box or a Worry Monster.  

Summer Fun, Calming, and Coping Activities

Please check out these summer activities to help your  child continue to grow socially and emotionally.  Do  them together with your kids to show how these skills  can help because grown ups have big feelings too!  Any child who brings at least one page filled out with  what you’ve tried will get a special prize from me.

1. The  Summer Bucket List for Families  is a short list  of  activities you can do together with your children to  strengthen family relationships. 
 
2. The Social Emotional Learning Bingo Challenge Board  is  full of skills that all people can do to improve our  social and emotional abilities.  Try to get 5 in a row! 
 
3. The Mindful Summer Scavenger Hunt  is a fun way to  practice mindfulness with our senses.  Mindfulness  helps us all when we have a brain full of upsetting  thoughts. 

4. The Coping Strategies List  is a long list  of things you  can do when you are upset.  Try as many as you can  and grade each skill in the box (A, B, C.. F) for how well  it helped you handle big feelings. 
 
Have a great summer!!!

Mindfulness and Mindful Walking

In May I met with the students to discuss Mindfulness.  I explained that mindfulness is focusing on something on purpose, right now, and being kind to ourselves and others.  This is because we usually (kids and grownups), get upset about things that happened in the past (we replay them in our head and what we or someone else could have done differently) or that will happen in the future (and we worry about if it will turn out badly).  When we focus on what is happening right now, we can calm our thoughts and hopefully calm our bodies as well. I'm including a few videos about mindfulness for different age groups:
 
 
 
After we discussed Mindfulness, I took the kids on a walk outside to practice mindful walking.  While we walked, we focused on our senses.  Taste being a hard one to practice without food, we focused on the rest: Sight, Hearing, Touch, and Smell.  We moved our bodies to get our heartrates up and noticed our heart beating.  Then we practiced taking slow deep breaths to calm ourselves and talked about how this is like when we get upset and need to calm down.
 
Here is a link of a video about Mindful Walking.  Try it with your family.  I love to do it myself whether it's around my backyard, walking to places near me, or going out on a nature hike.  
 
 
Try this over the summer regularly, and you may find that you and your children are better able to handle the big feelings that come along.

Zones Toolbox (with translations)

Now that we know what our bodies are like when we feel different emotions and the zones they fit into, we need to figure out which of our coping skills works best in which zone.  This lesson is about noticing what we need and matching a coping skill to it. We focus on the level of energy in our body and whether we need to calm down (yellow & red zones), get a boost of energy (blue zone), or use our calm body to problem solve (green zone).
 
We learned three new coping skills (Change it up, Ocean breaths, and End of the rainbow) and then we rated these coping skillsl and some skills from last year about which zone they would be most helpful for us.  Once we've done that, we have a toolbox of coping skills that will provide us with what we need when we have big feelings.
 
 
PS - if this file is too large, please let me know and I can send you a smaller version in English or in any of the translated languages (Arabic, Chinese, Khmer, Spanish, Vietnamese) upon request.

Social Emotional Book List

Here is a list of books about Social Emotional topics that you can use with your children if you are interested.  If you have any feedback about the books, please share it with me and I would love to hear how you and your children respond to these books!
Active Listening
 
In February we are learning about how to be a active good listener. We discussed using good body language to show we are listening and also trying to comment or ask questions that show interest and caring so that we really understand.
 
In the older grades, 3 Steps we focused on were:
1. Use empathy.  Say something about how you think they might feel or how you would feel in their situation.
2. Do not judge!  Just comment or ask questions to understand.  Even if you disagree, do not tell them they are wrong, ask them why they think that way.  
3. Watch your body language.  Look at the person, make sure your face is being open and curious (not judgmental or angry).  If they feel comfortable with you, they will share more and you can work out any disagreements easier.
 
The younger students were asked to do these things (a modification of the older classes):
1. Look at the person
2. Lean in to show you're paying attention.
3. Nod when they are speaking
4. Try to say to them how they seem to be feeling and repeat what they said to you.
 
We talked about how this is hard when we feel upset by what someone says but that sometimes to comment on how the other person might be feeling and rephrase what they said can be helpful. Practice this in your home and show your kids how active listening helps!

Challenging Negative Thoughts

Our thoughts can make up feel upset.  For instance, if I have a test I might think, "This is so hard, I am going to get a bad grade" and then I my feel very worried and stressed.  However, if I notice how bad that thought makes me feel, I can change the thought to "This is probably going to be hard, so I am going to study hard and do my best".  I might still feel a little worried, but I will probably be more calm (in the green zone) and will probably end up not only feeling better but I will probably do better on my test.
 
I've attached a visual to offer ways to manage our negative thoughts to help us come up with a Bright Light Thought (one that guides our way to handling tough situations).   It is translated into Spanish, Khmer, Vienamese, Chinese, and Arabic. (If you require another language please email me).  
 
These strategies are as follows;

1. Throw it away.  If the thought is not true or is just not helpful at all and you can recognize that, get rid of it (literally by writing and throwing away or with our imaginations).  
 
2. Boss That Thought:  Remind your brain that you are in charge of what you're thinking and tell it to stop being so negative.  Offer a better thought that is realistic.
 
3. Picture if Perfect:  Especially if you are feeling worried about something going wrong, use your imagination and think about yourself having a positive experience with what you're worried about.
 
4. Mindful Minute:  Stop thinking about the upsetting thought (which is usually about the past or the future) and think about something right here, right now.  Notice your 5 senses.  Or Take belly breaths.  Or Do Backpack Breaths. 
 
5. Be Kind to Yourself:  Stop putting yourself down or thinking about your bad side.  Pretend you're talking to your best friend and be kind to yourself.
 
6. Ugh... But.  This means accept that the situation isn't good.  BUT maybe there is something ok that you can accept in the moment.  It's too cold to have outdoor recess, but I can play with toys in my classroom. 

Communication Styles for Kids - Passive Mouse, Assertive Dog, Aggressive Alligator

This visual describes the 3 styles of communication for the students to understand. Generally we want our children to express themselves respectfully, clearly, and confidentally - like our Assertive Dog.  The other two types generally are less effective and cause problems.  The Passive Mouse lacks confidence, is shy, and doesn't express their need directly either because they don't talk or they whine or complain.  The Aggressive Alligator style uses anger, bullying, pressuring, or putting others down to get what we want.  
 
This attachment includes versions in English, Spanish, Arabic, Khmer, Chinese, and Vietnamese.  If you require any additional languages please reach out to me at [email protected].

Feelings Thermometer Arabic

Here is the feelings thermometer I posted earlier translated into Arabic.
 
إليكم مقياس حرارة المشاعر الذي نشرته سابقًا مترجمًا إلى اللغة العربية.
'iilaykum miqyas hararat almashaeir aladhi nasharath sabqan mtrjman 'iilaa allughat alearabiati.

Feelings Thermometer Khmer

Here is the feelings thermometer I posted earlier translated into Khmer.
 
នេះ​ជា​ទែម៉ូម៉ែត្រ​អារម្មណ៍​ដែល​ខ្ញុំ​បាន​បង្ហោះ​មុន​នេះ​បក​ជា​ភាសា​ខ្មែរ។
nih​ chea​ te mau metr​ arommo​ del​ khnhom​ ban​ banghoh​ moun​ nih​ b k​ chea​ pheasaea​ khmer .

Feelings Thermometer

This Feeling Thermometer relates to the  Zones of Regulation, showing how the Red Zone has the highest level of energy, while the Blue Zone has the lowest.  In order to get back to the Green Zone (where we have calm energy needed for school and positive relationships) we need skills to help us with our emotions.  This attachment has many coping skills that are helpful in each of the Zones.