Circle of Friends, Part 2

Mary Schlieder Ed. D. Author

02/14/2019 Added

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The purpose of this webinar is to help participants learn how to facilitate CoF meetings, explore obstacles and possible solutions, and learn next steps for getting started with CoF.

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[00:00:01.820]Hello, my name is Mary Schlieder
[00:00:03.590]and I'll be presenting the webinar
[00:00:05.060]on Circle of Friends Peer-Mediated Intervention.
[00:00:08.450]This is Part 2 in a two part webinar series,
[00:00:11.600]and it's assumed that you've already watched
[00:00:13.770]the first webinar in this series.
[00:00:16.270]In the first webinar in this series,
[00:00:18.140]we explored the program background
[00:00:20.580]along with the evidence base for this intervention.
[00:00:24.320]We learned the basic structure of implementing
[00:00:26.830]Circle of Friends, and compared different models.
[00:00:29.480]In Part 2 of the webinar, we'll be getting
[00:00:31.460]into learning what you do at meetings,
[00:00:33.350]how to facilitate meetings, what your focus is.
[00:00:36.550]We will explore obstacles and possible solutions
[00:00:39.480]to problems that might arise,
[00:00:41.510]and we will also share with you next steps,
[00:00:44.600]other forms of support for your group
[00:00:46.760]so that you'll know where to take it from here.
[00:00:49.530]There are several different goals
[00:00:51.210]for all Circle of Friends groups,
[00:00:53.370]and we'll be getting into the specifics
[00:00:55.190]of each of these.
[00:00:56.530]One of the things that we want to do
[00:00:58.070]is to build community so that we develop trust
[00:01:00.700]and rapport and positive relationships among the students.
[00:01:04.680]We wanna provide awareness and understanding
[00:01:07.430]of autism for the peer mentors
[00:01:09.330]so that they understand a little bit
[00:01:11.240]what makes that focus student tick
[00:01:13.650]and why they behave the way that we do.
[00:01:16.230]We wanna provide feedback opporitunities so that the peers
[00:01:20.570]can tell you how things are going.
[00:01:22.890]We will teach social skills at our meetings,
[00:01:25.520]and finally, we always want to provide social
[00:01:28.520]interaction opporitunities for our kids.
[00:01:31.870]Some facilitators choose to use some of the meetings,
[00:01:35.000]and to run them as peer-only meetings.
[00:01:37.470]That means that the focus student
[00:01:38.880]does not come to those meetings.
[00:01:40.800]Usually, that might be one of out of every four.
[00:01:43.370]You don't want to do too many of them
[00:01:44.930]because obviously the purpose of the group
[00:01:47.160]is so that the focus student can get together
[00:01:49.150]and interact with the other students,
[00:01:50.950]so you want to make sure that most,
[00:01:52.820]the majority of your meetings have the child there,
[00:01:55.740]but some facilitators choose to just do
[00:01:58.180]maybe one out of every four where the focus student
[00:02:00.457]does not come.
[00:02:02.390]At those meetings, they'll share successes and challenges.
[00:02:05.210]So for example, what's going well
[00:02:07.064]when you are interacting with Johnny in the hallway
[00:02:10.675]or in the cafeteria.
[00:02:12.387]Last week you said that you were going
[00:02:14.620]to eat lunch with him.
[00:02:15.480]How is that working out?
[00:02:18.150]For the challenges, you're able to then role play
[00:02:19.560]with the peers.
[00:02:20.393]So for example, if they said I went up to John
[00:02:22.540]and talked to him and he didn't say anything back to me,
[00:02:24.906]then you could practice with them
[00:02:27.020]how to prompt John.
[00:02:28.360]Hey John, I just brought up a Big 12.
[00:02:30.930]I asked you about your pets.
[00:02:32.150]Do you have any dogs or maybe Johnny's going on
[00:02:34.539]in a one-sided conversation, and that's the challenge
[00:02:38.180]that the peers are reporting back to you
[00:02:40.330]at that peer-only meeting, and you can recommend
[00:02:43.345]what they can say instead.
[00:02:45.340]So for example, they could say back to John hey,
[00:02:47.658]I asked you about your weekend.
[00:02:49.880]Now it's your turn to ask me about mine.
[00:02:52.360]You can also do additional autism awareness
[00:02:54.950]at these peer-only meetings.
[00:02:56.730]Now I will do awareness with my focus students
[00:03:00.210]in attendance as well with those meetings too,
[00:03:02.643]but you can do even more of those if you feel
[00:03:05.640]that you have a need in your particular situation
[00:03:08.200]at those peer-only meetings.
[00:03:11.200]Another element of communication is letting the kids
[00:03:13.409]know when the meetings are so that they actually remember
[00:03:16.460]to show up.
[00:03:17.460]This isn't as much of an issue in the elementary
[00:03:19.490]level when kids tend to spend more of their day
[00:03:22.170]in a particular classroom all together,
[00:03:24.500]but with middle school and high shool kids,
[00:03:26.510]they can tend to be in different classrooms
[00:03:28.250]with different schedules throughout the day,
[00:03:30.280]and they are very busy and they become forgetful.
[00:03:33.010]So, there's several different ways that you can communicate
[00:03:35.047]when the meetings are so that the kids
[00:03:37.190]know what's going on.
[00:03:38.530]We have a bulletin board outside
[00:03:39.970]our classrooms with events.
[00:03:41.700]I also make sure our meetings are on Thursday mornings.
[00:03:44.480]I make sure that I get the in the bulletin every day.
[00:03:46.930]The bulletin goes out into the kids' email automatically.
[00:03:49.860]I'll have some of their home room teachers
[00:03:51.670]read the emails to their students,
[00:03:53.140]so that's another way that you might catch them.
[00:03:55.690]This year I started a Google Classroom.
[00:03:57.357]I used that throughout our building,
[00:03:59.020]so I started Google Classroom for Circle of Friends
[00:04:03.020]and I send out reminders there.
[00:04:05.030]You can use Instant Messenger,
[00:04:06.580]you could do flyers, and you could use social media.
[00:04:09.120]There's several different ways to communicate,
[00:04:11.060]but you want to make sure that your kids
[00:04:12.360]know when the meetings are.
[00:04:15.290]Now that you've got your kids at the meeting,
[00:04:16.659]it's time for community building.
[00:04:18.780]Sometimes with the makeup of your groups,
[00:04:21.190]you may have kids who know each other already,
[00:04:23.080]but sometimes you have new kids
[00:04:24.493]and new kids that don't know each other very well at all,
[00:04:27.210]so I like to start with strengths and challenges lessons.
[00:04:30.470]We all have strengths, we all have challenges.
[00:04:32.259]In the first picture on the left,
[00:04:34.250]the kids are doing cartoon like a comic strip.
[00:04:37.480]First of all, they're talking, they're facilitating
[00:04:39.960]conversation by talking about things
[00:04:42.010]that they like to do in their free time,
[00:04:43.153]what their hobbies are, things they're good at,
[00:04:45.400]and things that they struggle with,
[00:04:47.080]and they're making group drawings of those
[00:04:49.250]based on their conversations.
[00:04:51.170]In the second drawing, one group did Circle of Friends
[00:04:53.492]Snapchat selfies, so they gathered information
[00:04:57.480]and took a picture and put it up on the wall.
[00:04:59.640]I thought this was pretty creative.
[00:05:01.021]In the third picture, the kids are doing an exercise
[00:05:03.217]where they're walking around within the group
[00:05:06.077]until they find someone
[00:05:07.380]who has something in common with them.
[00:05:10.990]In the first picture here,
[00:05:12.390]the kids were partnered up and they were given instructions,
[00:05:15.250]drawing instructions on how to create a specific picture
[00:05:18.405]but they couldn't watch.
[00:05:19.930]They had to go by the words that their partner used,
[00:05:23.250]and they got a kick out of what the drawings looked like
[00:05:25.440]in the end.
[00:05:26.300]It was a fun community building activity for them.
[00:05:29.370]In the second activity, the kids were partnered up,
[00:05:31.597]but this time they were given locations around
[00:05:33.980]the school building, and the partner that wasn't blindfolded
[00:05:36.901]had to give verbal directions and instructions
[00:05:39.770]such that they could get where they needed to get,
[00:05:42.680]but the blindfolded person did not walk into the wall,
[00:05:45.500]or the table, or any other obstacle.
[00:05:49.330]This getting to know you activity
[00:05:51.040]was designed for the kids to get to know each other
[00:05:53.540]in the group better, but also to promote
[00:05:56.513]getting to know each other at a wider venue
[00:05:59.560]in the whole school building,
[00:06:01.100]and the way that they did it was this.
[00:06:02.696]They made videos of each other, they talked about,
[00:06:05.420]they gave their names, talked about what their strengths
[00:06:08.040]and challenges were, what they like to do
[00:06:09.930]in their free time, anything that they wanted to share
[00:06:12.216]so that somebody else could get to know
[00:06:14.180]who they were.
[00:06:15.096]We uploaded these into their YouTube channels
[00:06:18.820]and we made these QR codes,
[00:06:20.500]and then we put them all around the building.
[00:06:22.580]So, all the kids had to do was hold their phones up.
[00:06:25.050]They have a QR reader on their phones,
[00:06:27.240]and all of our students have phones now,
[00:06:28.950]so they held their QR reader on their phone
[00:06:31.130]up to these codes,
[00:06:32.347]and then the video would play.
[00:06:34.400]And so we put these all over the school building,
[00:06:36.780]so sure, our kids that are in Circle of Friends
[00:06:39.208]watched the videos, but so did all of the other kids.
[00:06:42.360]Now maybe not all, but kids throughout the day
[00:06:44.590]in our building that were interested,
[00:06:46.170]and there was a lot of interest in this project.
[00:06:49.350]They also could watch the videos
[00:06:51.378]and learn about these students.
[00:06:53.430]We also had our teachers do it too,
[00:06:55.230]so it was students and staff, so this turned out
[00:06:58.070]to be a very worthwhile activity.
[00:07:02.130]Another meeting goal is to provide awareness
[00:07:04.410]for your students,
[00:07:05.340]awareness and acceptance of differences.
[00:07:07.910]In this particular slide, you can see one of our girls
[00:07:10.990]with cerebral palsy is talking about
[00:07:13.380]what life is like for her,
[00:07:14.850]and how it is to navigate with a wheelchair
[00:07:17.220]and some of the struggles that she has had.
[00:07:19.200]We provide awareness of autism
[00:07:20.758]at some of our meetings, but we don't restrict
[00:07:22.810]our awareness to just autism.
[00:07:24.800]Different people have different things,
[00:07:26.440]so we have provided, had kids share
[00:07:29.069]learning disabilities, ADHD.
[00:07:31.911]Some of our kids have had some mental health struggles,
[00:07:34.570]and so it's not limited to any particular
[00:07:37.070]type of special need or challenge,
[00:07:39.170]and sometimes the kids wanna lead, and that's fine.
[00:07:46.600]There are many, many awareness literature materials
[00:07:50.300]available for your use.
[00:07:51.670]I imagine that there's plenty
[00:07:52.900]even in your school libraries.
[00:07:54.540]Your school librarians will be more than happy
[00:07:56.940]to order some of these things for you.
[00:07:59.070]You wanna make sure that you choose something
[00:08:00.728]that is appropriate for the age level
[00:08:02.310]that you're working with.
[00:08:03.820]There's things for very young children
[00:08:05.700]all the way up through teens.
[00:08:07.250]For example, Meet Julia!
[00:08:08.830]A Sesame Street character is on the autism spectrum.
[00:08:11.809]For mid-elementary, the book Rules has,
[00:08:14.800]the main character's a girl
[00:08:16.640]who has a brother who's on the autism spectrum,
[00:08:18.810]but there's another main character
[00:08:20.410]who is nonverbal and has cerebral palsy,
[00:08:23.170]and all books don't have to be autism specific
[00:08:25.791]to provide awareness themes of acceptance,
[00:08:29.099]friendship, bully prevention, supporting others,
[00:08:32.860]those kinds of things.
[00:08:34.240]The book Wonder isn't about autism at all,
[00:08:36.500]but the boy has facial anomalies,
[00:08:38.410]and there was a very popular movie
[00:08:41.030]that came out a year or so ago,
[00:08:42.810]so could read the book, you could show the movie,
[00:08:45.250]but there are plenty of materials out there
[00:08:47.050]available for you.
[00:08:49.540]Video content is readily available to use
[00:08:51.770]at your meetings to provide awareness for your students
[00:08:55.060]and a lot of it's free.
[00:08:56.210]If you go to YouTube and do a Google search
[00:08:59.102]of autism awareness for kindergarten kids
[00:09:03.410]or autism awareness for teens,
[00:09:05.540]plenty of free things will pop up there.
[00:09:07.330]Sesame Street, for example, has a series.
[00:09:09.890]Just Like You videos, they have Just Like You Autism,
[00:09:13.060]Just Like You DownsSyndrome,
[00:09:14.551]Just Like You Facial Anomalies,
[00:09:16.750]and those are designed wonderfully for students
[00:09:20.190]and I've shown all of those to my kids.
[00:09:23.520]There's DVD content.
[00:09:25.060]Intricate Minds has a great series that I would encourage
[00:09:28.340]you to look up, and the Temple Gradin's story
[00:09:31.210]is a riveting, it's a HBO made for movie,
[00:09:34.767]and it is a very, very good story,
[00:09:37.390]and my students have enjoyed that
[00:09:38.870]every time that I've shown it.
[00:09:40.130]So, you can either do books, you could read a chapter book
[00:09:44.367]or ongoing, it's several different meetings.
[00:09:48.240]You could do a Twitter book club.
[00:09:49.780]Our librarian did that with an ongoing book
[00:09:52.260]for older kids, a chapter book, or you could read
[00:09:54.670]a picture book, or you could show a video at your meetings.
[00:09:59.490]In addition to the general group awareness,
[00:10:01.920]you might consider doing some awareness
[00:10:04.430]of the individual focus student.
[00:10:06.640]So, that means that you'll be talking to the peer mentors
[00:10:09.716]more specifically about that student
[00:10:12.116]and why they behave the way that they do,
[00:10:14.320]and to give them ideas on how they can help out
[00:10:16.600]and support that student.
[00:10:18.110]So for example, you might share with a group of students
[00:10:20.810]that Sarah doesn't like to eat lunch in the cafeteria
[00:10:23.497]because she has heightened senses
[00:10:25.830]and the noise in the cafeteria is overwhelming to her
[00:10:29.100]and it causes her to stress out,
[00:10:30.800]so she prefers to eat lunch in my room,
[00:10:32.940]and you're more than welcome, a few of you,
[00:10:34.610]to come and join her.
[00:10:35.810]She would enjoy your company,
[00:10:37.240]so if she looks like she's upset or angry
[00:10:39.327]when she's going through the lunch line
[00:10:40.993]and she bolts out of there as fast as she can,
[00:10:43.364]it's not because she's angry or upset,
[00:10:45.730]it's because she really needs to get out
[00:10:47.790]and get to a quiet place so that she can relax
[00:10:50.010]and not get stressed out.
[00:10:51.600]You want to make sure that if you're going to be sharing
[00:10:53.690]that a student has autism with their peers
[00:10:56.145]that the parent has given permission for that.
[00:10:58.960]If they don't give permission for it,
[00:11:00.570]you can still do general disability awareness,
[00:11:02.860]but you always want to make sure
[00:11:04.240]that you have parent permission
[00:11:05.270]if you're gonna be sharing that their student,
[00:11:06.870]their child has autism with other kids.
[00:11:09.000]And then the smaller group of peers,
[00:11:11.040]once they have more of this information,
[00:11:13.240]they can work closely with that student.
[00:11:14.940]So for example, maybe you've targeted recess.
[00:11:18.280]You can point out to them that Sarah has a hard time
[00:11:22.603]at recess sharing.
[00:11:24.450]She wants to use the chalk every day,
[00:11:27.960]and if someone comes over and wants to use
[00:11:29.970]the sidewalk chalk too,
[00:11:31.490]she might say something that's mean or rude back at them.
[00:11:34.900]So, you explain to the students why she does that,
[00:11:37.610]that she's working on taking turns,
[00:11:39.400]and that autism sometimes can make it hard for her,
[00:11:42.180]and then you'll have them practice what they can say
[00:11:44.426]and what they can do
[00:11:45.980]so that they can help her be able to share.
[00:11:48.810]You can do the same thing if it's maybe on a project
[00:11:52.100]in a particular classroom where a student may be struggling
[00:11:55.339]maybe to share or find a role in the group
[00:11:59.130]so that they can take responsibility for their part
[00:12:01.017]without taking over the whole thing,
[00:12:03.350]or perhaps it's an extracurricular activity.
[00:12:05.678]Maybe if someone is a sports manager,
[00:12:08.210]the other managers might have to support them
[00:12:10.180]'cause you can tell them that Caleb,
[00:12:12.241]he has autism, and because of his autism,
[00:12:15.040]he gets super, super overexcited and stimulated sometimes
[00:12:18.561]at some of the track meets, and so if he starts
[00:12:21.220]to run around and shout and get a little hyped up,
[00:12:23.860]that's your opportunity to go over and say hey Caleb,
[00:12:26.220]help me with the water and help me fill up these cups
[00:12:28.600]or whatever, so that would be an example
[00:12:30.990]of providing more awareness
[00:12:32.910]of the individual's focus student.
[00:12:35.170]An then there's school-wide awareness.
[00:12:37.440]These are just ideas that you can consider.
[00:12:39.636]Pick and choose what works for you, but some schools
[00:12:42.492]have gone really big with school-wide awareness,
[00:12:45.740]particularly in April,
[00:12:47.170]which is Autism Awareness Month.
[00:12:49.210]They have done posters in display cases,
[00:12:52.320]there have been baked goods that are decorated
[00:12:54.840]with Autism Awareness, posters and banners
[00:12:57.800]that have been made, put out throughout the school.
[00:13:00.200]Some schools have gotten T-shirts made
[00:13:02.884]that everyone wears.
[00:13:04.628]Others have chosen to do research projects
[00:13:07.600]and then go in and present about autism
[00:13:10.047]into the different classrooms in their schools,
[00:13:12.880]and others have done poster projects
[00:13:14.880]and put them all, those up around for others to see.
[00:13:18.070]This is a great opportunity to practice group work,
[00:13:21.080]coming together as a team, researching information together
[00:13:24.490]and then doing presentations up front.
[00:13:28.340]Two of our art students approached us and asked
[00:13:30.590]if they could do a Circle of Friends mural,
[00:13:32.850]and we said well, of course you can, that's great!
[00:13:35.070]And they designed it, and the kids in our group
[00:13:38.130]and some of our facilitators that facilitate our group
[00:13:40.760]put our hand prints all around it.
[00:13:42.690]The kids signed their names and their hand print
[00:13:44.630]and the year that they were going to graduate,
[00:13:46.400]and then on the opposite side of the hallway wall,
[00:13:48.890]they put a bully prevention informational flowchart,
[00:13:53.170]and that will be there for years to come.
[00:13:57.230]You'll find that Circle of Friends becomes part
[00:13:59.570]of the fabric of your building.
[00:14:01.420]It's just the way we do things.
[00:14:02.920]It's part of who and what we are.
[00:14:04.340]It becomes part of the identity of your school.
[00:14:06.780]This is a homecoming parade where kids
[00:14:08.740]could wear their T-shirts, make posters,
[00:14:12.488]and march with all the other extracurricular clubs.
[00:14:14.010]So, in addition to the football team, and the cheerleaders.
[00:14:16.827]And the SkillsUSA group, and all the other groups
[00:14:20.753]that represent our school for activities and clubs,
[00:14:24.020]Circle of Friends is right along there with them.
[00:14:29.190]So, in addition to communication, awareness,
[00:14:33.490]community building, a main focus on your meetings
[00:14:36.150]will be to teach social skills.
[00:14:37.960]You wanna target whatever it is that that focus student
[00:14:40.500]needs to work on.
[00:14:41.800]In this picture in this slide,
[00:14:43.290]you'll see kids are hula hooping, and they're using hula
[00:14:45.840]hoops to demonstrate a visual of personal space
[00:14:49.350]because their focus student was struggling to stay out
[00:14:52.110]of other people's personal space,
[00:14:54.070]and some of the ideas that groups across our state
[00:14:57.200]have shared that they've worked on
[00:14:58.570]were playing with other appropriately at research,
[00:15:01.660]making transitions from one activity to another,
[00:15:04.423]maybe going from lunch back to class or recess
[00:15:07.676]back into the building, turn taking, conversation skills,
[00:15:12.232]appropriate social media use for older kids,
[00:15:16.090]bully prevention, appropriate hygiene.
[00:15:18.800]Kids will listen more carefully to peers
[00:15:20.694]than they will do to that nagging teacher,
[00:15:23.480]so it's a good time to bring some things like hygiene up,
[00:15:26.158]giving accepting compliments, what to expect
[00:15:29.324]and how to behave in new situations.
[00:15:31.620]That's a very good focus for your groups.
[00:15:34.250]And then really, basically, any lagging social skills
[00:15:37.210]that come up in Circle of Friends social situations.
[00:15:40.030]What you'll find is that when you provide the opportunity
[00:15:42.243]through your meetings for kids to get together,
[00:15:44.970]the social skills needs will arise
[00:15:46.764]that you didn't know about before, and so based on what
[00:15:50.450]the peers tell you and then what you observe
[00:15:52.786]that the kids struggle with one they all get together,
[00:15:55.860]those are the things that you can target
[00:15:57.660]for your social skills instruction at your meetings.
[00:16:01.500]Our students on the autism spectrum
[00:16:03.106]can struggle with new situations.
[00:16:06.070]So, one thing that you can target
[00:16:08.530]for social skills instruction or as any new situation
[00:16:11.430]that they may be encountering.
[00:16:13.190]For example, maybe they're going to be playing a new game
[00:16:15.687]in PE, and so you wanna prep them for that
[00:16:18.546]or perhaps how to behave with a substitute teacher
[00:16:21.470]that might be coming next week or what to do
[00:16:24.770]when there's an assembly, anything that's new,
[00:16:27.090]how to behave at a birthday party,
[00:16:29.110]anything that's what to expect
[00:16:30.680]that will make them more comfortable
[00:16:32.360]if they've been pre-taught those things.
[00:16:34.540]So, one of the things we work on a lot in April
[00:16:37.604]is The Social World of Prom.
[00:16:40.140]What I used to find was that I would tell my students
[00:16:42.770]you should go to prom.
[00:16:43.680]It's really fun and are you going to go?
[00:16:45.770]And they would tell me why would I go to prom?
[00:16:47.380]It's stupid and dumb, and what I learned was
[00:16:49.690]that was just code for why would I wanna put myself
[00:16:52.258]in a social situation when I really aren't too comfortable
[00:16:56.290]in social situations?
[00:16:57.450]I've experienced failure in those.
[00:16:59.540]It's a whole new scary world for me.
[00:17:01.700]No, thank you.
[00:17:02.533]I would rather stay home.
[00:17:04.090]So, when I realized that that was what was going on,
[00:17:06.740]it wasn't just that they thought prom was dumb,
[00:17:08.820]it was that they were really scared about what to expect.
[00:17:11.800]We started doing really, about a month
[00:17:14.650]of getting ready for prom.
[00:17:16.050]So, what we did is we divided our kids up into groups
[00:17:18.840]in our meetings, and we gave them a Chromebook
[00:17:21.500]and we gave them a template so that they could,
[00:17:24.010]the peers, could start to respond to the prompts
[00:17:26.660]in the slideshow that we put together.
[00:17:28.780]So, what to wear, who pays, can you go without a date,
[00:17:32.800]can you go with a group of kids,
[00:17:34.550]how much does it cost, what is post-prom all about,
[00:17:37.705]do we go out to eat first?
[00:17:39.660]What's that like?
[00:17:40.840]So, we do a lot of prep work around prom.
[00:17:43.810]We even have our show choir kids come in
[00:17:45.840]and do dancing lessons, so we practice dancing
[00:17:48.223]ahead of time, and what I found was that once we taught
[00:17:51.610]our kids what to expect in these situations,
[00:17:54.108]our attendance at prom went way up,
[00:17:57.150]so we meet together before prom for dinner.
[00:17:59.790]It's open to anybody in Circle of Friends
[00:18:01.530]who would like to come.
[00:18:03.310]We get a limo and the kids all ride in a limo together
[00:18:06.460]to the prom after the dinner, and by pre-teaching,
[00:18:09.672]we found that our kids are a whole lot more successful
[00:18:12.167]in these kinds of situations,
[00:18:14.210]so that could be a meeting focus as well.
[00:18:20.260]Teaching conversation skills is a good use
[00:18:22.530]of your time at meetings.
[00:18:24.180]What you'll find if you don't teach kids how
[00:18:26.340]to converse with each other is that you risk
[00:18:28.452]if you have a student on the spectrum who tends
[00:18:31.210]to dominate one-sided conversations.
[00:18:33.960]They will just ramble on, and on, and on
[00:18:35.930]while their peer mentors, who are nice kids,
[00:18:38.306]they'll be polite and they'll listen,
[00:18:40.470]but that's really not teaching the kind
[00:18:42.066]of two-way conversations that we want our students to have.
[00:18:45.332]The other thing that you will risk
[00:18:46.950]is that the focus student won't engage at all.
[00:18:49.927]Maybe they're very quiet, shy, have anxiety
[00:18:52.245]around conversation, maybe they don't even know
[00:18:54.810]what to think about, to talk about,
[00:18:56.760]they don't now how to take turns,
[00:18:58.720]show perspective, taking in, and showing interest
[00:19:01.820]in the other person.
[00:19:02.653]So, there's different conversation models out there
[00:19:05.010]and different materials that you can use.
[00:19:07.620]One simple model is in Step 1, getting started.
[00:19:11.160]That's the easy part.
[00:19:12.226]Step 2 is small talk.
[00:19:14.010]What an you talk about?
[00:19:14.990]We teach our kids a Big 12 model.
[00:19:16.840]These are 12 conversation topics
[00:19:19.050]that you can bring up if you don't know
[00:19:20.380]what else to talk about.
[00:19:21.920]We teach them how to do ask backs.
[00:19:23.510]That's showing interest in the other person.
[00:19:25.736]So, if someone asks you what you're going to be doing
[00:19:28.370]for the weekend after you tell them,
[00:19:30.300]then in turn, you ask them
[00:19:32.450]what they're going to be doing for the weekend.
[00:19:34.600]We teach them to ask more questions
[00:19:36.348]to keep the conversation going.
[00:19:38.311]So for example, if someone says I'm going to the movie
[00:19:42.198]or I went to the movies,
[00:19:44.100]the logical next step question would be what did you see?
[00:19:47.431]Some of our students don't know how to do that,
[00:19:49.540]so we wanna actively, specifically,
[00:19:51.370]directly teach them that.
[00:19:52.960]And then Step 5 is wrapping it up.
[00:19:55.292]The Big 12 conversation starter topics
[00:19:57.851]that we teach include music, sports, current activities
[00:20:02.130]at school or at home or in the community,
[00:20:04.730]weather, school, your day, your weekend,
[00:20:07.570]TV shows, movies, hobbies, interests.
[00:20:09.718]Tell about your family, what movies do you like,
[00:20:12.700]video games, pets, books.
[00:20:15.020]The picture at the bottom here shows our kids doing,
[00:20:17.304]it's kind of a version of speed dating, but it's not dating.
[00:20:20.740]It's conversation skills.
[00:20:22.390]So, one side of the two groups of chairs
[00:20:25.130]that are facing each other stayed stationary.
[00:20:27.190]They stayed in place, but the kids had about two minutes,
[00:20:29.930]and then we would set a timer,
[00:20:31.720]and then the other row, the opposite row of students
[00:20:34.057]would move down one chair so that they were quickly
[00:20:37.135]having these two minute conversations
[00:20:39.670]with a different student each time,
[00:20:41.590]and that worked out quite well.
[00:20:44.960]So, while the activity that I just showed
[00:20:46.820]is great for the whole group
[00:20:48.100]and teaching that general conversation model,
[00:20:50.710]I find that I have students
[00:20:52.020]who need a whole lot more practice in this area,
[00:20:54.268]so I'll pull a small group of students
[00:20:56.410]and we'll really focus on diving deep
[00:21:00.150]into providing all the extras that they need
[00:21:02.060]in order to really master good conversation skills.
[00:21:06.600]One idea that I picked up at a workshop
[00:21:08.953]that I went to this fall was to make a chart
[00:21:11.969]or collect data.
[00:21:13.350]That's what this is on the white board
[00:21:15.080]behind these two students,
[00:21:16.430]and so I have the different steps.
[00:21:18.690]I added one that she taught in her conversation model,
[00:21:21.860]which is tell us a story, as you can see
[00:21:23.800]on the board in the middle there,
[00:21:25.150]and that just refers to when someone asks a question
[00:21:27.345]and someone does the talking, the person doing the talking
[00:21:30.320]is doing a story.
[00:21:31.720]But anyway, if you look at the tally marks,
[00:21:33.440]what you can see is that one student
[00:21:35.660]told the story five times.
[00:21:37.160]That means that they got a turn to talk while the other one
[00:21:39.130]only spoke once.
[00:21:40.550]So, when I started to put that data on the board,
[00:21:43.020]the kids could have that visual and look at it,
[00:21:44.840]and go oh, I dominated the conversation,
[00:21:47.630]and they could see that very clearly
[00:21:49.040]through the tick marks.
[00:21:49.873]So, using visuals to track and analyze conversation,
[00:21:53.029]I found, was another helpful thing to do.
[00:21:56.302]Another valuable tool for teaching social skills
[00:21:59.051]is social behavior mapping.
[00:22:01.550]This is based on the work of Michelle Garcia Winner
[00:22:04.270]and her book, Social Behavior Mapping.
[00:22:05.870]I highly recommend it, but basically what this does
[00:22:08.720]is it dissects what kids are doing
[00:22:12.050]and how their behavior affects others around them.
[00:22:14.970]So, you determine what the situation is
[00:22:17.300]that you want to work on.
[00:22:18.680]So, for example, maybe when it's time to line up
[00:22:21.730]to wash hands before lunch, Tommy wants to be first
[00:22:25.950]in line every time, and if he's not first in line,
[00:22:28.220]he'll whine or cry
[00:22:29.560]or even push another student out of the way.
[00:22:31.840]So, on the top of the big paper,
[00:22:34.490]she has blank templates in her book
[00:22:36.120]or you can do them on a whiteboard
[00:22:37.530]or even just on a blank piece of paper.
[00:22:39.240]It doesn't matter.
[00:22:40.140]You would write the situation,
[00:22:41.450]so lining up for lunch, and you would write down
[00:22:44.640]what the expected behavior is,
[00:22:46.500]and that's the normal behavior.
[00:22:48.300]What are you supposed to do?
[00:22:49.440]You're supposed to line up, take turns
[00:22:51.440]with who's in front, keep your hands to your side,
[00:22:53.310]don't talk, whatever the procedure is in
[00:22:54.970]for your classroom.
[00:22:56.070]And then the next column talks about
[00:22:57.900]how others feel about my behavior.
[00:22:59.770]So, when I line up appropriately, I don't whine
[00:23:02.470]and I don't cry when I'm not first in line.
[00:23:04.820]How does that make other people feel?
[00:23:06.300]It makes them feel good, it makes them feel comfortable,
[00:23:08.250]it makes them feel calm.
[00:23:09.690]How will they treat me when I line up correctly?
[00:23:12.530]Well, they'll be my friend, they'll wanna talk to me,
[00:23:14.570]they'll wanna be with me.
[00:23:15.770]And then how do I feel based on having done
[00:23:18.796]the right thing?
[00:23:20.240]And I feel good, I feel proud, I feel happy.
[00:23:22.900]The other side of the board is unexpected behavior.
[00:23:26.220]I tell kids that's the weird behavior,
[00:23:27.999]that's the behavior that makes other people think
[00:23:30.320]why is he or she doing that?
[00:23:32.201]So, you go through the same headings.
[00:23:34.479]My behavior that's unexpected, that weird behavior
[00:23:37.810]would be crying if I don't get to be in first place,
[00:23:40.750]shoving someone else out of the line or whatever,
[00:23:43.513]and then the next column is how would other people feel
[00:23:46.303]about my behavior when I do that?
[00:23:48.256]They might be scared, they might get mad,
[00:23:50.770]they might get upset, and then how do other people
[00:23:54.569]treat me when I behave that way?
[00:23:56.543]Maybe they'll avoid me, maybe they'll roll their eyes,
[00:24:00.303]and then how would I feel based on how they treat me?
[00:24:03.446]I might feel upset, I might feel lonely,
[00:24:05.880]I might feel angry.
[00:24:07.260]So, this is something else that you can do
[00:24:08.870]at your meetings too that I find helpful
[00:24:10.510]for teaching those lagging social skills.
[00:24:13.320]And don't forget about game-based learning.
[00:24:15.450]It's a very effective way to teach social skills.
[00:24:17.894]The kids on the left for example,
[00:24:19.970]they were timing themselves on seeing how fast
[00:24:22.553]they could stack their cups and the different shapes
[00:24:25.230]that they were able to do that.
[00:24:26.317]We will share all kinds of ideas
[00:24:27.846]on game-based learning in our virtual
[00:24:30.780]learning community website at the end of the webinar,
[00:24:33.220]but just keep in mind that play
[00:24:34.959]is serious business for kids,
[00:24:37.100]and you can teach communication, turn taking,
[00:24:39.591]group cooperation, all kinds of very essential social skills
[00:24:44.650]through playing games.
[00:24:46.870]Some Circle of Friends groups choose to do
[00:24:48.900]service learning projects.
[00:24:50.420]The group at the top left,
[00:24:52.080]they did a Backpacks for Puerto Rico initiative
[00:24:54.780]where after the hurricane they did a presentation
[00:24:57.343]to all the home rooms in the school,
[00:24:59.087]and they asked each home room to donate school supplies
[00:25:01.801]and backpacks so that they could send those off
[00:25:03.860]to the island.
[00:25:04.940]I believe that they got 36 filled backpacks sent.
[00:25:08.560]The kids on the right, they made blankets.
[00:25:10.790]This was around Thanksgiving time.
[00:25:12.210]They started so that they could deliver them
[00:25:13.900]to a homeless shelter, and the kids at the bottom
[00:25:16.670]collected food for a food drive.
[00:25:19.010]Service learning projects can also be implemented
[00:25:21.690]in the school building as well as the community at large.
[00:25:24.739]The students in the top pictures here decided
[00:25:28.000]to do a Random Acts of Kindness project in their school.
[00:25:31.610]So, they generated a list and they put these acts
[00:25:34.109]on cards of things they they could do
[00:25:36.330]to be kind to one another,
[00:25:37.950]and they were tasked with doing the act for someone
[00:25:41.990]and then passing the card along,
[00:25:43.930]and we did an announcement to the whole school
[00:25:46.280]so that they knew that someone was being kind to them
[00:25:48.930]and that they could pass the card on
[00:25:50.920]and do that same act to somebody else
[00:25:52.600]around the building.
[00:25:53.870]In the picture in the lower right,
[00:25:55.300]another group of students from a different
[00:25:57.320]Circle of Friends group, they created a community garden
[00:26:00.500]to beautify their school.
[00:26:02.520]There's really no end to the social interaction
[00:26:04.660]opporitunities that you can provide for kids
[00:26:06.750]at your meetings.
[00:26:07.870]Some weeks we've gone to the gym,
[00:26:09.460]played a game of kickball or whiffle ball.
[00:26:12.020]Other times we've gone and played boardgames.
[00:26:14.730]What I'll do is assign a certain number of peer mentors
[00:26:18.290]to sit at a table along with the focus students.
[00:26:20.870]I'm very careful on how I divide those groups up.
[00:26:23.290]I want to make sure that our students
[00:26:25.030]who need the support have it at each table.
[00:26:28.060]You can do scavenger hunts.
[00:26:29.285]One of the easiest things we did,
[00:26:31.220]and the kids had a blast with it,
[00:26:32.480]was a YouTube video contest.
[00:26:34.049]The kids had to submit to me ahead of time
[00:26:36.470]so I could take a look at them and make sure
[00:26:38.080]that they were all appropriate,
[00:26:39.539]the funniest YouTube video that they could think of.
[00:26:42.976]It had to be school appropriate, and so we showed those
[00:26:45.817]and we voted on them, and the videos
[00:26:47.607]that got the most votes, the kids got a prize.
[00:26:50.780]Cookie decorating has been popular.
[00:26:52.419]Sometimes it's just let's get together,
[00:26:54.490]and eat lunch together, and visit.
[00:26:56.270]Playing games of chess, arts and crafts,
[00:26:58.407]hobby clubs like anime, D&D, Minecraft, and Pokemon.
[00:27:04.014]There's a lot of opportunity there not only
[00:27:06.270]for kids to get together and have fun,
[00:27:08.059]but inevitably, social skill needs will arise,
[00:27:11.110]and so in playing these games, it gives you a good idea
[00:27:14.310]of the things that you can target
[00:27:15.740]for your next social skill instruction lesson.
[00:27:20.000]Doing out of school activities is another
[00:27:22.630]optional idea for you.
[00:27:25.060]Some schools choose to never do anything
[00:27:27.310]outside of school.
[00:27:28.230]They have their meetings once a week at school
[00:27:30.510]and that's it, and that's perfectly fine,
[00:27:32.266]but if you want to extend
[00:27:34.240]the opportunity for kids, you may.
[00:27:36.641]We do an out of school activity once a month.
[00:27:39.850]What I found is that elementary groups
[00:27:41.522]may do an outing at the end of the school year
[00:27:44.301]or maybe to kick off the school year
[00:27:46.003]if they're going to do one at all,
[00:27:47.970]but the groups that go out once a month
[00:27:49.488]are usually middle or high school groups,
[00:27:51.424]and like I said, we do them once a month.
[00:27:53.810]We tend to let them be student generated.
[00:27:56.340]We ask them what kinds of things do you want to do?
[00:27:57.890]And you can see from the list on this slide,
[00:28:00.189]there's multiple things.
[00:28:01.831]Sometimes it's going into something in the community
[00:28:04.554]like bowling or going to a fun park or the movies,
[00:28:07.590]but other times it's at school functions.
[00:28:10.570]For example, we do a homecoming tailgate party
[00:28:12.669]every single fall at the homecoming football game.
[00:28:16.017]We've brought groups of kids to see a play
[00:28:18.040]that's at the school, so it can be something
[00:28:20.700]that's at school, but just outside of school hours,
[00:28:22.850]and like I said, that's optional.
[00:28:25.340]What I have found is that it does provide me
[00:28:27.625]a whole new array of social skill deficits
[00:28:31.168]that I didn't know about before.
[00:28:33.160]So for example, when we took our kids out
[00:28:35.570]to get something to eat and then go to a movie,
[00:28:37.610]I realized that we had some students
[00:28:39.280]who did not know how to order at a restaurant.
[00:28:41.008]They'd never done that before.
[00:28:42.608]I've had students who've never been bowling before,
[00:28:44.739]and so they learn how to,
[00:28:46.515]just a new experience for them,
[00:28:48.530]and if social skill needs do arise,
[00:28:50.839]then you can target those at future meetings.
[00:28:54.394]Another optional idea for you
[00:28:56.608]for your groups is fundraising.
[00:28:59.100]I want to emphasize you do not need any money
[00:29:01.619]to run a Circle of Friends group.
[00:29:03.560]I ran a Circle of Friends group with no money
[00:29:05.590]for over 10 years.
[00:29:07.133]I used material and curriculum
[00:29:09.100]that were already ready available at shool,
[00:29:11.597]but if you want to raise some money,
[00:29:13.840]there are some benefits if you choose
[00:29:15.720]to do these in your groups.
[00:29:17.221]It promotes caring and giving back
[00:29:19.096]so that it's not all about me.
[00:29:21.261]In this picture, what you see
[00:29:22.770]is a group of kids doing concessions.
[00:29:25.020]In my school, you get to keep 50% of the money
[00:29:27.990]that you take in when you sell food at sporting events,
[00:29:30.567]so different groups, different clubs
[00:29:32.620]always volunteer to do it.
[00:29:33.840]So, we make sure that we get ourselves
[00:29:35.230]on the schedule, too.
[00:29:36.730]What I found is that it was a wonderful place
[00:29:38.621]to practice social skills.
[00:29:40.494]They get to practice hygiene.
[00:29:42.240]You have to wash your hands
[00:29:43.650]before you're going to touch food.
[00:29:45.230]How to take turns at the counter.
[00:29:46.813]Maybe you're gonna have to make and bag up the popcorn
[00:29:49.440]and you don't get to be at the counter or vice versa.
[00:29:51.680]You have to take turns.
[00:29:53.050]How to get along with others,
[00:29:54.390]how to put something on your calendar.
[00:29:56.550]You've committed to coming and working
[00:29:58.060]next Monday after school.
[00:29:59.560]Let's get that on your Google Calendar.
[00:30:00.856]Do we need to communicate with your mom
[00:30:03.141]so that you get a ride home?
[00:30:05.230]Okay, good.
[00:30:06.160]Why don't you give her a call now
[00:30:07.520]so that we have that all set up?
[00:30:09.760]So, another great opportunity for teaching
[00:30:12.070]and practicing those communication skills in real life.
[00:30:15.930]Some things that other schools have done,
[00:30:18.445]they have used their money to help fund students
[00:30:21.740]that need at prom.
[00:30:22.620]That's what we'll do, so we'll pay for tuxes,
[00:30:24.741]tux rental for students, boys who can't afford it.
[00:30:27.870]We've bought dresses for girls who can't,
[00:30:29.950]we've paid for the before prom dinner,
[00:30:32.250]and we pay for a limo ride.
[00:30:33.877]We use it for an end-of-year celebration, so we're able.
[00:30:37.350]We have money in our account that we can take kids
[00:30:39.950]to do something for free.
[00:30:41.130]So, we go to a, oh, it's like a trampoline park
[00:30:43.820]and we buy all the kids pizza.
[00:30:45.383]Some schools have chosen to use their money
[00:30:47.730]to design and have created Circle of Friends T-shirts
[00:30:51.910]for everybody in the group.
[00:30:53.620]Many groups use them to buy food for their meetings,
[00:30:56.293]to pay for students who can't afford an activity
[00:30:58.933]if they can't come to the movies.
[00:31:00.571]We always tell the students if you wan to come
[00:31:02.910]to an activity but you don't have the money,
[00:31:04.785]make sure that you tell us because we have money
[00:31:07.050]in our Circle of Friends account,
[00:31:08.600]and then if we want to buy extra arts and crafts material
[00:31:12.178]or games or anything like that,
[00:31:13.973]we'll have the money in our account to do that,
[00:31:16.470]but once again, I do wanna reiterate
[00:31:18.178]that fundraising is optional.
[00:31:20.430]You don't have to have money to run a group.
[00:31:22.995]And here are some other fundraising ideas.
[00:31:25.940]Wear jeans or a hat day.
[00:31:27.187]Pay a buck and you can do that.
[00:31:29.218]Coffee shops, some schools have gone above and beyond
[00:31:32.140]and they run a coffee shop every day.
[00:31:33.954]Coat check at indoor winter sporting events.
[00:31:36.410]I thought that this
[00:31:37.243]was a pretty interesting event, idea.
[00:31:38.940]I've never done it myself, but they set up racks
[00:31:41.550]outside the basketball games and people pay.
[00:31:44.167]It's a freewill offering is a way that they did it
[00:31:46.933]to check their coat so they don't have to carry it
[00:31:49.323]into the bleachers, and they put a big sign up
[00:31:51.690]so people know that it's gonna benefit
[00:31:53.520]the Circle of Friends group.
[00:31:55.100]People have had bake sales, a T-shirt design contest
[00:31:58.272]and T-shirt sale.
[00:31:59.851]Sell bracelets, candy to promote autism awareness
[00:32:02.841]and 50/50 raffles.
[00:32:05.299]So now you've heard about all the different types of things
[00:32:08.111]that you do at meetings.
[00:32:10.060]What I recommend is that at the beginning of the year
[00:32:12.330]or at least at the beginning of the semester
[00:32:15.290]that you write down a general schedule
[00:32:18.948]that you're going to follow.
[00:32:20.480]As you can see from this example,
[00:32:22.400]there's a mixture of community building,
[00:32:24.468]awareness, going and playing games,
[00:32:27.633]social skill instruction, which really,
[00:32:30.090]the social skill instruction takes place
[00:32:31.890]at all of these kinds of activities,
[00:32:33.094]but anyway, there's some more focused,
[00:32:35.360]targeted topics as you can see from this list.
[00:32:38.150]There's built-in celebrations and parties.
[00:32:40.308]When you make this list, this schedule,
[00:32:42.580]it doesn't mean that you'll never deviate from it.
[00:32:44.692]You may decide that when you get
[00:32:46.530]into conversation skill teaching
[00:32:48.140]that you wanna spend a whole lot more time on it.
[00:32:50.326]You may find that maybe playing board games
[00:32:53.769]is an opportunity to incorporate the social skill
[00:32:56.820]instruction that you want,
[00:32:58.060]and you're gonna do that for a while.
[00:32:59.494]Maybe you'll try something and find it's a dud
[00:33:01.920]or the kids are getting bored,
[00:33:03.140]and then you're gonna go move to something else,
[00:33:04.782]but it's very important that you make a schedule
[00:33:07.150]so will have a general blueprint
[00:33:08.271]of where you're going to be going,
[00:33:10.510]and if you're going to have peer-only meetings,
[00:33:12.590]you can build those in as well.
[00:33:14.656]We found from studying the groups across our state
[00:33:18.052]over 10 years now, that there are some obstacles
[00:33:20.868]that may arise.
[00:33:22.760]One is meeting attendance, getting kids to show up.
[00:33:25.450]I had one facilitator who called me
[00:33:27.227]and she said I'm having a really hard time
[00:33:29.609]getting the peer mentors to show up at the meetings.
[00:33:32.110]These were high school kids, and I said well,
[00:33:34.090]how are you telling them?
[00:33:35.140]And she said well, we're putting a meeting notification
[00:33:37.908]flyer in their lockers a week ahead of time.
[00:33:40.833]Well, I know high school kids.
[00:33:42.593]They're not thinking weeks ahead of time.
[00:33:44.710]They don't remember.
[00:33:45.630]Some of 'em don't plan very well ahead,
[00:33:47.470]they don't get it on their calendars,
[00:33:49.250]so what I recommend is multiple ways of telling them,
[00:33:52.250]visual bulletin boards, emailing, texting,
[00:33:55.403]putting it in the school bulletin,
[00:33:57.900]reminding them when you see them in class
[00:33:59.302]or in the hallway.
[00:34:00.710]So, that's one obstacle.
[00:34:02.770]Make sure that you're digging into finding out why
[00:34:05.030]they're not coming if they're not.
[00:34:06.250]It's probably that they're not remembering.
[00:34:08.440]We've had a problem in certain years
[00:34:09.880]of too many kids wanting to join.
[00:34:11.490]We have Circle of Friends in our district
[00:34:13.090]all the way from elementary grades
[00:34:14.990]middle through high school,
[00:34:16.020]so it's very well established,
[00:34:17.770]so we get kids asking to come.
[00:34:19.102]We don't have a problem of kids not showing up.
[00:34:21.180]We have a problem of getting these groups,
[00:34:23.200]and the way that we respond to that
[00:34:25.010]is that we just have groups within a group.
[00:34:26.780]We have two facilitators, which I recommend
[00:34:29.129]finding a partner.
[00:34:30.600]Really can help.
[00:34:31.790]Two heads are better than one.
[00:34:33.500]You can split up the duties.
[00:34:34.910]My partner in crime, her name is Jen.
[00:34:37.150]She's another special ed teacher.
[00:34:38.542]She will do things
[00:34:39.760]like getting the materials for the activities,
[00:34:41.673]gathering those things up, purchasing the snacks
[00:34:44.740]that we use from our fundraising money,
[00:34:46.500]and she'll do that.
[00:34:47.510]I tend to more of planning the social skill lessons,
[00:34:49.641]and activities, and those kinds of things.
[00:34:51.730]So, if you can find a partner, that really helps a lot,
[00:34:54.692]but it helps us do the group within a group
[00:34:56.932]so that we have a very large group of kids,
[00:34:59.630]and it's hard for anxious kids
[00:35:01.092]with autism spectrum disorder sometimes
[00:35:03.262]to enter those big groups.
[00:35:05.523]Reluctant focus students, we will pre-teach them
[00:35:09.210]what to expect.
[00:35:10.200]Sometimes we'll engage their parent.
[00:35:11.870]Their parent may offer them a reward in the beginning
[00:35:14.440]for just showing up at the meetings.
[00:35:16.550]Once they get to meet some kids,
[00:35:18.560]once they understand that it's going to be fun,
[00:35:20.600]that they get a choice in the activities
[00:35:22.620]and what we do, after a whole you won't have a hard time
[00:35:25.500]with those reluctant students.
[00:35:27.510]Finding committed, available peers.
[00:35:29.457]Always be on the lookout.
[00:35:31.500]I'm a co-teacher.
[00:35:32.450]I go into math classrooms every day.
[00:35:34.065]I'm always on the lookout for kids
[00:35:35.733]that are kind, and caring, and I'll say hey,
[00:35:38.100]you might want to consider
[00:35:39.090]joining our Circle of Friends group,
[00:35:40.680]and we'll add peers at any time
[00:35:42.324]throughout the school year.
[00:35:44.550]You just want to make sure
[00:35:45.690]because time is your enemy
[00:35:47.400]that you wanna stick to your schedule.
[00:35:49.380]You know how you show up and teach math
[00:35:50.702]or language arts every day?
[00:35:52.990]You wanna show up once a week
[00:35:54.480]to do your Circle of Friends because that way
[00:35:56.540]you know it's going to get done,
[00:35:58.610]you stick to that schedule.
[00:35:59.720]Well, you'll feel good about it
[00:36:00.900]and your kids will develop those bonds
[00:36:02.850]and those lagging skills
[00:36:04.279]that they're really struggling with,
[00:36:06.370]and the reason why you have these groups.
[00:36:08.486]So, we're just about at the end of this webinar,
[00:36:10.850]but before I leave you, I wanna let you know
[00:36:12.760]about our Virtual Learning Community.
[00:36:14.598]You're more than welcome to go there.
[00:36:16.460]All of the ideas that were both parts of the webinar,
[00:36:18.961]webinar one and webinar two, and so much more
[00:36:22.630]is in this Virtual Learning Community website.
[00:36:25.100]What we did was provide a place
[00:36:27.670]that facilitators all across our state
[00:36:30.411]could share success stories, ideas and resources,
[00:36:34.420]awareness materials and lessons,
[00:36:36.940]social skills, teaching ideas, fundraising ideas.
[00:36:40.730]We have social, emotional learning literature lessons
[00:36:43.160]that you can use with your groups.
[00:36:44.540]There's paperwork, there's all kinds of things,
[00:36:46.970]frequently asked questions.
[00:36:48.301]So, if you go to bit.ly,
[00:36:50.843]B-I-T dot L-Y slash C-O-F,
[00:36:54.470]Circle of Friends, N-E, Nebraska,
[00:36:56.890]you can get right into this site.
[00:36:59.180]It's constantly being updated
[00:37:00.860]whenever someone tries something new,
[00:37:02.650]whether it's a material, a resource, a game,
[00:37:05.640]an activity, idea, and they wanna share it,
[00:37:08.120]I put it on this site.
[00:37:09.430]So, you can visit it all the time.
[00:37:12.180]If you email me at Mary.Schlieder@gmail.com,
[00:37:16.562]that S-C-H-L-I-E-D-E-R, I'm happy to add you
[00:37:21.230]to our Google Group mailing list,
[00:37:23.370]and that way whenever something new goes up
[00:37:25.410]on the website, you'll get an email notification about that,
[00:37:28.662]but there's many ideas in here for you
[00:37:31.901]and anything that we've talked about today
[00:37:34.153]is on this site,
[00:37:35.770]so you're very welcome to go visit that.
[00:37:38.670]And finally, there's a document available for you
[00:37:41.160]called Next Steps.
[00:37:42.400]It's in the Virtual Learning Community website.
[00:37:44.870]If you go to bit.ly/cofnextsteps
[00:37:50.293]or just in the Virtual Learning Community website,
[00:37:53.700]if you go to the Paperwork link,
[00:37:55.270]it'll take you right there.
[00:37:56.860]This is a blueprint document to take you through
[00:37:59.230]exactly what you're going to do first,
[00:38:00.990]second, and third, all of the things
[00:38:02.900]that you're going to consider when you start
[00:38:05.100]to implement your groups, and it's designed
[00:38:06.970]to help you hit the ground running
[00:38:08.870]when you're ready to plan for your students.
[00:38:11.160]So, if there's anything that I can ever do
[00:38:13.300]to help you get your groups up, just let me know.
[00:38:15.950]Feel free to contact me any time,
[00:38:17.570]and thank you so much for all that you do for kids.

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Circle of Friends, Part 2

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