CoF Arlt

Paige Arlt Author

03/16/2021 Added

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CoF Arlt

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[00:00:01.910]Hello. I hope everyone is doing well today.
[00:00:04.540]My name is Paige Arlt,
[00:00:05.990]and today I'm going to be presenting on
[00:00:08.180]Circle of Friends at the middle school level.
[00:00:14.770]During this presentation,
[00:00:16.020]I'm going to discuss how Circle of Friends operates
[00:00:18.670]at the middle school level,
[00:00:20.100]I will explain the basic structure of my group,
[00:00:22.680]what our meetings look like,
[00:00:23.790]and how students become involved at La Vista Middle School.
[00:00:29.560]To give you a little background information,
[00:00:31.960]I'm a certified speech language pathologist,
[00:00:34.280]and I have been the Circle of Friends facilitator
[00:00:36.270]at La Vista Middle School for the past three years.
[00:00:39.390]La Vista Middle School is one of three middle schools
[00:00:41.940]within the Papillion La Vista school district,
[00:00:44.740]and at this time, we have roughly 740 students registered
[00:00:49.370]with a variety of different backgrounds.
[00:00:53.900]I'm very proud of the growth of
[00:00:56.250]the La Vista Middle School Circle of Friends group
[00:00:59.010]and the growth that they've shown over the past few years.
[00:01:02.500]During my first year,
[00:01:04.000]we started as a group of roughly 10 to 15 students
[00:01:08.120]and grew to a group of 30 last year,
[00:01:10.810]which was very exciting.
[00:01:12.440]And unfortunately, due to COVID,
[00:01:14.800]our numbers have significantly decreased this year,
[00:01:18.150]but we are really hoping that next year we come back strong
[00:01:20.820]and I'm pretty confident that we will.
[00:01:24.870]As far as scheduled meetings go,
[00:01:28.060]we also have a reduced number of times
[00:01:29.940]that we meet this year, unfortunately.
[00:01:31.830]We reduced our number to only two meetings per month
[00:01:35.550]as compared to previous years
[00:01:37.550]where we met every Thursday morning from 7:30 to 8:00,
[00:01:41.840]and we meet in one of the teacher's rooms.
[00:01:45.450]And then additionally, in a typical year,
[00:01:47.330]we would meet once per month after school
[00:01:50.030]for a fun social event,
[00:01:51.930]whether that be a holiday party, a game night,
[00:01:55.010]a Valentine's Day event.
[00:01:56.670]And this is a great opportunity for the students
[00:01:58.850]to practice their social skills.
[00:02:01.260]And I'll talk a little bit more about that later.
[00:02:06.380]The morning sessions are used to teach a specific skill.
[00:02:09.600]So I've included an example
[00:02:11.360]of some of the topics we discuss throughout the year.
[00:02:15.390]We frequently discuss the hidden curriculum
[00:02:17.340]and how it can be difficult for some to learn these skills,
[00:02:20.600]and how it's really easy for some students
[00:02:22.900]to pick up these skills in the hallway, the lunchroom,
[00:02:26.810]classroom, and for some students,
[00:02:28.710]it just needs to be taught specifically and directly.
[00:02:32.370]And so again, this is an example
[00:02:34.070]of some of the topics we discussed throughout the year,
[00:02:37.860]and this is from this current year,
[00:02:40.150]and so in past years,
[00:02:41.030]we've been able to discuss more throughout the year
[00:02:43.010]because we have more meetings.
[00:02:44.870]Unfortunately, I had to cut some of our content out,
[00:02:47.290]but I still feel like the students are getting
[00:02:50.200]the most out of it.
[00:02:54.270]And then also, either I directly teach the skill
[00:02:57.790]to the entire group in the morning,
[00:03:00.350]for example, starting a conversation,
[00:03:03.540]I would provide some type of lecture format or a PowerPoint
[00:03:08.100]and then another fun activity,
[00:03:09.750]or the peer leaders model these skills
[00:03:13.540]through various activities, for example, asking questions.
[00:03:16.290]We might play a game of Heads Up!.
[00:03:18.030]And this is a really fun way
[00:03:19.590]for the peers to model asking questions
[00:03:22.290]and then for the focus students
[00:03:24.490]to practice asking those questions.
[00:03:26.910]But one of our most important lessons
[00:03:29.150]is centered around autism awareness.
[00:03:32.000]In past years, we've made t-shirts, posters,
[00:03:36.160]the students have compiled a list of facts about themselves,
[00:03:39.690]about autism, about autism awareness.
[00:03:43.740]And then I actually sent out an email to the staff weekly
[00:03:46.940]during the month of April with those facts.
[00:03:50.020]And so it's just a fun way to spread the message
[00:03:53.770]and for the students
[00:03:54.603]to become really involved in spreading that message.
[00:03:57.440]And this is not only beneficial
[00:03:58.870]for the students in the group,
[00:04:00.130]but it's also really beneficial for
[00:04:01.790]the La Vista Middle School staff.
[00:04:04.270]And we typically do this awareness campaign
[00:04:07.490]during the month of April,
[00:04:09.430]but I also do a lot of training around autism
[00:04:12.930]and social skills throughout the year.
[00:04:15.700]And I can chat about that a little bit later.
[00:04:22.660]So, the afterschool event is used
[00:04:24.750]as a natural opportunity to practice the skills learned
[00:04:28.570]during our morning meetings that month.
[00:04:30.210]And it's so important to provide the students
[00:04:32.370]with a safe space to practice these skills
[00:04:35.540]because it can be very nerve-racking
[00:04:37.470]to practice a newly learned skill for the first time
[00:04:41.020]with peers that you're not comfortable with.
[00:04:42.750]And this group, they become very comfortable with each other
[00:04:45.340]throughout the year.
[00:04:46.250]And so they're comfortable making a mistake
[00:04:48.990]or sharing feedback with each other.
[00:04:50.990]And so they really look forward
[00:04:52.770]to the afterschool social events
[00:04:55.300]because not only is it at a time to practice,
[00:04:58.570]but it's just really fun.
[00:04:59.770]And so in May, we do a water balloon fight,
[00:05:02.130]as you can see in the pictures,
[00:05:04.390]in October, we do fun Halloween-related games,
[00:05:11.860]you know, really anything along those lines.
[00:05:13.780]In December, we do holiday cookie decorating.
[00:05:17.140]And you can really tailor that
[00:05:18.640]to whatever your students would prefer.
[00:05:23.920]So when selecting peer leaders,
[00:05:26.060]I typically send out an email
[00:05:27.550]to all of the La Vista Middle School staff
[00:05:30.100]at the beginning of the year.
[00:05:31.960]And at La Vista Middle School,
[00:05:33.250]our staff and students are grouped into six different teams.
[00:05:36.870]And so the staff meet with their team, the team of teachers,
[00:05:40.820]and I ask them to develop a short list of students
[00:05:44.290]that they view as strong peer leaders.
[00:05:47.320]But I really make sure to emphasize
[00:05:49.340]the idea that a strong peer leader
[00:05:52.430]doesn't necessarily have to have perfect grades, all A's,
[00:05:57.580]excel in athletics.
[00:06:00.000]In my opinion, a strong peer leader has a kind heart,
[00:06:04.620]they're patient, they're honest,
[00:06:07.280]and most importantly, they're accepting of all.
[00:06:11.530]Additionally, I have the teams develop a list of students
[00:06:14.540]that they believe might benefit
[00:06:16.440]from social skill intervention of some sort.
[00:06:20.210]And while they're doing that, I reach out to the students
[00:06:22.910]and parents of those students on my caseload
[00:06:25.670]that have already been verified
[00:06:28.260]with autism spectrum disorder
[00:06:30.510]or they might be just working
[00:06:34.090]on some type of social skill intervention.
[00:06:36.100]And then I reach out to those families
[00:06:38.030]and we determine if they would like to join or not.
[00:06:41.260]And once I have a list of all of these students,
[00:06:45.880]I open it up to every student in the school,
[00:06:48.630]and it's just so important, in my opinion,
[00:06:50.920]that all students feel like they can join.
[00:06:54.130]It's not just a select group of selected students
[00:06:57.820]who are able to join.
[00:06:58.940]Really anybody can join.
[00:07:00.430]And it's kind of nice throughout the year,
[00:07:03.720]the message of the group spreads around the school
[00:07:06.860]and I get more and more students joining each week,
[00:07:09.310]which is really neat.
[00:07:14.930]Finally, I wanted to share a little bit about training,
[00:07:18.720]the training that I do,
[00:07:19.730]and some of the successes that I see.
[00:07:21.660]So, training is so important at the middle school level
[00:07:24.910]as most students are still maturing
[00:07:27.470]in their sense of acceptance and understanding.
[00:07:30.720]So at the beginning of the year,
[00:07:32.260]I have each student sign a confidentiality statement
[00:07:36.100]and explain that Circle of Friends is a safe space
[00:07:38.730]for all students to learn and grow.
[00:07:41.700]So we discuss what autism is, what social skills are,
[00:07:45.190]and we do this throughout the year.
[00:07:47.530]And occasionally,
[00:07:48.670]I will hold peer leaders training sessions in the mornings.
[00:07:54.310]And during those training sessions,
[00:07:56.010]it's just the peer leaders,
[00:07:57.160]and we discuss the importance of modeling,
[00:08:00.500]how to model specific skills,
[00:08:03.470]or if there's an issue that I notice in the group,
[00:08:06.890]I'll hold a peer leaders session to discuss that issue
[00:08:09.510]and hopefully remediate the problem.
[00:08:12.290]And so again, that training piece is really important
[00:08:14.550]because it gives the peer leaders the confidence
[00:08:16.530]to really teach those social skills
[00:08:20.530]and model those social skills.
[00:08:22.270]And I've noticed
[00:08:23.370]that all students learn better from their peers,
[00:08:26.620]and so I notice more improvement in the focus students.
[00:08:32.030]And as I stated before,
[00:08:33.800]I'm so proud of the La Vista Middle School group.
[00:08:37.550]Throughout the years,
[00:08:38.383]I've noticed an increase in peer morale
[00:08:40.920]and interactions with students
[00:08:42.220]who typically have a difficult time making friends
[00:08:44.770]at the middle school level.
[00:08:47.000]Additionally, it's been extremely helpful
[00:08:49.100]having extra eyes in the hallways.
[00:08:52.330]For example, a student with autism
[00:08:55.270]who was also in the Circle of Friends group
[00:08:58.400]was being bullied in the lunchroom.
[00:09:00.230]And unfortunately,
[00:09:01.890]the student did not realize that he was being bullied
[00:09:05.450]because he thought that these students were his friends.
[00:09:08.420]And so administration, or myself, we didn't notice it
[00:09:12.300]because the student themself didn't really realize
[00:09:15.490]that they were being bullied
[00:09:16.520]and it was happening quietly at a lunchroom table.
[00:09:20.480]But some of the peer leaders in that same lunch noticed
[00:09:25.890]and invited the student
[00:09:27.060]to sit with them at a different table,
[00:09:29.440]and then they brought the situation to me
[00:09:31.700]and the administration
[00:09:33.250]and we were able to actually remediate that issue
[00:09:35.770]and ensure that it didn't happen again.
[00:09:37.870]The student found a nice comfortable place to sit at lunch
[00:09:41.650]and actually made friends with these students at the table.
[00:09:45.620]And had these students not met at Circle of Friends,
[00:09:49.530]that student might still be discreetly bullied
[00:09:52.380]and further issues might've arose.
[00:09:56.230]And so I'm just very proud of this group
[00:09:58.070]for looking out for each other.
[00:09:59.460]And so it's nice to have those eyes and ears.
[00:10:04.820]So I've truly appreciated my time
[00:10:06.660]as a Circle of Friends facilitator,
[00:10:08.100]and I know you would too,
[00:10:09.670]and I look forward to continued growth
[00:10:11.260]at La Vista Middle School.
[00:10:13.000]I would be more than happy
[00:10:13.970]to answer any questions you might have during the Q and A,
[00:10:17.330]or you're welcome to email me at paige.arlt@plcschools.org.
[00:10:22.910]Thank you for your time today,
[00:10:23.920]and I look forward to hearing from you.

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