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Author: juliehorner

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Hotlines and Crisis Lines

Local Resources:

For those Struggling with Substances: Local recovery groups (Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Smart Recovery) are also working to create virtual meetings to support people’s recovery. Visit:

COVID-19 Economic Relief Fund United Way: Can assist with bills, rent, and food. Call 1-866-211-9966 to get linked with resources in your zip code

Financial Resources to Help Get Through COVID-19: https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/toughtimes/covid-19-financial-resources/

I will be reaching out via email to the students I meet with regularly, but if you or your family needs assistance with social/emotional support, food, housing, academic support, technology support, please contact us. We are here to help! You can reach me directly at: jhorner@wisheights.k12.wi.us

Remain Vanguard Strong! Mrs. H

Learning At Home Resources:

Disclaimer: These resources are not a replacement for specialized designed instruction; teacher instruction; evidenced-based practices, curricula, or interventions or professional therapies. They are not endorsed or recommended by WHSD. Please use these resources as you would like during our school closure. You are highly encouraged to keep communication with your child's teacher, special education teacher, and related service providers (PT, OT, Speech, Counselor, Psychologist, Social Worker, Nurse) for specific resources. Any learning is better than no learning. We want our students to continue to move forward in their learning and skill development.

A PSA... Take Care of Mental Health

Remember to...

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What does equity mean?

Individuals often assume that it means being equal.

According to Merriam Webster's definition, equity means:
freedom from bias or favoritism; justice according to natural law or right.

Source: Peytral Publications
source: http://www.peytral.com/

Is treating everyone exactly the same fair? That seems right...But it is not.

Let's think about this in more detail...

By providing equal treatment we often erase differences and end up promoting privilege.

Both Equity and Equality are two strategies we can use in an effort to produce fairness among all.

  Equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful.

Equality is treating everyone the same.

source:
http://culturalorganizing.org/the-problem-with-that-equity-vs-equality-graphic/

Privilege is when we make decisions that benefit enough people, but not all people.

source:
http://culturalorganizing.org/the-problem-with-that-equity-vs-equality-graphic/

Privilege is allowed to continue when we wrap it up with actions of equality. On the outside, everything appears fair, because how can we argue against equal treatment? When we unravel the equality blanket, we see that not everyone’s needs are met.

How do you think about privilege? Unpack your ideas about privilege....

http://sgba-resource.ca/en/concepts/equity/describe-the-role-of-power-and-privilege-in-equity/activity-thinking-about-privilege/

Equality does not always elicit true fairness. We need to put in the extra work and give everyone what they need and that is Equity!

Take race or ethnicity for example.

Fairness between races or ethnicities doesn’t mean that everyone should become the same. The end goal is not for every race of ethnicity to reach a complete raceless state. It means that each race or ethnicity will be given the same opportunities to succeed despite their differences. 

We need to recognize our differences as unique, rather than reach for one definition that will encompass all. Differences should not be divided into "norm" and "not the norm." As a society, it will be beneficial to pursue equity in all senses so as to ensure that everyone can meet their potential and be successful in society! That is Justice!

The first step to justice is being able to recognize it. Do you know the difference between equity and equality? 

http://sgba-resource.ca/en/concepts/equity/distinguish-between-equity-and-equality/activity-equity-or-equality/

How did you do?

How can we achieve Equity and Justice?

Achieving equity involves an understanding that advantage or privilege exists alongside disadvantage. Both must be changed in the quest for social justice.

We don't always know how to move forward to achieve equity. The first step is having Awareness. Empower yourself and others to think about situations and people on a deeper level. What messages is the media sending about differences? How are people's differences treated around you? What biases may you hold? Don't be afraid to examine and feel these things.

Peggy McIntosh, a celebrated American feminist and anti-racist activist, wrote about male privilege in her influential essay White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack McIntosh talks about her own growing realization that as a White woman, she had “skin privilege and had been conditioned into oblivion about its existence.”

Watch the following short video of Peggy McIntosh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRnoddGTMTY#action=share

Good luck in your development!

Published on

Behind every challenging behavior is an unsolved problem or a lagging skill (or both).

• Difficulty handling transitions, shifting from one mindset or task to another (shifting cognitive set).
• Difficulty mustering the energy to persist on tasks that are challenging, effortful, or tedious.
• Difficulty doing things in a logical sequence or prescribed order.
• Poor sense of time.
• Difficulty reflecting on multiple thoughts or ideas simultaneously.
• Difficulty maintaining focus for goal-directed problem solving.
• Difficulty considering the likely outcomes or consequences of actions (impulsive).

• Difficulty considering a range of solutions to a problem.
• Difficulty expressing concerns, needs, or thoughts in words.
• Difficulty understanding what is being said.
• Difficulty managing emotional response to frustration so as to think rationally (separation of affect).
• Chronic irritability and/or anxiety significantly impede capacity for problem solving.
• Difficulty seeing the “grays”; concrete, literal, black and- white thinking.
• Difficulty deviating from rules, routine, original plan.
• Difficulty handling unpredictability, ambiguity, uncertainty, novelty.
• Difficulty shifting from original idea or solution; difficulty adapting to changes in plan or new rules; possibly perseverative or obsessive.
• Difficulty taking into account situational factors thatf would require adjusting one’s plan of action.
• Inflexible, inaccurate interpretations; cognitive distortions or biases (e.g., “Everyone’s out to get me,”
“Nobody likes me,” “You always blame me,” “It’s not fair,” “I’m stupid,” “Things will never work out for me”).
• Difficulty attending to and/or accurately interpreting social cues; poor perception of social nuances.
• Difficulty starting a conversation, entering groups, connecting with people; lacking other basic social skills.
• Difficulty seeking attention in appropriate ways.
• Difficulty appreciating how one’s behavior is affecting other people; often surprised by others’ responses to his or her behavior.
• Difficulty empathizing with others, appreciating another person’s perspective or point of view.
• Difficulty appreciating how one is coming across or being perceived by others.

You may have noticed that this list contains no diagnoses. That’s because diagnoses don’t give us any information about the cognitive skills a kid may be lacking. All too often adults get caught up in the quest for the right diagnosis, assuming that a diagnosis will help them know what to do next. The reality is that diagnoses aren’t especially useful for understanding kids with behavioral challenges or for helping adults know what to do next. Plus, kids don’t generally exhibit challenging behavior in a vacuum. It usually takes two to tango: a kid who’s lacking skills and an environment (teachers, parents, peers) that demands those skills. Diagnoses don’t reflect that reality, they simply pathologize the child.

Try focusing on the lagging skill(s) rather than the diagnosis. There is a clear connection between lagging skills and how they can contribute to challenging behavior.

Source: k0811gre.pdf
Ross Greene, Kids Do Well If They Can, Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 90,
No. 03, November 2008, pp. 160-167.

Sometimes support means just sitting through it together….

Source:
https://www.patreon.com/heybobguy

So let me (Wisconsin Heights) hold some space for you today — for the good, bad and everything in-between. Maybe you can also hold some space for others, too...by letting someone know they’re doing the best they can, you’re proud of them or they’re not alone!

~Remember your time at school is a temporary event in your life and you will go on to experience new things; do wonderful things with new, different people; and discover what makes you, you! Suicide is not letting you discover these things. It is cutting you short from holding a space with others or for you to be able to hold a space for others. You are needed in this space!

image from google.com

Where do you find support?

Of course, at Wisconsin Heights!

Learn to ACT!
A = Acknowledge the signs and symptoms
C = show Care and Concern for the person
T = Tell someone who knows how to intervene (pupil services staff)

http://stopasuicide.org/learn-to-act.php

How do you help a friend who is
Contemplating Suicide?

“A Friend Asks” App

“A Friend Asks” is a FREE smart-phone app that helps provide the information, tools and resources to help a friend (or yourself) who may be struggling with thoughts of suicide. Download the app today and encourage friends and family to do the same. Education is the key to prevention and with information like this as close as your smartphone; you could help save a life!

The “A Friend Asks” App contains the following information:

  • warning signs of suicidal ideation
  • how to help a friend
  • how to get help now
  • what to do and what not to do
  • the B1 Program

If in an immediate crisis, call 911.  If you, or a friend, need to talk with a counselor for help or need resources available in your area, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (anytime 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255) or use the Get Help Now button on the app.

Source: http://jasonfoundation.com/get-involved/student/a-friend-asks-app