Student Support Services

by: Alex Shevrin Venet

Kids do well if they can.

This statement is foundational to supporting students from a place of empathy. Said another way, children use the skills they posses, and when a situation asks them to use more skills than they possess, they compensate through strategies that may not work well for themselves or others.

An example: as student will do well with a math problem if he/she knows how to solve the math problem. If he/she has not learned the foundational skills, he/she might guess, make up an answer, or skip the problem.

A more challenging example: a student will tell you they are frustrated if they have the skill to regular their emotions in order to respectfully say "I'm frustrated.". That is a teachable skill, and if the student hasn't yet learned that foundational skill, he/she might swear, storm out. or become silent.

Kids do well if they can. And they can , when we teach them how. When we operate from belief in this, we develop a strengths-based stance in which we believe that every student can succeed. We shift from saying, "that kid just won't learn" to "that kid hasn't mastered that skill yet.". We begin to wonder, "what skill is lacking?" rather than "why won't he stop acting out?" We start to say, "let me help you, " instead of getting frustrated or giving up.

We can also turn this same empathy and positive belief toward ourselves. Teacher (and staff) do well when they can. As we grow as professionals, and as we collaborate with one another, let's remember that we, too, need support around skill development.

When things aren't going well for me, in my class planning or interpersonal relationships within the school, I might look at where my own skills or the skills of those around me are lacking. I can turn "she just does not get my teaching style!", into, "I wonder how I can better communicate my intentions to her". I can transform, "they never let me take initiative" into "how can I better advocate for my ideas?" I can view a negative staff culture as an opportunity to intentionally develop all of our skills around how to positively be in community.

We all do what we can. By staring from a place of strength, possibility and openness, we make space to learn skills together, and we all do better.

Hello Insight Arizona Middle school and High School. My name is Tara Ford, and I am so excited for this school year and to support each one of you as your Student Resource Coordinator. I will be available this school year to offer support groups and also individual support if needed. Throughout this year support groups will be held the 2nd Friday of every month. These will be interactive groups with guided discussion and will provide useful tools to help you build healthy habits, and help you navigate your academic journey.

September groups and topics:

Baby Bumps & Beyond

Teen Pregnancy and Teen parent support

Successful Failures High School Support

Motivation when there seems to be no way

Confidence Building Middle School Support

Positive thinking and goal planning

Check out your Class Connect Schedule (2nd Friday of every month) for times and links to participate in these age specific and topical groups.

Upcoming topics:

Self Esteem

Anti Bullying

Live to Give

Grief and Loss

Testing Anxiety

Planning for Success

At this time, we will be using a slight different path to request support for your students . PLEASE be sure you listen to this recording below and follow the steps to request support for your students.

The link to request support is: http://bit.ly/2zbZpmL

Requests for intervention support can be made for:

• Social Emotional concerns
• Learning Coach Support
• Attendance support
• Academic and Engagement escalations (TIER 3 Department administration escalations)

Hi AZVA elementary and middle school students! This is my third year working with AZVA students and I am excited to have the opportunity to meet and work with you this year through monthly interactive online groups! These interactive groups will be on the second Friday of the month and will cover a variety of different topics. This month we will discuss motivation and starting out the school year strong with some goal setting! I hope to see you then!

Check your class connect schedule on the 2nd Friday of the month for the link to participate |

Upcoming topics: Anti-Bullying, Test Prep Skills, and Anxiety Coping Skills |

Contact: slabib@azva.org

As part of the Find a Way program you will see featured in this newsletter advisors that have made 100+ calls during the past week. These advisors have gone above and beyond and have stretched the amount of calls typically made in a given week. Congrats this week go out to:

Elementary School:

Shannon Drewniak (100 calls made)

Julie Preast (116 calls made)

ISAZ:

Hilary Huntley (128 calls made)

Bailey Uphaus (116 calls made)

Danielle Plesher (201 calls made)

Janeen Belden (124 calls made)

Melissa Wheeler (126 calls made)

As part of the Find a Way program you will see featured in this newsletter advisors that have connect with their families on the phone for 5 or more hours the past week. These advisors have gone above and beyond and have stretched the amount of time we typically see for phone calls. This is important as the number of calls made. Congrats this week go out to:

Elementary School:

Karen Bartlett (5:39:43 hours spent on calls)

Heather Ovalle (5:28:55 hours spent on calls)

Julie Preast (10:19:05 hours spent on calls) *** a new RECORD!

Shashanah Allen (5:05:30 hours spent on calls)

Kimberly Ellsworth (5:28:16 hours spent on calls)

Maryrose Paterson (5:32:50 hours spent on calls)

AZVA Middle School:

Alison Hurley (7:53:42 hours spent on calls)

ISAZ:

Janeen Belden (8:16:07 hours spent on calls)

Danielle Plesher (5:39:43 hours spent on calls)

Melissa Wheeler (5:12:12 hours spent on calls)

Join us at your nearest Blended Learning location or in our West Valley district office as we work with learning coaches on important topics. We'll learn tips and tricks from other learning coaches and develop connections along the way.

Each month we will feature a different topic and will encourage a collaborative environment for learning coaches to share their tips and tricks, ask questions and join in our community.

All sessions will run from 1-2 with time for discussion and conversation following.

Go to our National and Local Learning Coach Programming page for all the details:

https://sites.google.com/view/k12-az-student/home/learning-coaches

Did you know:

Student Support Services (Advisors, Student Resource Coordinators, Attendance Specialist, etc.) at all our schools have made a grand total of 5823 calls and have spent 284 hours and 39 minutes in calls so far in the month of September.

Did you know:

So far this year we have had 994 users use the Bitly link to compete our new Learning Coach University. Please do keep sharing this resource with newly enrolled families and families struggling with our online platforms. http://bit.ly/2T61kmb

Did you know:

From September 1st - September 17th our District website has had 2588 page views to our District Web site with over 606 new users to the site, and 276 returning visitors during this time. The top ten pages so far this month include; Home page, Blended Learning-Chandler site, Blended Learning, Attendance and Truancy, Learning Coaches, School Community, AZVA Middle School, Blended Learning-Phoenix, and Blended Learning-Tucson

Please do keep sharing this resource with your families and bookmark it as well http://bit.ly/2yFispt.

Our schools are very excited to present this online class to help prepare our families for the rigors of schooling in an online public school. This is a program that families will be able to come back and reference throughout the school year, and can access this course on a computer or with mobile devices.

A family can access this course through our district website OR you can share the link below with families. This is a GREAT resource for new families and they should be encouraged to complete and get their certification. This is also a GREAT refresher for your returning families- they should also get their certification. Advisors will be notified when families have completed this as well. This is another tool to help our families get connected with our school and excited to engage.

If you have questions on this program or need further information contact Daisha Oshiro at daoshiro@k12.com.

Learning Coach University: http://bit.ly/2T61kmb

August #1: https://www.smore.com/wqk6f-student-support-services

August #2: https://www.smore.com/0mkf2-student-support-services

August #3: https://www.smore.com/qbm5c-student-support-services

August #4: https://www.smore.com/xsyqv

September #1: https://www.smore.com/j9vfu

September #2: https://www.smore.com/4m3ky

Student Support Administrator

LC University: http://bit.ly/2T61kmb

District Website: http://bit.ly/2yFispt

If you see information that needs updating or have suggestions to add to this site please use this INTERNAL link below for updates and suggestions to the site.

https://tinyurl.com/y2pzowvl

Email: elhall@k12.com
Phone: 480-626-1068