Smart and Sassy School Social Worker

IEP goals are my least favorite thing to write!   Seriously!   I write them all the time and every time I struggle to write a S.M.A.R.T. goal that truly speaks to the work I hope to accomplish in my group or individual time with my students. I do use goal setting with my students all the time. We scale, rate, measure, self reflect, set personal goals, etc..  This does not easily translate into an IEP goal, at least not for me. Our IEP goals are written for a year and I see students weekly.  This is how it works with my school's schedule. I've heard from other social workers that they write short term goals or write IEP minutes so they see the students on a varying schedule. That is great to have flexibility.  With my non-IEP students, I am more creative and flexible in my service delivery. My intern is learning to write goals, so I have been researching everything I can to be a good supervisor.   Goodness knows I need all the help I can get :) ...

What is School Social Work? After being in the educational field for 15 years, I still don't have a simple answer.  My answer varies as my role changes with the needs of the students, families, staff , school and community. One reason I decided to enter into the tech world and blog is to promote what I do in the schools. Many people hear Social Worker and think of foster care or government case managers.  Social Workers cover many environments and systems and our direct practice varies. School Social Work is a unique field. The School Social Work Association of America , SSWAA,  has a simple but comprehensive summary of the many roles School Social Workers have in the educational system. School Social Work Association of America also has many resources for parents, administrators and school social workers.  It's a great organization for school social workers. Thank you for taking a look at my blog.  My hope is to have a variety of information relating to...