One near and dear part of being a social worker is being able to facilitate social work groups with our students. Our social work groups across all of our programs focus on meeting the social-emotional needs of our students and beyond. These groups focus on different topics that provide our students an opportunity to share. Let us walk through a quick overview of our iCan Dream Social Work Groups!

For our accelerated high school completion and transition students, the social work group means providing them with a moment to start their day positive and fresh. We have a check-in where students share what zone of regulation they are currently in and meditation time where students share a positive and/or negative moment with their peers along with meditation to allow their bodies to become centered. Topics covered vary from the importance of communication, resiliency, healthy versus unhealthy relationships, teamwork, self-awareness, and several other important topics. Hands-on learning is critical. We complete an activity that is relatable to the topics being discussed. To end the group, students “check-out” and provide which zone of regulation they are in, which provides the social worker an opportunity to assess the students to see if they need to be seen one-on-one during their day.

For our Little Dreamers, social work groups are emphasized around the same idea of social-emotional learning. Structure is very important for our early childhood students, and social work group is part of the structure. We begin with a hello song to establish the start of group, read a book pertaining to the topic discussed, and complete an activity around the same topic. Students check out with the zones of regulation. Our Little Dreamers explore the importance of patience, sharing, friendships, kindness, self-control, and many other essential topics.