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Peer Support

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Wolf Pack

During the 2015-2016 school year, my building decided to create a peer support program. We called it Wolf Pack, since we are the Hiawatha Timberwolves AND because the purpose of the program is to teach students the value of working as a team, supporting one another, and never leaving someone behind.
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We decided to start with 3 grade levels (3rd, 4th, and 6th) and our 2 Multiple Disabilities classrooms. For our 3 grade levels, we picked 1 student (per grade) who could use additional social and/or academic support. Wolf Pack looked a little differently in our MD rooms because it was more of a buddy system versus focusing on one specific student.
After getting parent permission for our "target students," we invited all students in those grade levels to a 20 minute assembly to explain Wolf Pack. Everyone was given a permission form, but it was not mandatory to participate. We allowed everyone who signed up to become a part of a "pack," but they needed to attend meetings and follow the support schedule in order to continue as a member of the group.
Permission (Target Student)
File Size: 204 kb
File Type: docx
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Permission
File Size: 205 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

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Once all students who signed up were put into packs, we had our first meetings as individual grade levels. We did this without the target students so that everyone could learn about their student and ask questions without getting uncomfortable. Every other meeting included the target students. Prior to the first meeting, I interviewed the target student and made a video that helped introduce them to their pack. I also got information from their teachers to help explain their strengths and struggles. At this meeting, the students signed up for when they would like to support their student (i.e. lunch, recess, a specific subject). I took the sign-up and typed the names to make a clean copy that could be displayed outside my office and in each of their classrooms.
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Welcome to Wolf Pack (PPT)
File Size: 1367 kb
File Type: pptx
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Wolf Pack Schedule (WORD)
File Size: 12 kb
File Type: docx
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Each month we met to review how things were going and to create a special project to celebrate our pack. Typically, the target student got to keep the project after we displayed it next to their classroom.
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At the end of the year, we had a celebration as a pack. The target student picked the special treat and the theme. We also watched a video we made - I interviewed the target student and every pack member, then edited the video together to highlight everyone's favorite parts of Wolf Pack. A burned a DVD for the target student.
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During the 2016-2017 school year, we added an additional grade level (5th). In the future, we hope to do some form of Wolf Pack K-6.
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