--- title: Protect Yourself from April Showers --- Free resources on conflict resolution, this month's SEL Superstar, and upcoming PD! ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­    ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­   | View in browser April Showers Bring May Flowers... For educators, April showers arrive in the form of state mandated tests, post-spring break misbehaviors, and a rapidly growing to-do list as we zoom towards the end of the school year!    What can you do to protect yourself from the educator's April showers?   Add this task to your to-do list right now: ✅Make time to celebrate what you and your students have achieved this school year.  Intentionally acknowledging what you’ve achieved is important for your mental health, job satisfaction, and overall well-being. It’s all too easy to let the workload consume your mind, especially this time of the year.    Put your metaphorical umbrella up by listing your school year successes to protect yourself from the April showers.   You and your students have accomplished SO MUCH! In addition to academic gains, think back to where you started the year off. Whether it was with the kindergarteners who didn’t know how to put papers into folders, middle schoolers who hadn’t transitioned classrooms before, or high schoolers without the concept of the time/distance required in a passing period, successes big and small have occurred everyday along the way!    The work you do changes lives - so, take the time to recall, reflect, and celebrate the impact you’ve made! Christine Schweitzer cschweitzer@roe4.org   To help you in this journey, look for monthly strategies and celebrations in each Area 2 SEL newsletter! (Did you miss my previous emails? Catch up here!  January \| February \| March)   Treat yourself, you deserve it! June 9 \| Embassy Suites Downtown Rockford   ✅ Take time to invest in your own well-being as an educator (plus ice cream is included!) ✅ Attend with a friend or a group of colleagues! ✅ Make plans after the symposium! Drinks at the Embassy rooftop bar, shopping, dinner reservations... the options are endless!   REGISTER BY MAY 29! Monthly Focus Autism Awareness Month Know the Facts Autism affects an estimated 1 in 31 children in the U.S.   Do Events at Your School Reflect Consideration for Students with Autism? Follow these tips to make sure your school events reflect awareness for students with autism.   Monthly Focus Child Abuse Prevention Month   Know the Facts Every few seconds, there is a report of child abuse in the U.S. In Illinois alone, there were 31,611 child maltreatment victims reported in 2024 In 2025, IL DCFS received 238,169 hotline calls In about 90% of child abuse cases, the abuser is someone the child knows What can you do as an educator? Recognize the signs of child abuse  Know how to support abused children Take 90 seconds to read and learn how from the National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect. SEL Strategy Conflict Resolution If Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” could be used to describe the status of friendships in your classroom this time of year, then it’s time to reteach and practice conflict resolution! Get-Along in 3, 2, 1 Strategy Modifications:   Just like physical exercises need to be modified, so do SEL strategies. 1. A student may need to regulate in order to calm down. Follow the 4-Steps to Regulate first. 2. Listening and speaking standards must be taught and practiced, so model communication skills and role play those of the listener versus the speaker.  - Have a student who is having difficulty listening without interruption? Practice Pause for Control or Stop, Think, Act 3. Students can learn how and practice identifying and selecting safe solutions using the Circle of Control strategy   DOWNLOAD GRAPHIC April's Superstar Nominations! Laurie Jaeger, Social Worker at Parker Center in Harlem District #122 - nominated 2 times this month! Candice Foss, 5th Grade teacher at Brooks Elementary in DeKalb #428 Amanda Donovan, School Counselor at Hiawatha Elementary School Marissa Sati, Kindergarten Teacher at Parker Center in Harlem District #122 Sarah Jacobson, 3rd Grade Teacher & Teacher Mentor at Marquette Elementary in Harlem D#122 Lynn Meyerholz, Special Education Teacher at Belvidere High School Judy Lange, Social Worker at Poplar Grove Elementary in North Boone #200 Mary Kate Skaggs, School Nurse at Winnebago High School Sara Wand, Kindergarten Teacher at Dorothy Simon Elementary Erica Smith, Speech and Language Pathologist for North Boone School District Jill Folk, Social Worker for Harlem Middle School and the WINNER of the March SEL Superstar Drawing is:  Mary Kate Skaggs Submit your Nominations Today to Recognize an SEL Superstar Colleague! Deadline: April 30 NOMINATE SOMEONE Calling all school leaders!  The goal of this statewide initiative is to improve access to all health supports in the following 9 counties: Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone, Carroll, Ogle, Lee, Whiteside, and DeKalb. We need school leaders to share their knowledge of how the health system impacts the success of students in school - the details that only those working in schools have! Register for April 15 Register for May 12 Statewide Special Education Directors Conference! Free! \| June 22-23 \| Normal, IL  Register Now Statewide SEL Updates Done Promoting the 5Essentials Survey? What’s Next? If you are using the Resilience Supportive Schools Illinois (RSSI) Platform, then the results of the 5Essentials Survey will be included in your data report.   How? Principals start the process by completing the 2025 RSSI Screener. Within 2 weeks of completing the 15-question screener, you’ll have a comprehensive snapshot of your school district that will include your results along with the 2025 5Essentials data and current IL School Report Card. (AND IT’S FREE!) Log into IWAS, use the left navigation bar, then RSSI screener survey 2025, then take the 15-question survey Statewide SEL Trainings Pre-K, 5 PDH, Moline, Free - 04/17/2026: Understanding Behavior: How We Can Offer Support to Help Children Where They Are K-12, 1.25 PDH, Virtual, Free -   04/28/2026: STUDENT MOTIVATION & ENGAGEMENT: Executive Functioning Strategies Forwarded this message? SUBSCRIBE NOW Boone-Winnebago Regional Office of Education #4, 300 Heart Boulevard, Loves Park, Illinois 61111, United States, (815) 636-3060 Unsubscribe Manage preferences | | --- |