Celebration Haiku

Well friends, we did it!

Year 1 is done and it’s great

Can’t wait to learn more

There’s a little celebratory school psychology haiku for you.  My cohort and I just completed our first year in the EdS program last night.  Our assessment classes are behind us and we’re ready for a break until August.  While I will not be writing reports or scoring any protocols, I do plan on brushing up on the WISC, WIAT, and other frequently used assessments that my practicum supervisor uses in order to prepare for the fall.  But first…summer time! 

My first STEPPS experience

In the EdS program, we have the unique opportunity to demonstrate our knowledge through an experience known as STEPPS.  This is essentially a simulated parent feedback experience in which trained actors pretend to be the parents of a referred child and listen as you explain the results of “your” evaluation.  My first experience with STEPPS was tonight and it was great! 

So the process works like this.  The program coordinator emailed us two evaluation reports two days before our meeting date.  We got the chance to review the reports, take notes, and prepare for our meetings.  We were allotted 45 minutes for the meeting with each parent.  I admit I was a little nervous but I just kept telling myself that I was meeting with an “actor” and that I could act like I knew what I was talking about…

But really, it was a great experience.  I set up an agenda for our meeting and I explained the report results, listened to parent concerns, and discussed what the next step in the evaluation process would be.  I made sure to ask clarifying questions such as, “Does that make sense?” and “Do you have any further questions?” to ensure that the “parent” was following and had an opportunity to be heard.  I even brought out a laminated normal curve to explain standard scores and percentile ranks.  After the meeting, the “parent” left and both the "parent" and I had time to fill out an evaluation of the experience including comments about the flow of the meeting, the connection between the "parent" and I, and how well I incorporated the "parent" concerns into my feedback.  After ten minutes, the “parent” returned and we had a conversation about how we thought the meeting went and whether I could make any improvements.  The feedback that I received was very helpful.  At times, I spoke a little fast which could be interpreted as rushing the meeting.  But I also received feedback that I connected well with the "parents", was empathic to their situation and child, and gave just enough detail about the results without inundating the parent with jargon.

I was videotaped during each session and these tapes will be sent to school psychologists to be reviewed and commented on.  The STEPPS experience will occur again next year and I expect to see improvements in my delivery, approach, and knowledge!

Here are some testimonials from my fellow cohort members about their experiences:

"Enjoy the experience, because it is helpful!" -Ben

"The experience was great.  It was great exposure!" -Eren

"Both of my "parents" were very nice and had helpful feedback.  Great learning experience." -Liz

"Try not to get stressed about it!  The standardized parents/actors were SO nice." -Katie

Great blogs to follow

Happy Monday!  Below are a few blogs that I follow.  I enjoy reading about others’ experiences as teachers and school psychologists and hope to remember all the advice they have so generously given out for free!  It can be helpful to read about another person's similar experiences.  This lets you know that you're not alone in the world of education and can find support online if needed.

Musings of an urban school psychologist: Follow the experience of an early career school psychologist in an urban district in New York state

http://firstyearschoolpsych.blogspot.com/

Burgeoning school psychologist: Thoughts about being a school psychologist as well as book reviews of school psychology-related titles

http://skoolpsych.blogspot.com/

WrightPsych.com: A wealth of information and opinions from a school psychologist in public school districts in rural Kansas

https://sites.google.com/site/thewrightpsych/home

Notes from the school psychologist: Experiences of a clinical psychologist and licensed educational psychologist in the San Francisco Bay Area

http://studentsgrow.blogspot.com/

                                                                                  

Teacher Lisa’s class: Special education teacher who shares her experiences teaching children with mild to moderate disabilities

http://www.teacherlisasclass.com/

Securing a practicum site

Today I had a meeting with my upcoming practicum supervisor.  During the second year of the EdS program, each cohort member completes a year-long practicum in a school district in addition to coursework.  I chose to complete this requirement in a nearby district with a former professor from the MS School Psychology program.  She earned her PsyD in Clinical Psychology and is a certified school psychologist in Pennsylvania. 

I will be working in the middle and high school, but there is also an opportunity to get involved with early-intervention as well.  My supervisor also has another practicum student from another program so we will be able to work together.  This practicum, like the MS practicum, is requirement-based.  This means that I will be able to structure how and when I complete the requirements instead of having each assignment due at a predetermined time.  This makes the experience less stressful because I can complete everything on my own schedule.  I plan on spending one full day each week in the school(s), while still working part-time as a TSS. 

Here is what I have to look forward to this fall.  We are required to complete several comprehensive evaluations that include measures of cognitive, academic, behavioral, and social/emotional aspects of functioning.  I will conduct a Functional Behavioral Assessment.  I will monitor student progress on several cases.  I will engage in consultation cases, which will include activities such as problem identification, problem analysis, plan development and implementation, and plan evaluation.  I will create several academic and psychosocial intervention plans, attend multiple school-based problem solving meetings, and give feedback to parents about reports.  I plan on re-familiarizing myself over the summer with the WISC, WAIS, WIAT and other measures that my supervisor frequently uses.  In addition to these requirements, I plan on getting everything I can out of this experience. 

I am very excited for practicum because I get the opportunity to apply everything that I will have learned up until this point in my educational career.  Even though I don't start until September, I might have my “first day of school” outfit picked out already…

Book chapter publication

Last year in the MS School Psychology program, several cohort members and I had the opportunity to help research and write a book with our professor.  Our professor lets us pick between many topics that he wanted to cover in his book.  I chose to co-author a chapter and familiarize myself with topics related to education, communication, identity, and mental health concerns in the biethnic and multiethnic communities.  We met every other week for about an hour to discuss recurring themes in our research.  I appreciated the opportunity to become more engaged in the multicultural conversation and more fully understand the challenges associated with identifying oneself as biethnic or multiethnic, as well as the opportunity to professionally collaborate with my professor and cohort members.  I have also referenced my research in class many times throughout the course of the MS and EdS programs.  The book is entitled “Cross-Cultural Interaction and Understanding: Theory, Practice, & Reality” and will be available for purchase on May 1, 2013.  Check it out!

http://www.amazon.com/Cross-Cultural-Interaction-Understanding-Practice-Reality/dp/1624176186/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366056734&sr=8-1&keywords=cross-cultural+interaction+and+understanding+theory

10 tips to stay healthy when working in schools

Working in a school can be terrifying for "germaphobes".  Children, and even some adults, do not have the best hygiene practices.  However, this school year I have managed to stay pretty healthy while working in numerous schools.  Here are some tips to help anyone working in schools to avoid illness.

1. Get the flu vaccine- This vaccine takes around 2 weeks to become effective and only protects against the top few flu strains that are projected to run rampant.

2. Wash your hands with soap and water- I wash my hands before I eat anything and after I touch anything deemed to be crawling with germs.  So I basically wash my hands all day, every day.  I make sure to wash my hands after touching student pencils, books, desks, etc.

3. Direct sneezes and coughs into your elbow and teach students to do the same- This helps stop the spread of germs.  The droplets from coughs and sneezes can travel 12 feet!

4. Keep hands away from face- Touching your eyes and mouth spreads germs from your fingers.

5. Stay home when you have a fever- Sick people should stay home for a week if they have the flu so as not to spread the illness.  I would rather have a sick child or teacher be miserable at home than miserable at school.  Children's undesirable behaviors often peak when they are sick as well.

6. Hydrate- Drink plenty of water and avoid caffeinated beverages that dehydrate the body.

7. Exercise, eat healthy, and get enough sleep- Easier said than done but this really helps to keep your body and immune system strong.  

8. Have a stress release- Have an outlet like exercise or journaling.  Chronic stress affects your immune system, making it less capable of fighting off infection.

9. Sip only your drink- Sharing food and drink also spreads germs.

10. Sanitize those WISC blocks- Use alcohol wipes on any frequently touched surfaces such as test kit manipulatives, doorknobs, keyboards, telephones, etc.  Some viruses can live up to 24 hours on a surface!

Bottom line: Take care of yourself or you will not be able to take care of your students! 

Riding the motivation wave

Procrastination is not the way to go in this field.  Reports will start to pile up, rating scales will need to be scored, meetings will have to be prepared for, and deadlines will always get closer.  Now, I am not perfect and have been known to put a few things off until the night before.  However, I am trying to sharpen my time management skills in grad school so that I can decrease the likelihood of future procrastination when I’m on the job.  But, every once in awhile, I feel extra motivated to get all my work done at once.  While I do not recommend for anyone to do this on purpose, I try and ride that wave of motivation until it comes to shore.  So that’s just what I did on Friday afternoon.  It took me 5 hours (with a few breaks to make tea and check Facebook) to hand-score 1 Vineland parent interview, 1 Beck Youth Inventories (self-report inventories used to assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, anger, disruptive behavior, and self-concept), and 2 full sets of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (parent, teacher, and self-report rating scales).  I know it won’t take this long in the future but I was really trying to understand the process and rationale behind these behavior rating scales.  These assignments are not due until Tuesday but I was on a roll and determined to finish before the weekend began.  Afterwards, I was so tired of adding numbers and looking at tables, but I still felt accomplished.  After this experience, I realize that procrastination is not an option when I become a working school psychologist because once the work piles up, it can feel like you’re drowning and there is no way out.  Sometimes it can be hard to sit down and write that report or interpret that protocol.  So ride that motivation wave while it strikes, because you never know when you’ll get motivation like that again.