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Monday, April 22, 2013

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…

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