PCOM Open House

This past Saturday, my friend Megan and I volunteered for the Open House at PCOM. All graduate programs were represented, tours were given, and faculty, staff, and students were available to answer any questions from prospective students. Megan and I hung out at the School Psychology table and answered so many great questions about the MS and EdS programs, as we have experience in both. A lot of prospective students were coming from the education field and wanted a new and different experience within a related field. Some even made a road trip of it and came down from New York for the day! After about an hour of manning the table, faculty members presented about the background and need for the field of school psychology and program specifics such as admissions requirements, course sequence, and experiences throughout the programs.

Best of luck to those who have applied and everyone who may be considering a great graduate degree experience at PCOM!

Megan ready to get everyone excited about School Psychology at PCOM!

Summer is here!

Well, almost. This is our last trimester until we’re off for the summer with no classes until the fall. We are currently taking the last of three seminar classes for practicum. This time, the focus is on family-school relationships. Next week, some of us will present a report during a mock parent feedback session with one of our peers playing the part of the parent. Through STEPPs (which I’ll be writing about soon as we get ready to go through our second round) and presentations in practicum, we will have some good practice presenting reports before internship. It’s hard to strike the right balance between a detailed and jargon-free presentation, so that is why practice is so important! We are also taking Effective Prevention and Crisis Intervention. I am looking forward to this class because I honestly have minimal knowledge on how to effectively deal with crises. I want to get as much out of this class as I can before I encounter any sort of crisis during internship year. 

Things are moving along at my practicum site. Today I spent my time at middle school. First, I evaluated a 12-year-old student in 7^th grade who was very excited to be tested for the gifted program. He worked quickly and confidently and we connected over our shared love of aquariums. After I scored the cognitive assessment, I consulted with the 6^th grade guidance counselor about one of my practicum requirements. She gave me the schedule and background information about a student currently struggling with academics. My next step is to consult with a few teachers and possibly observe the student in class to identify potential factors that are affecting his difficulties in class. I then observed a student in 7^th grade to get some more baseline data for my behavior consultation case. By the time I knew it, the school day was over!