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.

2013 Walk Now For Autism Speaks

I am writing this on a cold snowy day in Chester County, wishing for warmer weather.  One event that several of us in my cohort are planning to attend when the weather allows for sunscreen and shorts is the Walk Now for Autism Speaks event.  The Philadelphia walk will take place in September 2013 (date TBA) at Citizens Bank Park.  Walk Now for Autism Speaks is the nation's largest grassroots autism walk program that seeks to fundraise for autism research, provide family services, and raise awareness about the increasing prevalence of autism.  It is great events such as these that really bring people together over a common cause.

There are walk locations throughout the country from April to November.  Total Philadelphia donations have already exceeded $18,000!  If you are interested in participating or creating a team to fundraise, visit the link below.

http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/faf/help/helpEventInfo.asp?ievent=1059174&lis=1&kntae1059174=74354FBD79F14E07B67B4B641C7EF4EA

Open House!

You might have been wondering recently, “Who is that glowing, radiant future school psychologist on that SEPTA bus?”  Well, it’s me!  My program director recommended me for the advertising campaign so I decided that I would love nothing more than to help spread the word about PCOM’s school psychology programs.  My friend, Meg, recently spotted my face on a bus and carefully drove up behind it to snatch a quick picture.  The advertisement is for PCOM’s Graduate Programs Open House Friday, April 19^th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.  Faculty and students from the school psychology programs will be there to answer any questions you may have.

For more information and to register for the event, visit the link below. 

http://www.pcom.edu/Admissions/adm_Upcoming_Events/adm_upcoming_events.html

Online resources for school psychology students at PCOM

Happy Monday!  Today I thought I would compile a list of great resources to use as a school psychology student.  My professors have recommended many helpful online resources to my cohort to help with our education as well as for us to reference throughout our careers.  Here are some great websites to check out!

http://www.nasponline.org/

First and foremost, I recommend the NASP (National Association of School Psychologists) website.  Many of us are members and several of us attended the NASP conference in Philadelphia last year.  PCOM pays for our student membership this year, which gives us access to multiple school psychology resources and helps connect us to the professional community in which we will one day be working.  I also recommend following NASP’s Facebook page.  There are daily posts including advice from professionals, current education news, and internship/job postings. 

http://www.aspponline.org/

http://www.njasp.org/

Joining your local state school psychology association is also a great way to network with professionals in the field, get information on state conferences and workshops, and become involved in state leadership roles.  Many people in my cohort live in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and each state has its own school psychology association.

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/

What Works Clearinghouse is an initiative of the Institute of Education Sciences at the Department of Education that provides quality research on numerous educational programs and policies and their effectiveness.

http://www.pattan.net/

PaTTAN offers a lot of great resources to those in the education field.  PaTTAN provides information about professional training, downloadable instructional materials, and legal information about state and federal laws pertaining to education. 

http://www.interventioncentral.org/

Intervention Central provides RTI (Response to Intervention) resources for academic and behavioral interventions.  There are many free manuals and resources available for download.

PCOM also provides many resources for us as students.  Listed below are several pages that I have found useful since beginning my education here. 

http://www.pcom.edu/Academic_Programs/aca_psych/School_Psychology_Programs/EdS_in_School_Psychology/eds_in_school_psychology.html

While our professors do a great job of preparing us for upcoming proficiency assessments, this page has basic information about the program sequence and course descriptions for those who like to see what's coming up next semester or year (like me!).

http://libguides.pcom.edu/psychology

When researching for a project or paper, the Psychology Guide on the library website is easy to use and provides a variety of great articles.  The Psychology liaison librarians are always quick to respond to emails and very helpful if I need to retrieve an article that is not available online.

http://www.pcom.edu/Financial_Aid/Apply_for_Financial_Aid/Apply_for_Financial_aid.html

I have visited PCOM’s financial aid website many times.  The website contains information about how to apply for financial aid, financial planning tips, and many other resources regarding the funding of your education and budgeting.  The financial aid office is also very helpful when trying to figure out the student loan situation.

http://www.pcom.edu/Student_Life/Student_Affairs_Main/Student_Affairs_Main.html

I worked at the Office of Student Affairs for a few semesters and the people here rock!  Professional, academic, and personal support is provided.  You can find out more about clubs and organizations offered at PCOM as well as how to get involved in a Federal Work Study job.  Also, if you are ever in need of a sugar boost, the candy bowl is usually full…  

Introducing...

Hello all!  My name is Samantha Cardellicchio and I will be taking over the PCOM School Psychology blog.  Currently, I am first year student in the Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) program.  We recently just started our last semester of the year before we break for the summer!  I also completed the MS School Psychology degree at PCOM last summer.  We had a few classes over the summer so we are all looking forward to this break.  When I am not doing school-psychology related things, I work as a TSS (Therapeutic Staff Support) and PCA (Personal Care Assistant) in Chester County providing one-to-one emotional support and behavioral interventions to children in need of wraparound services.  Over the past one and a half years, many of my clients have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum so I spend a lot of time modeling and reinforcing appropriate expression of emotions and pro-social behaviors.

But what brought me to school psychology at PCOM?  Well, I can tell you a massive pro-con list was involved.  I received my BS in Psychology at James Madison University in Virginia and during my junior year, I took an introduction to school psychology course there.  The more we learned about the career of the school psychologist, the more I realized that my strengths and interests as a person really matched the career.  Time management, organization, interpersonal skills, analytical thinking, an inquisitive nature, and a desire to help all children succeed are attributes that I had prior to my education at PCOM, but I work on and strengthen these skills and interests every week that I am in class.  One of my professors from fall semester compared the school psychologist’s job to that of a “brain detective”.  And really, we are learning to be “brain detectives” at PCOM.  Our professors are teaching us to attain all sorts of information (behavioral observations, school records, parent/student/teacher interviews, cognitive and academic assessments) in order to figure out how best to help a child that is referred to us to learn.  School psychologists are trained to put all of the pieces together like a puzzle, and in the end, they form a complete learning profile of the child.  This information assists the school psychologist in working with teachers, school staff, administrators, and parents to help the child succeed to the best of his or her ability in the school environment. 

I am looking forward to sharing my experience of completing my education here at PCOM as well as enlightening anyone who reads this blog about the wonderful career that is school psychology! 

MS School Psychology graduation last summer at PCOM (me on left and fellow cohort member, Meg)!