I got to go on a field trip to an out-of-district school in North Jersey. I was interpreting a bilingual psych eval. First, it isn't easy to relate the findings of someone else's report because you don't have the memory of the testing. Second, it isn't easy to do so in a way that an language interpreter can understand. You need to able to operationalize the subtests and not use jargon. I've had a fair amount of practice with this but it was more difficult this time around because it wasn't my assessment.
It was nice to get out of the district and see a school that I haven't been to before. It was also interesting because it was a block away from the home of a client from my previous career. I had always thought that school was a Catholic school.
After the meeting, I returned to the office and got about three quarters of the way through the report I started on Thursday. The office was a bit odd today because everyone was giddy with the thought of a three day weekend, even though we all just got back from break.
I spoke with the assistive technology person for our district about getting speech-to-text software for a student of mine and was told we should do a full assistive technology assessment on the student before proceeding.
Quitting time slowly rolled around and it was time to head for home. See you on Tuesday.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Thursday, January 14th: A Whole Lotta Counseling
I got into work and went immediately to the high school to get some counseling done. The month is ticking away and I have to get in my quota so I'm at least only partly drowning. I manage to see 5 students today. I actually think some of the sessions went quite well as for the quality of my focus. I really can't tell if I'm making an impact or not.
After 16 years of work in the area of mental health, I've come to take any little success as satisfying. If you're the type of person that likes to look back on the work day and say, "I did/made/accomplished X today" then you may want to consider a different field because you may find this type of work frustrating. There is no sense of finality or completion. It is an ongoing thing. If you are alright with that then you will probably be alright with this sort of work.
I go back to the office and start my next psychological report. I wrestle with some "layout" issues before I'm actually able to begin typing. It is during this time that I'm struck with the little instances of melancholy that I sometimes experience being the only male as my female coworkers talk amongst themselves. I assuage this by putting my earbuds in and listening to some geeky podcasts. The report writing carries me through to the end of the day.
Wednesday Recollection: I had a conversation with a coworker yesterday about our views of the workplace. She rails against the system for not being organized and more efficient. I tease her for holding to the concepts of rationality and logic and continually explain to her how much happier she'll be once she lets go of those concepts and accepts the irrationality and chaos of human organizations. We actually had a semi-serious conversation about it. Her viewpoint is admittedly altruistic and she feels that things need to be brought up to a level and that organization and efficiency and a system that makes sense is achievable. I believe that such a thing is possible if all the stakeholders in the system are willing to make the change and get behind it. That it needs to be a district wide change that is supported by the administration. I've seen too many "corporate" fad come along to have much faith in such change. The Covey trainings, TQI, what have you. When you see so many come and go, it is hard to be a believer.
Anyway, I pointed out to my coworker that a school district has an even harder time instituting such changes because, in a corporate setting, if people don't tow the line and follow the corporate philosophy, those people will either leave or be asked to leave. Tenure prevents this. Sure, the administration could make the employee miserable by moving them around the district but it has amazed me just how much misery school employees will tolerate because of the number of years they have in the district and the fact that they can't be easily fired. Hell, there are some that stopped caring when they got tenure 18 years ago. So I think that breeds a certain level of intellectual immobility that is not always found in a corporate organization.
This may sound bitter but I don't think I'm bitter. I think individuals are capable of great good but organizations end up creating situations where the people may keep the status quo because it provides them with something, whether it is comfort of knowing what to expect, or power, or other side benefits.
After 16 years of work in the area of mental health, I've come to take any little success as satisfying. If you're the type of person that likes to look back on the work day and say, "I did/made/accomplished X today" then you may want to consider a different field because you may find this type of work frustrating. There is no sense of finality or completion. It is an ongoing thing. If you are alright with that then you will probably be alright with this sort of work.
I go back to the office and start my next psychological report. I wrestle with some "layout" issues before I'm actually able to begin typing. It is during this time that I'm struck with the little instances of melancholy that I sometimes experience being the only male as my female coworkers talk amongst themselves. I assuage this by putting my earbuds in and listening to some geeky podcasts. The report writing carries me through to the end of the day.
Wednesday Recollection: I had a conversation with a coworker yesterday about our views of the workplace. She rails against the system for not being organized and more efficient. I tease her for holding to the concepts of rationality and logic and continually explain to her how much happier she'll be once she lets go of those concepts and accepts the irrationality and chaos of human organizations. We actually had a semi-serious conversation about it. Her viewpoint is admittedly altruistic and she feels that things need to be brought up to a level and that organization and efficiency and a system that makes sense is achievable. I believe that such a thing is possible if all the stakeholders in the system are willing to make the change and get behind it. That it needs to be a district wide change that is supported by the administration. I've seen too many "corporate" fad come along to have much faith in such change. The Covey trainings, TQI, what have you. When you see so many come and go, it is hard to be a believer.
Anyway, I pointed out to my coworker that a school district has an even harder time instituting such changes because, in a corporate setting, if people don't tow the line and follow the corporate philosophy, those people will either leave or be asked to leave. Tenure prevents this. Sure, the administration could make the employee miserable by moving them around the district but it has amazed me just how much misery school employees will tolerate because of the number of years they have in the district and the fact that they can't be easily fired. Hell, there are some that stopped caring when they got tenure 18 years ago. So I think that breeds a certain level of intellectual immobility that is not always found in a corporate organization.
This may sound bitter but I don't think I'm bitter. I think individuals are capable of great good but organizations end up creating situations where the people may keep the status quo because it provides them with something, whether it is comfort of knowing what to expect, or power, or other side benefits.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
More Catching Up...
...both at work and on this blog.
Monday, January 11th
Five initial referral conferences. That was my day. Of those five, three of them gave consent for testing. These five were referred to us by the administration as part of pre-expulsion hearings. This is not a practice I endorse but I do as I'm told.
The first meeting involves two of the five...siblings. This meeting starts 40 minutes late because the family arrives late. This is the one family that doesn't give consent by the end of the meeting.
The second meeting is a phoner because the mother never received the invitation to the meeting. This parent "welcomes" the evaluation because they know their child needs help.
The third meeting takes place after lunch and this one is interesting because the student is clearly not being truthful about what led to the pre-expulsion hearing. The parent agrees to the assessment.
The final meeting of the day actually involves a family that I was involved with last school year. I evaluated the older sibling of this student. At that time, the parent was leery of the evaluation and did not agree to eligibility. The student did not do well after he came back to school due to a number of behavioral and legal issues that arose. This time the parent not only agreed to the evaluation but seemed like she would agree to eligibility if it came to it. The theory that I have heard the administration throw about was that they think the parent is hoping to save this child.
Tuesday, January 12th
I make a huge effort to move some of the paperwork off my desk. I get to a point where I can see some of the top of my desk. I also start pushing through a psychological report so that I can move onto another psychological before I get assigned the three initial evaluations from yesterday. By the end of the day, I'm disappointed that I didn't finish the report but I am very pleased at getting some desk space back.
Wednesday, January 13th
I go over to the high school and middle school to schedule some space for counseling in the coming weeks. I also see the teachers of one of my more needy students and speak with her a bit about an assignment that she had tried. The student is cognitively impaired and the teacher had tried an exercise involving things that are the same or different. The problem that I saw with the assignment was that the examples that were given weren't good.
The examples involved too many variables within each example which would be confusing to someone with poor abstract thinking abilities. The first example of the same was two soccer balls that were different colors. The next example which was used to demonstrate different was a butterfly and a soccer ball. Then the next example of the different was two butterflies, each a different color.
My issue with the examples is that first example of same, the different color soccer balls, is almost the same as the second example of different, the different color butterflies. This can be very confusing for the student. Too many variables.
Following this, I stopped by the high school library to get training on the new phone system that is coming into the district. As far as technology goes, it was pretty cool. My only concern is that it is going to run the the computer network and our network infrastructure has a history of being spotty. Last year, it was down for a week.
I get back to the office and deal with some minor stuff and I also manage to finish my report from yesterday. I copy it and attach a letter to it and send it off to the parent. Tomorrow, I start my next report.
Monday, January 11th
Five initial referral conferences. That was my day. Of those five, three of them gave consent for testing. These five were referred to us by the administration as part of pre-expulsion hearings. This is not a practice I endorse but I do as I'm told.
The first meeting involves two of the five...siblings. This meeting starts 40 minutes late because the family arrives late. This is the one family that doesn't give consent by the end of the meeting.
The second meeting is a phoner because the mother never received the invitation to the meeting. This parent "welcomes" the evaluation because they know their child needs help.
The third meeting takes place after lunch and this one is interesting because the student is clearly not being truthful about what led to the pre-expulsion hearing. The parent agrees to the assessment.
The final meeting of the day actually involves a family that I was involved with last school year. I evaluated the older sibling of this student. At that time, the parent was leery of the evaluation and did not agree to eligibility. The student did not do well after he came back to school due to a number of behavioral and legal issues that arose. This time the parent not only agreed to the evaluation but seemed like she would agree to eligibility if it came to it. The theory that I have heard the administration throw about was that they think the parent is hoping to save this child.
Tuesday, January 12th
I make a huge effort to move some of the paperwork off my desk. I get to a point where I can see some of the top of my desk. I also start pushing through a psychological report so that I can move onto another psychological before I get assigned the three initial evaluations from yesterday. By the end of the day, I'm disappointed that I didn't finish the report but I am very pleased at getting some desk space back.
Wednesday, January 13th
I go over to the high school and middle school to schedule some space for counseling in the coming weeks. I also see the teachers of one of my more needy students and speak with her a bit about an assignment that she had tried. The student is cognitively impaired and the teacher had tried an exercise involving things that are the same or different. The problem that I saw with the assignment was that the examples that were given weren't good.
The examples involved too many variables within each example which would be confusing to someone with poor abstract thinking abilities. The first example of the same was two soccer balls that were different colors. The next example which was used to demonstrate different was a butterfly and a soccer ball. Then the next example of the different was two butterflies, each a different color.
My issue with the examples is that first example of same, the different color soccer balls, is almost the same as the second example of different, the different color butterflies. This can be very confusing for the student. Too many variables.
Following this, I stopped by the high school library to get training on the new phone system that is coming into the district. As far as technology goes, it was pretty cool. My only concern is that it is going to run the the computer network and our network infrastructure has a history of being spotty. Last year, it was down for a week.
I get back to the office and deal with some minor stuff and I also manage to finish my report from yesterday. I copy it and attach a letter to it and send it off to the parent. Tomorrow, I start my next report.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8th
So little snow on the ground yet it seems to cause so many problems. I'm late to work because two of the major routes out of my town are jammed with traffic or completely closed off by the police for some unknown reason (At the end of the day, I learn that a transformer had blown on the latter which is what led to all the traffic on the former). The problem with being late to work is that I had an annual review meeting scheduled for 8am. I get to work at 8:05 and get over to the high school by 8:10. The family and students are there. I go to the conference room where we are meeting and find all the teachers there. I was expecting 2 maybe three but not all the teachers. I feel really bad for being late to my own damn meeting.
The meeting is a bit of a tough one. It remains cordial through out but the constant theme is that the student is capable but needs to put in more effort...or in some cases, some effort. The student is classified due to emotional issues, although complying with class expectations is the largest issue. Each teacher has their say and there is a lot of discussion about accommodations, modifications, and behavioral interventions. The problem is that you can implement anything you want but it all comes down to whether the student is going to put any effort forward. Every time something is brought up and presented, the student talks about why it wouldn't work for him. It becomes so...frustrating?...that I address this by pointing out this continued response from him (and this is also another common theme for this student: being argumentative or contrary). I add that I would appreciate that the student provide some constructive criticism or if the student is engaging in this nay-saying because they doesn't want to follow through with any of the suggestions that the student would just say they don't want to do it so that we don't waste our time continually throwing out ideas. As expected, the student denies that the latter is the reason they keeps nay-saying but the student pauses and stumbles out some words just a little too much before getting their response out which indicates to me that I hit the nail on the head.
The meeting comes to an end with only a few things decided thanks to the student's nay-saying. It is very difficult to implement any sort of plan in the case of students with this sort of problem because so much hinges on the buy in from the student. And when you have a student who isn't willing to compromise, or put in the work, or doesn't allow anything outside themselves to motivate them or give any sort of indication of anything that does motivate them (if they are even introspective enough to be aware of such a thing) there isn't much you can do.
Following this meeting, which ends up lasting 2 and a half hours, I go back to the office after speaking to a guidance counselor about the student whose parents I met with on Wednesday. It turns out that even if this student enters the school, they won't get credit because they have been out of school for almost half the year. When the guidance counselor spoke to the mother, she was angry about this, obviously. But it isn't a decision that the guidance counselor can make and, since it isn't a special education issue, it isn't an issue that I can effect. The main problem is that the student had attended school in our district last year but there was an ongoing residency investigation. During the summer, the courts had decided that the family did not live in the district and told them that their child could not attend school in the district. Since then, the family had made repeated attempts to register the student in the district again but did not provide the proper documentation (for whatever reason) and did not put their child in school. My opinion on the residency issue doesn't really matter. I do my job once I'm told a student is on my caseload. I do believe that the family didn't live in the district. I base this belief on the fact that every time I sent a letter home to the family at the address they claimed was theirs, I would get it back from the post office with a sticker saying this person does not live at this residence.
I return to the office for the staff meeting that I'm already late for. The meeting actually breaks for lunch about a half hour later. At lunch time, I'm involved in a difficult staff for a student due to conflicting psychological reports. Since it is a bilingual psychological report, it was completed by a consultant for the district. After looking at the information, we decide we need to speak with the consultant and, since she was the one that did both the previous and current psychological evaluation, have her comment on the discrepancy. We try to call her and end up leaving a message.
The afternoon session of the meeting goes on for another hour and we finally break for the day. I try to do a little paperwork before leaving for the day but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I then take another road home.
The meeting is a bit of a tough one. It remains cordial through out but the constant theme is that the student is capable but needs to put in more effort...or in some cases, some effort. The student is classified due to emotional issues, although complying with class expectations is the largest issue. Each teacher has their say and there is a lot of discussion about accommodations, modifications, and behavioral interventions. The problem is that you can implement anything you want but it all comes down to whether the student is going to put any effort forward. Every time something is brought up and presented, the student talks about why it wouldn't work for him. It becomes so...frustrating?...that I address this by pointing out this continued response from him (and this is also another common theme for this student: being argumentative or contrary). I add that I would appreciate that the student provide some constructive criticism or if the student is engaging in this nay-saying because they doesn't want to follow through with any of the suggestions that the student would just say they don't want to do it so that we don't waste our time continually throwing out ideas. As expected, the student denies that the latter is the reason they keeps nay-saying but the student pauses and stumbles out some words just a little too much before getting their response out which indicates to me that I hit the nail on the head.
The meeting comes to an end with only a few things decided thanks to the student's nay-saying. It is very difficult to implement any sort of plan in the case of students with this sort of problem because so much hinges on the buy in from the student. And when you have a student who isn't willing to compromise, or put in the work, or doesn't allow anything outside themselves to motivate them or give any sort of indication of anything that does motivate them (if they are even introspective enough to be aware of such a thing) there isn't much you can do.
Following this meeting, which ends up lasting 2 and a half hours, I go back to the office after speaking to a guidance counselor about the student whose parents I met with on Wednesday. It turns out that even if this student enters the school, they won't get credit because they have been out of school for almost half the year. When the guidance counselor spoke to the mother, she was angry about this, obviously. But it isn't a decision that the guidance counselor can make and, since it isn't a special education issue, it isn't an issue that I can effect. The main problem is that the student had attended school in our district last year but there was an ongoing residency investigation. During the summer, the courts had decided that the family did not live in the district and told them that their child could not attend school in the district. Since then, the family had made repeated attempts to register the student in the district again but did not provide the proper documentation (for whatever reason) and did not put their child in school. My opinion on the residency issue doesn't really matter. I do my job once I'm told a student is on my caseload. I do believe that the family didn't live in the district. I base this belief on the fact that every time I sent a letter home to the family at the address they claimed was theirs, I would get it back from the post office with a sticker saying this person does not live at this residence.
I return to the office for the staff meeting that I'm already late for. The meeting actually breaks for lunch about a half hour later. At lunch time, I'm involved in a difficult staff for a student due to conflicting psychological reports. Since it is a bilingual psychological report, it was completed by a consultant for the district. After looking at the information, we decide we need to speak with the consultant and, since she was the one that did both the previous and current psychological evaluation, have her comment on the discrepancy. We try to call her and end up leaving a message.
The afternoon session of the meeting goes on for another hour and we finally break for the day. I try to do a little paperwork before leaving for the day but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I then take another road home.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Feeling Sickly
I haven't been feeling up to snuff these passed few days so I've gotten behind once again. So here is my catch-up post.
Tuesday, January 5th
We are back in the building. Theoretically speaking, the heat was back on but I still had my jacket on for most of the day. I decided to actually do some psychology related work and went to the high school to test a student. I manage to get him tested in one sitting (I love the WAIS-IV, it really flies by and gets rid of that stupid Matrix Reasoning discontinue rule). Following this, I return to the office to prepare paperwork for my Thursday, Friday, and Monday meetings. Before doing that, I stop at the nurse's office to get the health information on the 5 initial referrals scheduled for Monday.
Once I'm back at the office and have lunch with my coworkers, I start printing a whole load of forms which I put in the appropriate student folders for the meetings. I run into a few areas where I'm not sure what forms I'll need so I try to print them all. Oh the waste.
I also get a message that the parents of a student that has just moved back into district have been calling to arrange a meeting for registration and IEP stuff. I call the number and speak with the mother and schedule a meeting for the next day after my counseling. I know this parent from last year and there was a residency issue at the time but, apparently, this has been settled and the student may now return to our school.
I finish the day feeling fairly satisfied that I'm at least moderately prepared for my meetings. Now if some teachers would just give me the PLEPs (Present Levels of Educational Performance or PLAAFs - Present Levels of Academic Ability and Functioning - if you have grown up in the age of PLAAFs) I need.
Wednesday, January 6th
Ahh, counseling. After three students, its time for my meeting with the parents from the previous day. I wait and wait and the appointment time comes and goes without them. I let the teachers that I had gotten for the meeting go after calling the home number and leaving a voice mail. I return to my office and ten minutes later I get the call that the parent have arrived at the high school. It must have been the other 10:15am. I return to the high school and have a semi-tense meeting. The mother wants her student out of special education, the father is not so certain. I go over the students history in special education as well as the pros and cons of revoking consent for special education services and what the process would be if they changed their mind after the 15 day grace period, which is basically the student would need to be referred to the child study team again and it would be treated as an initial referral. In the end, there is a change in his academic program but the student is still in special education. Although I predict the parents will change their mind before the school year is out.
After this, I return to the office and print out a bunch of PLAAFs (or PLEPs is you are old school) for my meetings on the morrow and organize them. I also wrestle with a psychological evaluation. This leads me to the end of the day. I know there is more but nothing of consequence that I can remember.
Thursday, January 7th
I get into work and grab my stuff and head immediately over to the high school. I stop off in the main office and guidance office to let them know that parents will be coming in for me and I will be in the high school library conference room, so please direct them there, thank you very much.
I have four re-evaluation planning meetings in the morning and one "I don't know what to call it" meeting scheduled in the afternoon. So out of five meetings, I end up with 60% turnout rate. My first meeting is a no show and I can't get the mother on the phone which wouldn't matter anyway since I don't speak Spanish. I'll have to follow up with the mother by phone with an interpreter (boy, I wish we had that language line).
The mother for my second meeting is prompt and it is a very friendly and cordial meeting. We decide that a functional assessment of the student is most appropriate and we review the student's current performance and previous CST evaluations. It is determined that the student is still eligible for services and then it rolls into an IEP meeting. While the IEP goes into effect it is recognized that there may need to be some adjustments toward the end of the school year because it is too early for teacher recommendations and determining 10th grade classes now.
The parent for the third meeting arrives on time and we do the same thing: a functional assessment and IEP meeting. This student is struggling a bit more than the previous student but is managing. With this parent, I don't know how to read 'em. I think that she may be worried that she is being flim-flammed in some way but I try to make sure that I explain things as much as possible.
The fourth meeting is another no show. I can't even get the student out of class because they are involved in a group presentation in math. In math! I never heard of such a thing. It must be that new math.
Then it is time for lunch. After an uneventful lunch, I make several aborted attempts to walk back to the high school as I keep forgetting things and have to go back to my office. I still manage to arrive for my own meeting before the parent arrives.
This "I don't know what to call it" meeting turns out to be a status check type meeting. The mother seems very involved and cares a great deal for her child and wanted to get feedback from the teachers on the student's performance and to see if there is anything in addition that could/should be done. It also has some overtones of wanting her student out of special education but nothing very strong. Overall, the meeting goes well.
The teacher turnout for all the meetings was spectacular. If you aren't a school psychologist yet and are reading this, some teachers can be passive aggressive when it comes to attending these meetings. If you are a teacher and you are reading this then you may know some of your colleagues that are like this. If you are one of those teachers and your reading this, then you may think I'm the devil :)
Following this meeting, I return to my office and work haphazardly on a number of things and have some testing and counseling related conversations with my office mate. I also field a phone call from one of the principal's in the district whose niece has been thinking of going into school psychology. My office mate and I give her some information and for the first time, I bashfully plug my blog as a way for her niece to see if this is the sort of thing she might want to do.
If the niece in question is reading this, hello. And that brings me to the end of my day. Only one more day and one more meeting for the week. All I need to do is survive until 9:30am and I should be good.
Tuesday, January 5th
We are back in the building. Theoretically speaking, the heat was back on but I still had my jacket on for most of the day. I decided to actually do some psychology related work and went to the high school to test a student. I manage to get him tested in one sitting (I love the WAIS-IV, it really flies by and gets rid of that stupid Matrix Reasoning discontinue rule). Following this, I return to the office to prepare paperwork for my Thursday, Friday, and Monday meetings. Before doing that, I stop at the nurse's office to get the health information on the 5 initial referrals scheduled for Monday.
Once I'm back at the office and have lunch with my coworkers, I start printing a whole load of forms which I put in the appropriate student folders for the meetings. I run into a few areas where I'm not sure what forms I'll need so I try to print them all. Oh the waste.
I also get a message that the parents of a student that has just moved back into district have been calling to arrange a meeting for registration and IEP stuff. I call the number and speak with the mother and schedule a meeting for the next day after my counseling. I know this parent from last year and there was a residency issue at the time but, apparently, this has been settled and the student may now return to our school.
I finish the day feeling fairly satisfied that I'm at least moderately prepared for my meetings. Now if some teachers would just give me the PLEPs (Present Levels of Educational Performance or PLAAFs - Present Levels of Academic Ability and Functioning - if you have grown up in the age of PLAAFs) I need.
Wednesday, January 6th
Ahh, counseling. After three students, its time for my meeting with the parents from the previous day. I wait and wait and the appointment time comes and goes without them. I let the teachers that I had gotten for the meeting go after calling the home number and leaving a voice mail. I return to my office and ten minutes later I get the call that the parent have arrived at the high school. It must have been the other 10:15am. I return to the high school and have a semi-tense meeting. The mother wants her student out of special education, the father is not so certain. I go over the students history in special education as well as the pros and cons of revoking consent for special education services and what the process would be if they changed their mind after the 15 day grace period, which is basically the student would need to be referred to the child study team again and it would be treated as an initial referral. In the end, there is a change in his academic program but the student is still in special education. Although I predict the parents will change their mind before the school year is out.
After this, I return to the office and print out a bunch of PLAAFs (or PLEPs is you are old school) for my meetings on the morrow and organize them. I also wrestle with a psychological evaluation. This leads me to the end of the day. I know there is more but nothing of consequence that I can remember.
Thursday, January 7th
I get into work and grab my stuff and head immediately over to the high school. I stop off in the main office and guidance office to let them know that parents will be coming in for me and I will be in the high school library conference room, so please direct them there, thank you very much.
I have four re-evaluation planning meetings in the morning and one "I don't know what to call it" meeting scheduled in the afternoon. So out of five meetings, I end up with 60% turnout rate. My first meeting is a no show and I can't get the mother on the phone which wouldn't matter anyway since I don't speak Spanish. I'll have to follow up with the mother by phone with an interpreter (boy, I wish we had that language line).
The mother for my second meeting is prompt and it is a very friendly and cordial meeting. We decide that a functional assessment of the student is most appropriate and we review the student's current performance and previous CST evaluations. It is determined that the student is still eligible for services and then it rolls into an IEP meeting. While the IEP goes into effect it is recognized that there may need to be some adjustments toward the end of the school year because it is too early for teacher recommendations and determining 10th grade classes now.
The parent for the third meeting arrives on time and we do the same thing: a functional assessment and IEP meeting. This student is struggling a bit more than the previous student but is managing. With this parent, I don't know how to read 'em. I think that she may be worried that she is being flim-flammed in some way but I try to make sure that I explain things as much as possible.
The fourth meeting is another no show. I can't even get the student out of class because they are involved in a group presentation in math. In math! I never heard of such a thing. It must be that new math.
Then it is time for lunch. After an uneventful lunch, I make several aborted attempts to walk back to the high school as I keep forgetting things and have to go back to my office. I still manage to arrive for my own meeting before the parent arrives.
This "I don't know what to call it" meeting turns out to be a status check type meeting. The mother seems very involved and cares a great deal for her child and wanted to get feedback from the teachers on the student's performance and to see if there is anything in addition that could/should be done. It also has some overtones of wanting her student out of special education but nothing very strong. Overall, the meeting goes well.
The teacher turnout for all the meetings was spectacular. If you aren't a school psychologist yet and are reading this, some teachers can be passive aggressive when it comes to attending these meetings. If you are a teacher and you are reading this then you may know some of your colleagues that are like this. If you are one of those teachers and your reading this, then you may think I'm the devil :)
Following this meeting, I return to my office and work haphazardly on a number of things and have some testing and counseling related conversations with my office mate. I also field a phone call from one of the principal's in the district whose niece has been thinking of going into school psychology. My office mate and I give her some information and for the first time, I bashfully plug my blog as a way for her niece to see if this is the sort of thing she might want to do.
If the niece in question is reading this, hello. And that brings me to the end of my day. Only one more day and one more meeting for the week. All I need to do is survive until 9:30am and I should be good.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Monday, January 4th: Back to Work
With the winter break over, it was time to return to work. The first thing to greet me at the office was that the building was colder on the inside that it was on the outside. Apparently, the boiler, the new boiler, had broken down and didn't start this morning or yesterday, or whenever it was supposed to start. We were told that we were to disperse to our respective schools or the board office but we were not allowed to remain in the building, not that I would want to stay. This would effect a number of staff because everyone doesn't have logins for the computers at the various schools. This didn't effect me because I had made sure to get a login at the middle/high school last year so that I could access the computers when I was over there. Several of my high school coworkers did not have that luxury so they had a harder time of it. Anyway, we were told that we may not be allowed back on the building for the rest of the day since it would take several hours for the boiler to warm up and several hours for the building to heat up. Oh, yeah. And the phones weren't working.
At the high school, I managed to arrange teachers for a number of meetings for this week and next week. I also attended an initial eligibility conference for a middle school student. After this I helped a coworker with an IEP. By the time all this was done, it was time to make my way home.
While not being able to work in my office, it was not such a bad first day back.
At the high school, I managed to arrange teachers for a number of meetings for this week and next week. I also attended an initial eligibility conference for a middle school student. After this I helped a coworker with an IEP. By the time all this was done, it was time to make my way home.
While not being able to work in my office, it was not such a bad first day back.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Questions from Jeff
Since I have traditionally had trouble posting comments on my own blog, I'll answer Jeff's questions here. I may also go into other information just in case others read this. He asks:
I report directly to my district's director of special education. The current director of special education is a former learning disabilities teacher-consultant (LDTC). There really isn't a clinical director in the school district. The oversight that is given is more in regard to following special education law than my practice as a clinician or diagnostician.
I hope this answers your question and thank you and Anonymous for reading my blog.
Question... Are you a PhD level School Psychologist? Who is your direct report -- that is what is his or her title?In New Jersey, the title of school psychologist is a product of the department of education. There is more to it than that but that requires a discussion of the American Psychological Association. My degree is a post-masters certificate called Educational Specialist (Ed. S.). I have my Masters in psychological studies and the Ed. S. is in School and Community Psychologist. This degree and an application to the New Jersey Department of Education allows me to work in a school district but it is not a license to practice privately.
I report directly to my district's director of special education. The current director of special education is a former learning disabilities teacher-consultant (LDTC). There really isn't a clinical director in the school district. The oversight that is given is more in regard to following special education law than my practice as a clinician or diagnostician.
I hope this answers your question and thank you and Anonymous for reading my blog.
Caught up in the Holidays
I've neglected to post about my last few days of work before the winter break due to the rush of the holidays and there really wasn't a whole lot to report.
Monday, December 21st
There was a snow storm the weekend before Christmas which resulted in my district closing on Monday. It really didn't seem like a snow that was worthy of a closing. Later, I learned that the closing was due to the township not being able to clean up the intersections which is a big deal because it is a walking district.
Tuesday, December 22nd and Wednesday, December 23rd
There really isn't much to say about these days. My big push was to get a lot of letters done. I spent these two days doing invitation letters and sending out application packets to out of district placements. This was actually a lot of work and managed to consume both days. While there were other things to be done, this took priority since I was scheduling things for the first week of January when we got back from the winter break.
Monday, December 21st
There was a snow storm the weekend before Christmas which resulted in my district closing on Monday. It really didn't seem like a snow that was worthy of a closing. Later, I learned that the closing was due to the township not being able to clean up the intersections which is a big deal because it is a walking district.
Tuesday, December 22nd and Wednesday, December 23rd
There really isn't much to say about these days. My big push was to get a lot of letters done. I spent these two days doing invitation letters and sending out application packets to out of district placements. This was actually a lot of work and managed to consume both days. While there were other things to be done, this took priority since I was scheduling things for the first week of January when we got back from the winter break.
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