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.
Monday, January 4, 2010
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.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Regained some energy
Well, Thursday and Friday were pretty exhausting. Winter break is so close yet so far. I finally feel rested enough to finish reporting the rest of last week.
Thursday, December 17th
This day was all about the special, lawyer attended meeting. I had every bit of information I thought I could possibly need. I had invited everyone that I thought needed inviting. And I had all the forms I thought would be needed.
Before I had my meeting, I met with my supervisor about my recent performance evaluation then it was off to the meeting. I thought that one or both of the supervisors of the supervisors would be attending the meeting but here I was going with a few coworkers. I get to the meeting and our lawyer arrives but we are still awaiting the parent's lawyer. We go into our little pre-meeting pow-wow with our attorney and when their lawyer arrives, they go into theirs. About 20 minutes later, the meeting is ready to begin. There is a lot of people in attendance. The teacher turn out is huge. At least one from each subject area which is great. Two related service providers; the transition coordinator; the LDTC; later, the supervisor for English and social studies. Really quite impressive.
I open with my considered agenda items: review of recent testing; deciding on a neuropsychologist; and discussion of personal aide duties. I ask the parent what items they sought to discuss and transition concerns are added. From there the meeting takes off. The teachers say their piece first since the teachers will have to leave in a little while. We review the testing then follow up with discussion of neuropsychologists. From there we hit the meat of the meeting: personal aides.
Three and a half hours later, the meeting ends with some additional modifications added and adjustments made to the duties of the personal aides. In addition, there is the certainty of another meeting in the future once the neuropsych is completed.
Overall, the meeting goes quite well and it definitely had the chance to go poorly. It is to the credit of all the people that attended the meeting that it didn't go south. In addition, the family's attorney was quite reasonable and did not act in an adversarial manner.
I get back to the office to try to decompress and looking forward to a little downtime since the meeting blew through what is generally considered lunch time. But rest is not my destiny. About 20 minutes after I get back to the office, I get sent to the middle school for another risk assessment. Following this, it is time to leave for the day. I decide to get out of there before anything else happens that needs my attention.
Thursday night was also a department holiday party at a restaurant. It is also the retirement party for someone that retired before the start of the school year. If I hadn't already paid, I would have gone home considering how exhausted I was. I go to the party and have a nice time. I didn't really know the retiree that well since she was only in school for half the year and went out on medical leave but it is nice to see her looking so well. I take my leave and head home for the night.
Friday, December 18th
There is not much to report for the Friday. I did some follow up stuff from Thursday's meeting. I contact the facility doing the neuropsych and get the information to make the referral. I send out a few emails and try to make a to-do list for next week.
I am blessed with the gift of 5 new initial referrals and I try to contact the other people that have been equally blessed to arrange a common meeting day for all 5. This is not going to happen before break but the winter break does slow the clock down a little.
There are a large number of people absent today. Either people that planned to be absent after the previous day's festivities or others that didn't feel like slogging it in afterward. The day goes slowly and quitting time takes forever to get here.
Three more days to go before break and there is so much to do.
Thursday, December 17th
This day was all about the special, lawyer attended meeting. I had every bit of information I thought I could possibly need. I had invited everyone that I thought needed inviting. And I had all the forms I thought would be needed.
Before I had my meeting, I met with my supervisor about my recent performance evaluation then it was off to the meeting. I thought that one or both of the supervisors of the supervisors would be attending the meeting but here I was going with a few coworkers. I get to the meeting and our lawyer arrives but we are still awaiting the parent's lawyer. We go into our little pre-meeting pow-wow with our attorney and when their lawyer arrives, they go into theirs. About 20 minutes later, the meeting is ready to begin. There is a lot of people in attendance. The teacher turn out is huge. At least one from each subject area which is great. Two related service providers; the transition coordinator; the LDTC; later, the supervisor for English and social studies. Really quite impressive.
I open with my considered agenda items: review of recent testing; deciding on a neuropsychologist; and discussion of personal aide duties. I ask the parent what items they sought to discuss and transition concerns are added. From there the meeting takes off. The teachers say their piece first since the teachers will have to leave in a little while. We review the testing then follow up with discussion of neuropsychologists. From there we hit the meat of the meeting: personal aides.
Three and a half hours later, the meeting ends with some additional modifications added and adjustments made to the duties of the personal aides. In addition, there is the certainty of another meeting in the future once the neuropsych is completed.
Overall, the meeting goes quite well and it definitely had the chance to go poorly. It is to the credit of all the people that attended the meeting that it didn't go south. In addition, the family's attorney was quite reasonable and did not act in an adversarial manner.
I get back to the office to try to decompress and looking forward to a little downtime since the meeting blew through what is generally considered lunch time. But rest is not my destiny. About 20 minutes after I get back to the office, I get sent to the middle school for another risk assessment. Following this, it is time to leave for the day. I decide to get out of there before anything else happens that needs my attention.
Thursday night was also a department holiday party at a restaurant. It is also the retirement party for someone that retired before the start of the school year. If I hadn't already paid, I would have gone home considering how exhausted I was. I go to the party and have a nice time. I didn't really know the retiree that well since she was only in school for half the year and went out on medical leave but it is nice to see her looking so well. I take my leave and head home for the night.
Friday, December 18th
There is not much to report for the Friday. I did some follow up stuff from Thursday's meeting. I contact the facility doing the neuropsych and get the information to make the referral. I send out a few emails and try to make a to-do list for next week.
I am blessed with the gift of 5 new initial referrals and I try to contact the other people that have been equally blessed to arrange a common meeting day for all 5. This is not going to happen before break but the winter break does slow the clock down a little.
There are a large number of people absent today. Either people that planned to be absent after the previous day's festivities or others that didn't feel like slogging it in afterward. The day goes slowly and quitting time takes forever to get here.
Three more days to go before break and there is so much to do.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wednesday, December 16th
I get into work and immediately head over to the high school for my two re-evaluation planning meetings. Things start off so well. No teachers, no parents. I call my first parent and manage to pull teachers together for a phoner. The student is found to be eligible based on a functional assessment of his performance and no additional testing is required.
This trend of no parents appears to continue for my second meeting. I call the "home" number and a young male answers the phone. It turns out that the young man is my student. It turns out that the "home" phone number that I called is a cell phone in my student's possession. It turns out that my student is in school. Ergo, he is answering his cell phone in school while he is in class. Once I bring this up on the phone, we are suddenly disconnected. Good grief.
Just as I'm letting teachers go back to class, this student's mother shows up. I have a large number of Hispanic students and I have trouble keeping track of which student's parents speak Spanish and very little English. It turns out that this parent is one such mother. I make a hasty call to a coworker that speaks Spanish and manage to get her on the phone for interpretation. So we manage to get through this meeting as well.
I return to the office and prepare for my next meeting for a student that had been withdrawn from the district last year and is now re-registered in the district. The student has been out of school since last March. The student is also in need of an out-of-district placement. The meeting goes on for quite some time but I get what is needed to start looking for an out-of-district.
After lunch, I spend the rest of the day preparing paperwork for the super duper special meeting tomorrow.
This trend of no parents appears to continue for my second meeting. I call the "home" number and a young male answers the phone. It turns out that the young man is my student. It turns out that the "home" phone number that I called is a cell phone in my student's possession. It turns out that my student is in school. Ergo, he is answering his cell phone in school while he is in class. Once I bring this up on the phone, we are suddenly disconnected. Good grief.
Just as I'm letting teachers go back to class, this student's mother shows up. I have a large number of Hispanic students and I have trouble keeping track of which student's parents speak Spanish and very little English. It turns out that this parent is one such mother. I make a hasty call to a coworker that speaks Spanish and manage to get her on the phone for interpretation. So we manage to get through this meeting as well.
I return to the office and prepare for my next meeting for a student that had been withdrawn from the district last year and is now re-registered in the district. The student has been out of school since last March. The student is also in need of an out-of-district placement. The meeting goes on for quite some time but I get what is needed to start looking for an out-of-district.
After lunch, I spend the rest of the day preparing paperwork for the super duper special meeting tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tuesday, December 15th
Well today involved some counseling for my 1st period group. It was funny because one member was absent and the group was much more manageable.
After this, I returned to the office and started doing some preparation for my re-evaluation planning meetings. I also turned in some stuff to one of the secretaries to have a whole bunch of documents archived in our computer system. This means that those documents will be read only.
I also reschedule the mistaken appointment I mentioned yesterday.
Lunch rolls around and a risk assessment rolls around with it. I get to bring along one of my new coworkers to break her in for risk assessments in the district. But more importantly, she speaks Spanish and the student was an ESL student. Obviously, she did most of the talking. Following this, I get another surprise. The guidance counselor for the ESL student asks me to speak to another student that had made an unfortunate comment. In both cases, the students aren't sent out for an evaluation. After this, I stop at the middle school to try to see another student for counseling.
I call up to the classroom and the teacher makes a stink because they are starting a new lesson. She asks if she can send the student down at the end of the period. I tell her "never mind" because I know the student needs the lesson and I don't plan on waiting 30 minutes for the end of the period.
Once I'm back at the office, I finish up the paperwork for tomorrows meetings and look over paperwork for Thursday's extra special meeting. I also find my first of three performance evaluations for the year on my desk with a note to set up an appointment to review it Thursday at 9am (1 hour before this meeting). The evaluation is very complimentary and I later joke to a coworker that its a good thing that I meet with my boss about it before the lawyer meeting because if it was after she might think of changing the evaluation.
While I going over paperwork, I start looking over a form called "Waiver of Triennial Re-evaluation." I've never really used this form before because I haven't really understood how it is used. I look up the statute that it references and read it over. I then talk to a few of my coworkers about it. The only conclusion we come to is that it would be used in the case of a disabling condition that isn't going to change over time, such as cognitive impairment or deafness, or blindness. Even so, I'm not sure. This feels like something to get more clarification on from the county office. Since our monitoring visit, there are a few things, form-wise, that need clarification.
Following this, I look over the information on my new student and discover a number of discrepancies in the paperwork which is aggravating. After this discovery, I go home to prepare for another day.
After this, I returned to the office and started doing some preparation for my re-evaluation planning meetings. I also turned in some stuff to one of the secretaries to have a whole bunch of documents archived in our computer system. This means that those documents will be read only.
I also reschedule the mistaken appointment I mentioned yesterday.
Lunch rolls around and a risk assessment rolls around with it. I get to bring along one of my new coworkers to break her in for risk assessments in the district. But more importantly, she speaks Spanish and the student was an ESL student. Obviously, she did most of the talking. Following this, I get another surprise. The guidance counselor for the ESL student asks me to speak to another student that had made an unfortunate comment. In both cases, the students aren't sent out for an evaluation. After this, I stop at the middle school to try to see another student for counseling.
I call up to the classroom and the teacher makes a stink because they are starting a new lesson. She asks if she can send the student down at the end of the period. I tell her "never mind" because I know the student needs the lesson and I don't plan on waiting 30 minutes for the end of the period.
Once I'm back at the office, I finish up the paperwork for tomorrows meetings and look over paperwork for Thursday's extra special meeting. I also find my first of three performance evaluations for the year on my desk with a note to set up an appointment to review it Thursday at 9am (1 hour before this meeting). The evaluation is very complimentary and I later joke to a coworker that its a good thing that I meet with my boss about it before the lawyer meeting because if it was after she might think of changing the evaluation.
While I going over paperwork, I start looking over a form called "Waiver of Triennial Re-evaluation." I've never really used this form before because I haven't really understood how it is used. I look up the statute that it references and read it over. I then talk to a few of my coworkers about it. The only conclusion we come to is that it would be used in the case of a disabling condition that isn't going to change over time, such as cognitive impairment or deafness, or blindness. Even so, I'm not sure. This feels like something to get more clarification on from the county office. Since our monitoring visit, there are a few things, form-wise, that need clarification.
Following this, I look over the information on my new student and discover a number of discrepancies in the paperwork which is aggravating. After this discovery, I go home to prepare for another day.
Monday, December 14, 2009
A Little Delayed
I got a little behind on posting.
Friday, December 11th
Oddly enough, I can't remember much from Friday except to say that it went really slowly. The most entertaining thing was counseling my early morning girls group. Very little talking on my part was needed. I don't know how teenage girls have that much energy for drama.
I then spent the day tied up with trying to locate home instructors for my suspended student. I was also given a new student that had just re-registered with the district. It is the sibling of another student of mine. I attempted to contact the mother several times without success.
I make a futile attempt to do some paperwork, such as a risk assessment from earlier in the week and a psychological report. But as I said, it was a futile attempt.
Monday, December 14th
Back to work. I try to get in touch with out district lawyer regarding the tentative plans for a meeting later this week. The lawyer says that yes, it will occur on Wednesday. This sets off a flurry of emails to make final arrangements. All this will come back to bite me in the butt later in the day.
I go over to the high school to meet with a couple of student and then I get out of there before I'm trapped in the lockdown drill.
Once back at the office I get an email that tells me that one of the home instructors that I thought I had arranged is not arranged. Back to the drawing board. Science and math are the hardest to find for home instruction. I speak to one of my superiors and follow up on a suggestion from them. I contact the director of guidance who is the contact person for the web-based home instruction company that we use. I give her the information on the student and also send an email to the mother.
Following this, I call the parent of my new student and arrange a meeting. Another thing that will bite me in the butt.
I wait around for the state monitors but I'm never contacted which is fine. I hear of their comings and goings and continue about my day.
In the afternoon, I go over to the high school to follow the schedule of one of my students to see just how many stairs they have to take during the day. Don't ask.
Then in the afternoon I get a call from one of my coworkers who is involved with the student that has the lawyer meeting coming up. She reports that she has just gotten off the phone with the mother of said student and reports that the mother is under the impression that our meeting is Thursday and not Wednesday. I return to my office and print out the several emails that capture the exchange between me and our lawyer about the date of the meeting, culminating in this morning's email that confirms that the meeting is on Wednesday. I go to my coworker and show her the emails just because I want someone else to see the stupidity of the situation. After several other phone calls, our lawyer (who says that they aren't sure who screwed up) confirms for the 17th.
Now I got back and resend emails regarding the meeting. I have to call the high school person that organizes substitutes to reschedule the substitute and find another place to hold the meeting. I also have to reschedule the meeting with the other parent that I called today.
Well, that should make up for a slow Friday.
Friday, December 11th
Oddly enough, I can't remember much from Friday except to say that it went really slowly. The most entertaining thing was counseling my early morning girls group. Very little talking on my part was needed. I don't know how teenage girls have that much energy for drama.
I then spent the day tied up with trying to locate home instructors for my suspended student. I was also given a new student that had just re-registered with the district. It is the sibling of another student of mine. I attempted to contact the mother several times without success.
I make a futile attempt to do some paperwork, such as a risk assessment from earlier in the week and a psychological report. But as I said, it was a futile attempt.
Monday, December 14th
Back to work. I try to get in touch with out district lawyer regarding the tentative plans for a meeting later this week. The lawyer says that yes, it will occur on Wednesday. This sets off a flurry of emails to make final arrangements. All this will come back to bite me in the butt later in the day.
I go over to the high school to meet with a couple of student and then I get out of there before I'm trapped in the lockdown drill.
Once back at the office I get an email that tells me that one of the home instructors that I thought I had arranged is not arranged. Back to the drawing board. Science and math are the hardest to find for home instruction. I speak to one of my superiors and follow up on a suggestion from them. I contact the director of guidance who is the contact person for the web-based home instruction company that we use. I give her the information on the student and also send an email to the mother.
Following this, I call the parent of my new student and arrange a meeting. Another thing that will bite me in the butt.
I wait around for the state monitors but I'm never contacted which is fine. I hear of their comings and goings and continue about my day.
In the afternoon, I go over to the high school to follow the schedule of one of my students to see just how many stairs they have to take during the day. Don't ask.
Then in the afternoon I get a call from one of my coworkers who is involved with the student that has the lawyer meeting coming up. She reports that she has just gotten off the phone with the mother of said student and reports that the mother is under the impression that our meeting is Thursday and not Wednesday. I return to my office and print out the several emails that capture the exchange between me and our lawyer about the date of the meeting, culminating in this morning's email that confirms that the meeting is on Wednesday. I go to my coworker and show her the emails just because I want someone else to see the stupidity of the situation. After several other phone calls, our lawyer (who says that they aren't sure who screwed up) confirms for the 17th.
Now I got back and resend emails regarding the meeting. I have to call the high school person that organizes substitutes to reschedule the substitute and find another place to hold the meeting. I also have to reschedule the meeting with the other parent that I called today.
Well, that should make up for a slow Friday.
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