Take It To The Limit

First thing this morning my principal walks up to me and pulls off my name tag. "Let's see how well people will remember your name now." Then he just walked away. It caught me off guard because I had heard that most interns had to wear nametags well into the school year. After 3 weeks my nametag is gone. That's good, I felt like a visitor wearing that damn thing all the time.

So after I tested my kid's cognitive ability today I decided to go back and test the limits on some of the visual perception tests. With some more structure and no time limit, the kid was able to complete most of the tasks. This was a far cry from yesterday when he was not performing well. So now I have to acknowledge the need for structure in my recommendations. I was glad to see that he was able to do the tasks.

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Testing, testing, 1..2..3...

I was given my first evaluation assignment today. It was good to be working with a real kid. I've been practicing on the neighbors, children of friends, and some of my friends. I've practiced on some locquacious individuals. It was refreshing to work with someone who didn't give wordy answers for a change. When you work with children of superior intelligence, your idea of what's average becomes skewed. Practicing on the children of lawyers and doctors will do that to you. Working with the majority of children in our schools will show you what average really means. These children are, well, average.

I originally thought the kid I was working with had vision problems because when he worked on recreating patterns with blocks, they never matched the example. I was starting to freak out because I had never had someone do that poorly on that task. But as we went along he started to perform better. Whew!!!

When I thought about my first day of testing I realized that I probably didn't take the time to build good rapport. I have to remember that this is all a learning process. I guess the kid needed to warm up to me as well.

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Jerry Springer Mom

Sometimes you meet people and you think "Is this for real?" We had a meeting today with a parent who was concerned about her kid's reading ability and behavior in school. We were able to determine that the kid is actually on target academically. He just needs to gain more confidence.

The mother was going on and on about how the kid's former school never kept her informed. Then she starts talking about how she wasn't really there for the kid the first few years of his life. She told us that she was a recovering addict. She told us that she also did some illegal things in the house when she was an addict. I assumed she meant prostitution. I guess the meeting was like therapy for her because she just kept opening up to us. I remember thinking, "Please stop talking." She kept saying things like, "I probably shouldn't be telling you this..." Please, don't tell us anything! I kept looking at the kindergarten teacher's face and she kept trying not to cringe. It got to the point where I had to stop looking at other people in the room because I was afraid that I would start laughing.

The feeling I had about the case quickly deteriorated. At first things seemed positive because the child didn't have as many academic issues as we first believed. But after the mother kept spilling things I became wary of the whole situation. 18 year old daughter that returned home, sugar daddy serving as the kid's father, implied prostitution, and the clincher, she had been clean for only 60 days! The whole time she presented herself as being a recovering addict for the past couple of years. Everyone was under the impression that she had been clean for a lot longer. Alarm bells went off. We will have to keep an eye on this kid's home situation.

I Spy

Today was all about observations. I observed several classes to see different teachers' styles. I also observed some of the kids I'll be working with. I observed a special education class where children were working on reading and math. It was good to see the detailed instruction that the children received.

I also spent a lot of time reading files today to prepare for counseling and assessments. The case histories are always really interesting. It's like doing detective work, "Here's the evidence that's been gathered, what do you make of it?" So far I have found a few inconsistencies with one of the files. I like trying to follow the paper trail to see where someone screwed up. I guess it's still fun because I haven't put faces or personalities to these files yet. Once they become real I'm sure I'll feel differently. Until then I'll continue to read files with the Law & Order chime going off in my head. Dong-dong!

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I Want My Mommy!

Today I had to eat lunch with a kid who was distraught because he missed his mommy. Actually I should backtrack, I was sitting an eating lunch when there was an all page for support services to report to the nurse's station. When I arrived the nurse filled me in on this child who was not having a good time at lunch. He was sobbing and telling me that the only thing that would make him feel better was to go home and see his mother. I told him that I would eat lunch with him and the nurse was going to try and call his mother.

We found an office where we could eat and he started to calm down a little bit. I finally convinced him to take out his lunch. Did you know they finally changed Capri Sun packages, now the little straw hole is made of a thinner material. Do you remember trying to poke your straw through the old packages and having the straw tear a gash into the package? Was it only me? I swore off of them after it happened a couple of times. I don't like wearing Capri Sun. Sorry for the tangent.

As we talked I realized that this kid had a really good point. He wanted to see his mom because when he went home from school she was only there for a short time before she left for work. She returned from work after his bedtime. He hardly got to see her. I would be throwing a tantrum too. There are many parents that are working 2nd and 3rd jobs just to make ends meet. Kids like the one I dealt with don't see their parents either. Why isn't this addressed? This must have larger implications on education.

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Consoler of Small Children

I think that's what my cards should say, "Consoler of Small Children." It seems like that's what some people think is my job so far. In some ways I don't mind because it gives me some practice with working with small children. But I wonder how many of these teachers actually try to resolve the situation themselves? At what point am I called in?

I received my counseling and assessment cases. Those should be good. Now I just hope parents are willing to have their children work with an intern.

I Froze

Today I froze when I could have handled a situation. I wasn't ready to dive right into a situation until I was acclimated to the school. Well, a teacher ran into the teacher's lounge when I was having lunch and asked for support services. Then she pointed at me and said, "You!?" And I looked at her and shook my head no." I probably had a look of sheer terror on my face. I really didn't know what kind of crisis was happening and I didn't want to get involved in something crazy just yet. In the end it was a crying child. I'm starting to sense a trend here.

For the majority of the day we looked at the special ed modifications that students required in the classroom. We discussed these with the teachers. Most of them seemed receptive to the information. There were a couple that didn't take it seriously. I was glad to see my supervisor remind them that the IEP was a legal document to be taken seriously. I was able to get the inside scoop on teachers that were likely to cause problems by not adhering to the modifications that were suggested. We shall see.

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Words

On my second day, I walked around the school and spent some time observing classes. I sat in on an interesting lesson in one of te first grade classes. For homework the students had to find words that they knew and bring them to class the next day. Most of the words that the children knew were brand names like Disney and Coca-Cola. Some of the children brought in cereal boxes, and this showed how much they identified cartoon characters with food products, e.g. Fred Flintstone and Fruity Pebbles. The lesson was a very interesting way to show children how much they know about words. I could see it being useful for encouraging children who have reading difficulties. Although, it is scary how effective marketing can be to children. Here's an article about the increase in demands on first graders.

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First Day

So I started. I'm in an elementary school and I was encouraged by the fact that many of the children were new to the school. Kindergarteners crying and transfers from other schools, towns, states and countries; we were all new today. Misery loves company.

First thing in the morning we had a child that was having a meltdown outside the school. He was afraid to start 1st grade. I watched the school psychologist console him. Correction: I watched the school psychologist console him from far away. I was supposed to be shadowing her, but I wasn't sure how close I needed to be to her at all times. I saw her talk to the parent for a few minutes and before I knew it, the car sped off and my supervisor was left alone on the sidewalk with the child. I made my way over, but I was little scared and excited. At first I was thinking, "Yes, a little excitement in the morning!" But then I realized that I didn't really know what to do. I watched my supervisor do her thing and I was impressed. It took a good amount of time, but she convinced a scared 6 year old to put on his socks and shoes (yeah, he arrived barefoot) and go to class. Actually she put his socks and shoes on for him and carried him into the building. But we were able to convince him to go into the classroom. By the end of the day he seemed fine. I guess that was one victory. Maybe I should keep count, I may need to remember all the little victories.

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Recent Education Articles

Summer's been long. I'm not complaining, but there is very little happening education-wise for me. I did run across a couple of articles in the last two weeks. Here's one. Here's the other.

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The Chosen One

Sometimes you come into a situation where you're seen as the golden child. You go to a job interview and people there have read your resume, googled you, looked over your transcripts, read recommendations and have been really impressed with you; the on-paper version. They just hope you match up in person. The disconcerting thing is that while they have already anointed you as the chosen one, you still have to figure out if you really want the job. I had this experience when I went to interview for my internship.

As I waited for the school psychologist, my potential supervisor, to meet with me, I got a quick sense of what the school may be like. For starters, it was nice to walk into a building and be acknowledged. Why can't other schools understand this? I'm a stranger in your school, shouldn't someone address me to find out who I am and why I'm wandering through your building? The receptionist paged the school psychologist for me and I waited for her in the lobby. We met and the first thing she said was, "I was really excited to meet you after I read your resume. I was really impressed. I hope you're as good as you sound on paper." First of all, that was very disarming, the last thing you expect in an interview are accolades from the interviewer, especially ones that are that glowing. Second, I was coming into this interview relaxed. It wasn't for a job, it was for an internship. The important thing was for me to see if it would be a good fit. I would be spending the rest of my academic career in this school, I needed to make sure that I would get what I needed from it to prepare me to be a real school psychologist. To make matters worse, the very next person I met is the prinicipal, and she had more compliments and hoped that I would pick the school. Now I began to feel really paranoid. The last time I was in a similar situation was when I applied to the University of Virgina and was on campus for an interview. Everyone I saw on campus greeted me and said hello. At first I believed that everyone was told to say hello to the candidates, but then I realized that it was just Southern hospitality. But I digress.

We sat and spoke about how the school psychologist does her job in the school on a day-to-day basis. Her job is multi-faceted, which I liked a lot. She does everything, including testing, counseling children, consulting teachers, and working with parents. I was impressed, and I got a chance to see her in action that day.

After we spoke for a few minutes I got a tour of the school. I haven't been in many schools, but I like how this one was set up. The lower grades were all clustered together in pods. It reminded me of the end of an airport terminal. Each grade level had a resource room available for those chidlren with special needs and a planning room for teachers. This set up allowed for easy collaboration among teachers. It was nice to see how the building fostered a sense of community.

During our tour the principal pulled us into a meeting with a couple of cops. Apparently there had been a recent incident involving bullying and group of about 5 students intimidating another student. This gave me an opportunity to see how the school psych. works with the community as well. The cops were called in because parents in the neighborhood were feeling threatened by "roving gangs of youth". It seemed like the worse these "gangs" were doing was loitering, and possibly some vandalism. The concern of the police and the prinicpal was how to stop this before it turns into something serious.

To understand this problem I had to understand the nature of this suburb. For the most part, the town as a whole wants to ignore the problem. Most people want to say that the problem exists across the border into the neighboring city. They don't want to acknowledge the fact that it is happening in their town. This lack of acknowledgement means that there are no programs that can deal with this problem within this particular neighborhood or section of town. The sad thing is that it isn't a problem, yet. It's merely an annoyance that could quickly escalate if nothing is done to stop it. I'll keep my eyes and ears open this summer.

Overall I liked what I saw. I observed the school psychologist teach social sklls to a 4th grade class. It was nice to see the school psychologist do a variety of things throughout the day. I felt like I saw a lot of positive things during my visit and interview. I didn't really see anything negative, but I'm sure I will witness something one the school year begins in the fall. Nonetheless, I am ready to finally be in a school where I can do some good (hopefully). I hope I will be half as good as everyone expects me to be.

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Semantics-Antics

I hope this isn't a new trend, but it seems as if some people are using the terms "mentally disabled" "intellectually disabled" and "learning disabled" interchangeably. This could cause a lot of confusion. There's a recent article I read on Newsweek.com that talks about colleges admitting the intellectually disabled. But in the heading of the web browser it reads "More Colleges Welcoming Learning Disabled." Two different populations are being referred to in this article. Mentally disabled and intellectually disabled are now the terms used to refer to what was once known as mentally retarded. Learning disabled refers to those who have difficulties in school, but have at least an average IQ. (That's a very brief defintion of LD.) The most common learning disability is a reading disability also known as dyslexia.

Those with learning disabilities have always been able to go to college. And most public universities and colleges accomodate students with needs. It is good to see that some colleges are admitting students who are intellectually disabled. It may offer them more opportunities to develop and learn, and it sets higher goals for the entire population. Before, the goal was to have a person graduate from high school and be able to sustain a living, now some are going onto college. This is big.

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Charter Schools

First, I have nothing against charter schools. There are some crappy public schools out there and if there are people who believe they can offer a better product to kids, more power to them.

There is a public charter school in my city that I've always heard about. I've heard some positive things and I've heard some negative things. The positives are all things that you want to hear about a school. The kids are improving tremendously academically; kids are passing the state competency tests, grades are up, kids are succeeding overall.

Unfortunately, all of the negative things that I had heard were there for me to witness. Kids have to wear uniforms, and the kids who have been disciplined either have to wear a plain t-shirt instead of the standard colored polo, or they wear an off-colored t-shirt. The kids who wear the white t-shirts only screwed up a little bit, they are still generally accepted by their classmates. The ones who wear the off-color t-shirts are basically ostracized. The younger grades have a morning meeting, where they have announcements and acknowledgements. The acknowledgement part is pretty cool, because it's important to recognize these kids and show them that education is a big deal and success is something to be praised. At this meeting, all the kids stand in a big circle, while the only kids who aren't in the circle are those wearing the off-color t-shirts. To me, it sent a message of "You don't belong." I'm all for discipline, but I thought it was a little bit harsh. They already stick out because they aren't wearing the standard uniform (which reminds me about a story about a military academy and cadets who had to wear one glove, but that story's for another time.) I just don't see a need for them to exist outside the circle. I thought a feeling of belonging is what we want in school.

From all the hoopla that I heard from people about the school, once I learned what they did I wasn't surprised. There's nothing magical about what they do. They have a low teacher-student ratio, administration deals with discipline so that it doesn't take away from instruction time, there is school culture that has high expectations for its students, everyone on the faculty is hired because they have a belief that all children can achieve. Once I learned this, my first thought was, "Duh?! That's how school is supposed to be. You mean the difference is that people believe that children can learn. I always knew that was the difference."

I'm not belittling what they do. They do extraordinary work. In fact, it's so ordinary in a way, I was expecting something bizarre. I was expecting to hear that they go home with the children and help them with homework each night or that the children are forced to folow a strict diet that enhances ability and motivation. You know, something bizarre.

One thing of note, this school hasn't been able to improve upon getting parents involved. This worries me, because one of the things I would like to work on as a school psychologist is getting more parents to become involved in their children's education.

In order to understand the lack of participation from parents, one must understand the dynamics within their situations. Some parents aren't comfortable with the educational process because school wasn't a good experience for them. If you grew up within the same awful school system; a system that made you feel dumb, a system that made you hate going to school, and a system that failed to prepare you for a job that would sustain you and your family, you would be a little wary. Also a lot of people in the lower and working class do not have the luxury of working 9-5. Many people are working odd hours, two and sometimes three jobs, and there is little time left to help with homework. Some of these parents are also going back to school for GEDs and college degrees to better themselves and their situation. I'm not trying to make excuses, this is the reality that many families are experiencing. On the other hand, some parents just don't care. They're neglectful and couldn't care less about their child's well-being and future. I once posed a question to someone. "If the school system gave parents an option of providing an education but parents would have to be involved, or daycare and supervision but no educational substance, how many would choose the latter?" This person was afraid to answer. I dare not offer a guess, but it is something I wonder about. Sometimes the apathy is too much to comprehend.

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Why the name?

For those of you who have the privilege of reading this blog, but may not be well-versed in the world of school psychology, the name of this blog may go over your head. Many IQ and Achievement tests are kept in black briefcases, so I thought the name was apropos. I don't want to misrepresent the field and say that testing is all that we do. We do a lot of things in the school system, from consulting parents and teachers, devising behavior intervention plans, assisting teachers in developing alternative teaching strategies, and even some testing. So school psychologists, like anyone else in the education field, have to have a bag of tricks. School psychologists tend to carry a lot of bags, some of them being black briefcases.

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