Throw-Away Children

My principal has a term she uses for children that come from terrible homes, suffer from serious neglect, are deeply involved in Children's Services, foster homes, and generally bounce around from place to place - throw-away children. She doesn't mean this in a disparaging way towards them; its more of a reflection to how they are treated by their families and the system. Usually the most consistent, vigilant ones are the school personnel, but often we can't do much because the children are only with us for weeks or months if we are lucky. Then they move away to start over, after we have spent time and energy lining up resources to improve their lives. But they aren't at fault. It's not like a 7 year old can just up and leave. It's usually an agency, or a foster parent, or the biological parent that decides to move away. Sometimes I'm not sure if people realize how much the upheaval really disturbs a child's well-being. There was a student who didn't show up yesterday and we all assumed that he would eventually come to school after Labor Day (there are always those few families that take it upon themselves to extend summer vacation.) Well I got a note in my box informing me that he moved away. This was a kid that we worked so hard to get him what he needed and really planned out who he would have as a teacher. Now he has to start over in another place.

I have new student who's case is absorbing a lot of my mental energy. She's a child with significant history of abuse and her psychiatric report painted a picture that, quite frankly, scared me. What do you do as a school when someone arrives with a significant history of being a victim and perpetrator of sexual abuse? How do you maintain safety in your school, keep all of the necessary personnel informed, without letting that knowledge spread throughout the entire school. How do you protect the welfare of other children, while maintaining one child's confidentiality? This is something I know I will struggle with for the next few weeks. Luckily I am adept at telling people that I have to maintain confidentiality and I have a competent team of support people who are confident in their decision-making skills. This should be an interesting year.

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First Day 2008-2009 - Positivity is the word of the day!

Guess who's back for another school year. After a nice summer vacation that evaporated like drops of water on hot asphalt, I'm back. Today was the first day of school and it marked my first time starting the year as the school psychologist. My former supervisor is now in her new position at the high school full-time and I'm on my own now. I'm happy. This fresh start also features new digs. Not only did I get a new office, but I got new carpet and new paint on the walls. That was cool, although the new carpet was giving me a headache today, and I don't get headaches often so that had to be the reason.

Anyway, the mantra for today and for the rest of the school year is positivity. At first I was starting to feel apprehensive about the upcoming year. I've got a lot of new players to work with in my school. I've got parents requesting PPTs before the school year even started and the pressure of being the only one started to get to me. I started to wonder if I could pull this off. Would I have any ideas or strategies to offer? Would any of them work? Then I realized that I was thinking about this in the wrong manner. I need to look at these possible situations and these new cases as opportunities to gain experience and add strategies and ideas to my repertoire.

For some reason the negative vibes from teachers were really affecting me today. I was told to pay attention to 1st grade today because there are some new children there and some former kindergarteners with behavioral histories. I used to think that the new students had it rough, because we would get all this information about them before they enrolled: the IEP, the reports, the discipline records, and we would have this profile of the kid before we even met him or her. Now I feel sorry for the children who are already in my school and move up a grade the following year, because they don't always get the chance to make a fresh start. This is especially true when they move from one "negative" teacher to another one the following year. There's this kid who's classic ADHD. The kid can't sit still to save his life, and he's on meds. His kindergarten teacher last year had a hard time adjusting her own attitude towards the student. Now she's contaminated the attitude of the student's new teacher. When the first grade teacher walked into the conference room to talk to the support staff, the first words out of mouth were, "I had to talk to him 5 times this morning." She already wants something implemented for him. So much for an adjustment period. I could feel the negative vibes coming from her end of the hallway, but I refuse to be drawn in. I need to maintain a positive outlook, for my sanity's sake.

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Not Changing For Nobody

I'm starting to notice that a lot of kids don't adapt well to various surroundings. They act the same way whether they are in school, at home, around their parents, etc. I remember learning that I had to be different in school and at home; it was a matter of survival. Kids today act exactly the same way (they usually act spoiled and entitled) no matter where they are. It's baffling. Plus, they don't understand how this behavior gets them in trouble. It's always telling when a child doesn't change his or her behavior when the parent shows up at school. Most kids straighten up and have that look in their eye that says, "what the hell are you doing here?" But there are some that are not fazed in the least. These are the ones I deal with on a daily basis.

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Trifecta

Oh, today was one of those days. I was sitting in my office when the secretary got a call from the gym. The gym teacher was calling because she had-not one, not two, but three kids having simultaneous meltdowns. I headed to the gym to get them, but I picked up the social worker as backup along the way. I've never dealt with three kids at once, so there was no way I was going in alone.

Two of the kids responded badly to receiving strikes in class. My school has a positive behavior support that involves a strike system. It's basically a "3 strikes and you're out" system. The kids need to stay strike free in order to win a reward on Friday. Well, it all boils down kids not being able to handle disappointment and setback. They have no resiliency. I have to figure out a way to reach these kids and get them to handle negative situations in a positive way. It has happened time and time again. A kid gets a strike, he doesn't feel that if is fair, and he has a meltdown that includes crying, immobility and a refusal to talk. Now the situation is worse because the immobility usually disrupts something like a class change. So I get called in.

I ended finding out what the issues were. If these kids could handle a setback, then they would have been able to move on and the strike would have been a single incident. Instead these situations ended up turning into a 30 minute ordeal. I think I know what my assignment over the summer is going to be.

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Disappointment

I wasn't sure how to title this one, but "disappointment" seemed the most relevant. I attended a district meeting on Response to Intervention (RTI). My district is moving towards using RTI in the near future and we have been meeting to figure out how we will implement it. There was discussion to use one of the elementary schools to pilot a program so that we could see how effective the various components are. Unfortunately, the conversation turned to the school that was proposed and how much it differed from other schools in the district. The proposed school serves a more affluent population than some of the other schools, including mine. Some of the members of the committee had either worked in my school or were familiar with the mentality of the teachers in my building. They conveyed a message that said that no one else would buy into the plan because the school it was piloted on had a different population than some of the other schools. For some reason, if it works in the affluent school, it won't work in the working-class schools. I don't get this mentality. But hearing these teachers talk about how hard it would be to convince teachers in some of the working-class schools to buy into the program, made me think that there is little optimism in our society-which is disappointing on several levels.

For those not familiar with RTI: It is a system for determining special education eligibility for a learning disability. It's a system, a protocol if you will. You set up how it will run, and you do it. (This is really simplified, and I'm not doing it justice. That's why I linked to another resource. Consult the link to get a better understanding of what I'm glossing over.) As long as the people are in place, and everyone is doing progress monitoring properly, then it should work. I don't get why people are so convinced that things won't work, especially because of where initiatives are implemented. Why should that matter? Maybe I am naive, or am I just hopeful? This mentality is so pervasive in education and I'm realizing how much has to change in order for real change to occur.

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Third Graders??

Yeah, I heard the news story, and there was nothing I could say. It was the topic of choice in the teachers' lounge. The thought of third graders possessing this kind of premeditation, planning and organization skills is astounding. I'm being flippant, but if this all turns out to be true (and some psychiatrists don't think so) it does speak to what kids can do when they put their minds to it.

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Bullying Article

I only work with elementary school-aged children so the level of bullying that I deal with is minimal for now, but this article from the New York Times sickened me. You want to know what happens to a young man that would make him snap? Try being the kid in this article for a couple of hours. It's a wonder that something disastrous hasn't happened yet. Tick, tick, tick, tick.

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The Art of the Question

We had a psychiatrist come in to conduct an evaluation on a child who had severe panic attacks. The child couldn't finish the school day, because he would have these fits and try to leave the building. Well this psychiatrist came and interviewed the relevant staff, the parents, and the child in a matter of a couple of hours. He debriefed the us after he had met with the parents and laid it all for us. It was pretty amazing how he was able to sum it this kid's whole life experience in a matter of 2 hours. I was really impressed. It made me realize how it's all about the questions you ask, and how you ask them. He was able to get the information he needed to develop his hypothesis on what was going on with this kid. He didn't use any fancy instruments, tests, surveys, etc. He asked some questions, then some great follow-up questions and was able to formulate a theory. It really opened my eyes to the effectiveness of the clinical interview. I guess that the main difference is that because he has an MD at the end of his name, people take his diagnoses seriously. I could say the same thing he said, and I could be challenged on it in court. All this means that while psychiatrists can make definitive statements about what is wrong with a child, I have to speak in terms that reflect vagueness and uncertainty. "It appears that..." "It is possible that..." "It seems as if..."

Turns out there was a lot going on at home; much more than what we were aware of. There will need to be some significant changes within the family in order for this child to meet success. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

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Standardized Tests

I was a proctor for our statewide standardized assessments last week. I've come to the conclusion that students use the same strategies when they have no idea how to solve a problem. What's even scarier is that they use the same strategies when they think they know. I'm realizing that if a student has a word problem that he doesn't understand, then he will just add up all the numbers that appear in the problem. Simple, but wrong. Granted, I was proctoring for the special education students, but I would still hope that they would use certain test strategies.

The students that I had all had time extension. Did any of them use it? No, only on the writing assessment. They finished before the actual time deadline on most of the tests, but they could have used as much time as possible. They had time to use their calculators, draw pictures to solve math problems, and really check over their work. But they didn't use it. It was very frustrating and demoralizing, because I wanted to help them, but I couldn't. It was really draining to see wrong answers, wrong strategies, and what seemed to be complete cluelessness about the whole process.

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Rubber Room

I was listening to "This American Life" on NPR over the weekend and heard an interesting story about what happens to teachers who are removed from their classrooms in New York City Public Schools. Here's an archived version from The New York Times. When teachers are put on suspension because of some inappropriate action they are sent to the reassignment center, or as the teachers call it, the rubber room. Teachers report to the rubber room each and every morning until their cases are tried. Some of these teachers have been in the rubber room for months, even years. Some end a school year and start another school year in the rubber room. Meanwhile all of these teachers are earning a full salary. A full salary for doing 0% of work. 0.0%!!!! It would seem that the school district would want to hear these cases so that these teachers could be immediately terminated, if warranted. It is also peculiar that the teachers' union hasn't stepped in and stopped this mockery of the public school system. Any given day 750 teachers are attending these rubber rooms where they sit around, read books, play cards, sleep and do other frivolous things while substitute teachers teach their classes for them.

I know that some of these teachers get what they deserved. I'm sure there were more than a few that did things that I would not want a child to be subjected to, but why keep these people in limbo? This is reminiscent of Guantanamo Bay. Speaking of which, some of the teachers had been in the limbo room so long, that a prison culture has developed. There are racial cliques, people are hyper-territorial, and there is a pecking order. It's amazing how people respond to different situations. Educators reduced to hardened criminals.

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IDK

Every now and then I feel frustrated with my job. I can't help but feel that people are expecting me to be an expert in everything. I'm now more aware of what I don't know and it makes mad because I wish we had these conversations in class when I had the time. I don't have all the answers. I know that I'm not supposed to have them all now, but sometimes I feel like people expect me too. I hate having to say "I don't know." It makes me feel stupid and unprofessional. On the other hand, I guess it's better than giving some bad advice. That could go horribly wrong.

I guess I have to take it upon myself to find relevant professional development opportunities. I also need to continue to read and research. Exactly what I wanted to avoid once I graduated. Education never ends.

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The Democratic Dilemma

So in this surreal moment in life when the Democratic candidate for President will either be a woman or a black man, I have to seriously think about who I'm supporting. While I was taught in school that it's better for school psychologists to be politically neutral (you don't want to piss people off), I do have some political leanings. I am a registered Democrat and I will support the person that comes out of this alive. Despite my commitment, I do have to think about who is ultimately the stronger candidate. While they differ on some issues, the issue that I have to look at professionally was education. Where does Obama stand on education? What does Clinton have to say about education?

I checked out their websites to see what each candidate has to say. For what it's worth I saw a previous critique of the layout of the Clinton and Obama websites, and I think the critiques are valid. Clinton's website, check it out here, is dense with information, maybe too dense. I saw the text I thought "ugh." I guess I've worked with too many ADHD kids. There were a lot of good points, but I thought it should have been bulleted more. That first paragraph hits you with a thud. Obama's website, check it out here, has headers and has a nice flow. I'm just not sure about what he is actually saying. He presents more ideas and promises than Clinton and it begs the question: How much of this is actually feasible?

Education has been the cornerstone of the American Dream. Everyone is guaranteed an education here. If you get an education, you'll get a job. If you get a job, you can be a productive member of society. That's the sales pitch that America's been giving since the 18th century. So what are the promises that the Democratic presidential candidates are making? Clinton's promises seem to be more focused and there are fewer of them. There seems to be a realistic tone to what she is saying. She also mentions meeting the funding requirements of IDEA and providing support for children with special needs. Obama's promises are idealistic and are full of hope; you wouldn't expect anything less from him at this point. He proposes a "Zero to Five" plan that will focus on kids from birth to preschool. He also mentions making math and science a national priority. You read his ideas and they give you hope. I just wonder how much of this could he actually accomplish.

I have made a decision, but in the end I'll support whoever wins the ticket. I hope that NCLB will be amended, at least funded, so that we can change the education system in this country for the better.

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The Return

I'm back. I can't believe that I've been gone all this time. I've spent this first part of this school year getting acclimated to my school. I am fortunate (or maybe unfortunate) to be working in the same school where I completed my internship. I have to say that the transition was smooth.

I've spent the first few months setting up my systems. I wanted to get organized and have people become accustomed to the way I do things. The rest of the support staff have been understanding. It is weird though how some of them have many years of experience, but because I have the title of "School Psychologist" they think that I'm an expert. I only wish.

My January was pretty calm, but the last week was quite eventful. I'm starting to think that full moons happen several times a month, that's the only logical explanation. I had 2 phone calls to make to Children's Services at the same time. That has to be a first. In the end both children are safe now, so that's the important thing.

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The Real Deal

Where has the time gone. I haven't updated this blog since the summer. Several things have happened since. I finished my program and got a job! I spent the summer learning about reading instruction by being a paraprofessional for summer school. That was interesting.

The important thing is that I now have a job. I am earning a paycheck. I can now call myself a school psychologist. Therefore, I had to change the name of the blog. More soon.

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Mission Impossible?

I'm supposed to raise the DRA scores of my kids in about 2 1/2 weeks!! I found out that testing was going to start earlier than I thought. All of the testing has to be completed by the middle of the last week of school. I also found out that those with high DRA scores are tested last so that they can benefit from intervention the most. Those with low scores are tested first, so they have virtually no chance of passing. It all seems to be a farce. We're putting children through a mandatory situation and dangling this carrot that's unobtainable. I don't get it.

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Summer School

It's summer time and I needed a job, so I signed up to work summer school as a paraprofessional. In my city, there is mandatory summer school for those students who are at risk for retention based on their Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) score. I'm working with third graders who are at risk for retention. These students need to reach a certain score on their reading assessment by the end of summer school or they will be repeating third grade. No pressure at all!

This requirement begs the question: Can a student's score be raised in only 4 1/2 weeks? Exactly what kind of miracle are we teachers, tutors and paraprofessionals supposed to pull in that short amount of time? I'm definitely interested in seeing the rate of success for this program.

The children go through intense reading sessions at different stations in the classroom. They practice their fluency, predict what will happen in a story, talk about the different parts of a story, and practice writing essays.

So far, the children have been okay. I have witnessed several children who have found it hard to be in school during the summer. They remind me of the students at my elementary school who had a rough time at the beginning of the year. Summer school starts almost an hour earlier than the regular school day, so these kids are really feeling it. So am I.

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It's Been A While

It's been a while, I know. I've been trying to survive the end of the semester. I need to write several entries about what has gone on for the past 6 weeks, but I'll get to that at some point. Anyway, the NY Times had an article about a recent ruling in favor of parents of children with disabilities. Basically, if a parent wants to take a school district to court over to challenge the services offered in the child's IEP, the parents do not have to use a lawyer, they can represent themselves. We'll see how this plays out.

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A Serious Lack of Craziness

You may think I'm crazy, but I have been secretly wishing to have a crazy parent in one of my meetings. Not cuckoo crazy, I want full-blown, throw a chair, frothing at the mouth crazy. So far, I have dealt with many parents who are supposed to be really crazy, according to my supervisor and the head of Psychological Services, but they have all been really tame in meetings. I have even had to deliver bad news, and these parents have taken the info in stride. Needless to say, I have been disappointed. I really want the exposure so that I know what to do when I'm out there on my own. I see it as getting good practice and preparation for the future.

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Backtracking

If you've been keeping track, this post is coming up out of order. I know that I have the option of pre-dating my posts and I'm taking full advantage of that. So while the next few posts were written after the fact, these were thoughts I had on those particular days and I'm just transposing written notes into my blog. But I really felt that I had a few things to say about what went on from the beginning of April to the end of May.

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High School Dropouts

The LA Times featured a four-part series on high school dropouts. Reporters looked at high school students at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys. Very informative. It does beg the question, how are high school dropout rates calculated? How can school districts say one number and then an outside evaluator will say a completely different and usually higher number?

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