Holding on to convictions

All of you "seasoned" school psychologists out there - you can read this entry and just smile knowingly, because I'm sure this has happened to you - but my "baptism by fire" happened yesterday afternoon, when I met with an upset angry parent for, oh, an eternity, but actually, it was a little more than an hour. The parent came to the school unexpectedly to discuss a decision we had made (based on my recommendation) for their student, and the parent was, well, let's just say a little steamed. As I watched the person deliver several diatribes, I got the feeling that this person, a professional person in the community, probably was not used to NOT getting his/her own way. Although the meeting was upsetting to me on several levels, I was calm but firmly held my position. I don't know how long I will be able to hold my position, as this person will exercise their rights to due process, and if I am told from a higher authority that I must change my stance, then I will, but for now, I'm hanging tough and will fight the good fight. So there.

A light moment

I was giving a first grader an assessment today and we got to talking about the alphabet. He says, "It's the ABC's, you know". "Yes, that's right", I nodded. "You know what else?", he asked, eyes shining brightly. "No, what else?" "Well", he says, "You can either SAY the letters, or you can burp them out."

Well. Thank you for NOT demonstrating that. He was cute as a button.

I forgot

Sympathies are extended to Michael P. In the world of what doesn't have eternal significance, but what people get passionate about, the KU Jayhawks got beaten big time by some team not worthy of a mention here, and did NOT make it to the Final Four. They just kinda fell apart, didn't they Mike...it was painful to watch. But, I'm proud to be a Kansan, and proud to be represented by the KU Jayhawks. I have no school loyalty really, I root for all Kansas teams, which is why the Shockers get a mention every now and then. And K State, well, I've got a purple pride coffee cup. And a niece that's having a great time being a Wildcat, plus another niece in the wings waiting to go. There ya go. I'm "bi-teamual". So Mike, I hear the colors for your wedding involve some sort of PURPLE. HA. There YOU go.

Of labels and being a kid

Spring break is over...man oh man. It went FAST. I did get away for a few days, but man oh man. It went FAST. (Did I already say that?)

So I'm off and running tomorrow. A staffing first thing in the morning. Testing testing testing testing, Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning. Staffing Thursday. Testing Thursday afternoon. Testing all day Friday. It's crunch time for school psychs. Wonder how many times I'll be giving that WISC-IV between now and the end of the year? More times than I'd like to think about.

I have ordered a book about mental retardation, especially written for parents. If it's as good as I think it is, I will give it to a mom and dad I've been working with. Over the summer I'd like to acquire an organized listing of resources - for you new psychs who read this blog, do you have difficulty putting your hands on things which could be helpful for parents and teachers? I think I have good resources, but because I'm at two schools, I've got resources at both places on both desktop computers, and on my laptop, and at home on both computers. Somehow I need to do some consolidation.

Here's a comment from a friend of mine who reads my blogs on a regular basis but who doesn't make public comments. I thought though, that this was worth printing: "After reading your most recent blog (20th), I had a thought...It really saddens me to think we now live in a world where a child cannot just go to school and "be a kid" anymore. It appears each one now has to find which "box" they fit in and then deal with the "label" on that box, and heaven help them if there is no right "box" for them to fit in. How very sad...Just Me"

Well, Just Me, welcome to the world of special education, where parents absolve themselves of responsibility and blame the schools when their kids can't read. Welcome to the world of NCLB, where EVERY child, regardless of ability, WILL pass state and local assessments, achieving a gold standard put in place by politicians, not educators. Welcome to the world of school psychologists, who are pressured to find labels to fit so that desperate children can receive help - when actually, had the child's parents read to the child, exposed the child to stimulating environments, and monitored video game and TV and movie viewing - perhaps, just perhaps no label would ever be needed. The kid could just be a kid. But sadly, the little 4th grade guy who plays "Mortal Kombat" with his uncle and who has seen guns and drugs sold from his home is not alone. It happens all the time. I just want to grab parents by the collars and scream at them to WAKE UP.

Then, when you hear on the news when some one has been arrested for some sort of high profile crime, his mother/sister/aunt/father
/grandmother /cousin will be interviewed. "I just can't understand this! He is not like this!" Really. Let's look at his school records. Did you go to parent teacher conferences? Did you meet his teacher? Drop in and visit his school? Volunteer at his school? Get to know his friends? Monitor his homework, but teach him responsibility? Protect him from violence and evil? Take him to church? Give him chores to do? Get him to bed at a decent hour? Provide apples and oranges instead of an everyday diet of candy? Make responsible parent decisions? Set a good example?

I dunno. You tell me. Am I nuts?

Ok! I hear you!

Sorry sorry sorry! I promised a lot of people that I would blog, and that I would blog LAST WEEK, but, well, you know, stuff happens. I'm really feeling bad-my family, who I never think are reading my blog, has been nagging me. And friends. And "others". You know who you are.

So, this is spring break, and two days have already flown by. Tomorrow I'm leaving for a little mini vacation, but who knows, I may blog while I'm gone. We'll see. I left both schools feeling overwhelmed about everything that is waiting for me when I get back. Our coordinator sent out an email needing school psychs to volunteer to take an extra case or two from those schools who are inundating their teams with evals. I didn't volunteer as I'll be doing good to get mine done - in fact, it would be nice if I had help, but that's not happening any time soon.

Recently I've placed kids with LD, MR, and will possibly have one that will be OHI the week I get back. And, I will have my first, (I'm almost certain) "OI" case, (that would be "Orthopedic Impairment") in April. I've also recommended dismissal for 2 preschoolers who are doing fine, and declined to place two kids that probably need it, but there's no category to serve them in. We also have several requests from parents for testing- well-meaning parents, but parents who don't understand that their kid isn't going to get placed unless we have that nice little discrepancy between IQ and achievement. Or a health condition which prevents learning.

Well, I'm going to take a break and try not to think about things while I'm off relaxing in a different environment, but I will take my laptop so I can work on (possibly) a couple of things, like my internship evaluation. See you in a couple of days.

Back sort of

Well, I finally had to update both my blogs with a Google account or some such mishmash. Great. And as you know, I haven't posted on either blog for DAYS and DAYS and DAYS. I hope I haven't lost all my faithful readers.

In the School Psych world, things keep hopping along. Spring break is only, let's see, 2 weeks away! I'm so excited! In the meantime, the work continues to pile up and up and up and up and I have had some interesting cases come and go. I've been writing reports at home in the evenings in order to keep up. PLUS, I need to get started on my case study presentation for internship class. I always said I was going to be a psych who not only didn't take work home, but also who worked a "normal" work week. Neither one of those things has been the case. Not only do I put in 50-60 hours a week, but I also work in the evenings. One of the most frustrating things about this job is that I am not in charge of my own schedule, a "team" is. I am a member of that team, but only one member. And when the "team" schedules staffings, I don't have a lot to say about it. It's a pressure cooker at times.

I had briefly considered going to NYC for the National Association of School Psychologists conference the end of March. But, nope, I'm not. I can't be gone for that week. Maybe someday I will be able to attend one of those.

Welll, I'm back to blogging I hope on a regular basis. Thanks for staying with me all those of you who do. It's been a tough last couple of weeks.