Posts Tagged "School Psychology"

School Psychologist

Posted on Jan 18, 2012 | 13 comments

Whew. That was overwhelming. Somehow I went from being an administrative assistant to having major responsibilities in a matter of days. I’m not sure I was mentally prepared for the intensity. Teachers were already stopping by my office for consultation! After six months in a desk job though, I could probably use a challenge, and the day flew by! There’s definitely a lot of energy in the school system. And the people are wonderful!!! I’m excited and scared at the same time.

I came home to recovering Matt who nearly fainted of nausea and dizziness this morning. I feel bad that I wasn’t around to help:( I made up for it in dinner though. I threw together some comfort mac and cheese, with a wonderful sun-dried tomato chicken sausage, and roasted brussels. It really hit the spot this evening.

I think some House Hunters will be a nice night cap. Another new day tomorrow! k night.

The Next Step

Posted on Dec 31, 2011 | 25 comments

I didn’t mean to leave you guys hanging about my new job, but the holidays got the best of me! So without further adieu: I’m going to be a school psychologist!

I’m sure no one is really surprised, seeing as I just graduated with a school psychology degree in May. But for many months, I struggled with the decision of whether or not I really wanted to be a school psychologist. You see, I became very disenchanted with all of the testing, and since the role of the psychologist varies by state, I decided to try something new after moving to assessment-focused NC. Looking back, I think I was blinded after being completely burnt out from 3 years of intense school psychology. In some ways, I see the past six months as a blessing in disguise though, because my experience working in a desk job has helped me come to appreciate many awesome aspects of school psychology:

1. Shorter work day.

2. Decent pay.

3. SUMMERS OFF (and winter + spring breaks)!!

4. More interaction with people and less staring at a computer screen.

5. Even though it’s sometimes boring writing, the job does involve writing, which is something I like. And I get to use my brain!

6. Working with energetic and sometimes cute kids.

7. And most importantly, helping children and their families is a much more satisfying way to spend my time.

I think my generation likes to believe that there’s a perfect job out there for all of us. And while I certainly believe that there’s a job for me that’s very, very close to perfect, I do need to be reminded that there are parts of every job that I’m not going to like. There are still many aspects of school psychology that I don’t like and that I’m not looking forward to. But, for now, there are more things I don’t like in this job than in that job, and that’s the best I can do at my age and with my experience. I also cringe at the thought that I slaved through graduate school (and spent lots and lots of dollars) for nothing. I know many believe that no degree is ever wasted, but it sure feels that way – I have all this specific information in my brain that can help children and I’m not using it! People have always told me that there are lots of different things you can do with a school psychology degree. What they failed to mention though, is that you have to have quite a few years in the schools under your belt first! Perhaps paying my dues in the schools will lead me to my dream job.

The job I took is part-time, so it will allow me to get my foot back in the door while giving me some time to explore other interests. I’m proud to have landed a job in an incredible district and I’m excited to have my own school and my own kids! I’m extremely future-oriented, so I’m trying to to focus on the present and not next year or the next ten. More free time in my life, a more meaningful work day, my own office (!), bullets on my resume in a field that I generally like – that’s enough for right now.

A Step in the Right Direction

Posted on Sep 15, 2011 | 6 comments

I find that if I come home and go straight to the kitchen, I am energized and get lots of chores done. But, if I take one little rest on the couch, I’m done for the night. So, my new thing is to come home and go straight to packing breakfast and lunch for the next day. It definitely worked today and I finally had the urge to make a real dinner. I was also inspired by the fact that Matt was coming home for dinner for the first time all week.

Tilapia with red pepper jelly sauce & goat crumbles over couscous. With agave brussels and a GH Virginia roll!

A nice combination of flavors if I do say so myself:)

I haven’t talked about my new job much on the blog, mostly because I often don’t know what to think of it. The work seems to come and go in waves and my attitude seems to change positively or negatively with the waves. But more recently, it seems to be evening out. I have more ongoing responsibilities and I feel so much better knowing I have things to keep me occupied for eight hours each day. Given my attitude and habits during my internship year, I had started to assume that I’m somewhat lazy and would rather having nothing to do and play on the computer all day long than work. But I’m starting to realize that when I like the work, I’d much rather be busy. It seems that much of my laziness last year was actually the result of being under-stimulated and flat out bored. I like feeling productive, checking things off lists, seeing an end result, and I especially like watching all the little things come together to make something big. I’m fascinated by psychology and love working with kids, but I think school psychology was just too vague for me. I was always working towards something, but to me, all that testing never really resulted in much and it made me feel a bit like a failure. I need more concrete tasks like: create draft calender for students or plan menu for graduation reception. I’m not in love with my current job at all, but I am content for now and excited to know that I’m one step closer to feeling like there is a perfect job out there for me.

Sleep tight.

Progress

Posted on Jun 22, 2011 | 10 comments

Sooo, now that my internship is complete, I promised an update. Have I taken back my twenties yet? Nope. But, recently, I’ve been feeling a lot closer to the kind of daily life that I’ve been striving for (especially when the weather warmed up). Unfortunately, I feel a little stuck right now because my career path is in limbo and my internship didn’t really help me narrow down the options – it only ruled out school psychology.

But, I definitely made some process in terms of adjusting to full time work (although I’d obviously rather have flexible hours or work from home:))

This is what I wrote on my first day of work back in September and in bold are my reflections on how I did with each goal:

“My mission on Taking Back my Twenties is not to complain, but to take charge of my life and find ways to make working days more enjoyable. Part of this means making life at work more comfortable.  I have a few ideas about how I’m going to accomplish this, so I made a list of goals.  Most of the things on this list are common sense, but they tend to be easier said than done, which is why I’m going to need reminders…

1. Think about food ideas before weekly grocery trips so that I can incorporate leftovers to make lunches more interesting. And, pack plenty of snacks!

2. Pack my bag, lay out clothes, and make lunch the night before.

As for numbers 1 and 2, I did well keeping up with meal planning, but I rarely made dinners that yielded leftovers I could take for lunch. I tended to make meals for two to minimize waste and then would remember I could take them for lunch. I did well packing my lunch the night before, but I NEVER picked out my clothes. It wasn’t really a problem though, because I usually brainstormed in the shower and dressed like an eskimo all winter.

3. Get in bed 30 minutes before bedtime so I have a chance to wind-down.  Since I’m a night person, I tend to get energized before bed and then I have trouble falling asleep right away.

Number 3 didn’t go so well as I always stayed up until the last minute and then had trouble falling asleep. I was pretty much tired every day for the whole year:(

4.  Pick one day a week to skip the gym and work late to reduce the amount of work I have to do on weekends.

Although I did skip the gym one or two days a week, it was because I had to babysit, not because I was working late. I really didn’t end up doing much work on the weekends, which was fine with me.

5. Keep a pair of old flats and a sweater at work for comfort.

Yeah, I didn’t do this at all and was freezing on many of the shoulder season days when the heat would be turned off. I also got bad blisters a few times when I didn’t have back-up shoes.

6.  Get up 15 minutes earlier than I actually need to so I don’t have to rush in the morning.  I hate.rushing.

Also didn’t happen, I was frantic most mornings, especially when I tried to go to the gym before work.

7. Get organized and take the time to stay organized! Once I know what my case load will be like, I want to create an organization system that makes my life easier so I don’t waste time looking for things.

I did pretty well with 7, although I must say I think it will be 100 times easier to stay organized when I actually have a desk or computer to call my own.

8. Think of each day as a learning experience and not just a list of tasks that I need to get through.

I did OK with this one. I never really minded being at work, especially because I was working with a bunch of friends. But, there were definitely times that I just viewed work as a bunch of annoying things that needed to be crossed off my list. But, it was a great learning experience.

I’m excited to see how my next work experience differs. I’m hoping that making money and being more independent (aka, not an intern) will really change my outlook.

For those of you who have been working for a while now, do you have any advice for things I could do differently in the future?

Discrepancy

Posted on May 18, 2011 | 21 comments

One rainy day is annoying, two rainy days is gloomy, but five rainy days in the forecast and I feel like winter is back. So, I warmed up with my weekly dose of mexican inspired fare. My new favorite rice bowl contains a simple combo of sweet potato, black bean, carolina rice, and peach salsa. I can’t get enough.

So I’ve been thinking a lot about school psychology lately seeing as I just graduated with a degree in it and I’m constantly trying to figure out what type of job I might like next year. I don’t talk much about it on the blog, but I have some beef with the profession. But it wasn’t until I had an email discussion with a blog reader who’s also in the field that I realized what I’m most frustrated about – it’s the discrepancy between the idea of school psychology and what actually goes on in the practice of school psychology. Assessment based on RTI data, school-wide positive behavior support, regular education interventions – they are wonderful ideas…IN THEORY. My classmates and I have had many discussions that started what “well, in an ideal school…” But, there is a lot more work to be done until that ideal school exists and I’m already impatient with the pace of progress. I’m a perfectionist, not in the traditional sense of the word – I rarely look put together, I’m a slob at home, and I’m not as organized as most females – but I want to perfect my work. In most schools in which I would be working, I won”t have the resources (i.e. organizational structure, human capital, or financial means) to practice the profession the way I learned it is supposed to be practiced, and this really bothers me. And what bothers me even more is that I’m not one of those people who wants to dedicate my life to bringing about change in the field; I’d rather go in search of something new. And I feel very guilty about that.

Thoughts?