10 things to do in your first month as a School Psychologist

It's almost that time!  Your either reading this and dreading the end of summer, or you've had boxes of school supplies piled up and ready to move into your office for weeks.

I sometimes get emails from new school psychologist or students with lots of questions.  Sometimes I feel like that was just me.  Other times I can't even remember how many years I've been working for.

I wanted to share some tips for those brand spankin' new School Psychs today...rock it, you guys!

*Just a note-I have learned so much from online communities of School Psychologists throughout the US.  I know our roles vary significantly.  Mine is based on an elementary position, 1 building role.

Your To Do List:

Mark your Space:  Maybe it's a picture of your dog, a family portrait, a sweet card a former student or coworker made you, mark your new office (space) with something that will make you smile.

Get yourself a calendar:  To this day, one of the first things I do each year is print of the district calendar and transfer it to my outlook (where I keep everything, I don't use a paper planner).  You'll need this for a myriad of different reasons, everything from knowing your first vacation day, to your first PD after school session.

Meet & Greet the building:  My mother, who is an elementary teacher, gave me great advice when I first started by job.  She told me to make friends with my coworkers-put out a bowl of candy, and offer them help.  So, my first day of working ever as a school psych, I spent moving around furniture in the special education classroom.  Grab a new minutes with your principal/supervisor, definitely see the secretary and custodian, and walk through the halls to say hello to the teachers.

Find out who you will be working with:  After you've done a general "hello!", spend time with the staff you will be working closely with-the special education teachers, the school social worker, the nurse.  Then, find out how you know the students you will work with.  Once you know the students, you can meet their teachers, start reading their plans, etc.

Figure out what your role is:  HAHAHAHA.  I laugh, because I truly think the job of a school psychologist is never-ending.  A few years ago one of my supervisors had all the psychologists write down our roles on a piece of paper.  I kid you not, there were like 30 by the time we all shared out and remembered all of the things we do each day!  Anyway, get from your supervisor a general understanding of your role.  Do you do all the counseling?  What population of students do you work with?  Do you have any role in school climate?  What about general education initiatives?  Are there certain meetings you attend every week?  Things will pop up along the way, but the more you know at the beginning, the better.

Take Inventory:  I've been to a school where I had nothing except some leftover wooden blocks and protocols well beyond their years, and I've been to one with an excess of social skills games that I will never use.  Take inventory of what you have (activities, test kits, books), and make note of what you need.  You don't need it all at once, and you probably don't even know all of what you need now, but it helps to get a list started.

Collaborate:  Whether you work in a small or large district, there are most likely other school psychs. My collaboration with other psychs in my district has varied, from constant, fun and friendly emails, to reaching out only when we have specific questions.  Either way, find out who your colleagues are, and say hello...you will definitely need their help at one point or another.

Figure out a system for note taking and lists:  You will be taking a lot of notes as a School Psychologist-notes at meetings, notes from phone calls, notes you feverishly jot on a post it note while running down the hall after a student...Find a system that works for you.  Also, find a way that you will write down notes on what you have to do...are you a paper or electronic person?  It doesn't have a be a system that works forever, just one that works for you now.

Set limits on home vs. work:  This one is tricky.  My first year, and probably most of my second, I decided I would do whatever I needed to finish my job at work.  I didn't bring much work home, but I was at work an hour early everyday, and left between 5-6.  Oh, and I had an hour commute.  Before you get into the year, set limits for yourself on what you want your home/life balance to look like.  It probably won't look perfect, but you have the rest of your career to figure it out.

What advice do you other School Psychs have for "survival'?

On balancing it all...

When I started writing on this blog, and creating things for websites about these things 2 years ago, my career was my life.  Which was totally awesome at the time, and the "season of life" that I was in. I got to work an hour before I had to be there, and stayed late every day.  As a new career psychologist, I was passionate about creating things that I could use in my practice.  I loved my job.

Then, I became a Mom.  I was still, of course, a school psychologist, but now I was a wife, Mom, sister, friend, etc. and a school psychologist, and Momming takes up a lot of time.  My priority quickly changed from my career to my child.  On maternity leave, I was able to check out of the office easier than I thought I would.  When I went back to work, I was able to leave at the end of the school day (not hours later), with less guilt than I would have thought.

My happy place

I still love being a school psychologist.  I think it is the best job, and especially the best job for a working Mom.  But the truth is, my family has grown even more now, and I'm choosing to dedicate less of my free time to school psychology right now, and that also means this blog.

So maybe I will still share some of my school psychology experience, maybe I'll shift to more of a working Mom perspective, but I just wanted to give an update.  I hope you continue to use the resources here!

Work/Life Balance as a school psychologist

Before I was a school psychologist, I worked in social work with an intense population, so working in a stressful position was not new to me.  I remember the day that I first broke down during my first year as a school psych.  Luckily, I had an amazing special education support team there, and I remember one of the special ed teachers telling it was alright-I was doing a great job, and this showed it.  I've learned through the years that being a school psychologist isn't an easy job-but honestly, very few people I know are not stressed by their job at one or another.  There are ebbs and flows, but in the end, this is a great career.  So, let's talk about work/life balance as school psychologists today.

Obviously, I am not an expert in this area, I'm still learning, and with another baby on the way, I'm about to drop all my balls and try to juggle them again.  I wanted to share today though, how I've become more positive about my work life balance, and especially, hear from other people-you guys!  What works for you?

1.  Make some definitive limits for yourself between home and school. (Turn off your email on your phone & Set time limits for yourself)

In the first district I worked in, it was common to have your work email on your phone and iPad.  It was especially helpful for me because I wasn't often in my office, but I could carry my calendar and email with me around the school.  I would answer frantic parent emails at 10 pm.  I remember one of my coworkers telling me she never checked her email at home, or responded to a parent after 5 and thinking I could never do that.  Then one year, I had a really tough case.  The parents weren't happy, the child was having a lot of issues at school, and there were lots of people from the district involved.  Email was the parents main form of complaint, and I would get emails during dinner and right before bedtime.  I was already stressed coming home from the day, and then this just continued it into my personal life.  That's when I took stopped my email from pushing to my iPhone.

A year later, I had a baby to come home to.  I was busting my behind at work all day long to get everything done, and often only looked at my phone once a day to check in on my daughter.  When I got home, I didn't want to spend time on work, and that's when I stopped checking work emails at home.  It's been rough, but it's been the best.

I also find that it's helpful (and necessary) to set hours for myself at work. Even before I had kids, I had a long commute home, and the later I stayed at school, the longer it would take me to get home.  So, I picked one or two days where I could stay late, and that was it.

2.  Give yourself grace when the above doesn't work out.

Sure, it's easy to say pack up at 4:15 and head home everyday, and I can do this 80% of the time.  But, sometimes, I have a parent coming in to review a report the next day, and I've only written the background section when the day before is ending.  On those days, I say "oops, quick dinner tonight!", I go home, feed my family, and break out my laptop, and I remind myself that these days are fleeting, and this will not be my life everyday.

3.  Prioritize.

One of our administrators once had the psychs in my district write down all of our responsibilities-every little thing we were responsible for-and then we picked out those were the most important.  You guys, there was a lot on that paper.  We often want to do it all, but you need to prioritize in order to do your best.  In this season of my career, I prioritize my testing and IEP counseling students.  If I'm testing a student, I turn off my walkie talkie, and put up a testing sign on my door.  If a student needs someone to talk to during that time, the secretary knows I'm not available.  What you need to dedicate your time to will vary over the year, but make sure you know what that is.

4.  Work hard when you are at work.

This sounds silly, but here me out.  If you want to balance work and life, you have to go full-force when you are at work.  When I first started out and had the time, I would get to work an hour before school started, and often sit and chat with one of my coworkers over our morning coffee.  It was distressful for me and a nice way to start the day.  Now, things are a little different.  I arrive to school 30 minutes before I'm required to, immediately open up my email, and go go go. If I know I need to leave right after the kids do one day, I work through lunch.  I know this isn't ideal, but it's just to say, think about how you are spending your work days, and how you can better manage your time.

5.  De-stress and treat yo' self!

We preach calming tools all day long, but how often do we use them ourselves?  This past year, I made an effort to use the mindfulness techniques I was teaching my students more often in my life-both personal and professional, and I find myself 5-finger breathing on a regular basis now!  Do yoga, go out to dinner, sing loudly in the car on the ride home, grab an irrationally expensive latte when you know you are doing to have a long day.  Don't forget to spoil yourself!

So, what are some of your secrets for balancing it all?  I'd love to know!

In the Beginning: A School Psych Starter Kit

A while back I shared my Advice for the New School Psychologist.  Getting and starting your first job as a "real" school psych is  as exciting as it is nerve-wracking.  You are  so ready to take on the world, but at the same time, feel like you have no idea what you are getting yourself into.  Right?

You are most likely taking over the job of someone else who left your district.  This can mean a few things:  you are taking the place of someone who left behind some district-purchased goodies that are a-okay, or you are inheriting  20 years of files and papers.

I don't believe it's necessary or wise to go crazy buying everything off amazon before you start and here's why:  you won't really know what you'll need, until you get to know your job and your kiddos. Often, my population varies year to year (or every few years), and my needs change.  So, I came up with a list of things that would be helpful to start out with, at the beginning.

1.  A report template:  I mentioned this in my first post, but I cannot stress how helpful it will be to put something together before you need to.  Because in all likelihood, but the time you need to be writing that report,  you will already have 5,000 other things on your plate as well. So start it now, while you have time.

2.  Fun games for kids:  You don't need much to start with, and what you need probably depends on the kids  you work with.  I found that, my first year, even though I had every game in  the world, all my kids wanted to play with was the old psych's legos and foam blocks.  That said, a game of Uno  and sorry will suffice at the  beginning.  And ask around-coworkers, family and friends often have used board games their own children have outgrown!

3.  A planner:  You will be a popular person for meeting invitations.  In order to remember to attend these, and to know when you are double (and triple!) booked, you will need some place to write these down.  So paper, or electronic, be prepared on your first day.          

4.  Professional clothing:  This might vary according to the school and district you work with.  My first year, I made it a point to look as professional as possible, even if I didn't feel like it all the time.   To this day, I feel better in tough meetings, when I'm rocking a blazer and my glasses. Am I crazy?  Maybe it's just me.  This is especially important if you are young out of grad school, and work in a high school setting.  A few months into my career, I asked for the key to the faculty bathroom at our high school, only to be told "Sorry, that's for staff only, hon!"

5.  A comfy place for students to relax:  When I moved into my office, it was outfitted with a leather Freudian -style couch.  Appropriate, for a psychologist, I suppose, but I couldn't imagine a Kindergartener coming in and opening up about their life while sitting on red leather.  I quickly donated it to another part of the school, and replaced it with a "calming spot", which I have had ever since.  A tiny rug, and some comfy pillows or a chair is all it takes.  Kids love it.  And there are some days, I just want to close my door and take a break in the calming spot myself.    

6.  Snacks:  You probably know this from being in an internship, but there are days where you will forget to eat lunch.  Or, you will think that you have an hour for lunch, and you end up spending that on the playground trying to get a student in for lunch.  If you get HANGRY like me, (or if you just need energy to function), don't forget your snacks.  Snack drawer, people.  It's essential.

7.  A bag to bring it all home:  If this is your first job, splurge and get yourself a nice bag to lug back and forth to your office(s) with you.  I know, I know, "don't bring work home", but it happens.  When you are the last person in the building and you aren't even halfway through your report, and you're falling asleep, it's better to take a break and bring it home.  And you will need a bag to tote that laptop, and iPad, and 10 folders.

8.  Some resources for counseling, but bring what you have, or what you know:  Like I mentioned above, please don't feel like you have to go crazy over materials.  Over the years, the resources I have used the most are the ones that I have borrowed from other people, and then bought myself.  Or, I will try out some freebies online, and then see if the curriculum works for me.  So, my advice would be, use what you have learned in school.  If you really like Social Thinking, buy a book.  But don't go nuts for things you might not use.

Your first year as a School Psych is going to be just as exciting as it is overwhelming and nerve-wracking.  And before you know it, you'll be an expert 2nd year professional!

What else did you have that helped in your first year?

In the Beginning: Advice for the New School Psychologist

This year will be my fourth year in my school (I can't believe it!), and it seems like just yesterday I was nervously setting up my office and having no idea what to expect but excited to take on the world.

I read The School Psychologist's Survival Guide the summer before, which helped me a little bit, but as any School Psych will tell you, neither graduate school nor any books will prepare you for the real thing.

Here are some suggestions I have for you first years starting out.

Put Yourself Out There

My mother, who has been a teacher since I was in grade school, gave me some small words of advice that were perfect when I first started out.  The first, was to have a bowl of candy in my office to share.  The second, was to offer a hand to others to help.                        

The first day the staff arrived, I put aside setting up my own office to help move around furniture in several others.  It helped me get to know them, and bonded us within the first few days.

Walk The Halls

We are School Psychologists.  Which, for my position in my school, means lots of interactions with students and teachers.  And there is no better way to get to know  students and teachers than to walk the halls and be present in your school.  When I didn't have anything to do my first year (or rather, I didn't know I should be doing anything), I would pop into a classroom or walk around and see what was going on.  It helped, a lot.  I also spent (and still do spend!) a lot of time at lunch and recess.  It helps the kiddos to get to know me, and me to get to know the kiddos.

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