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'?

5 activities to start off the year!

It comes with as much excitement as it does impending stress of the morning routine of getting yourself and your family out the door and to school on time (no, just me?)...the start of the school year!

This year comes with some significant changes for me, so I wanted to keep some things consistent, and I am planning to use some of my "go to" activities for the beginning of the year.  I thought I would share them with you all today.

At the start of the year, I run all of my "first" groups/sessions the same way:

1.  A quick introduction/catch up (Because you NEED to know how a 3rd grader's first sleep away camp experience was ASAP!!)
2.  A review of expected behaviors & group structure
3.  A review of my reward system
4.  A fun activity to kick off the year!  Here are my favorites that require little prep:

1.  Create art to share about summer
For my youngest students, I ask them to draw a picture of their summer, or have them fill out a very general activity like this one.  This works for kids who are hesitant to talk or share, at first, as well.

2.  A "Getting to Know You" board game
I love a good "Getting to know you" board game.  I have a bunch of blank game boards that I use, and pick a bunch of "getting to know you" questions.  Kids roll a dice, and then answer a question about themselves before they can move.  One secret I discovered last year: letting kids pick a lego figure instead of boring old game pieces makes any board game 1000x more exciting!

3.  Turn a board game into a sharing game
I also use "getting to know you" questions with typical board games such as Jenga or Candyland (here is a key I made for this game)

4.  "All About Me" Art
This all about me activity is my favorite.  I use it with 2nd graders and older and over the course of a few sessions.  I like it because it's cartoon-ish, and lends itself to drawing or writing.  This also gives me a few talking points for students making "connections" with each other later in the year.  Here is a more basic one for younger kiddos as well.

5.  2 Truths and a Dream
This one is fun for a "larger" (3+ students), and a group who is older, or a student who could use some support in telling the truth.  You model, and then have each student take turns telling three things about themselves-two that are true now, and then one that is a dream.  So I might say, "I have two daughters, this summer I traveled to Italy for a month, and I woke up at 4:45 this morning.  Which one is my dream and which are truths?"

What do you do during your first sessions of the year?

What do School Psychologists do?

One of the questions I often get from those studying school psychology, or just wondering about the profession, is "What exactly do you do?"  Although the way schools in my area are designed, require a lot of responsibilities, I also like it, because there is flexibility in the job, and no one day is ever the same.  So without further ado-

Conduct Psychoeducational Evaluations
I test all students that are being considered for special education services, as well as do triennial evaluations, and all in between.

Write IEP Goals & Objectives
I write goals and objectives for social skills/counseling for all students that get these services on their IEPs.

Design Behavior Plans
I write behavior plans for students in need, usually in collaboration with classroom teachers.  In my last district, I wrote FBA's, but I don't have to do that now!

Case Manage/Administrative Duties
As a school psych, I case manage all 504 plans, meaning all the paperwork, meetings, etc. that goes along with them.  I also have a lot of administrative duties tied to the RTI behavior process.

Attend Meetings
I spend A LOT of time in meetings.  PPT meetings, 504 meetings, meetings for students in intervention, parent meetings, internal team meetings, you name it, I've been to that meeting.

Provide social skills/counseling services to individuals and groups
To balance out all those meetings, I spend a good chunk of my time providing those services outlined on IEPs and 504 plans.  I see some students weekly, some twice weekly, and others every day!

Consult with Teachers & Parents
When I was in graduate school, I enjoyed my class on consultation, but I didn't really get the importance of consultation until I started working on my own.  I love giving suggestions to teachers about dealing with different students, but I also enjoy helping teachers and parents come up with ways they can help students.

Manage Student Behaviors 
Day to day, I am the go to person for behaviors of students I have on my caseload, and regular education students in the school.  Student crying for no reason?  Fighting at recess?  Needs a break from peers?  I'm your go-to gal.

And that, in a nutshell, is what I spend most of my time doing in my current role as a school psych.  Since I know already that this varies, I'd love to hear what everyone else does!

We are the helpers

I was not even four months into being a School Psychologist when the tragic event in another elementary school, a few towns over, changed my outlook on my career, and all aspects of my life.  Our jobs as School Psychologists, counselors, teachers, and listening ears, is more important than ever.

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!

Back to School Shopping

This year, I am in no way ready to go back to school in a few weeks.  I figure I will ease my way into things by starting off with some back to school shopping.  What's on your list??  Here's mine!

1.  A calendar:  I use my computer/phone/ipad for daily scheduling in life and in work, but every year I treat myself to a brand-spankin'-new calendar to hang in my office, where I write down the general school calendar.  I'm pretty particular about my calendars, and pretty much only find ones I love at Target.  This year I'm eyeing this one and this one.  Tip:  Get one early, they are usually gone by the beginning of the school year.

2. Restocking some old games/activities:  My Don't Break the Ice has broken beyond repair, and I have a few others who are on their last leg, so I need to restock on a couple.

3.  Folders:  A few years ago, I started keeping all my kids' activities for group in these plastic folders.  I have one for each student that I write their name on, and these things are pretty much kid proof.  I keep them for each student from year to year, but need to stock up for new students.

4.  Prizes:  The pickings from my prize box were looking pretty slim at the end of the year, so it's time to restock those too.  My favorite places to shop for prizes are the Target dollar bins, and favors section at the party store!

5.  A new coffee mug:  Silly, but every year I like to get the year off to a fresh start by spoiling myself with a new travel coffee mug.  It gets cold fast here in New England!