And so it begins...

I have nearly completed my School Psychology coursework (still have 1 year to go for my Masters in Ed), have completed over 450 hours of practicum experience in two different school districts, passed my School Psychology Praxis exam with flying colors getting the highest score out of the last two cohorts at my university *takes a bow* and am now seeking out the elusive School Psychologist Internship position. I say elusive, because, as school districts currently have NO money, there is only one paid position posted in my ENTIRE county and weirdly enough, not many districts seem all that interested in free labor either. When I enrolled in my SP program, I was told by my well meaning graduate-school director that finding paid internships were a snap. Well, that didn’t work out. So the search continues. I have a fall-back (non-paid) position lined up if I am unable to snag the one paid gig in town, but I had really imagined having more options at this point.

I have had one interview, about a month back. It was at a local kick-butt school district with a fully functioning RtI program. It was a position I was figuratively drooling over. I hadn’t known they were hiring, but put in a resume/application just in case. I randomly got a call from the Sp.Ed BigWig of the district letting me know they had “found” 30G’s laying around and decided to take on an intern with it. *Fade to a back drop of me doing the happy dance* Mr. BigWig asked if I could come in and interview. Uh, yes please! The interview was a mildly terrifying experience that I felt completely unprepared for. Some of the questions were easy, others seemed more like an oral exam. Here are some of the questions I remembered:

Tell us about yourself

Easy enough…

Has your SP program provided you information about the rights of Foster Parents during the special education eligibility determination process? If so, what is your level of knowledge regarding this area?

I don’t know about you, but MY program never even touched on this area. Thankfully though, I have spent the last 6 years of my life working as a social worker within the foster care system so this question was answerable for me. Foster parents, unless they are the holders of the educational rights (done through a court order) cannot sign off on anything. They can; however, be an awesome source of information about the child. Go Foster Folks!

What would you do if you had a parent call you demanding that their child be evaluated for special education?

I really wasn’t sure what the correct answer was in this situation. I said that I would provide the parent an education on what all the options where and ask to discuss what their concerns were about the child. Go over other typical tactics attempted before the child is referred for an evaluation, the SST process, classroom interventions, maybe even an academic screening or something. If after they received all the info they still wanted the child evaluated, I would go forward with it. What do you think? Am I any where in the ballpark? How would you have answered? Does this even work when you are using an RtI system?

Name three things in the classroom that can affect a student’s ability to learn.

I was easily able to throw out two things on this one: environmental factors (lighting, temperature, noise level, how much stuff is on the walls) and teaching style, but stumbled with the third. My guess now, would be the student learning style would also be a key point. But I am not sure if that is what they were looking for.

Please share with us some of your experiences in collaborating and consulting with teachers and parents.

Another question I pretty poorly stumbled through. Looking at the question now, I can totally see my experience in this area. But at the time, I felt completely inept.

What are some cutting edge research-based reading interventions?

Wasn’t sure how cutting edge my answers were, but at least I had an answer.

What sets you apart from the other candidates?

Blah blah blah blah.

I am sure there were plenty of other questions, but those are the main ones that come to mind. It was an experience that you found yourself reviewing in slow motion and over analyzing all of your mistakes. I waited anxiously for a week for a return call from Mr. BigWig and finally it came. He Let me know that the re-looked at their budget and there wasn’t any money for the position after all and they would not be hiring an intern this year. Boo!

But, I can see the silver lining of the cloud of my last interview experience. It was great exposure for future experiences. So now, I have a interview with the only paying SD in town on Wednesday. This weekend I plan to study up (as well as buy a new interview outfit) and give myself plenty of pep talks in hopes my experience will make me appear more confident and refined in next interview.

Wish me luck!