Still Waiting

No news yet on the job opening. I have heard lots of positive things though. One of my supervisors told me he felt I was definitely one of the top two interviews - so that was positive. I was also told by all three of my supervisors that the special education director was really impressed with me. So that is all good, right? I had hoped to hear the verdict this week - but maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part. The wait is really driving me and the hubs nuts though! :)

My assessment load continues to grow and grow. I think at last count I am around 36 for the year. I feel like I have gotten a GREAT experience though and I genuinely enjoy the assessment process so I happy with my work load.

8 weeks until graduation! So much to get done before then! I REALLY need to get to work on my paper for my project! I finally worked on it a but last weekend, but I need to start getting into the habit of working on it more frequently or I will be crying those last couple weeks!

Interview Day!

So today I had my interview for the school psychologist position. It was pretty unnerving. I honestly don't know how well I did. The last interview I had at this district I walked away from knowing I had nailed it. This one? Not so much. I can't say that I think I did terrible or exceptional so I'll go with "ok."
They basically only asked me five questions:
1. What is your experience working with moderate to severe populations.
2. What sort of assessment would you do for a moderate-severe student. And what would you do if you couldn't do a cognitive?
3. What do you do if a teacher comes to you wanting an english language learner student to be assessed because they are so low.
4. Describe the RTI model and state it's purpose.
5. Do you have any public speaking experience and would you feel comfortable speaking infront of a group of 100 parents?

The last one was a hoot. I said I did have experience and shared about my backgroup and then said I wouldn't be comfortable but I could fake it. It cracked the question asker up. :)
I'm supposed to hear back next week. So now I shall wait. 

The interview

Today was the day. I got up and purdied up, and practiced my "tell us about yourself" speech. I was amazingly nervous but managed to keep it together. The panel was HUGE (4 school psychs and 1 special ed director). They asked a lot of questions, here is what I remember:

• What experience do you have that you think prepares you to be a School Psychologist Intern?
• What sort of help could you give a student coming into the 3rd grade who was new to the country from Mexico and had sporadic academic experience while in Mexico.
• How would you go about working with a teacher who is going to need to have modifications made in her classroom, that may require even more work on the teachers part, knowing that you are not a teacher.
• What would you do if a parent submitted a request in writing for the student to be assessed for learning disabilities. The student has been found to be in the 50th percentile academically via CBM?
• What's the difference between CBM and Standardized Norm based measures?
• What is a Functional Analysis and how do you do one?
• What is your experience in group and individual counseling, how competent do you feel in performing counseling.
  

There were quite a few other questions, but that's all I can recall at the moment. I actually felt like it went pretty well and that I was able to provide competent sounding answers to their questions. I actually even had quite a bit of the experience they were looking for (Functional Analysis stuff and counseling) and it seemed that my current job as a social worker was a definite plus for them. So, my fingers are crossed and now I will wait until I hear the result next week! I heard there were 13 applicants, so even though I feel I did well, it's a tough call on if I will be good enough to beat out that many others!

Almost ready...

I am amazed at how much my anxiety regarding this upcoming interview fluctuates. At some moments I am completely calm and cool about it, other times I wish to run and hide under the bed (not that I could fit, but I could try!). But I am trying to do everything I can to prep myself and remain calm. As much as I would LOVE to get this gig, I need to remember that it really isn't the end of the world if I don't.

I found this pdf file: Interview Questions for School Psychologist which I went over with a classmate. It was pretty helpful, although you really have no idea if any of those questions will be even touched on in the interview. Some of the questions really make you think though, and it was great practice in listening to the question and composing a response. I would highly recommend it. I also purchased an e-book, but so far it hasn't arrived in my e-mail. Boo. Hopefully it will before the interview.

I have reviewed some reading (they all sounds so much the same, choral reading, buddy reading, repeatative reading ) and environmental interventions (did you know that if you rearrange your classroom seating from rows to more of a U shape, it is supposed to help ELL and LD students engage more in the classroom and can increase their learning - how freakin' cool is that?). I still plan on during math interventions but haven't got that far yet.

And last, but not least, the interview outfit has been picked out. I had a long discussion with a work-friend of mine regarding appropriate interview attire (she is getting her ph.d in some sorta HR area) she told me I should only wear neutrals with a POP of color. She gave this wonderful lecture to a person who is color blind (yes I am part of the .4% of females - aren't I lucky?)

BTW - did you know doing the UNIT when you are color blind is crazy annoying? Why did they choose THOSE colors of tiles? I mean, there are sooo many other colors available and they pick two that I have a crazy hard time differentiating between. Odd point of interest - I can see the color differentiation fine on the easel, just can pick it up well on the tiles. Oh well, its a rocking test anyway, it just makes me have to be hyper-vigilant in paying attention to which row of tiles the student pulls from.

I am uncertain if I should bring a portfolio or not. I have one that I need to revise a smidgen, but it wouldn't take long... I think I will do it. Can't hurt right?

2 days to go!

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!