A week in the life of a school psychologist

This past week was particularly busy for me and while I've seen many "a day in the life of a school psychologist" posts, I wanted to discuss a much broader view of the cataclysmic effects of the surprises we get used to as school psychologists. Now we've all heard that the key to success is managing your schedule like a proficient foreman handles his crew, however  as a Burgeoning School Psychologist, managing my schedule is still as difficult as manging flubber!

Please dear Lord, not another snow day!

Forecasts of another snowy day in New England, the dreaded am phone call arrives. Snow Day, no school and the school year grows artificially longer. Visions of my school in June loom large in my head. Bored children reluctantly squirming in sweltering classrooms, with wilted teachers strategically positioned in front of standing fans.

I see my comrades in arms, New England school psychologists trapped with me as the walls of the Compliancy clock close in - students to be tested, just out of reach in their homes, while thoughtfully selected test protocols, tick away, time bombs counting down to zero and blown regulatory time-lines.

Meetings to be rescheduled, end of year events to dance around.  My mid-year work collides with my end of year activities. Curse you Punxsutawney Phil!  Where's the early spring weather that you predicted? So what if an early spring is not necessarily indicative of a mild end to winter? I am choosing to interpret your data to suit my needs!

Please, please let this be it!  Mother nature, have mercy and send your spring blooms early!
Please dear Lord, not another snow day!

- Poetic rantings of a frantic burgeoning school psychologist.

Skills Focus - Executive Functioning (Update on tutoring sessions)

It's been seven weeks since I started the tutoring sessions for my select group of sixth graders and it has been a really great experience so far.  My idea has evolved from a moment of inspiration into actuality and I have to say I feel like I've learned more than I have taught my students.

Catalog surfing - A favorite pastime

A few catalogs arrived in my home mailbox this month and I was quite excited to see them. I may be singularly geeky in my delight, but I look forward to the arrival of these catalogs in the mail because I enjoy reading them.  Each time a new one shows up, I find time to curl up in the nook of my couch and flip through the catalogs to see what is new or revised in the world of resources and assessments. I always discover new books, new resources and all the things that make this little school psychologist geek out at work. At the risk of boring you dear readers to tears, I thought I'd share some of the things I discovered this month.

Review 5 - Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents

This is an oldie but a goodie!

 Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents
Author(s): Peg Dawson & Richard Guare
Publisher: The Guildford Press
Year of Publication: 2010

Synopsis: Concise and practitioner friendly, this bestselling guide has helped put executive skills on the map for school-based clinicians and educators. - Barnes and Noble.com

This book is an excellent introduction to executive skills and how they impact the performance of children in school, especially children with learning difficulties. I came across this book while in grad school and had the foresight to purchase a copy for myself before I graduated.