Seminar - Back to Classes Update

It's the start of a new term at National-Louis, which means it is time for an update on what has been going on at my practicum site over break. For the last 8 weeks, my practicum site has been getting better and better. The counseling group for girls is going well and I have been given more responsibility and tasks to practice with. I have been able to conduct student interviews, lead the counseling group on my own (while the social worker dealt with an individual's crisis), attend a social service team meeting on my own and take notes, administer a few subtests of the WISC-IV, and work on my research project. I am still attending several different types of meetings, but as I become familiar with the students involved, the process is more interesting.

I have gotten into several ethical and philosophical discussions with my supervisor which have been very educational. I have learned a lot about systems change and politics at the high school level. I have also been able to discuss some difficulties within the system and provide feedback on how I think certain goals could be achieved. My supervisor and I have brainstormed about programs in the school and how they could be monitored better or how to better deliver services for students. I think it has been a learning experience for both of us.

One task that I was given over break which I think will help me and the school a lot was to update the financial assistance resource list that is given to families in need. I called approximately 22 locations to figure out their services they provide and update their address or phone number. This list was about 8 years old and there were a few places that offered more services or had different contact information. I created this list in a chart format that I thought would be beneficial to parents by organizing it by need (clothing, food, medical, etc.). I have attached the documents to my LiveText journal section. One is an Excel sheet and the other is a Word document. I intend for it to be a one-page handout.

As for my research project, that has also been going well. I have been able to gather some preliminary data and more research articles in support of the techniques of the ED program. I have met with the main teacher in the program to discuss my ideas and we have begun working on the survey to give to students who have graduated high school. While I gather some information from the teachers in the program for specific details on the techniques used in the program, we are also working on the proposal to give to certain student service personnel to approve of the process. I look forward to seeing how things will turn out. Our proposal will be written in a couple of weeks.

Overall, things are on the right track and I have gotten a lot of great opportunities to practice some school psychologist skills. I am very interested in staying with my current site for my internship and think that I may have a good chance.