School Psychologist Interview Paper

SSCM Gilmore made an unannounced visit to Martinez Elementary School to conduct an interview with Madison Williams. The interview included school counselor Tamara Mathis, Madison Williams, and SSCM Gilmore. Madison is a 4th grader at the elementary school, with no known behavioral issues in class. She is known to be on time for school every day. Ms. Mathis reported that last year she was in her office a lot discussing the illness of her mother. Madison reported that she is aware what inappropriate touching is, and who she can talk to if someone touches her in bad areas. Madison reported that no one has touched her in a bad area. She reported that she would tell her mother or the Ms. Mathis of who touched her in the bad areas. She reported

I particularly enjoy communicating program progression, behavior changes and therapeutic interventions with Senior Therapists and parents to discuses the next steps in the children’s treatment plan. While working to meet the needs of the children for whom I provide therapy, I realized that each of them had an interesting story and a need for personalized interaction, education and compassion. I am enthusiastic about working hard to help meet students’ psychological needs, and I feel the best way to do this is to pursue an education in School Psychology.

Multiple years of research and field experience as well as my undergraduate coursework in Psychology, Counseling, and General Education has provided me with ample skills to be successful at the graduate level in the School Psychology program offered at Francis Marion University. Working within the school system with students with mental health needs and exceptionalities has been a dream of mine since I was in high school. I am confident the School Psychology program at Francis Marion University will provide me with the skill set needed to make my dream a reality and become the best School Psychologist I can be.

While working as an aide in multiple classrooms in the school age program at CCDD, my interest in a side of psychology that I had known little about before, quickly grew. The experience I had my first semester interning led me to accept a part-time position as an instructor’s assistant for the program for the rest of the year. Throughout the year, my position provided me with a greater understanding of the needs of diverse learners and the tools needed to ensure that all children

Following the interview conducted with a school psychologist, I was able to obtain a sense of Mrs. Montgomery’s basis for her practice, including her target clients, assumptions and values, goals and various roles of consultation, counseling, intervention and program evaluation (Sandoval, 1986). Mrs. Montgomery may be characterized as a school psychologist who places particular emphasis on the need to improve the student and systems’ capability.

After interviewing 3 professionals in different areas, I noticed more similarities than differences. All of these professionals have included the patient and their family members in the assessment and treatment process. According to the mental health counselor, she gathers information from the client’s family because it is crucial to their healing process. The special education teacher attends IEP meetings in which the parent can attend and provide information to help with the child’s success. Additionally, the nurse includes the client’s significant other when providing care.

In Psychology 101, you learn about a personal fable; something that I have not lost. I have always wanted to change the world that I was destined for greatness and teaching elementary school students gives me that power. In the words of Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

For this assignment I reached out to an instructor at Lakeland College who is also a professional school counselor named Wendy Falk. Wendy was happy to complete an interview with me and provided information about herself including what assessments she uses, her theoretical orientation, and why these assessments are used. Wendy also spoke about her school counseling position, a difficult case she was presented with, and her opinion on the use of assessments. Additional research was conducted to learn more about the assessments she discussed.

I am passionate about keeping black youth out of the justice system, and I believe school psychologists are perfectly situated to disrupt the system. This is why I’m applying to school psychology program. Furthermore, that passion informs my desire to study alternatives to suspension and expulsion with Dr. Pamela Fenning and addressing trauma in schools with Dr. Rosario Pesce. I think that finding alternatives to suspension and expulsion would help prevent students from dropping out of school by ensuring that they do not unnecessarily miss any in-class time. And addressing trauma in schools continues to be important as mass shootings continue to become more commonplace, especially in Chicago.

Thus, examinees must understand common school-based intervention programs, such as bullying prevention and promoting good health. The foundation of school psychology delves into the importance of culture, background and individual values. Examinees must demonstrate understanding of research design, evaluation and statistics. Finally, the children’s service section covers instructional strategies, curricular accommodations and effective group interventions. In fact, examinees must clearly understand school-based intervention skills and techniques. They must also be familiar with child and adolescent psychopathology, such as common symptoms of mental health problems and how these impact a student’s

Response to Intervention (RTI), is an early detection, prevention, and support system that attempts to identify and assist struggling students with appropriate levels of intervention. This strategy may determine if a student based on their time prior in Tier 3, would be qualified for special education with a qualification of learning disability. The RTI has three tiers which allows a teacher to monitor their student’s progress during instructions. The three levels of the RTI are explained through an article called, “Understanding Response to Intervention”, which states:

I am interested in being a school psychologist for a variety of reasons. First, I believe that my background in working with children and families, and my B.A. in psychology are essential combinations that will be helpful in my pursuit of the degree. Second, I would like to work with children in a variety of educational situations, such as those in need of special education classes and those in talented and gifted programs. Third, I believe it is essential to work directly with the entire family system, not just the child. The child's progress depends on the home environment and the academic environment equally. This academic environment includes all professions (i.e., teachers,

The Florida association of school psychologist has come about years after of the field of psychology’s birth. It wasn’t until dozens of policies began being put into place and modified, tests being created and proper training being established, that the job of a school psychologist was formed. As more time passed and people have become more and more aware of school psychologist and their roles, organizations aimed at continuing to grow and better the field were created. In particular, the Florida association of school psychologists and its father organization, The Florida psychological association are two very influential organizations in regards to the Florida educational system.

After reading all of the articles for this reading reflection, The New Jersey School Psychologist stuck out to me the most. This article was very interesting and I did not have a lot of knowledge based on the information it talked about prior.

Over the course of this semester, I have had the opportunity to learn about educational psychology. I have always enjoyed psychology and was especially interested in how it applied to teaching in the classroom. There were five specific concepts we discussed over the semester that especially interested me. I found that homogenous and heterogeneous grouping, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, operant conditioning, cooperative learning, and divergent versus convergent thinking are five psychological concepts that every teacher should learn about in preparation for teaching.