CanisiusPsychologyWiki: BridgetDelcoure

I was called early yesterday morning by Dr. Duffy explaining that he was very ill and wasn’t going to be able to make it into International Prep tomorrow. He was worried because, CAO was coming to do a diversity workshop with the fifth grade children at this school. He asked if I would be willing to go in as I was there for the meetings with this workshop, and to help organize and set things up even though I had already completed my hours. I was more than willing to help out as I actually thought this workshop would be quite an interesting experience to take part in. This workshop promotes the acceptance of diversity. To do this there was two different country’s one named country A and the other named country Z. The fifth grade children were split up into these 2 countries and sent to different classrooms. Each student had a bunch of paper which was what they owned some students had iPods printed on their paper, while others had clothing, food and money. With in each country they were to trade their different goods with each other until they had one of everything. Also, each country had their own language, with country A all of their words had to end in “ing” while country Z had to start every word they said with a “Z”. The students loved talking in their own languages. Then about half way through their trading process, they would send a few students from country A into country Z and vice versa. These students went into a different country not understanding their languages or customs. This made a strong connection with all of the children as we then had a debriefing session. The children explained that when they went into a different country they felt very confused and left out. International Prep has 27 different languages spoken at their school. The fifth grade teachers added that this exercise was extremely rewarding and really was a way for students to get a better grasp on diversity and helped students understand what it feels like coming into a place that is very much different than the ways in which they may have been brought up in. The students all responded extremely well to this exercise and I believe that they will take a lot away from this experience. Justice is a requirement at Canisius and I had taken foundations of education. This course taught me that diversity is a problem still today, as there are still some people who are very ignorant towards others. Also, I had taken sociology and social problems which touches very much on diversity and how some people are very accepting while others are not. However, it’s important to look around everyone is different and has their own heritage. I felt great after this experience as I helped run it and I think that it taught an extremely valuable lesson to these fifth grade students and that they also had a lot of fun with this program. I think that CAO should come back every year and run this program for all fifth grade students, as it’s a way to have the children understand each other much better, and that everyone is unique and different. I am so glad Dr. Duffy called me to go in today and I think that throughout practicum this is one of the most rewarding experiences I have been involved in.

I was called early yesterday morning by Dr. Duffy explaining that he was very ill and wasn’t going to be able to make it into International Prep tomorrow. He was worried because, CAO was coming to do a diversity workshop with the fifth grade children at this school. He asked if I would be willing to go in as I was there for the meetings with this workshop, and to help organize and set things up even though I had already completed my hours. I was more than willing to help out as I actually thought this workshop would be quite an interesting experience to take part in. This workshop promotes the acceptance of diversity. To do this there was two different country’s one named country A and the other named country Z. The fifth grade children were split up into these 2 countries and sent to different classrooms. Each student had a bunch of paper which was what they owned some students had iPods printed on their paper, while others had clothing, food and money. With in each country they were to trade their different goods with each other until they had one of everything. Also, each country had their own language, with country A had to end every word in “ing” while country Z had to start every word they said with a “Z”. The students loved talking in their own languages. Then about half way through their trading process, they would send a few students from country A into country Z and vice versa. These students went into a different country not understanding their languages or customs. This made a strong connection with all of the children as we then had a debriefing session. The children explained that when they went into a different country they felt very confused and left out. International Prep has 27 different languages spoken at their school. The fifth grade teachers added that this exercise was extremely rewarding and really was a way for students to get a better grasp on diversity and helped students understand what it feels like coming into a place that is very much different than the ways in which they may have been brought up in. The students all responded extremely well to this exercise and I believe that that will take a lot away from this experience. Justice is a requirement at Canisius and I had taken foundations of education. This course taught me that diversity is a problem still today, as there are still some people who are very ignorant towards others. Also, I had taken sociology and social problems which touches very much on diversity and how some people are very accepting while others are not. However, it’s important to look around everyone is different and has their own heritage. I felt great after this experience as I helped run it and I think that it taught an extremely valuable lesson to these fifth grade students and that they also had a lot of fun with this program. I think that CAO should come back every year and run this program for all fifth grade students, as it’s a way to have the children understand each other much better, and that everyone is unique and different. I am so glad Dr. Duffy called me to go in today and I think that throughout practicum this is one of the most rewarding experiences I have been involved in.

Day 19- Dec 8th, 2011
I was called early yesterday morning by Dr. Duffy explaining that he was very ill and wasn’t going to be able to make it into International Prep tomorrow. He was worried because, CAO was coming to do a diversity workshop with the fifth grade children at this school. He asked if I would be willing to go in as I was there for the meetings with this workshop, and to help organize and set things up even though I had already completed my hours. I was more than willing to help out as I actually thought this workshop would be quite an interesting experience to take part in. This workshop promotes the acceptance of diversity. To do this there was two different country’s one named country A and the other named country Z. The fifth grade children were split up into these 2 countries and sent to different classrooms. Each student had a bunch of paper which was what they owned some students had iPods printed on their paper, while others had clothing, food and money. With in each country they were to trade their different goods with each other until they had one of everything. Also, each country had their own language, with country A had to end every word in “ing” while country Z had to start every word they said with a “Z”. The students loved talking in their own languages. Then about half way through their trading process, they would send a few students from country A into country Z and vice versa. These students went into a different country not understanding their languages or customs. This made a strong connection with all of the children as we then had a debriefing session. The children explained that when they went into a different country they felt very confused and left out. International Prep has 27 different languages spoken at their school. The fifth grade teachers added that this exercise was extremely rewarding and really was a way for students to get a better grasp on diversity and helped students understand what it feels like coming into a place that is very much different than the ways in which they may have been brought up in. The students all responded extremely well to this exercise and I believe that that will take a lot away from this experience. Justice is a requirement at Canisius and I had taken foundations of education. This course taught me that diversity is a problem still today, as there are still some people who are very ignorant towards others. Also, I had taken sociology and social problems which touches very much on diversity and how some people are very accepting while others are not. However, it’s important to look around everyone is different and has their own heritage. I felt great after this experience as I helped run it and I think that it taught an extremely valuable lesson to these fifth grade students and that they also had a lot of fun with this program. I think that CAO should come back every year and run this program for all fifth grade students, as it’s a way to have the children understand each other much better, and that everyone is unique and different. I am so glad Dr. Duffy called me to go in today and I think that throughout practicum this is one of the most rewarding experiences I have been involved in.

Day 18- Dec 1st, 2011
Today, at practicum was my final day that I would be completing my 120 hours. First, thing I was to do was contact the CAO as there are many students at International Prep who are without winter jackets specifically the refugee students. They had not been returning our calls as they said it would be no problem to come up with several jackets for the children, but as its starting to get cold outside we don’t want any of International Preps students to be freezing. Dr. Duffy wanted me to look over all of the work I had done on the resource binder as he explained that there will be several interns next semester both from Canisius and Niagara Universities graduate program that would be using this binder we created to do extensive case management. Next I was ready to do my interview of International Preps social worker Mrs. Ali. I was nervous but I have done numerous presentations in school even this semester I did one in behavior modification. Also, I have taken a public speaking course, so out of all of the presentations and different projects I have done this should be the easiest as there was no audience just a camera. I tried to relax, speak clearly, not too fast and make the interview flow as well as possible. I would say that all in all it was a success, even though I looked a little goofy on camera. Next I talked with Dr. Duffy, and a junior graduate Intern who also works under Dr. Duffy but at Park school, which is located more in a suburban area. She went over different testing procedures with me and how to read test results. The tests she explained were most specifically the WISC –IV which is a test that I was very aware of from Professor Servoss in my assessment in behavioral sciences class. Dr. Duffy would ask the intern several questions about what the test showed and what that could perhaps mean for the child. I honestly was very lost with what they were talking about and didn’t realize how in-depth with meaning these tests really were and all that they could show you about a student. I have learned a lot by taking Assessment in the Behavioral Sciences but really just the outskirts of different tests, this showed me that I really have a lot to learn if I would like to be a school psychologist. I had a great last day completing my hours and feel as though through this experience I have learned more about myself and others then I could have ever imagined I would have.

Day 17- Nov. 17, 2011
Today, Dr. Duffy decided to sit down and talk with me about all of my different options as far as grad school goes, and what I can expect with both the positives and negatives. There was a graduate intern there today from Niagara who also gave her personal feedback and seemed as though she was still learning a lot just from Dr. Duffy. He said it’s important to like your job but to know all of the benefits and to not make things out to be what they really just aren’t. He focused on talking about school psychology, since obviously this is his job. At this point I don’t think school psychology is for me but I thought it would be very interesting with what he has to say. I always had the idea that being a school psychologist you probably made fairly good money and had great benefits such as having the summers off. He explained that starting off you make about 30,000 a year. This is actually a lot lower than I expected since now most institutions won’t hire you unless you have your PhD. Duffy explained that this is not the case in other states; you are in fact paid much higher. This just kind of helped me determine even more that school psychology is not for me at this point in time I am not looking towards obtaining my PhD, but I would like to go after my masters degree first. I am not big into research and this is a PhD’s major focus.

Dr. Duffy today asked that I go in and sit on a class with the young girl I had been observing, in one of her specials, as her main teacher Mr. Murray said she acts out much more disruptively in her specials classes. With this said first on the list for her specials was music class. I actually sat down next to her, but said I was just watching Mr. Murray teach, so she didn’t suspect I was really paying attention to her behaviors. She just nodded her head and looked away. She did not follow the music teacher Mr. Schwanz instructions to take out her music packet and just out her head down on her desk and acted very uninterested. Mr. Murray actually has a desk in between each student which is probably a very affective way for the students to not be a huge distraction to each other. She finally picked her head up as the children all listened to a song and were to describe how the song made them feel, what instruments they heard, and if they liked it or not. She started drawing instruments, but then just crossed them off and started to draw her own thing on the back of her music packet. All, of the kids talked in great detail about the song they had just heard where she didn’t acknowledge anyone, and just did her own thing, she seemed to be blocking out what was happening in the classroom, and just did her own thing. Mr. Schwanz explained that she really isn’t disruptive in class she doesn’t pay much attention but does however; do quite well on different tests. He explained that when she acts out is when she leaves the classroom in the hallway. In class she is actually one of the quietest children in the room however, when they went to the hallway she did act in a way that I hadn’t seen before. She was very touchy to her peers, and couldn’t stand still, she was very disruptive, and didn’t pay any attention to the teacher saying to stay in a straight line and be quiet she was the most rambunctious one in the hallway out of all of the children. Dr, Duffy asked what I think should be done with this child’s behavior. I explained that maybe she should have to be the line leader of the group that way the teacher can have his/her eye on her. I also explained to him that we could try using positive or negative punishment like I learned in behavior modification to decrease this child’s very much unwanted behavior. It would then be important to explain this idea to all of her teachers so that her disruptive behaviors could cease to exist whenever she is out in the hallways with her fellow classmates. She seems to be a good child, just needs so motivational help it appears to me at this point. Dr. Duffy told me to go right ahead and talk to her teachers and to come up with a plan to see if this helps, as many teachers have brought her name up as acting out nonstop. I had called the heart foundation a week ago and they were scheduled to come in today to talk to us about what services they could provide the students at international prep. The focus primarily on gang awareness, which is why I thought they might be very helpful. Many students at International Prep are actually involved in gangs, as the one house I had visited with Mrs. Ali the school social worker that young girls mom was the head of a gang, on 7th street, and it was said that almost everyone on that street is involved in that gang. Also, Dr. Duffy explained before that there is one child who is really good however the mom is trying to sell the house and having an extremely hard time doing so as she lives in the fruit belt. Dr. Duffy’s and the moms worries are that if they stay here much longer that he will be involved in a gang, as he is growing up and children bring about extreme amounts of peer pressure. This program will hopefully help young students to steer clear from getting involved in gangs, or to even help a friend who is in one. The next meeting of the day was with the CAO Organization who had previously stopped by. The director came by so that we could actually set up a workshop for some of the children to promote positive and healthy relationships. Dr, Duffy and my fellow interns decided to set up the A-Z workshop as it focuses very much on diversity and for accepting others for their differences and showing that difference can actually benefit each other in a very positive ways and is a way to help us learn and embrace new ideas and things. She explained that for this workshop we would need 2 classrooms and as I have been observing 5th graders that they would be in targets of this workshop. The 5th graders were all going to start in one classroom and then they will be broken off into separate groups. She explained that the way this workshop works is that each country A and Z will have their own communication technique/language. She said that every word would for instance end in a” Z” for one country and the other would have every word they say end in” ING”. I could see this now as being a ton of fun for the students. Each group would also come up with their own customs. Then as everything is determined for one country there will be floaters that move to another country and it is then where each country will be missing something that the other one could benefit from. This should be a really fun activity and I think is a very interesting way and great format in teaching diversity. I am really looking forward to this day and think that it will be and extremely fun way for the children to learn, something about themselves and others as individuals and groups. This will be taking place on Dec, 8th, 2011 and I think will be my favorite day of practicum.
Day 16- Nov. 15, 2011
Today, I planned to observe the 5th grade girls behavior to see if it has changed with my few suggestions or not. After, observing her for a little while Dr. Duffy asked me to come down to the SST meeting to report my findings of her behavior. However, when I went to the classroom all the children were getting ready to go on a field trip to Kleinhan’s to listen to the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra play. The fifth grade teacher said that I would be more than welcome to go with them if I wanted. I went to check in with Dr. Duffy and he felt that going would be an excellent opportunity to observe her behaviors even outside the school and on the bus and while there, to see if she acts differently depending on her locations. I was really excited to go as I used to play the percussion in an orchestra just like this one. The student was very outgoing on the bus, and had a lot to say. She seems as though she just acts much differently outside of the classroom than in the classroom. There was incentive for the children to act good because if they didn’t they weren’t allowed to go on a skate trip on Friday. This is an example of negative reinforcement as they are taking something away to increase a positive and well behaved group of children. She also had no concept of keeping her hands to herself even when sitting in the theater. The orchestra did a fantastic job, and most all of the kids were thoroughly engaged with the performance. It was nice to see some of the kids recognizing the songs and telling the music teacher Mr. Schwanz how they recognized the different songs from class. This shows that the students really do pay attention when in their classes. The field trip was successful and when the musicians started to play songs the girl I am observing did settle down and seemed to be fully intrigued. This was a great field trip and I am so glad I got to go on it. When I got back to school the school counselor asked to see me and wanted to explain their check in/ out system to me. With this in the morning each student was to obtain a sheet form the school counselor. With the sheet they would hand it to each of their teachers and the teachers were to rate the students behavior in 4 different categories. They are: preparedness, respectfulness, engagement and punctuality during class and the teacher would rate them on a scale from 1-3 with 3 being that the student was perfect. A student can earn at most 12 points during each class, and as there are 8 periods in a day a student can earn 96 points in all. The sheet is then brought home and signed by the child’s guardians. When the sheet is brought back the children earn these points and it is written up on a big dry erase board in the counseling office. When a student earns 400 points they are given a snack pass for the cafeteria. Over 6 weeks the children are trying to earn 2000 points. If they do they are invited to a student parent breakfast later on in the school year. The children have a goal set for them in the hopes that their behaviors will increase in a positive manner. This is very similar to a behavior modification project I am working on right now. However, 2000 points is a lot especially if a child is absent from school a few days so there are many check points along the way for the kids to keep them motivated with positive reinforcement. I think that this program will be very successful, and help to keep several students much more focused and on task.

Dr. Duffy today asked that I go in and sit on a class with the young girl I had been observing, in one of her specials, as her main teacher Mr. Murray said she acts out much more disruptively in her specials classes. With this said first on the list for her specials was music class. I actually sat down next to her, but said I was just watching Mr. Murray teach, so she didn’t suspect I was really paying attention to her behaviors. She just nodded her head and looked away. She did not follow the music teacher Mr. Schwanz instructions to take out her music packet and just out her head down on her desk and acted very uninterested. Mr. Murray actually has a desk in between each student which is probably a very affective way for the students to not be a huge distraction to each other. She finally picked her head up as the children all listened to a song and were to describe how the song made them feel, what instruments they heard, and if they liked it or not. She started drawing instruments, but then just crossed them off and started to draw her own thing on the back of her music packet. All, of the kids talked in great detail about the song they had just heard where she didn’t acknowledge anyone, and just did her own thing, she seemed to be blocking out what was happening in the classroom, and just did her own thing. Mr. Schwanz explained that she really isn’t disruptive in class she doesn’t pay much attention but does however; do quite well on different tests. He explained that when she acts out is when she leaves the classroom in the hallway. In class she is actually one of the quietest children in the room however, when they went to the hallway she did act in a way that I hadn’t seen before. She was very touchy to her peers, and couldn’t stand still, she was very disruptive, and didn’t pay any attention to the teacher saying to stay in a straight line and be quiet she was the most rambunctious one in the hallway out of all of the children. Dr, Duffy asked what I think should be done with this child’s behavior. I explained that maybe she should have to be the line leader of the group that way the teacher can have his/her eye on her. I also explained to him that we could try using positive or negative punishment like I learned in behavior modification to decrease this child’s very much unwanted behavior. It would then be important to explain this idea to all of her teachers so that her disruptive behaviors could cease to exist whenever she is out in the hallways with her fellow classmates. She seems to be a good child, just needs so motivational help it appears to me at this point. Dr. Duffy told me to go right ahead and talk to her teachers and to come up with a plan to see if this helps, as many teachers have brought her name up as acting out nonstop. I had called the heart foundation a week ago and they were scheduled to come in today to talk to us about what services they could provide the students at international prep. The focus primarily on gang awareness, which is why I thought they might be very helpful. Many students at International Prep are actually involved in gangs, as the one house I had visited with Mrs. Ali the school social worker that young girls mom was the head of a gang, on 7th street, and it was said that almost everyone on that street is involved in that gang. Also, Dr. Duffy explained before that there is one child who is really good however the mom is trying to sell the house and having an extremely hard time doing so as she lives in the fruit belt. Dr. Duffy’s and the moms worries are that if they stay here much longer that he will be involved in a gang, as he is growing up and children bring about extreme amounts of peer pressure. This program will hopefully help young students to steer clear from getting involved in gangs, or to even help a friend who is in one. The next meeting of the day was with the CAO Organization who had previously stopped by. The director came by so that we could actually set up a workshop for some of the children to promote positive and healthy relationships. Dr, Duffy and my fellow interns decided to set up the A-Z workshop as it focuses very much on diversity and for accepting others for their differences and showing that difference can actually benefit each other in a very positive ways and is a way to help us learn and embrace new ideas and things. She explained that for this workshop we would need 2 classrooms and as I have been observing 5th graders that they would be in targets of this workshop. The 5th graders were all going to start in one classroom and then they will be broken off into separate groups. She explained that the way this workshop works is that each country A and Z will have their own communication technique/language. She said that every word would for instance end in a” Z” for one country and the other would have every word they say end in” ING”. I could see this now as being a ton of fun for the students. Each group would also come up with their own customs. Then as everything is determined for one country there will be floaters that move to another country and it is then where each country will be missing something that the other one could benefit from. This should be a really fun activity and I think is a very interesting way and great format in teaching diversity. I am really looking forward to this day and think that it will be and extremely fun way for the children to learn, something about themselves and others as individuals and groups. This will be taking place on Dec, 8th, 2011 and I think will be my favorite day of practicum.

Day 15- Nov. 10, 2011
Dr. Duffy today asked that I go in and sit on a class with the young girl I had been observing, in one of her specials, as her main teacher Mr. Murray said she acts out much more disruptively in her specials classes. With this said first on the list for her specials was music class. I actually sat down next to her, but said I was just watching Mr. Murray teach, so she didn’t suspect I was really paying attention to her behaviors. She just nodded her head and looked away. She did not follow the music teacher Mr. Schwanz instructions to take out her music packet and just out her head down on her desk and acted very uninterested. Mr. Murray actually has a desk in between each student which is probably a very affective way for the students to not be a huge distraction to each other. She finally picked her head up as the children all listened to a song and were to describe how the song made them feel, what instruments they heard, and if they liked it or not. She started drawing instruments, but then just crossed them off and started to draw her own thing on the back of her music packet. All, of the kids talked in great detail about the song they had just heard where she didn’t acknowledge anyone, and just did her own thing, she seemed to be blocking out what was happening in the classroom, and just did her own thing. Mr. Schwanz explained that she really isn’t disruptive in class she doesn’t pay much attention but does however; do quite well on different tests. He explained that when she acts out is when she leaves the classroom in the hallway. In class she is actually one of the quietest children in the room however, when they went to the hallway she did act in a way that I hadn’t seen before. She was very touchy to her peers, and couldn’t stand still, she was very disruptive, and didn’t pay any attention to the teacher saying to stay in a straight line and be quiet she was the most rambunctious one in the hallway out of all of the children. Dr, Duffy asked what I think should be done with this child’s behavior. I explained that maybe she should have to be the line leader of the group that way the teacher can have his/her eye on her. I also explained to him that we could try using positive or negative punishment like I learned in behavior modification to decrease this child’s very much unwanted behavior. It would then be important to explain this idea to all of her teachers so that her disruptive behaviors could cease to exist whenever she is out in the hallways with her fellow classmates. She seems to be a good child, just needs so motivational help it appears to me at this point. Dr. Duffy told me to go right ahead and talk to her teachers and to come up with a plan to see if this helps, as many teachers have brought her name up as acting out nonstop. I had called the heart foundation a week ago and they were scheduled to come in today to talk to us about what services they could provide the students at international prep. The focus primarily on gang awareness, which is why I thought they might be very helpful. Many students at International Prep are actually involved in gangs, as the one house I had visited with Mrs. Ali the school social worker that young girls mom was the head of a gang, on 7th street, and it was said that almost everyone on that street is involved in that gang. Also, Dr. Duffy explained before that there is one child who is really good however the mom is trying to sell the house and having an extremely hard time doing so as she lives in the fruit belt. Dr. Duffy’s and the moms worries are that if they stay here much longer that he will be involved in a gang, as he is growing up and children bring about extreme amounts of peer pressure. This program will hopefully help young students to steer clear from getting involved in gangs, or to even help a friend who is in one. The next meeting of the day was with the CAO Organization who had previously stopped by. The director came by so that we could actually set up a workshop for some of the children to promote positive and healthy relationships. Dr, Duffy and my fellow interns decided to set up the A-Z workshop as it focuses very much on diversity and for accepting others for their differences and showing that difference can actually benefit each other in a very positive ways and is a way to help us learn and embrace new ideas and things. She explained that for this workshop we would need 2 classrooms and as I have been observing 5th graders that they would be in targets of this workshop. The 5th graders were all going to start in one classroom and then they will be broken off into separate groups. She explained that the way this workshop works is that each country A and Z will have their own communication technique/language. She said that every word would for instance end in a” Z” for one country and the other would have every word they say end in” ING”. I could see this now as being a ton of fun for the students. Each group would also come up with their own customs. Then as everything is determined for one country there will be floaters that move to another country and it is then where each country will be missing something that the other one could benefit from. This should be a really fun activity and I think is a very interesting way and great format in teaching diversity. I am really looking forward to this day and think that it will be and extremely fun way for the children to learn, something about themselves and others as individuals and groups. This will be taking place on Dec, 8th, 2011 and I think will be my favorite day of practicum.

Day 14- Nov. 8, 2011
Today was Election Day, so all of the children had off. Dr. Duffy said it was up to me if I wanted to come in today, as he was still required to be there. I felt that this may be a good choice so I could catch up on things, and get everything well organized. The school counselor had a specific request for me to work on something. Buffalo schools have a very big attendance issue, and it has been proven when the kids are in school they actually do exceptionally well it’s just the getting them to school that can be a struggle. The school counselor Mr. Merick printed me out a list of all of the children and how many days of school they have missed so far, if they have missed more than 10 days I was to call the household, and to see why in fact the child has missed so many days. Mr. Merick also told me to tell the parents that they have meetings designed for just the parents so that they are educated in different upcoming events in the school and that pizza would be at the meetings. This is a way of positive reinforcement. I learned about this in behavior modification. To increase a behavior add something to the situation. I ended up calling about 30 different households, and left messages and talked to a few individuals who seemed interested in the parent meetings. For the rest of the day I worked on typing up all of the lists of agencies for the resource binder, this was a very long task, however, it feels great to see such a large project being almost completed, and something that will serve as such a useful tool to not only International Prep but all Buffalo Public Schools.

Day 13- Nov. 3rd, 2011
Today’s main focus was to work on the research binder. I thought to make things more organized that we would create a small binder, listing all of the different agencies in each section, and the other binder will be the one that holds all of the different pamphlets, business cards, etc. This I soon realized would take up a lot of time, as there are a lot of agencies under each category, but I think that it will be beneficial. There are 22 sections that make up this binder and the first section had 31 different agencies so this may be a project I also, work on at home. Also, nothing was in alphabetical order so I had to go through straightening out all of the brochures before I could type up these lists. Today’s next step was that 2 different agencies were coming in to tell us about the different programs they can offer to international preps students. The first meeting was with a woman from Salvation Army. She handed us a pamphlet that explained all of the different options for both children and their families, such as food and shelter. Dr, Duffy had to leave the room for a minute so I greeted the next agency they are from Horizon Health Services- this agency focuses primarily on addiction of all kinds, and alcoholics. They actually asked me a lot of questions about myself and were very friendly and seemed very interested. They explained what they do and that they are a clinical setting. I told them that I actually was looking for an internship next semester in a clinical atmosphere and they said they would be more than willing for me to intern with them. I am so glad they offered me this opportunity, and I think it’s something that will be very beneficial and will help me more closely determine what I want to do with my future. It seems as though just making good connections with others is a way to prosper in the psychology/social work field. They were the first agency that were very interested in what we were doing as far as the resource center goes, and I actually brought them up stairs to where my desk is set up to show them the binder I have been putting together, and the clothing drive center. They were very interested and really applauded our efforts. After, they left I had to go pick up the kids for the grief counseling session. The rest of the day was just working on putting together more of the resource binder.

Day 11- October 27th, 2011
Today was the day I would start to observe 2 specific students whose names come up a lot in SST meetings. Needless to say these are students who act out a lot or get into a lot of trouble. Dr. Duffy said it would be my job to take notes on the students and then to come up with a plan on how to reduce their bold behaviors and to pinpoint what I think their problem may be. I obtained their schedules and next had to map out which classes I would go to observe them. Both of the students I am to watch are 5th graders so I plan on going right from one child’s class to the others. Next CAPP (Child Abuse Prevention Program) sent a representative over to talk to both myself and Dr. Duffy so that we could get a better understanding of their services and what they could provide to International Preps students. The representative explained that they focus primarily on healthy relationships such as STDS/HIV prevention as well as healthy relationships with teachers, parents and their peers. Dr. Duffy explained that STDS are a big problem at this school, and that there are several students with AIDS, so that a workshop on these issues would absolutely be very beneficial. After this meeting it was time to go observe my students. When I went to tell the teacher who I was and what I was doing I had to be very quiet as the student needs to not know that I am there watching their particular behaviors because they may act differently than usual. I sat down and began taking notes however, the young girl I was observing actually raised her hand and was very polite, as well as she didn’t interrupt anyone. I was a little confused and was almost wondering if I was watching the right girl. She really didn’t misbehave at all and seemed to stay very focused and on task. I was thinking to myself is Dr. Duffy playing a trick on me? I talked to the teacher briefly after class and he said the best time to observe her would be during her specials such as music, and art and that then I would see a whole other side of her. The other student I was to observe wasn’t there today. I went to Dr. Duffy with my observations and he said that was interesting because her name comes up a lot for anything but good behavior. I think maybe just the fact that there was someone else in there besides her teacher could have set her off to act differently. I learned about children’s fluctuation with their behavior around new people in school psychology. Dr, Duffy told me to keep observing her in different environments even in the hall way to see other sides of how she may act.

Day 8- October 18th, 2011
Today, at practicum, it was time to officially start putting together the resource binder by dividing it up into several sections and labeling each tab. In all we ended up with 22 different alphabetical tabs. A few ideas of what some of the different tabs withheld are alcohol and substance abuse services, educational resources, grief support, legal services, parent/ family support, sexual identity etc. In each section I put in all different brochures and pamphlets that we had obtained that fell under each category. This binder ended up getting filled up quite quickly and I am thinking we may need more than one binder. Along, with my other interns we decided that this binder would be for all of the different pamphlets and that we would have another binder that for each one of the different sections had an alphabetical list written out of all of the different agencies that can be contacted. This was a great start to the binder and now it is really coming along and will just continue to grow bigger and bigger as more and more agencies keep getting back to us with materials, that will be beneficial to the children at International Prep. Dr. Duffy was ready to have some time with us going over a particular student’s case. Dr. Duffy explained that he had tested this particular student by using a Brown- Peterson test. This student is only in 7th grade and the reason this test Dr. Duffy explained was given was because he looks at the working memory. This test wasn’t new to me as I had learned about it in School Psychology and last semester took sensation and perception with Dr. Goodsell which focused a lot on the working memory, and how one learns many different things, but when a certain test is given it shows what exactly they have learned and what they can recall, that they stored into their memory. Each task on the Brown Peterson test increases with time as the different tasks become increasingly harder. Dr. Duffy also, explained that he had performed the WISC IV which tests a child’s ability to use symbol search and coding. I learned about the WISC IV in school psychology as well, so it was nice to see that the different tests we learned about in class are really used in real life. It’s important to pay particular attention to how many times a student looks at the symbols after having already used that symbol; this shows how well their coding of different items is. Dr Duffy explained to us after running these tests that she is an interesting case in that she tested 2 standard deviations below the mean in regards to mathematics. However, the catch was that she scored extremely well in all subject areas such as reading, writing etc. She actually scored above the mean in these subjects. I learned all about standard deviations and the mean in statistics class, and how one can read a chart. Her mathematics score was about a 50 which is significantly low compared to her other subjects that fell in the upper 90’s. Dr. Duffy explained to us that the student suffers from mathematics disorder. This was very interesting to me as I had never heard of it before, and didn’t even think such a thing existed. Dr. Duffy explained that this disorder only affects 1% of primary and secondary children. I was very intrigued by this and it made me think how many disorders are out there that I had never heard of. When a student is achieving well in all classes and is only struggling extensively in math it’s a red flag that something is just not clinking for the student. Dr. Duffy thought it would be good for me to think about if I was the school psychologist and this student was mine to help what intervention plan I could put into action for her, to help her succeed to her fullest potential. I felt pressure as I didn’t want to suggest a bad idea to him, but I was ready to explain what I thought would be most beneficial to her. The student really needs perhaps flashcards to help her see the problem right in front of her, and to also learn definitions of simple mathematical terms such as addition and subtraction as she couldn’t do any basic math. Dr. Duffy explained that she has the skills of a first grader, so it’s almost a wonder how she made it to the 7th grade. She is new to the school this year so this is no fault Of Dr. Duffys. In order to move on from the flashcards Dr. Duffy explained that she needed to get 80% of the pile correct and the cards mixed up in order to move onto other ones. I also, asked if she would be allowed a calculator on exams, and Dr. Duffy said this would highly be recommended for her. I also, suggested that she is to get extended time on exams, as simple math most children can do in their head while she will have to be clicking buttons so all in all a calculator would be more time consuming. I also, suggested that she tries mad minutes as I used to do these when I was a kid as it gets you thinking and working very quickly through as many problems as you can in a minute. Dr. Duffy thought this would be a great way to test how much she is learning. Finally, Dr. Duffy said that she would need to be put with an outside agency to help her move forward with math as she is exceptionally far behind her peers. Dr, Duffy had actually already wrote up her report and then compared what he wrote to my new ideas, and actually included a few of my ideas which I found to be very neat, as I feel like I really contributed something and learned so much about something I didn’t even know existed. This was a good day, and I feel as though I learned a lot and great progress is being made particularly with the resource binder(s).
Day 9- October 20th, 2011
Today, Dr. Duffy explained that many teachers have been responding exceptionally well to our email that we are having a clothing drive/ food pantry setup for the children who attend international prep that are in the most need. To my surprise there was about 5 huge garbage bags filled with clothing donated, that were to be sorted out. I decided in order to make this work that I would create signs that said male and female and then have signs under each gender saying small medium and large so that the clothes weren’t just all over the place, but in their respective gender and by the correct size, not just a huge pile, that would have to be picked through. This was a great way to sort the different items, and a whole room is being used for this pantry. Along, with the clothing a few different teachers donated some canned and boxed goods such as tomato soup and macaroni and cheese. This pantry is becoming very big and is really looking like it can help out not only a few children but several. Next order of business for the day was to go to the student’s classrooms who attend the grief counseling sessions and to bring them down to Dr. Duffy’s office. While grief counseling was taking place I called several agencies and tried to see if any would be willing to come in and do workshops with the children at international prep, on bullying, healthy choices such as safe sex, etc. Many, of these agencies were more than willing to come in to talk to Dr. Duffy about what programs they could offer, and to try and work out a time to schedule the workshops according to the children’s grades and the greatest needs. Next, I worked on putting more pamphlets into the resource binder as many agencies keep sending in materials for us to use. Today, was successful, and I’m glad that both main projects the resource binder and the pantry are coming along so well, and can really only continue to prosper in the future.
Day 10- October 25th, 2011
Today was the day I have been waiting for, home visits with Mrs. Ali, the school social worker! In order to go Mrs. Ali, asked that I get to school a little bit earlier than usual so that she doesn’t get caught up there and isn’t able to go out. I was extremely excited as I haven’t been to the fruit belt in Buffalo ever, but I had heard that this is a very poor section and that it would open my eyes to new things. As, we started driving she explained that we were just going to a few certain houses to get permission slips signed by the parent or guardian of the child, for educational services. These permission slips had been sent to the houses prior to these home visits and were never returned and some of these kids rarely show up to school, so this is when Mrs. Ali, has to take matters into her own hands and see what is exactly going on with these students. When the student’s permission slips are not returned the students will lose all extra help they previously had. It was pretty obvious after the first few houses I went to why these students act out in school and struggle to succeed. Their home life is all over the place, some families have barely any food. One house we went to all that they had in their whole kitchen was a 2 liter of soda and popsicles. It really goes to show that a student’s home life can greatly affect the way in which they act in school. Honestly, it was somewhat heart breaking to see how rough some children really do have it. These students don’t have a support center at home at all and it’s up to some of them to real fend for themselves. Some of these houses were absolutely filthy had drugs inside and bullet holes in their siding, it was honestly a sight to see and really changed my whole perspective on that all kids can succeed and do great, when some are just battling each day to survive. This is America and I think many Americans are ignorant to face the facts that so many people live in these conditions. I’ve heard about people living this way but I’ve never seen it first hand, and this was definitely an eye opening experience for me. The homes were very run down and the families don’t have the money to fix them and on some occasions many individuals live together not related at all, they just don’t have a place to go. Also, driving along the streets I saw many homeless individuals sleeping on doorsteps and going through other garbage cans. One house we went to the mom was the head of a gang and lived in a very small house and explained she has 10 children. This made me see these children at International Prep in a whole new light they are literally struggling day to day, as they have no guidance or positive support working in their favor. When we returned to school and I had a whole new outlook on life there was actually a college fair going on which was really nice to see. Many students were at it, and there were about 14 different schools there including Canisius. The rest of the day I spent separating more donations that had been dropped off, and calling more agencies. This was a very successful day and I feel as though so far it has been without a doubt my favorite, it really helped me to get a better understanding of children and how the environment they grow up in can both positively and negatively affect their behavior in a school setting.
Day 12- November 1st, 2011
Dr. Duffy and Mrs. Ali, were both out today, but he told us that I could go in anyway and work on the resource center. Dr. Duffy brought up a big shelf that had many different sections. He thought it would be beneficial to move additional and left over pamphlets into these shelves as it would make things significantly more organized. With each self I typed up labels so that it was easy to figure out what was where. All of the brochures in each section are in alphabetical order so their easy and accessible no matter who needs to find them. Next on the list was to make a summary for each section so that any person could open up this binder and understand what was involved in each tab. This took quite awhile as there are 22 different tabs in the binder, and many agencies fall under each category. I checked in with the student I had been observing to see how she was acting today, and she was a little more aggressive today, but still didn’t show any extreme behaviors, most of the class acted much worse than her, so I actually found that quite interesting and note worthy. Dr. Duffy is trying to have me figure out why exactly it is that I’m observing her so I guess I am just not picking up on what it is yet.

Today, at practicum Mrs. Ali the school social worker explained that she had a child come in who was in great need of a food pantry to go to. This is an instance where I really see where our resource binder will be very beneficial and helpful. However, for the mean time I printed her a few copy’s of different food pantry’s located in Western New York, as she explained she has many children who come to see her that are honestly absolutely starving. Today was the first day that the grief counseling group was to meet. Mr. Duffy brought a whole box of Tim Hortons doughnuts in the hopes that it would kind of get the children interested in coming down to talk. This can be looked at as positive reinforcement, as I have learned in behavior modification. However, if the child doesn’t like doughnuts this will not be a beneficial method in trying to get the students to come down and to participate in the group. I carried the box of doughnuts with me from room to room, and some kids seemed excited about the group especially since doughnuts would be provided and a few students seemed very unsure that they wanted to go. We ended up only having about 5 students attend the session but at least it’s a start. I was somewhat distraught as since I am an undergrad student they don’t allow me to sit in on the session. However, as one of the girls is a grad student that I do my internship with she was allowed to sit in on it and add this great experience to her resume. The session lasts for an hour so I had time to call more agencies and work on having a spokes member of the agency come to International Prep, to explain what services they could provide to the students. At the end of the day we had an extremely informational meeting with an agency called CAO (Community, Activities Organization). This particular agency is federally funded and sounds as though they offer just about everything that the children at international prep need. They provide after school care to keep the children off the street, shelter, food, several self esteem programs and a ton more. They also, help kids write resumes and have workshops for children who are planning on applying to college. The woman that came in to talk to us seemed as though she had many connections with other agencies in Buffalo, and CAO will be a main agency used throughout many different parts of our resource handbook. This agency really seems as though they do it all and this meeting was essential for us to move forward with our resource center/binder.

Today, at practicum Ms. Ali the school social worker explained that she had a child come in who was in great need of a food pantry to go to. This is an instance where I really see where our resource binder will be very beneficial and helpful. However, for the mean time I printed her a few copy’s of different food pantry’s located in Western New York, as she explained she has many children who come to see her that are honestly absolutely starving. Today was the first day that the grief counseling group was to meet. Mr. Duffy brought a whole box of Tim Hortons doughnuts in the hopes that it would kind of get the children interested in coming down to talk. This can be looked at as positive reinforcement, as I have learned in behavior modification. However, if the child doesn’t like doughnuts this will not be a beneficial method in trying to get the students to come down and to participate in the group. I carried the box of doughnuts with me from room to room, and some kids seemed excited about the group especially since doughnuts would be provided and a few students seemed very unsure that they wanted to go. We ended up only having about 5 students attend the session but at least it’s a start. I was somewhat distraught as since I am an undergrad student they don’t allow me to sit in on the session. However, as one of the girls is a grad student that I do my internship with she was allowed to sit in on it and add this great experience to her resume. The session lasts for an hour so I had time to call more agencies and work on having a spokes member of the agency come to International Prep, to explain what services they could provide to the students. At the end of the day we had an extremely informational meeting with an agency called CAO (Community, Activities Organization). This particular agency is federally funded and sounds as though they offer just about everything that the children at international prep need. They provide after school care to keep the children off the street, shelter, food, several self esteem programs and a ton more. They also, help kids write resumes and have workshops for children who are planning on applying to college. The woman that came in to talk to us seemed as though she had many connections with other agencies in Buffalo, and CAO will be a main agency used throughout many different parts of our resource handbook. This agency really seems as though they do it all and this meeting was essential for us to move forward with our resource center/binder.

Day 7- October 13, 2011
Today, at practicum Ms. Ali the school social worker explained that she had a child come in who was in great need of a food pantry to go to. This is an instance where I really see where our resource binder will be very beneficial and helpful. However, for the mean time I printed her a few copy’s of different food pantry’s located in Western New York, as she explained she has many children who come to see her that are honestly absolutely starving. Today was the first day that the grief counseling group was to meet. Mr. Duffy brought a whole box of Tim Hortons doughnuts in the hopes that it would kind of get the children interested in coming down to talk. This can be looked at as positive reinforcement, as I have learned in behavior modification. However, if the child doesn’t like doughnuts this will not be a beneficial method in trying to get the students to come down and to participate in the group. I carried the box of doughnuts with me from room to room, and some kids seemed excited about the group especially since doughnuts would be provided and a few students seemed very unsure that they wanted to go. We ended up only having about 5 students attend the session but at least it’s a start. I was somewhat distraught as since I am an undergrad student they don’t allow me to sit in on the session. However, as one of the girls is a grad student that I do my internship with she was allowed to sit in on it and add this great experience to her resume. The session lasts for an hour so I had time to call more agencies and work on having a spokes member of the agency come to International Prep, to explain what services they could provide to the students. At the end of the day we had an extremely informational meeting with an agency called CAO (Community, Activities Organization). This particular agency is federally funded and sounds as though they offer just about everything that the children at international prep need. They provide after school care to keep the children off the street, shelter, food, several self esteem programs and a ton more. They also, help kids write resumes and have workshops for children who are planning on applying to college. The woman that came in to talk to us seemed as though she had many connections with other agencies in Buffalo, and CAO will be a main agency used throughout many different parts of our resource handbook. This agency really seems as though they do it all and this meeting was essential for us to move forward with our resource center/binder.

Today, I worked on gathering many more materials for our resource center which is coming along, but is hard as there are just so many agencies in Buffalo, that really can be very beneficial to these at risk students. I enjoy calling all of these agencies and learning about what Buffalo has to offer as I am from Albany, it really shows me how much potential there is to help students who have so many struggling issues day to day. As, the first part of my day was spent with this I was asked if I would like to sit in on a life skills class that one of the fifth grade teachers was having. The main focus of this class I was told would be on bullying, honestly I didn’t think this would be much fun, to sit in on, but I was in for a great surprise. To begin the class the teacher picked a superstar of the week, who is someone who had helped others throughout the week, has good self esteem and was a very positive person. It’s a big privilege to be superstar of the week as the child is invited to an ice-cream social at the end of the year with all of the other superstars. Not only is their name written on the board as well so everyone knows but, the child chosen gets to be a special helper to the teacher. It seemed to be as though this particular situation reminded me and showed me positive reinforcement right in front of me. The child did something good therefore, was rewarded with being a helper, and getting to attend an ice-cream social. I am actually currently taking behavior modification at Canisius with Professor Sanders and have a test on positive and negative reinforcement coming up so this was ironically a great scenario to have displayed in front of me, to show how useful reinforcement can be in everyday life. Ms. Patterson was the name of the teacher giving the bullying talk and she was ready to begin, her discussion on life skills. There were a few different words she repeated and the kids in the class followed along with these they included BTB- Be the Best, and SWAG- Sweating, Working and Achieving Goals. As, many children use the words Swag and I have heard it before I never knew that this is what it could stand for and the children seemed very involved as Ms. Patterson used lingo that the children could understand and relate too. Ms. Patterson was very interactive with the children by using the words they use, and it was obvious that the children really grasped on to Ms. Pattersons every word and were having a great time, as she talked about building up one’s self esteem, while not hurting any one else. As Ms. Patterson went on with her lesson on self esteem she told the kids to think about themselves having their own personal bucket. The purpose of the bucket was to show that compliments can fill it or she used the term dippers which would be on the negative side of lowering ones bucket or someone else’s by presenting very poor self esteem and making rude comments. The children who were dippers exhibited negative punishment as the mean words or actions were added to hurt someone and to lower their bucket. All of this related very much to behavior modification with positive and negative reinforcement and punishment and actually was helpful to me in studying. After this introduction it was time for the class to do an activity which involved filling each other’s buckets. Everyone was paired up in the class and was to write 5 nice positive things about their partner. This showed more positive reinforcement with adding positive adjectives to ones bucket. This activity went very well and the different partners got to share with the class the positive attributes they gave to their partner. The final thing Ms. Patterson wanted to do with the kids was a rap all about self esteem. The kids all got very into the rap and danced in their chairs to it. It was very obvious that the children were very positively encouraged as the rap was all about raising their self esteem. Ms. Patterson was very energetic during her presentation and really got the kids involved in such a positive manner. What I expected to be a somewhat boring observation turned into one of the best classes I have ever watched. Not only did it promote such positive self esteem to the children but you could really feel all of the positive energy in the room. Honestly for the next few hours I couldn’t even get the rap out of my head. Another time positive reinforcement was used was that Ms. Patterson explained that the child with the best positive phrase about their partner would win a prize. This is reinforcing positive manners and it helped the children to really think outside the box and put thought into their answers. After, Ms. Pattersons very lively class both myself and my fellow interns were on a mission to hand out permission slips to children who have suffered a loss very close to them. A hospice group is to take place every Thursday for 8 weeks to help these children cope with such significant deaths and to have a nice lunch provided to them. I haven’t lost anyone close to me so it was very hard to see how many children have suffered losses at such a young age. I think that sitting in and observing these meetings will be extremely beneficial to me and help with getting a greater understanding on different counseling techniques and methods. This was a very productive day and I learned a lot and also how some of my Canisius course work can be applied in real life situations.
Day 6- October 6th, 2011
Today we had a new idea of how to obtain more materials for our resource binder and that was to simply drive over to Delaware Avenue and to go into different agency’s asking for flyers, pamphlets and any information they could provide us with. However, we were first assigned to go back to the different students who we gave the permission slips to, and to see who was able to get it signed by a guardian. Unfortunately only one student got it signed, but this could be because of a plethora of reasons. This group really isn’t optional so it was important to emphasize to the children that they must get it signed before the first group session. As previously discussed we were waiting for donations of clothing items food etc. I really wasn’t sure what to expect and surprisingly to me tons of different clothing was brought in that both myself and fellow interns went through separating into piles based on the different sizes. It was great to see that these clothes came here instead of just sitting in someone’s house when there are really many children in need. Then it was time to go out on our drive to Delaware to see what resources we could obtain. All of the agency’s we went to were very excited that we had dropped by and expressed that they could and would help in any way possible. This was a good feeling and I think that it was very beneficial that we went directly to the agencies as sometimes that shows that you are in fact very interested in what it is they have to offer. Practicum went very well today, and I think great progress is being made.

Today, I worked on gathering many more materials for our resource center which is coming along, but is hard as there are just so many agencies in Buffalo, that really can be very beneficial to these at risk students. I enjoy calling all of these agencies and learning about what Buffalo has to offer as I am from Albany, it really shows me how much potential there is to help students who have so many struggling issues day to day. As, the first part of my day was spent with this I was asked if I would like to sit in on a life skills class that one of the fifth grade teachers was having. The main focus of this class I was told would be on bullying, honestly I didn’t think this would be much fun, to sit in on, but I was in for a great surprise. To begin the class the teacher picked a superstar of the week, who is someone who had helped others throughout the week, has good self esteem and was a very positive person. It’s a big privilege to be superstar of the week as the child is invited to an ice-cream social at the end of the year with all of the other superstars. Not only is their name written on the board as well so everyone knows but, the child chosen gets to be a special helper to the teacher. It seemed to be as though this particular situation reminded me and showed me positive reinforcement right in front of me. The child did something good therefore, was rewarded with being a helper, and getting to attend an ice-cream social. I am actually currently taking behavior modification at Canisius with Professor Sanders and have a test on positive and negative reinforcement coming up so this was ironically a great scenario to have displayed in front of me, to show how useful reinforcement can be in everyday life. Ms. Patterson was the name of the teacher giving the bullying talk and she was ready to begin, her discussion on life skills. There were a few different words she repeated and the kids in the class followed along with these they included BTB- Be the Best, and SWAG- Sweating, Working and Achieving Goals. As, many children use the words Swag and I have heard it before I never knew that this is what it could stand for and the children seemed very involved as Ms. Patterson used lingo that the children could understand and relate too. Ms. Patterson was very interactive with the children by using the words they use, and it was obvious that the children really grasped on to Ms. Pattersons every word and were having a great time, as she talked about building up one’s self esteem, while not hurting any one else. As Ms. Patterson went on with her lesson on self esteem she told the kids to think about themselves having their own personal bucket. The purpose of the bucket was to show that compliments can fill it or she used the term dippers which would be on the negative side of lowering ones bucket or someone else’s by presenting very poor self esteem and making rude comments. The children who were dippers exhibited negative punishment as the mean words or actions were added to hurt someone and to lower their bucket. All of this related very much to behavior modification with positive and negative reinforcement and punishment and actually was helpful to me in studying. After this introduction it was time for the class to do an activity which involved filling each other’s buckets. Everyone was paired up in the class and was to write 5 nice positive things about their partner. This showed more positive reinforcement with adding positive adjectives to ones bucket. This activity went very well and the different partners got to share with the class the positive attributes they gave to their partner. The final thing Ms. Patterson wanted to do with the kids was a rap all about self esteem. The kids all got very into the rap and danced in their chairs to it. It was very obvious that the children were very positively encouraged as the rap was all about raising their self esteem. Ms. Patterson was very energetic during her presentation and really got the kids involved in such a positive manner. What I expected to be a somewhat boring observation turned into one of the best classes I have ever watched. Not only did it promote such positive self esteem to the children but you could really feel all of the positive energy in the room. Honestly for the next few hours I couldn’t even get the rap out of my head. Another time positive reinforcement was used was that Ms. Patterson explained that the child with the best positive phrase about their partner would win a prize. This is reinforcing positive manners and it helped the children to really think outside the box and put thought into their answers. After, Ms. Pattersons very lively class both myself and my fellow interns were on a mission to hand out permission slips to children who have suffered a loss very close to them. A hospice group is to take place every Thursday for 8 weeks to help these children cope with such significant deaths and to have a nice lunch provided to them. I haven’t lost anyone close to me so it was very hard to see how many children have suffered losses at such a young age. I think that sitting in and observing these meetings will be extremely beneficial to me and help with getting a greater understanding on different counseling techniques and methods. This was a very productive day and I learned a lot and also how some of my Canisius course work can be applied in real life situations.

Today was the day that both myself and my 2 fellow interns were to really begin the resource binder project. Dr. Duffy explained that the Buffalo schools have wanted such a binder for some time now but that no one ever gets around to it because it’s such a huge project. Honestly, I didn’t really see why this project would be so hard and such a long one. I really thought it would be quite simple and I couldn’t figure out why Dr. Duffy thought it would take this whole semester and more to complete it. As the other 2 interns and I talked about a way to set the resource binders up and to get this project under way, I then realized that this would absolutely take a full semester to complete! We came up with a layout for the resources and started to gather materials. Together we created an email to be sent out to numerous agencies asking for their support. Dr. Duffy explained to us that this project really is a big deal and that many other schools are looking forward to us working on it and are hoping once completed they will be able to have their own copy. It finally all came together to me that this project is very important and must be done a precise way so that any other individual can easily figure out how to use it. I am looking forward to working much more into this project and making such a useful and accessible tool for not only International Prep but for a variety of other Buffalo schools. I spent 6 hours at International Prep today, and was told on Thursday we will be doing something a little different and will be working with the school social worker Mrs. Ali. We will be making home visits with her, which is something I am really looking forward to, as I am strongly considering going for my Masters in Social Work.
Day 5- September 29th, 2011
Today, I worked on gathering many more materials for our resource center which is coming along, but is hard as there are just so many agencies in Buffalo, that really can be very beneficial to these at risk students. I enjoy calling all of these agencies and learning about what Buffalo has to offer as I am from Albany, it really shows me how much potential there is to help students who have so many struggling issues day to day. As, the first part of my day was spent with this I was asked if I would like to sit in on a life skills class that one of the fifth grade teachers was having. The main focus of this class I was told would be on bullying, honestly I didn’t think this would be much fun, to sit in on, but I was in for a great surprise. To begin the class the teacher picked a superstar of the week, who is someone who had helped others throughout the week, has good self esteem and was a very positive person. It’s a big privilege to be superstar of the week as the child is invited to an ice-cream social at the end of the year with all of the other superstars. Not only is their name written on the board as well so everyone knows but, the child chosen gets to be a special helper to the teacher. It seemed to be as though this particular situation reminded me and showed me positive reinforcement right in front of me. The child did something good therefore, was rewarded with being a helper, and getting to attend an ice-cream social. I am actually currently taking behavior modification at Canisius with Professor Sanders and have a test on positive and negative reinforcement coming up so this was ironically a great scenario to have displayed in front of me, to show how useful reinforcement can be in everyday life. Ms. Patterson was the name of the teacher giving the bullying talk and she was ready to begin, her discussion on life skills. There were a few different words she repeated and the kids in the class followed along with these they included BTB- Be the Best, and SWAG- Sweating, Working and Achieving Goals. As, many children use the words Swag and I have heard it before I never knew that this is what it could stand for and the children seemed very involved as Ms. Patterson used lingo that the children could understand and relate too. Ms. Patterson was very interactive with the children by using the words they use, and it was obvious that the children really grasped on to Ms. Pattersons every word and were having a great time, as she talked about building up one’s self esteem, while not hurting any one else. As Ms. Patterson went on with her lesson on self esteem she told the kids to think about themselves having their own personal bucket. The purpose of the bucket was to show that compliments can fill it or she used the term dippers which would be on the negative side of lowering ones bucket or someone else’s by presenting very poor self esteem and making rude comments. The children who were dippers exhibited negative punishment as the mean words or actions were added to hurt someone and to lower their bucket. All of this related very much to behavior modification with positive and negative reinforcement and punishment and actually was helpful to me in studying. After this introduction it was time for the class to do an activity which involved filling each other’s buckets. Everyone was paired up in the class and was to write 5 nice positive things about their partner. This showed more positive reinforcement with adding positive adjectives to ones bucket. This activity went very well and the different partners got to share with the class the positive attributes they gave to their partner. The final thing Ms. Patterson wanted to do with the kids was a rap all about self esteem. The kids all got very into the rap and danced in their chairs to it. It was very obvious that the children were very positively encouraged as the rap was all about raising their self esteem. Ms. Patterson was very energetic during her presentation and really got the kids involved in such a positive manner. What I expected to be a somewhat boring observation turned into one of the best classes I have ever watched. Not only did it promote such positive self esteem to the children but you could really feel all of the positive energy in the room. Honestly for the next few hours I couldn’t even get the rap out of my head. Another time positive reinforcement was used was that Ms. Patterson explained that the child with the best positive phrase about their partner would win a prize. This is reinforcing positive manners and it helped the children to really think outside the box and put thought into their answers. After, Ms. Pattersons very lively class both myself and my fellow interns were on a mission to hand out permission slips to children who have suffered a loss very close to them. A hospice group is to take place every Thursday for 8 weeks to help these children cope with such significant deaths and to have a nice lunch provided to them. I haven’t lost anyone close to me so it was very hard to see how many children have suffered losses at such a young age. I think that sitting in and observing these meetings will be extremely beneficial to me and help with getting a greater understanding on different counseling techniques and methods. This was a very productive day and I learned a lot and also how some of my Canisius course work can be applied in real life situations.

Today was the day that both myself and my 2 fellow interns were to really begin the resource binder project. Dr. Duffy explained that the Buffalo schools have wanted such a binder for some time now but that no one ever gets around to it because it’s such a huge project. Honestly, I didn’t really see why this project would be so hard and such a long one. I really thought it would be quite simple and I couldn’t figure out why Dr. Duffy thought it would take this whole semester and more to complete it. As the other 2 interns and I talked about a way to set the resource binders up and to get this project under way, I then realized that this would absolutely take a full semester to complete! We came up with a layout for the resources and started to gather materials. Together we created an email to be sent out to numerous agencies asking for their support. Dr. Duffy explained to us that this project really is a big deal and that many other schools are looking forward to us working on it and are hoping once completed they will be able to have their own copy. It finally all came together to me that this project is very important and must be done a precise way so that any other individual can easily figure out how to use it. I am looking forward to working much more into this project and making such a useful and accessible tool for not only International Prep but for a variety of other Buffalo schools. I spent 6 hours at International Prep today, and was told on Thursday we will be doing something a little different and will be working with the school social worker Mrs. Ali. We will be making home visits with her, which is something I am really looking forward to, as I am strongly considering going for my Masters in Social Work.

Dr. Duffy explained that today would be significantly busier than last time. Today I was to set up my office space and arrange it the way I wanted it to be. I worked with two other interns today calling many individuals working on having an updated record for attendance. We called about 140 individuals finding out why their child wasn’t in school and if so why not or if perhaps they had transferred schools. There were many disconnected numbers, voicemails etc. but we were able to account for a majority of students and find out what the issue of them not going to school may be. Next today we had a SST meeting which was the first one I have ever sat in on, and learned what exactly they talk about and how they all come together to work through problems with specific children. Mrs. Ali, the school social worker asked both myself and the 2 other interns if we could put together some sort of food bank clothing drive closet for the children who attend International Prep. We created an email to be sent out to all faculty members in the building just asking to donate anything they have specifically tan and blue clothing items as that’s the schools colors. Also, non perishable food items and very simple products such as sanitary goods including, soap, toothbrushes, floss, and mouth wash, etc. We worked on setting up an area for these products, and this is another resource for the children at this school. Today was a very positive day, and I felt as though good things were accomplished and I look forward to coming next week with my own office space setup.
Day 4- September 27th, 2011
Today was the day that both myself and my 2 fellow interns were to really begin the resource binder project. Dr. Duffy explained that the Buffalo schools have wanted such a binder for some time now but that no one ever gets around to it because it’s such a huge project. Honestly, I didn’t really see why this project would be so hard and such a long one. I really thought it would be quite simple and I couldn’t figure out why Dr. Duffy thought it would take this whole semester and more to complete it. As the other 2 interns and I talked about a way to set the resource binders up and to get this project under way, I then realized that this would absolutely take a full semester to complete! We came up with a layout for the resources and started to gather materials. Together we created an email to be sent out to numerous agencies asking for their support. Dr. Duffy explained to us that this project really is a big deal and that many other schools are looking forward to us working on it and are hoping once completed they will be able to have their own copy. It finally all came together to me that this project is very important and must be done a precise way so that any other individual can easily figure out how to use it. I am looking forward to working much more into this project and making such a useful and accessible tool for not only International Prep but for a variety of other Buffalo schools. I spent 6 hours at International Prep today, and was told on Thursday we will be doing something a little different and will be working with the school social worker Mrs. Ali. We will be making home visits with her, which is something I am really looking forward to, as I am strongly considering going for my Masters in Social Work.

Dr. Duffy explained that today would be significantly busier than last time. Today I was to set up my office space and arrange it the way I wanted it to be. I worked with two other interns today calling many individuals working on having an updated record for attendance. We called about 140 individuals finding out why their child wasn’t in school and if so why not or if perhaps they had transferred schools. There were many disconnected numbers, voicemails etc. but we were able to account for a majority of students and find out what the issue of them not going to school may be. Next today we had a SST meeting which was the first one I have ever sat in on, and learned what exactly they talk about and how they all come together to work through problems with specific children. Mrs. Ali, the school social worker asked both myself and the 2 other interns if we could put together some sort of food bank clothing drive closet for the children who attend International Prep. We created an email to be sent out to all faculty members in the building just asking to donate anything they have specifically tan and blue clothing items as that’s the schools colors. Also, non perishable food items and very simple products such as sanitary goods including, soap, toothbrushes, floss, and mouth wash, etc. We worked on setting up an area for these products, and this is another resource for the children at this school. Today was a very positive day, and I felt as though good things were accomplished and I look forward to coming next week with my own office space setup.

Bridget Delcoure
School Psychology Practicum
International Prep School

Day 1- September 13th, 2011
I was assigned to participate in my internship at International Prep School formerly known as Grover Cleveland. International Prep is not only the new name of the school but the school is under reconstruction for 2 years, so the kids are at a temporary school on Clinton Street. I was very excited for my first day and to see how this school runs things. I was to work under the direction of Dr. Duffy the School Psychologist, but as I’m still unsure about what I would like to go to Graduate School for, Dr. Duffy agreed to let me also work closely with the schools Social Worker Mrs. Ali. International Prep has an interesting setup as its grades 5-12. International Prep is a high risk school; therefore many kids need a lot of help so that they can succeed up to their fullest potentials. My first day at the school was Sept. 13th, 2011, I arrived at 9am and decided I would stay until 11am, just to go over introductions and get a general feel of what it is exactly that I would be doing. Dr. Duffy and Mrs. Ali were very nice and made me feel very welcomed. They explained that they have had Canisius students in the past and they always look forward to having more as they always work hard and do a great job. This was kind of intimidating but I was definitely up for the challenge to keep Canisius on great standing with International Prep. In order to achieve the right number of hours for this practicum I will be attending the school every Tuesday and Thursday from 8am-230pm. Dr. Duffy explained that there would be four major projects that I would be involved in and a bunch of other much smaller tasks. The first thing that I was to attend would be SST (Student Support Team) meetings. These meetings Dr. Duffy explained involved a variety of people including Mrs. Ali, the school counselor and more. This was time to go over different children and how they are doing and what concerns we have. It was also a time to talk about upcoming events at the school and how to help the most at risk students. I am to sit in on these meetings, so I can get a better sense of what it is that Dr. Duffy and Mrs. Ali do specifically when working with certain children. There also, is going to be a weekly session of grief counseling that Dr. Duffy explained I will be involved with. I will be observing children’s behaviors and be a resource to the children. I also, in the future will have my own couple children that I will shadow and go to their classes with to document any out of control behaviors. Another big project Dr. Duffy explained that I will work on is the issue of attendance. He explained that it has been proven that when the kids come to school they do very well however, it’s the getting them to school that is the issue as many will just walk out, not show up, not have bus money etc. So, I would be working with fellow interns to work on increasing attendance by calling homes and finding out what exactly the issue maybe for the child’s lack of attendance. The final major project that I will be working on all semester is a resource binder. The idea of this is to call and get in contact with as many agencies or health care providers as possible and to create binders for a plethora of different issues including, jobs, domestic violence, depression, grief, eating disorders, etc. This way when a child walks in with an issue there is a whole binder of information on that topic with community resources. This project will hopefully be very beneficial with many different agencies sending pamphlets and fact sheets about themselves particularly explaining what care they can provide, and how their insurance works. There could end up being as many as 20 binders filled with different agencies and information, all helping to support the students at International Prep. Dr. Duffy also, explained that I would have my own desk, computer, and phone to use to work on these different projects. I had a great first day learned a lot and was really looking forward to jumping right into these projects and more.

Day 2- September 15th, 2011

For my first day of official work I was going to work on getting in contact with several agencies and see what information they could provide. I arrived to International Prep at 8am and planned to stay until 12pm toady. Dr. Duffy and Mrs. Ali already had many resources so I was busy going through the folders and combining different agencies with one another to condense all of the packets flyers etc, into their specific category. I called 10 different agencies and left messages and talked directly to some people. One agency was very onboard and explained that she would bring over a whole goodie bag of items that we could make a binder out of. I enjoyed calling the agencies and receiving positive feedback. This was a low key day of just calling different agencies and getting a base started for the resource binders.

Day 3- September 22nd, 2011

Dr. Duffy explained that today would be significantly busier than last time. Today I was to set up my office space and arrange it the way I wanted it to be. I worked with two other interns today calling many individuals working on having an updated record for attendance. We called about 140 individuals finding out why their child wasn’t in school and if so why not or if perhaps they had transferred schools. There were many disconnected numbers, voicemails etc. but we were able to account for a majority of students and find out what the issue of them not going to school may be. Next today we had a SST meeting which was the first one I have ever sat in on, and learned what exactly they talk about and how they all come together to work through problems with specific children. Mrs. Ali, the school social worker asked both myself and the 2 other interns if we could put together some sort of food bank clothing drive closet for the children who attend International Prep. We created an email to be sent out to all faculty members in the building just asking to donate anything they have specifically tan and blue clothing items as that’s the schools colors. Also, non perishable food items and very simple products such as sanitary goods including, soap, toothbrushes, floss, and mouth wash, etc. We worked on setting up an area for these products, and this is another resource for the children at this school. Today was a very positive day, and I felt as though good things were accomplished and I look forward to coming next week with my own office space setup.

~~Delcoure School Psychology Practicum~~

CanisiusPsychologyWiki : BridgetDelcoure

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