Revision [2512]
Last edited on 2012-04-30 08:10:05 by JackieMistrettaAdditions:
Total- 122 hours
Revision [2511]
Edited on 2012-04-30 08:04:40 by JackieMistrettaAdditions:
Today we had all of our focuses towards the support center at International Prep. We worked more on our binder and I called many local agencies to request pamphlets be sent to us because all of the one’s we had previously had had been given out. I also called other agencies to make sure their programs were still being offered. One agency would not send us information so we traveled there. It was only 8 minutes away but was right in the fruit belt; it was like a different world. It was nice because we made contact with the person running it and they are interested to come in and run some programs here with the students. Making new contacts is also a good thing for the school and for the students. Next time we most likely will be working at the support center again.
4/25/12 12-7:30 pm (7.5 hrs)
Today Austin and I worked from home. We called several agencies and organized some of our paperwork. One of the students here at International Prep was murdered by his step-father. We did not work with him personally but the whole school was and is still devastated. We decided to schedule a tour at the Family Justice Center in Buffalo so we could provide our resource center with more pamphlets and knowledge.
Here is what we learned:
The Family Justice Center (FJC) is a one stop-shop for victims of domestic violence. They have every service a victim may need under one roof. The FJC makes a promise to develop and sustain a collaboration which delivers services that enable people to live safely, free from domestic violence, and advocates offender accountability. Upon entering the facility, the victim fills out an information card and waits in a living room and then they may be moved to their own personal room with a soft couch and warm blanket over looking the waterfront. There is a beautiful children’s playroom that is run by volunteers for the children of abuse victims to play and have fun while their parent is getting the help they deserve. The FJC was built to help everyone and their goal is to let victims know that this is not their fault and that they do not deserve to be treated the way they have been treated.
Although I have already taken a “Violence in the Family” class, Mary Travers Murphy gave the group important reminders about domestic violence. Domestic violence is about power and control. It is a combination of physical attacks and controlling tactics used by abusers that result in fear as well as physical and psychological harm to victim. Domestic violence crosses all economic, educational, educational, ethnic, sexual orientation, age, religious, and racial lines. There is no “typical” victim. Domestic violence is the most under-reported crime in the country, with the actual incidence 10 times higher than is reported. One out of every four women will be touched by domestic violence. One out of every nine men will be victims. It also takes a very long time for the abused to leave their abuser. The average is about seven to eight times it takes for them to get out of the relationship or house completely. Leaving takes time and support.
We look forward to getting more information that directly relates to child abuse and maltreatment but the FJC was a great place to start collecting information.
4/30/12 (8am-3:30pm) 7.5 hrs
Today is our last day at International Prep. Unfortunately we never got to put on the assembly about making good choices with the Buffalo Public school graduates that are athletes at UB. We had a scheduled date but the vice principal canceled the date on both us and the organization one week before it was suppose to happen. I have been in close contact with Gary Damon who will be facilitating the assembly with the CAO. We are shooting to have the assembly later this month or if not the fall. Since this is something that Austin and I have been working really hard on, we are definitely going to finish through with it. I sat and met with the principal regarding the initial date to have the assembly and she gave me the go ahead. I am not going to let a scheduling conflict that was not our fault stop us from helping these kids. We will just choose a different date in the near future that works both for the CAO, the school, and the UB athletes.
Being at this internship has been great because never before this experience did I see myself working at a school or being a school psychologist but now it really seems like something that is for me. Never semester I will be coming back to work with Dr. Duffy and to do some data collection. This will be another great experience and will look great to put on a resume
4/25/12 12-7:30 pm (7.5 hrs)
Today Austin and I worked from home. We called several agencies and organized some of our paperwork. One of the students here at International Prep was murdered by his step-father. We did not work with him personally but the whole school was and is still devastated. We decided to schedule a tour at the Family Justice Center in Buffalo so we could provide our resource center with more pamphlets and knowledge.
Here is what we learned:
The Family Justice Center (FJC) is a one stop-shop for victims of domestic violence. They have every service a victim may need under one roof. The FJC makes a promise to develop and sustain a collaboration which delivers services that enable people to live safely, free from domestic violence, and advocates offender accountability. Upon entering the facility, the victim fills out an information card and waits in a living room and then they may be moved to their own personal room with a soft couch and warm blanket over looking the waterfront. There is a beautiful children’s playroom that is run by volunteers for the children of abuse victims to play and have fun while their parent is getting the help they deserve. The FJC was built to help everyone and their goal is to let victims know that this is not their fault and that they do not deserve to be treated the way they have been treated.
Although I have already taken a “Violence in the Family” class, Mary Travers Murphy gave the group important reminders about domestic violence. Domestic violence is about power and control. It is a combination of physical attacks and controlling tactics used by abusers that result in fear as well as physical and psychological harm to victim. Domestic violence crosses all economic, educational, educational, ethnic, sexual orientation, age, religious, and racial lines. There is no “typical” victim. Domestic violence is the most under-reported crime in the country, with the actual incidence 10 times higher than is reported. One out of every four women will be touched by domestic violence. One out of every nine men will be victims. It also takes a very long time for the abused to leave their abuser. The average is about seven to eight times it takes for them to get out of the relationship or house completely. Leaving takes time and support.
We look forward to getting more information that directly relates to child abuse and maltreatment but the FJC was a great place to start collecting information.
4/30/12 (8am-3:30pm) 7.5 hrs
Today is our last day at International Prep. Unfortunately we never got to put on the assembly about making good choices with the Buffalo Public school graduates that are athletes at UB. We had a scheduled date but the vice principal canceled the date on both us and the organization one week before it was suppose to happen. I have been in close contact with Gary Damon who will be facilitating the assembly with the CAO. We are shooting to have the assembly later this month or if not the fall. Since this is something that Austin and I have been working really hard on, we are definitely going to finish through with it. I sat and met with the principal regarding the initial date to have the assembly and she gave me the go ahead. I am not going to let a scheduling conflict that was not our fault stop us from helping these kids. We will just choose a different date in the near future that works both for the CAO, the school, and the UB athletes.
Being at this internship has been great because never before this experience did I see myself working at a school or being a school psychologist but now it really seems like something that is for me. Never semester I will be coming back to work with Dr. Duffy and to do some data collection. This will be another great experience and will look great to put on a resume
Deletions:
Revision [2430]
Edited on 2012-03-02 12:05:33 by JackieMistrettaAdditions:
03/02/12 8 am- 3:30pm (7.5 hrs)
Today was pretty exciting. The boy, Ken we have been working with is suspended from school right now because he sexually assaulted three girls on the bus. He grabbed their chests, fondled them, and then told them he raped them. This is very disturbing, what’s even more disturbing is that none of the three girls told on him. The bus driver called it into the school. After his suspension, he will be entered into the 611 program. I wish him the best.
Today we had all of our focuses towards the support center at International Prep. We worked more on our binder and I called many local agencies to request pamphlets be sent to us because all of the one’s we had previously had had been given out. I also called other agencies to make sure their programs were still being offered. One agency would not send us information so we travelled there. It was only 8 minutes away but was right in the fruit belt; it was like a different world. It was nice because we made contact with the person running it and they are interested to come in and run some programs here with the students. Making new contacts is also a good thing for the school and for the students. Next time we most likely will be working at the support center again.
Today was pretty exciting. The boy, Ken we have been working with is suspended from school right now because he sexually assaulted three girls on the bus. He grabbed their chests, fondled them, and then told them he raped them. This is very disturbing, what’s even more disturbing is that none of the three girls told on him. The bus driver called it into the school. After his suspension, he will be entered into the 611 program. I wish him the best.
Today we had all of our focuses towards the support center at International Prep. We worked more on our binder and I called many local agencies to request pamphlets be sent to us because all of the one’s we had previously had had been given out. I also called other agencies to make sure their programs were still being offered. One agency would not send us information so we travelled there. It was only 8 minutes away but was right in the fruit belt; it was like a different world. It was nice because we made contact with the person running it and they are interested to come in and run some programs here with the students. Making new contacts is also a good thing for the school and for the students. Next time we most likely will be working at the support center again.
Revision [2428]
Edited on 2012-02-29 19:57:40 by JackieMistrettaAdditions:
2/27/2012 8am-3:30 pm (7.5 hrs)
The kids got back from their one week winter recess. It was good to see everyone’s face again. We started the day off by following Ken around. He seemed really distant and uninterested in everything. He barely has enthusiasm when talking with us but he seemed so dull and not in the mood for anything today. Nothing eventful happened while watching him. He was especially involved in his music class which was nice to see. We left him a few periods before he was done, at the beginning of lunch. We met up with one of the graduate students working with Dr. Duffy, Rebecca, and the three of us devised a plan to get back on track with working on the resource center. We divvied projects up to work on them. There still is a ton of stuff to work on. I wonder if today is the last time we will see Ken, because any day he may be transferring to that 611. I definitely will miss him. Today related to behavior modification, no prompts or positive reinforcing seemed to be working today with Kevin’s mood.
The kids got back from their one week winter recess. It was good to see everyone’s face again. We started the day off by following Ken around. He seemed really distant and uninterested in everything. He barely has enthusiasm when talking with us but he seemed so dull and not in the mood for anything today. Nothing eventful happened while watching him. He was especially involved in his music class which was nice to see. We left him a few periods before he was done, at the beginning of lunch. We met up with one of the graduate students working with Dr. Duffy, Rebecca, and the three of us devised a plan to get back on track with working on the resource center. We divvied projects up to work on them. There still is a ton of stuff to work on. I wonder if today is the last time we will see Ken, because any day he may be transferring to that 611. I definitely will miss him. Today related to behavior modification, no prompts or positive reinforcing seemed to be working today with Kevin’s mood.
Revision [2407]
Edited on 2012-02-23 16:58:35 by JackieMistrettaAdditions:
2/17/2012 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hrs)
Today we followed Ken around the whole day. It was the Friday before the student’s week off break and you could tell everyone was crazy and excited. Not a lot of work got completed. It was hectic and noisy. Ken had missed the previous day of school and we tried to get him caught up with the work but it was hard to motivate him when even the teachers weren’t motivated to do anything. A teacher told me that a few days ago Ken got off the school bus and instead of entering the school he walked through the parking lot and went to a McDonald’s a mile down the road. The teacher tried to stop him when he was in the parking lot but all Ken asked was, “Do you want me to pick you up anything?” It is so different to see how some schools work. If that would have been in my middle school, school administration as well as both gym teachers would have been chasing after him either by foot or by car. Ken told me he did get in trouble and that his mother did find out about it but that was it. I feel like this school needs more consequences for actions—but if this were the case, there would be even less students at the school everyday. After spending the day with Ken, Dr. Duffy let us look at some material regarding medicines, their uses, and what they treat. Everyday, something new happens. The end of the day relates to abnormal psychology and the medicines that are used to treat some mental diseases.
Today we followed Ken around the whole day. It was the Friday before the student’s week off break and you could tell everyone was crazy and excited. Not a lot of work got completed. It was hectic and noisy. Ken had missed the previous day of school and we tried to get him caught up with the work but it was hard to motivate him when even the teachers weren’t motivated to do anything. A teacher told me that a few days ago Ken got off the school bus and instead of entering the school he walked through the parking lot and went to a McDonald’s a mile down the road. The teacher tried to stop him when he was in the parking lot but all Ken asked was, “Do you want me to pick you up anything?” It is so different to see how some schools work. If that would have been in my middle school, school administration as well as both gym teachers would have been chasing after him either by foot or by car. Ken told me he did get in trouble and that his mother did find out about it but that was it. I feel like this school needs more consequences for actions—but if this were the case, there would be even less students at the school everyday. After spending the day with Ken, Dr. Duffy let us look at some material regarding medicines, their uses, and what they treat. Everyday, something new happens. The end of the day relates to abnormal psychology and the medicines that are used to treat some mental diseases.
Revision [2402]
Edited on 2012-02-15 20:32:44 by JackieMistrettaAdditions:
2/01/12 8am-3:30 (7.5 hrs)
Our first task of the day was to go around to the ESL (English as a second language) teachers and ask them for a list of kids in their class that would probably be the neediest. Dr. Duffy instructed us to do this so we could then focus directly on those children and their families with the resources that our resource center could provide. During this task, Dr. Duffy called us and asked us to go to the vice principals office. Here we found a young boy sitting outside the office. As we entered we found Dr. Duffy, the vice principal, a guidance counselor and the boy’s mother inside. For confidentiality I will not use the boys name but for the purpose of the journals I will call him Ken. We were instructed to follow Ken around as he had been absent from class for a week because he was in youth detention. Ken had made some horrible decisions that got him in trouble and our job was to make sure he got to class, picked up the work he missed, stayed on task, and wasn’t a danger or disruption to himself or any other students or teachers at International Prep. We then met Ken and he was told of the plan. This was the first time that Austin and I were exposed to an actual classroom at this school. It was eye-opening and flabbergasting to say the least. Kids would skip class, talk on cell phones and listen to iPods while teachers wouldn’t teach. Not a whole lot got done. It was nothing like the middle school that I went to. Their lessons seemed more elementary and I thought to myself, are these kids actually learning anything? –There are connections to any psychology class that teaches about parenting, like Child, Family, and Community. We wondered where and how these kids were raised.
2/03/2012 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hrs)
Our task today was to follow and observe our 7th grader, Ken again. I was eager to see how he behaved the second time he was with us. The first time he was very to himself and spoke very little to us. He really didn’t have any interaction with any of the students either. He didn’t act out when we were there but we figured that may be a possibility because of our presence. The second day I was excited because he spoke a little more to us and a lot more to his classmates. Around this time there was the start of the new semester so we got to meet Ken’s new teachers with him. It was nice to see that some of the teachers had control and had focus from some of the students. Other seemed like they had given up and wished they could be any place then at school. That saddened me as well. Throughout this entire experience, I keep thinking about behavior modification and making sure that I use a lot of praise and positive reinforcement to Ken and all of the students when I have contact with them.
2/06/12 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hours)
I could suddenly sense that I was slightly getting attached to Ken. I was eager to see him and I wanted to do whatever we could to get him to make progress today. We went to his first class to meet him and his teacher and another student told us he was absent. This was unfortunate because I did not want him to fall behind even more than he already had, especially since this was the start of a new marking period. Since he wasn’t in school our plan changed and we could no longer follow him. Instead we worked more on the resource center and made some phone calls. I also got a call from the man that would be helping us host our event when an athlete comes to the school to talk to the kids about making good choices and the importance of going to college. He found us some dates that would work for him as well as the athlete at U.B. Now it is just up to the school to tell us what dates work for them. My oral communications class had a connection because when talking to organization and to our other contact good interpersonal communication is needed.
2/10/12 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hrs)
Today our task was to continue to make sure that Ken made it to class and did what he was told to do. We showed up at his first class and he was there. He continued to behave very well and interacted more with the teachers and students. He volunteered to read in English class and completed his Spanish work all by himself. I can tell that he is a smart kid but the environment that he is in is not conducive for anyone to get work done. I wish there was something more that I could do to make things better.
2/13/2012 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hrs)
Again our task was to follow Ken around. Two classes before lunch at around 10:30 or 11 he was called down to the office but we were told that he would return. Two classes went by and he did not show up yet so we walked down to the office and found him coming out of the principal’s office. A situation happened that day while we were in technology class with Ken. There was a substitute and Austin and I were talking to him and while that was happening apparently a child threatened to shoot one of the students and showed them his loaded gun. No one told us and none of us supervising heard about it until someone told administration about it. Ken was a witness seeing the gun so he was kept down by the psychologist and social workers office after he was questioned by the police and made a statement. He was not allowed to return back to class in order for him to not talk about the gun incident. It is scary to think that there was a loaded gun with ten rounds in the possession of a 7th grader in the same room that I was in. Again, I wondered what type of family this child was brought up in and where did he get the gun. We also found out today that Ken may be switching schools. He would be put in an 8-1-1 class. A class like this has eight students, one teacher and one aid. I think this situation would be better for him because he needs constant attention to keep on task. Yet, I think 75% of the students at International prep need this help as well.
2/15/2012 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hrs)
Today started out much differently. We originally weren’t going to come in because Dr. Duffy had a ton of meetings today. It is a good thing that we did. My mom, aunt and my mom’s friend donated a ton of clothing, shoes, and coats to our resource center. The back of my car was packed and Austin and I spent the morning unloading the car and organizing the clothes in the appropriate place. It will be exciting to see the kids get clothes from our resource center next time they are given the opportunity. After organizing the clothes, Austin and I worked on some more paperwork for the resource center. During the middle of it, Dr. Duffy told Austin and me to go find Ken because he got a call that he was being disruptive in class. We found him in his math class not working on the practice test he should have been completing. His problem was that he didn’t have a writing utensil. Unfortunately, this happens a lot at this school. After Austin and I showed up, behavior got better, most likely because of our mere presence. We were told Ken may not show up on Friday because his tooth is chipped and he may go get it fixed either before, during, or after school. The week after that the kids have a week off of break so it is a possibility that this was the last day that we worked with Ken. We will just wait and see. A lot of persuasion is needed when trying to motivate a class. I wonder what more I will learn once I take motivation and emotion.
Our first task of the day was to go around to the ESL (English as a second language) teachers and ask them for a list of kids in their class that would probably be the neediest. Dr. Duffy instructed us to do this so we could then focus directly on those children and their families with the resources that our resource center could provide. During this task, Dr. Duffy called us and asked us to go to the vice principals office. Here we found a young boy sitting outside the office. As we entered we found Dr. Duffy, the vice principal, a guidance counselor and the boy’s mother inside. For confidentiality I will not use the boys name but for the purpose of the journals I will call him Ken. We were instructed to follow Ken around as he had been absent from class for a week because he was in youth detention. Ken had made some horrible decisions that got him in trouble and our job was to make sure he got to class, picked up the work he missed, stayed on task, and wasn’t a danger or disruption to himself or any other students or teachers at International Prep. We then met Ken and he was told of the plan. This was the first time that Austin and I were exposed to an actual classroom at this school. It was eye-opening and flabbergasting to say the least. Kids would skip class, talk on cell phones and listen to iPods while teachers wouldn’t teach. Not a whole lot got done. It was nothing like the middle school that I went to. Their lessons seemed more elementary and I thought to myself, are these kids actually learning anything? –There are connections to any psychology class that teaches about parenting, like Child, Family, and Community. We wondered where and how these kids were raised.
2/03/2012 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hrs)
Our task today was to follow and observe our 7th grader, Ken again. I was eager to see how he behaved the second time he was with us. The first time he was very to himself and spoke very little to us. He really didn’t have any interaction with any of the students either. He didn’t act out when we were there but we figured that may be a possibility because of our presence. The second day I was excited because he spoke a little more to us and a lot more to his classmates. Around this time there was the start of the new semester so we got to meet Ken’s new teachers with him. It was nice to see that some of the teachers had control and had focus from some of the students. Other seemed like they had given up and wished they could be any place then at school. That saddened me as well. Throughout this entire experience, I keep thinking about behavior modification and making sure that I use a lot of praise and positive reinforcement to Ken and all of the students when I have contact with them.
2/06/12 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hours)
I could suddenly sense that I was slightly getting attached to Ken. I was eager to see him and I wanted to do whatever we could to get him to make progress today. We went to his first class to meet him and his teacher and another student told us he was absent. This was unfortunate because I did not want him to fall behind even more than he already had, especially since this was the start of a new marking period. Since he wasn’t in school our plan changed and we could no longer follow him. Instead we worked more on the resource center and made some phone calls. I also got a call from the man that would be helping us host our event when an athlete comes to the school to talk to the kids about making good choices and the importance of going to college. He found us some dates that would work for him as well as the athlete at U.B. Now it is just up to the school to tell us what dates work for them. My oral communications class had a connection because when talking to organization and to our other contact good interpersonal communication is needed.
2/10/12 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hrs)
Today our task was to continue to make sure that Ken made it to class and did what he was told to do. We showed up at his first class and he was there. He continued to behave very well and interacted more with the teachers and students. He volunteered to read in English class and completed his Spanish work all by himself. I can tell that he is a smart kid but the environment that he is in is not conducive for anyone to get work done. I wish there was something more that I could do to make things better.
2/13/2012 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hrs)
Again our task was to follow Ken around. Two classes before lunch at around 10:30 or 11 he was called down to the office but we were told that he would return. Two classes went by and he did not show up yet so we walked down to the office and found him coming out of the principal’s office. A situation happened that day while we were in technology class with Ken. There was a substitute and Austin and I were talking to him and while that was happening apparently a child threatened to shoot one of the students and showed them his loaded gun. No one told us and none of us supervising heard about it until someone told administration about it. Ken was a witness seeing the gun so he was kept down by the psychologist and social workers office after he was questioned by the police and made a statement. He was not allowed to return back to class in order for him to not talk about the gun incident. It is scary to think that there was a loaded gun with ten rounds in the possession of a 7th grader in the same room that I was in. Again, I wondered what type of family this child was brought up in and where did he get the gun. We also found out today that Ken may be switching schools. He would be put in an 8-1-1 class. A class like this has eight students, one teacher and one aid. I think this situation would be better for him because he needs constant attention to keep on task. Yet, I think 75% of the students at International prep need this help as well.
2/15/2012 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hrs)
Today started out much differently. We originally weren’t going to come in because Dr. Duffy had a ton of meetings today. It is a good thing that we did. My mom, aunt and my mom’s friend donated a ton of clothing, shoes, and coats to our resource center. The back of my car was packed and Austin and I spent the morning unloading the car and organizing the clothes in the appropriate place. It will be exciting to see the kids get clothes from our resource center next time they are given the opportunity. After organizing the clothes, Austin and I worked on some more paperwork for the resource center. During the middle of it, Dr. Duffy told Austin and me to go find Ken because he got a call that he was being disruptive in class. We found him in his math class not working on the practice test he should have been completing. His problem was that he didn’t have a writing utensil. Unfortunately, this happens a lot at this school. After Austin and I showed up, behavior got better, most likely because of our mere presence. We were told Ken may not show up on Friday because his tooth is chipped and he may go get it fixed either before, during, or after school. The week after that the kids have a week off of break so it is a possibility that this was the last day that we worked with Ken. We will just wait and see. A lot of persuasion is needed when trying to motivate a class. I wonder what more I will learn once I take motivation and emotion.
Revision [2360]
Edited on 2012-01-30 16:38:44 by JackieMistrettaAdditions:
01/30/12 8am- 3:30 pm (7.5 hrs)
Today was a catch up day with Dr. Duffy and all of the interns. The six of us met briefly and then went our separate ways. Dr. Duffy had to go to CSE meetings with parents. The two grad student interns went to go test a student, however he did not show up to school today. Austin and I continued to work on our list of contacts that we will eventually hand out to the students. We formatted the page and added all the new additions. We made some new phone calls as well to see if different counselors would accept the insurance that most of the students have. They usually have Medicaid or Medicaid through Univera or Blue Cross Blue Shield. Some of them took it, some of them did not. We started going through the binder to look for areas that needed improvement. I also called the man I need to get in contact with for our big project again but there is no response. If I don’t hear back from him by Wednesday I will try to leave him another voicemail and possibly speak with his secretary. Austin and I have already tried to think up back up plans incase this falls through but we are trying to be optimistic. Nothing really new was done today just catch up from previous days.
Today was a catch up day with Dr. Duffy and all of the interns. The six of us met briefly and then went our separate ways. Dr. Duffy had to go to CSE meetings with parents. The two grad student interns went to go test a student, however he did not show up to school today. Austin and I continued to work on our list of contacts that we will eventually hand out to the students. We formatted the page and added all the new additions. We made some new phone calls as well to see if different counselors would accept the insurance that most of the students have. They usually have Medicaid or Medicaid through Univera or Blue Cross Blue Shield. Some of them took it, some of them did not. We started going through the binder to look for areas that needed improvement. I also called the man I need to get in contact with for our big project again but there is no response. If I don’t hear back from him by Wednesday I will try to leave him another voicemail and possibly speak with his secretary. Austin and I have already tried to think up back up plans incase this falls through but we are trying to be optimistic. Nothing really new was done today just catch up from previous days.
Revision [2353]
Edited on 2012-01-27 16:37:27 by JackieMistrettaAdditions:
2) 1/18/12 8am-3:30pm (7.5 hrs)
Today was my first real official day as an intern at International Prep. I walked into Dr. Duffy’s office and he gave me another brief tour of the room I would be working in because of the fact that some of the doors were locked when Tonya first brought me there. He told me that today was a very special day because ESL class had been working very hard on a special presentation that was going to be happening today. The children had been working diligently on typing up one to three page papers on their journey to America. I was immediately excited.
We walked into the ESL room and were greeted by several girls welcoming us to their international café. There were dozens of tables with table cloths and a whole table filled with donuts and pastries. The program was put on by the students so that teachers and staff could hear about their journey to America. The kids rotated from adult to adult. Their stories were so touching and although I felt like I could imagine the trip to America I actually did not. Many of the kids lost family members along the way or had to leave family members back in their home country. Some of the kids seemed a little sad to leave their country but many were overjoyed and happy with the opportunities that International Prep and America could offer them. The funniest thing that many of the kids read to us were that they were scared of being on an airplane for the first time and that they got sick while eating the airplane food. Many came over with their families and none of the members would know any words of English. They claimed that was one of the toughest things to deal with. Meeting all the students was great and hopefully in the future I will be working with them. This day related to my communications class and my Techniques of Counseling class because of all the communication taking place and the use of gestures.
01/23/12 8am- 3:30 pm (7.5 hrs)
Today was super exciting. Austin and I finally met two of the other interns that are in grad school at Niagara University. They gave us a more detailed tour around the family support and resource center. We started organizing the clothes by age group and size. This way if a child was in need of clothes they could easy select something from the pile that was for their gender and size. After organizing the donation center we also made several calls to organizations from a preexisting list of centers. We did this for many hours. We were calling to make sure if their contact information was current and to see what programs they offered and if they took Medicaid since that is the form of insurance that many of the students have. It was time consuming and tricky at sometimes because I was not all that familiar with the programs that I was calling and some people on the other end of the phone seemed to not have the information we needed. We were looking for these organizations to send us pamphlets to put in the resource center so a child or teacher could grab one and send it home with the kid if need be. It will be cool to see how many pamphlets and emails with information we get back from people. Once that list is complete and updated we will be handing it out to every student so they can take it home incase the information is ever useful to the family. Since I was speaking on the phone for many hours this day I needed to be very professional with the people on the other end of the phone. Today related to my child, family, and community class. There are many services out there that kids do not take advantage of even after they find out about them. We must really try to make the children and their families aware of these services so that more people take advantage of them when they are in need.
01/25/12 10am- 3:30 pm (5.5 hrs)
Dr. Duffy was unable to be at school today so I was assigned to do more calling from our list of prospective services that can be offered. I called for many hours and made some way through our list. Austin set up a googledocs page so we can update our information to the list all at once no matter where we are. This is great because we can more easily keep track of the changes being made. I also helped to format my updates and section on googledocs. It will be interesting on Friday to see if any brochures or pamphlets were sent in.
01/27/12 8am- 3:30 pm (7.5 hrs)
When I first walked in to Dr. Duffy’s office I saw a huge handful of pamphlets sent from the organizations that we called. Yay! All of our hard work had started to pay off. We met with Tonya and Dr. Duffy and recapped the work that had been completed by us the previous week. Also, Nadia came in to meet with the social worker Mrs. Ali, but unfortunately she was not in today because her child got sick this morning. Dr. Duffy had us think and brainstorm about certain projects we could do in order to learn a lot and that way we could start to separate ourselves from typical potential grad students. We believe we are going to be setting up a day where U.B. D1 athletes that got scholarships to college who went to Buffalo Public schools come in to the school to talk to the students about making good life choice and the importance of a college education. I got into contact today with the organization today and also left a message with another contact to see if we can get the plan in order. I am awaiting a call back. I also called more organizations so hopefully our list will be completed soon. I cannot wait to put our plan into action so the student’s eyes can be opened by people like them that have succeeded.
We also showed Nadia around our office and the school so she knew a little bit more about it. She probably will be working a little bit with us so we connected her to the googledocs as well as Mrs. Ali and the guidance counselors. It will be great to hear about her experiences as well.
Revision [2346]
Edited on 2012-01-25 08:49:29 by JackieMistrettaAdditions:
Jackie Mistretta
School Psychology Practicum
International Prep
1) 12/20/11 10am-2pm (4 hrs)
School Psychology Practicum
International Prep
1) 12/20/11 10am-2pm (4 hrs)
Deletions:
Revision [2345]
Edited on 2012-01-24 23:20:00 by JackieMistrettaAdditions:
1) 12/20/11 10am-2pm
Today was the first day of my internship. I am finally getting to meet with the school psychologist at International Prep School. It is a Buffalo public school that is right now a combination of different kids from different school including Grover Cleveland. The school includes students from the fruit belt and many immigrant children that came to the United States anywhere from one month ago to several years ago. I was so excited to meet Dr. Duffy because he graduated with his PsyD from my first choices of grad schools- Alfred University.
When I walked into the school I was greeted by a hall monitor and directed to Dr. Duffy’s room. He was not there but a few minutes later he showed up for our meeting and we began to discuss the internship. He is a super nice man that is very interesting and knowledgeable. We discussed my future goals of getting in Alfred University and he told me that we would be on “Project Alfred” getting me to do anything that would make me look more attractive to Alfred as a student. He also told me that he was on the board reviewing potential student’s years ago and told me some good tips and helpful information about the school. He also told me he would start to think of some of the people in his cohort to see if there would be any future internships I could do with an Alfred graduated for my next internship. I immediately got excited! Dr. Duffy decided that I should spend a good portion of my internship working on the support and resource center that International Prep was going to start inside its school for the students and their families. Alfred truly has a true pride in it’s community and helps them tremendously.
After meeting Dr. Duffy I met one of the graduate interns that is interning part time at International Prep and is acting as the school psychologist at The Park School in Amherst. Her name is Tonya and she is extremely friendly. She is working on completing her masters. She showed me around the school and let me see what some of the classrooms looked like. She also answered questions about the demographics and age ranges of the students. I got a tour of the office that we would be working in. The area also had another room with clothes, food, toys, and toiletries that would be available to the kids when they were in need.
I spend the last hour listening to Dr. Duffy give Tonya a critique on the way she handled a parent in a parent conference about a girl struggling in math class and that was tested for disabilities. Although I only learned about the situation through them speaking, I learned a lot of how one should act when they are speaking to a parent about their child. It is important to show the parent that you care about their child and have really spent adequate time with their child and therefore have credibility in what you are saying to the parent. This also tied in to what I learned in Techniques of Counseling—it is so important to create a relation and connection with the client. Without that trust, no real work can truly be made.
Today was the first day of my internship. I am finally getting to meet with the school psychologist at International Prep School. It is a Buffalo public school that is right now a combination of different kids from different school including Grover Cleveland. The school includes students from the fruit belt and many immigrant children that came to the United States anywhere from one month ago to several years ago. I was so excited to meet Dr. Duffy because he graduated with his PsyD from my first choices of grad schools- Alfred University.
When I walked into the school I was greeted by a hall monitor and directed to Dr. Duffy’s room. He was not there but a few minutes later he showed up for our meeting and we began to discuss the internship. He is a super nice man that is very interesting and knowledgeable. We discussed my future goals of getting in Alfred University and he told me that we would be on “Project Alfred” getting me to do anything that would make me look more attractive to Alfred as a student. He also told me that he was on the board reviewing potential student’s years ago and told me some good tips and helpful information about the school. He also told me he would start to think of some of the people in his cohort to see if there would be any future internships I could do with an Alfred graduated for my next internship. I immediately got excited! Dr. Duffy decided that I should spend a good portion of my internship working on the support and resource center that International Prep was going to start inside its school for the students and their families. Alfred truly has a true pride in it’s community and helps them tremendously.
After meeting Dr. Duffy I met one of the graduate interns that is interning part time at International Prep and is acting as the school psychologist at The Park School in Amherst. Her name is Tonya and she is extremely friendly. She is working on completing her masters. She showed me around the school and let me see what some of the classrooms looked like. She also answered questions about the demographics and age ranges of the students. I got a tour of the office that we would be working in. The area also had another room with clothes, food, toys, and toiletries that would be available to the kids when they were in need.
I spend the last hour listening to Dr. Duffy give Tonya a critique on the way she handled a parent in a parent conference about a girl struggling in math class and that was tested for disabilities. Although I only learned about the situation through them speaking, I learned a lot of how one should act when they are speaking to a parent about their child. It is important to show the parent that you care about their child and have really spent adequate time with their child and therefore have credibility in what you are saying to the parent. This also tied in to what I learned in Techniques of Counseling—it is so important to create a relation and connection with the client. Without that trust, no real work can truly be made.
Deletions:
Revision [2344]
Edited on 2012-01-24 16:01:04 by JackieMistrettaAdditions:
This is my first one
