Clinical/Counseling Practicum: Therapeutic Preschool with Counselor
March 15th, 2007
2:00-3:00
Today, I met with Amy, the counselor I will be working with, for the first time. She has been on maternity leave for the past couple months and is just getting back to work in the next couple weeks. We met at at the Therapeutic Preschool (TPS) to discuss the internship. Amy gave me a tour of the facilities and discussed with me what I could expect as an intern. I was also introduced to a current intern who is a grad student to get a student perspective. I'm really glad I was able to have this first meeting because I feel more prepared to begin working and I am even more excited!
March 30th, 2007
10:00-4:00
I started today at an offsite preschool, which is actually a Head Start program that TPS has integrated 6 kids into. I spent most of the morning just interacting with the children in the classroom and getting a feel for the classroom procedures. The Head Start kids have Fridays off, so it was nice to work with just the small group in the TPS program. I really enjoyed playing with the kids, they are all adorable, but I also felt like I learned a lot observing how the teachers disciplined the children and directed their activities through out the day. Amy and I left in the afternoon to return to the main TPS site. We spent the rest of the day talking more about the program and specifically about the kids I had worked with that morning. Amy suggested that she pick out 2 cases for me to follow during my internship. This way she can keep me updated on those kids and I could go on all the parent visits with her. I thought this was a great idea. She already suggested I take on T. M., one of the little boys I had met this morning. She commented that his mother can be difficult to work with at times, so I would definitely learn a lot working with this family. Amy gave me T. M.'s folder to look over so I get a better idea of his history and past interactions with his mother. I found it very interesting and I can't wait until I can go back again!
April 20th, 2007
8:00-11:00
We started today again at the offsite preschool with a team meeting of the TPS teachers and Head Start teachers. These meetings are held every other week to keep everyone informed on what is happening with the different students and to work through any problems that occur. The main topics for discussion this morning was whether we should recommend continuing services for a student over the summer or not. We also discussed some changes in a few of the students home lives. The biological mother of two sisters in the class had just surrendered her rights to the girls and left town. The girls are now being adopted by their current foster parents. The teachers discussed how the girls were handling it and asked Amy for further advice in how best to work with them. There was also a student who had been out of class all week and Amy said she would be contacting the parent to find out what was going on. After the meeting Amy and I drove back to the main TPS site for a parent group meeting. Amy lead the group with another counselor. It is often hard to get parents to attend these meetings, but we had about 7 parents attend. The theme of the parent group this day was setting effective limits. We discussed benefits and boundaries to setting limits and then watched a series of vignettes demonstrating the right way and the wrong way to set limits with your child. All parents were active in the discussion. I enjoyed observing the group since this was my first experience working with them.
April 27th, 2007
9:00-5:00
I met Amy at the offsite preschool to start our day. We spent some time in the morning playing with the children. It was a special Pajama Day and everyone was very excited. I really love being able to interact with the children as much as I can. Next Amy and I drove out to make a home visit to T.M.'s mom. There was no one home when we got to the house, even though Amy had confirmed with this parent a couple days ago the day and time we were coming. We were both disappointed but Amy said this is quite a normal occurrence. We would have to reschedule for another day. We spent the rest of the day back at the main TPS site. I spent some more time reading T.M.'s file and getting myself acquainted with his case. Since Amy and I didn't have a lot of time to talk about parent group or the team meeting I had attended last week we spent some time talking about that since I had a few questions. Amy continued to fill me in on all her cases and what was currently going on with their families as well as updating me on some changes the program may be undergoing for next year.
May 11th, 2007
11:00-5:00
I spent the first hour or so observing a number of the classrooms from outside via the 2-way mirrors in each classroom. Amy has arranged for me to spend a couple days in different classrooms, so she wanted me to start getting accustomed to how the classrooms work. Later, I spent some time reviewing the Incredible Years curriculum. We use this curriculum in our parent groups already and are beginning to introduce it in the classroom as well. I really enjoyed learning about the Incredible Years. It looks like an excellent program for children with behaviors. Amy and I continued to catch up on the progress of various cases.
May 15th, 2007
8:00-5:00
I spent most of the day in class one today. Class one is a 6:1:1 classroom (although there are currently 7 students- only for a short transitional period) with stage 1 (lowest developmentally) students. I really enjoyed working in the classroom. It is definitely the best way to learn about and how to work with this population of children. The two teachers in the classroom were very helpful engaging me in the classroom activity and modeling the correct way to interact with the students. Two of the children in the classroom are on the autistic spectrum. One of them, a little boy, I was holding on my lap at circle time and he became upset when one of the teachers tried to engage him in the circle activity and he bit me on the arm. It was definitely an interesting experience to have the first day in the classroom, but a good one to learn from. Later in the day, Amy and I went on a home visit to TM's house. I very quickly saw why TM's mother is particularly difficult to work with. I already can tell I will learn a lot from working with Amy on this case. We then had a second home visit with NM's mother. NM is a student that has made many gains in his time at Gateway and so there were little issues to discuss.
May 18th, 2007
8:00-3:30
We started our day with a team meeting at the offsite preschool. We discussed in particular TM and the home visit Amy and I had as well as the two sisters in the class that Amy is working with. After the meeting we returned to the main TPS sitewhere I spent another day in class one and spent some time at the end of the day debriefing with the teachers. Every day I spend in the classroom I learn more and more. I am definitely enjoying working one on one with the kids. It is nice to be able to see the other side of the program. It gives more depth to the counseling part I have been working in with Amy.
May 22nd, 2007
8:00-4:00
Amy and I had a number of case conferences today. We started with a case conference for NM. As I mentioned before, NM has made many gains and it was an easy meeting. I thought it was very interesting to see how these case conferences work. I really like the philosophy behind them and think they are quite effective in getting home and school to collaborate on helping a child. I spent the day in class one again as well. Afterwards Amy and I went down to Durham to have two case conferences. We scheduled two in a row because it is for the two sisters in the offsite preschool class. Their mother has recently surrendered all parental rights and left the area, the girls are in their 2nd foster home and have finally found a home there. Their foster parents are in the process of adopting them and it was wonderful to meet with their current foster mother and here about all the progress they have made.
May 25th, 2007
8:00-3:00
We had another case conference this morning with NH's mother. After attending a number of these case conferences, I've noticed that one thing that comes up at every one is how successful the home-school collaboration is. Parents are always so grateful to the TPS program that they are kept so involved and considered a true member of the team working to help their child. It is very rewarding to see this. I spent the rest of the day in the classroom again. I'm feeling more and more competent in the classroom every day. Today was my last day for a month. I hate to have to stop for a month when I just feel like I am getting into this internship, but I'm excited about my trip to India. I am planning to be back at TPS on June 26th.
June 26th, 2007
9:00-5:00
After being away a month it was good to get back to TPS. This day served mostly as a catch up day for Amy and I. She had a lot to fill me in on since I had been gone. Amy also suggested on slower days that I look at some of the resource books they have for the counselors. I took some time reading a book about attachment, which I found to be very interesting. In the afternoon Amy and I went on a home visit for NM. NM is actually leaving Gateway and will be going to a mainstream kindergarten in the fall. It was very exciting to review with NM's mom all the progress he and she had made during their time at TPS. It was good to see what a difference the TPS program can make and how grateful families can be when they have had a successful experience. From the counselor's perspective, I can see what a difference it makes to have such a strong emphasis on parental involvement.
June 27th, 2007
10:00-2:00
Today I went in to TPS for just couple hours to observe an intake with one of the other counselors, Marianne, because Amy was not working today. It was great to be able to see the intake, after having just observed a closing session the other day with NM's mom. It really gave me a full picture of the process. I also spent some time today doing some data entry for Pam, the TPS director. She had me inputting data on student outcomes, so it was interesting to see how students are assessed and what many of the outcomes look like.
July 3rd, 2007
8:30-1:00
I spent all my time at TPS today working on inputting the data for the outcomes assessments.
July 5th, 2007
9:00-5:00
Today I did some more reading, this time about poverty, which I found incredibly interesting and informative. I spent the majority of the day doing filing for Amy. Since the kids are on break until next week, Amy uses this time for getting paper work done, so there was a lot of filing to catch up on. I also did some proofreading of reports for Keri, another counselor. It was interesting for me to be able to read the kind of reports the counselors write.
July 10th, 2007
8:00-4:00
Today I started back in the classroom and from this point on will be doing that every day until I finish my hours (probably about 2 more weeks). I'm back in class one, which is great because I love being able to work with the same kids for a long period of time. I'm really able to get to know them and see how they change over time. A couple kids have left for summer and 2 were absent today, so there were just 4 friends in the classroom today. A big change from the 7 I was used to having before. I'm looking forward to being able to work consistently in class one and participate in some of their upcoming field trips with them! Since Amy was working today, I spent the afternoon with her doing some more paper work and filing.
July 11th, 2007
9:00-2:00
Today I was just in class one. We again only had 4 friends- so it was a pretty quiet day, although not without the usual tantrums and excitements.
July 12th, 2007
8:00-5:00
I spent the first part of the day working in class one again. Each time I'm in the classroom I do the same sort of things. I'm there as another set of hands to play with the kids and aid the teachers in their various activities of the day. After the kids went home I helped Amy with some more paperwork and drove down to the offsite preschool to work on some paperwork and filing there. I also continued to work on inputting the outcomes data.
July 13th, 2007
9:00-2:00
Today in class one we only had three friends so it was a very quiet day. It was nice to be able to have real one-on-one time with our friends and do some special things, like we watched a little Curious George film and gave our friends popcorn. Although it was a slower day, I am feeling very needed in the classroom since the usual teacher assistant suddenly needed to leave Gateway for personal reasons, leaving class one short staffed until they can hire someone else.
July 16th, 2007
9:00-2:00
We had a new friend in class today who proved to be very challenging for us. He is very low developmentally and needed constant attention. The other teachers and I struggled to give constant attention to this new friend, while still doing everything we usual do and pay attention to all our other friends. It felt very chaotic today with our new friend's arrival, but I'm sure we will get it all under control soon.
July 17th, 2007
9:00-2:00
Our new friend wasn't here today, so it was a more "normal" day in class one. As I'm nearing my end of my internship hours I'm realizing that I am very much enjoying being in the classroom and more importantly, working with this population of students. I also really love the TPS program, I could see myself working here sometime in the near future.
July 18th, 2007
9:00-4:00
Our new friend was here again today and again proved to be a big challenge for us. The teachers all got together at the end of the day to debrief and figure out a better plan to manage the classroom. We also did some shopping for the classroom and for our special field trip on Friday to the Naval Park. After that I spent some time with Amy, mainly talking about her experience with getting her Masters and how that applies to career plans. It was very helpful to me as I am currently planning for my Grad school experience. I am technically done now with my 120 hours for my practicum, but I am going to stay in class one for another 20 hours to fulfill my required volunteer work for my Child, Family, Community minor. I am excited that I don't have to leave TPS quite yet.
July 19th, 2007
9:00-4:00
Another day in class one. Things are getting better with our new friend. I also attended a staff meeting, which was interesting and good way to continue to diversify my experience at TPS.
July 20th, 2007
9:00-2:00
Today was a fun day with class one. We took class one, along with class four, down to the Naval Park for a picnic and a tour of the large naval ship. The kids had a wonderful time and it was nice to meet many of the parents who came with us.
July 23rd, 2007
9:00-2:00
Today was my last day at TPS. We took class one swimming today and they all had a great time. It was great to see the kids gaining confidence in the water and truly enjoying a fun experience. The rest of the day was relatively normal. The head teacher had to leave early due to a family emergency, so we just played with the kids, keeping them busy for the day. It was sad to leave class one and TPS, but I definitely know that I will always cherish the experience I had there and I am grateful for the tools it has given me in making decisions for my future education and career.
