End of the Year!

Hey Guys!

Wow, I can't believe that our first year as School Psychology Grad Students is OVER. It really flew by, didn't it? Right now I am so excited for our three month break from class - but at the same time, I'm going to miss seeing you two! It is really amazing how much we have learned this year... going from 'Wait, School Psychologists do WHAT?' to being able to use RtI, CBM, PBS, and WISC-IV all in the same sentence. Talk about a transformation! And of course, we wouldnt have been able to do it without Nancy Scott - Nancy, thank you from the bottom of our hearts - we are really going to miss you next year!

There are a couple school-related things that I'm excited about for this summer, though - being a NASP proposal reviewer is going to be a great experience, and I'm looking forward to my online class on Early Childhood and the Community. That leads right up to the beginning of next semester - which right now seems far away but I'm sure we'll be starting class again before we know it. I'm really looking forward to our classes next year, and especially our Practicum activities! Spending a full day a week in schools is going to give us great experience, and great conversation material for class. I am really looking forward to taking on the active role of a school prychologist - this year we did a few things, but looking back it seems that 80% of it was observation. Not that that's a bad thing - we will definitely need keen observational skills - but i am looking forward to seeing more of the 'typical' (if there is such a thing) school psychologist schedule.

Well, it's past my bedtime, and I have a running schedule to begin in the morning, so I'll say goodnight!

Looking forward to next year!
Diane

(Picture: Kate, Laura, Diane)

Autism Speaks Walk 2009

Hi everyone!

As promised, I've been working on planning a team for this event. We can walk, volunteer, or both. If you're interested, please join the team I started! I have easy parking in the city (I live in Lincoln Park), but we can arrange for you to be picked up at the Metra, etc., if you'd like to take the train down together. Otherwise, if it is easier for you to go directly to Soldier Field, we can just meet you there!

Event Info:
Saturday, May 16th (Registration starts at 8 am, walk starts at 10 am)
1410 S. Museum Campus (Soldier Field)
5k run

So basically, just join our team and we can figure out everything as I receive more info from the event coordinators! Here is our personal website (very fancy, I know!):

http://www.walknowforautism.org/chicago/nlusp

Please let me know if you have any questions, or concerns! As I previously mentioned, I will update this posting after I receive the welcome packet. If people are interested, Laura J. and I will plan a super fun social event after the walk, so stay tuned!

-Kate

Autism Conference

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to let you know that from July 22-25 at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles is the 40th Autism Society of America National Conference & Exposition.

It is one of the largest autism conferences in the country, and is the only conference that addresses a range of issues, including early intervention, education, employment, behavior, communication, social skills, biomedical interventions and others, and across the life span.

Details and online registration is at www.autism-society.org/conference
...or call (301) 657-0881 ext. 110

Most of us probably do not have the $$ to attend, but I wanted to spread the word.

Laura

DONE!

Hi everyone!

I'm Kate, another first year student. We just finished our winter quarter today...hooray! I'm really excited for our classes next quarter, especially Preschool Assessment. It seems like we just started classes yesterday, but now we're almost through with our entire first year. I cannot believe that we almost have our M.Ed already. Time is really flying by! My favorite aspect of this quarter (Winter 09) was spending more time at our practicum sites. Next quarter, our roles expand even further at our sites, which should give us more depth and breadth with the real-world school experiences. My placement is in Northbrook, which has really been the perfect fit for me!

To echo Laura's posting, I'm working on forming a group to volunteer at the Autism Speaks walk in May. I'll be posting and e-mailing information about this activity within the next week or so. I'll see some of you this Saturday at the New Student event, but I'd like to wish the rest of you a Happy Spring Break!

-Kate

Hi!

I wanted to remind everyone the 2009 Walk Now for Autism - Chicago is on Saturday, May 16. The second year students cannot come to this event, but hopefully it can be a fun first year bonding experience. We will be talking about it more in the future, but save the date!

Here is the link: http://www.walknowforautism.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=288794


Laura J

New Blog

Hi Everyone!

This is Laura and I am a first year school psychology student at National-Louis University in Skokie, IL. This is a blog for students, professors, alumni, and anyone thinking about school psychology. Hopefully we can talk about exciting things that our happening in our classes, at our practicum/internship sites, and in the field.

Have fun!

Laura J