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kruszkaa@canisius.edu
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My name is Andrew Kruszka. I was born at Mercy Hospital 20 years ago. I live in Hamburg where I have lived all my life. I used to love it in Hamburg when I was younger, but now I'm not so sure that it's the place for me. It's all congested, especially my street. Sometimes I feel like I live on the thruway. Growing up, I had a lot of friends, but over time we all seemed to fade away. I think that happens to most people. Now I have a small circle of pretty close friends. My brother is one of them. My brother is eleven years older than me. He has been married for a little over three years and already has two kids; Emma and Ryan. They are the greatest things in my life right now. It's amazing how spending time with them can make me forget about anything bad in my life. I'm thankful that they live close enough that I can see them whenever I want to. Family is something that I value, especially because mine is so small and most of my relatives live far away. It's hard for me to say where I will be living in the future. I don't really like Buffalo, but my family is here. Not only that, but I need a white Christmas. Christmas is my favorite time of the year. It sucks when you're in school because sometimes it makes Christmas come and go. I miss the hype from when I was younger, but remembering how it was is all I really need. More than likely my career path will dictate where I am going to settle down. I want to be a school psychologist. It seems like a great way to work with kids. I had originally intended to be a pediatrician, but more and more I hear horror stories about going to med school. My biggest concern that made me consider other options was whether or not I would be able to have a family of my own someday. I know many doctors have families and sometimes big ones, but I want to be sure that I'm readily available. I guess I'll soon find out where life is going to take me.
My Practicum at Frontier Central Schools
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2 3 » »» | 10th day |
Today was devoted to CSE meetings for special education. In this series of meetings the school psychologist, special ed. teachers, counselors and parents all get together to discuss the progress each child in special education is making. Everyone comes together to discuss if the plan of attack is working and what can be done to modify their approach.
Our first meeting was about a student who was still showing difficulty in test taking. His teacher thought that he should be given 2x the normal amount to finish. Interestingly his mother disagrees stating that 1.5x is enough for her son at the moment. Her reason stemmed from her son's increasing anxiety over being different from the other students. The compromise that all agreed on was to leave open the option of 2x should he not be able to complete tests in the 1.5x time frame.
Our second meeting discussed giving a student 2x the amount of time for testing. The student's teacher believed this to be necessary as the student is not self-confident. His current allotment of 1.5x is not leaving him with enough time and it is hurting his progress. What the special ed. teacher also believed necessary was to put the child on a resource team. Unfortunately, he is active on a few sports teams and being put on a resource team would leave him with no time to do what he loves. Dr. Sylves asked the mother not to rule out this option completely as she feels that going into 9th grade without a little extra help might be too overwhelming.
Our last meeting discussed changing the math class on a student's IEP because they are currently in an accelerated class. She still has extra service but is not currently in an inclusion classroom. What has been suggested for her is 2x the normal amount for test taking. She already has 1.5x. Using this approach she has made wonderful progress at the middle school. The plan is to use to same approach so that she will have the same progression next year in high school. |
| 2006-05-09 07:41:19 by AndyKruszka | Comments (0) |
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| 9th day |
Today at the elementary school we finished up some curriculum based assessment with a student who has been having difficulty in many areas. This assessment focused on math and came from interventioncentral.org. After this, the first grader was given an informal phonics survey. In doing this he was required to sound out letters, demonstrate his ability to sound out nonsense words as well as show is ability to comprehend short passages.
What I also learned today was the Big 5 ideas for reading.
Phonemic awareness-where words are broken into phonemes. There are 44 in the english language. Generally kids who are strong in this area are good readers later on in the following grades.
Phonics-this is children demonstrating an understanding of letter/sound awareness.
Fluency-this is simply how fast a student can read. How quickly and accurately with good expression.
Vocabulary-this is a child's knowledge of what words mean.
Comprehension-this is a child's ability to understand and summarize that which they have read. |
| 2006-05-09 07:16:00 by AndyKruszka | Comments (0) |
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| 8th day |
| After returning from spring break I met a boy with physical handicaps that I am unable to mention. I will say that despite the obstacles he faces daily I commend him for having such a positive, upbeat personality. Granted I only spent an hour or so with him, I was quite impressed with not only his outlook but his ability to play chess. He was quite good and of course he won! We've made plans to play weekly in the morning. I don't anticipate winning very often but that's just fine with me. After that, I spent the rest of my day reviewing the file of a child transferred from the Buffalo school system who is having great difficulty. Since his move from the city he has been having terrible difficulty in all classes which is a shock as he was doing at least average before his move. Granted he was in speech therapy prior to the move, he was able to show significant improvement allowing him to be removed from the program. To determine if it is just the move that has been causing his difficulty or a recurring problem, the school psychologist has chose to give him the Test of Written Language(TOWL-3). In this test, the child writes a story to a picture. Further, he will be given the Gray Silent Reading Test(GSRT). |
| 2006-04-25 20:19:37 by AndyKruszka | Comments (0) |
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| Seventh Day |
| This was by far the least interesting day I have spent as a school psychology intern. I don't have much to report as today I spent my time at Erie1Boces for a conference regarding Discipline and Behavioral Needs of Students with Disabilities. I am certainly not saying that I knew everything about the conference, but much of it was common sense as my school psychologist pointed out to me! |
| 2006-04-20 21:27:52 by AndyKruszka | Comments (0) |
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| Sixth Day |
This was my most interesting day to date. Today I spent the day in my school psychologist's office and watched as she conducted a meeting with a guidance counselor and teacher as to what type of services are needed for a student who is having great difficulty in school. He was given a 504 plan last fall but parents are unhappy with how it has been implemented and want better results.
The problem with this child is that he is testing at a normal intelligence level and therefore not meeting the requirements for special ed. However, in class he is struggling and it is beginning to affect his self-esteem. Mother is pushing for more help and trying to tell the school psychologist that he must have some sort of learning disability. After disagreeing with the mother, the school psychologist goes further and asks if there are any problems at home that might be affecting his performance. Finally, after months of going in circles, the parents admit that there has been great stress at home. So much so that the police have been called to the house quite a few times. The school psychologist was able to get the parents to admit that situations like these cannot be good for children and that they aren't giving their son enough credit in terms of being affected by problems such as these. Still the mother pushed the notion that her child has CAPD-Central Auditory Processing Disorder. This seemed ridiculous considering the recent events surrounding the family. No matter, this made for quite an exciting day! |
| 2006-04-20 21:24:29 by AndyKruszka | Comments (0) |
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