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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
| Fifth Day | ||
| After sitting around while a good portion of paperwork was being processed I was taken on a classroom observation. We went to observe a 4th grade student who has been having trouble with a few subjects particularly math. We were in an Inclusion classroom. This means that kids who are having difficulty in school are still able to get the extra help they need without being segregated in another classroom. There are additional teachers in the classroom to aid them with whatever they need. During the observation it is important that the school psychologist walk around and look interested in everyone's work as children aren't oblivious as to when they are the focus of someone's attention. During this time the children were doing math questions on personal slates and then being selected at random to show their work on the board. The little boy being observed was called to the board to show his work for a long division problem. He was the last to finish and really seemed to struggle. Not only that, but I must add that the new approach that this school has taken to solving division problems is confusing even to me. It took me a while to figure out this new method, called Everyday Math, as it was time consuming and increased the number of steps that children must take to solve even the most basic math problems. I don't necessarily agree with this method, however most of the children seemed to get the correct answer more often than not in using it. After seeing the difficulty that the little boy had, the school psychologist watched him during the next problem to compare how he did in relation to the other children around him. This time the children were given a multiplication problem. He had almost no difficulty solving this problem and even finished ahead of some of the other children. This indicates that he has great potential despite the fact that he is lagging in particular areas. After the children finished the last problem it was time to move on to social studies. When the teacher announced this, the child in focus asked to get up to go to the bathroom. Apparently, he does this often and only when the teacher decides to move on to a new subject. For some reason he becomes anxious at these times. The teacher's assumption is that it is because he can get extra help without drawing attention to himself in a negative way. One can only assume at this point and eventually it appears that some testing might be necessary. | ||
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| Fourth Day | ||
| Got to the elementary school a little early today to see what it was like to monitor breakfast! All I could think was "these kids are crazy." There was nothing but chaos for a half hour. After this it was time for the day's first problem. That morning a child was having a problem hitting other children on the school bus. This isn't typical behavior for this student particularly in the classroom. He is always well behaved but regardless it is necessary to look into the situation and notify his mother. After this it was time for some testing. Dibels testing was the focus for the day. The school psychologist was doing his own personal research project to determine how the children of the school were progressing in reading. I learned today that reading speed is a huge predictor of comprehension. Dibels testing can actually be done weekly to determine if there are any signs of progress. You will not see significant changes. Those can only be seen on a month to month basis. On average most children can increase weekly by up to 2 words/minute. As a general rule of thumb if a child is not a really good reader by the end of 3rd grade it's a predictor of how well they're going to do in adulthood. It is around this time also that a child can begin to be diagnosed for an LD. Before one can assume this for a child there has to be resistance to some sort of intervention. If the child does not show any improvement, one can begin to diagnose some sort of disability. | ||
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| Third day | ||
| I spent today at the Middle School. Today I was able to witness a meeting between the school psychologist and one of the school's guidance counselors. They discussed a child who seemingly has ADHD. A Terra Nova test confirmed that she is above average ability. Her low attendence and lack of focus in the classroom are becoming a growing concern. Decided that a 504 plan might be necessary, but it is only possible to do so if a doctor confirms that she does in fact have ADHD. The next case of the day was in regard to a child with bipolar disorder. The child's skills are deteriorating and they seem to need a smaller class. His behavior in school is suggestive of Oppositional Defiant Disorder. The CST or Child Study Team which consists of counselors, administration, teachers, etc. came together to discuss this child's progress thus far in hopes of coming to some sort of agreement as to how they should proceed. | ||
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| 1-27-06 | ||
| I spent my second day as a school psychology intern at an elementary school within Frontier. I enjoyed this as it gave me the chance to observe children of a different age and work with a different school psychologist. This gave me the opportunity to compare approaches to problems particularly as I was now looking at things through a male perspective. Today we had a meeting with the school principal. DIBELS testing was the main issue of concern. We were there to determine if the school's 2nd graders were progressing as rapidly as the needed to. Children are classified as Benchmark, Strategic or Intensive. This means that they are doing well, slightly below the norm or falling far below the norm, respectively. At this point, it is expected that 2nd graders be able to read somewhere in the area of 68 words per minute. It is important that this be monitored in order that the school can intervene and help the child before it is too late. It is important at this age not to jump to the conclusion that the child has an LD, but rather help them along in making progress. Children at this age have not been in school for terribly long and to decide whether or not they have an LD is far too difficult. After this meeting, the school psychologist and I went to another elementary school to give a Sex Ed. presentation to a 5th grade class. I was able to sit back and enjoy the show, luckily, while the school psychologist and school social worker gave one heck of a presentation to a room full of laughing 11-year-olds. I must say that watching the boys laughing at certain parts of the video made it difficult to keep my composure, but I managed to pull through. There is something about little kids laughter that is contagious. Fortunately, they were able to ask any questions they had, but were instructed to write them down. That was certainly the best choice for the situation! | ||
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| First Day | ||
| I had an interesting day learning all about what being a school psychologist actually entails. The main concern of the day was a child with difficulty in school, particularly in math. The child had been tested and wasn't showing much improvement in the classroom. Apparently, from what I learned that day, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome can cause problems in this area for many children. So, in order to get an idea of what is going on, we went on a classroom observation. This allows the school psychologist to get an idea if the child is on task and how they work in relation to the other children. The class that we went to observe was what was called an Inclusion classroom. It is meant to include children in special education into normal classroom settings. To do this there are extra instructors specifically for these children in case they need just a little bit of help. Our time here was a matter of walking around the classroom, getting an overview of all the children and not letting the child think that you are there for them. While we were there, the children performed an activity involving putting the phases of the moon in order without looking in their books. The child we were there to observe did things just as quickly as the others and only had a couple phases out of the order. Granted you cannot tell everything just by a single visit, but these help in gaining a greater understanding of what exactly the child is having difficulty with. | ||
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