Like many of us, I am stuck in a strange place right now. Professionally, I am extremely grateful to be able to continue my job during COVID-19. I miss my students and the face to face work tremendously, and I’m struggling every day with being a virtual School Psychologist, and a parent to 3 children stuck at home as well. At the same time, I’m grateful we have been able to stay home and healthy. I have connected with so many of you as I’ve shared what I am doing in distance learning recently, but I also wanted/needed to take a break and allow a peek back into our (new) sense of normal. So, here is where I left off…
This is the last installment in my “School Psychologists Share” series. If you missed the first two, I had the opportunity to interview several other School Psychologists around the U.S. about their roles. You can read the first two here:
School Psychologists Share: Graduate School Advice
School Psychologists Share: The Role of the School Psychologist
What is the most challenging part of being a School Psychologist?
Balance
“Balancing the need to want to do it all with the realities of a school day and timelines, schedules, etc. There are so many things I want to accomplish in a day. It can feel overwhelming if you work in a building that has a lot of needs and minimal support staff. In my building I am the only school psychologist and only staff member with any significant special education experience. This can be incredibly challenging because there is so much I WANT to do and feel passionate about implementing in order to best support kids. It is difficult to step back and realize you can’t do it all — I’ve been challenging myself to work smarter, not harder.”
“Finding boundaries between work and home and knowing how much of other people’s “emergencies” are actually my responsibility to handle.”
“Balancing all the deadlines while still maintaining a life outside of work.”
Not Enough Time With Students
“Not spending as much time with students as I wish I could. Feeling as though I am not directly making the impact I’d like to make. Feeling frustrated with a system that sometimes isn’t equipped to meet the students where they are; a system that views the students as failing, rather than considering that it is failing the students. Especially students with challenging behaviors.”
Self-Care