Consultation Logs & Reflection Paper
Melissa Morris
Texas State University
School Psychology Program
Submitted in Partial Requirement for
SPSY 5386%&%Consultation%and%Professional%Issues%in%School%Psychology%
Fall%Semester%2014
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School Psychologist's Journey: Consultation Logs & Reflection Paper, Lecture notes of Learning disability
A consultation logs and reflection paper written by Melissa Morris during her participation in the School Psychology Program at Texas State University. The paper details her experiences in consulting with teachers regarding students' learning disabilities and the decision-making process for special education referrals. Throughout the document, Morris reflects on her role as a consultant, her preferred consultation model, and the importance of collaboration and consultation in the educational setting.
What you will learn
- What interventions had the consultee tried before seeking consultation?
- What was the primary phase of consultation reached during the first session?
- What is Morris' preferred consultation model and why?
- How did the consultee feel about the PTSST team's decision to refer the student for evaluation?
- What was the consultee's concern regarding her student's learning disability?
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Consultation Logs & Reflection Paper Melissa Morris Texas State University School Psychology Program Submitted in Partial Requirement for SPSY 5386 -‐ Consultation and Professional Issues in School Psychology Fall Semester 2014
Session Number: 1 2 3 Name: Melissa Morris What is your consultee handing over? A task? A question? A Feeling? She feels her student should be referred to special education. The student is currently receiving Tier 2 supports and is getting ready to be referred for an evaluation. She just wants to make sure that she has tried everything she can prior to making the referral. Analyze your last consultation session with respect to the following: How was the problem presented by the consultee? In what words? She stated that her student was “the sweetest girl from the Solomon Islands.” She described the girl as having “very little memory ability and a very poor ability to retain information.” She stated that she would “explain something and walk her through a problem. Then I’ll walk around the room to help other students and when I come back, she has completely forgotten everything we worked on.” She also stated that the student doesn’t remember things day to day. What were the verbal and nonverbal responses given by the consultant? I allowed the teacher to speak throughout a majority of the session. I asked some guiding questions like: “Tell me about your student,” “What are your main concerns?” “What would you like to see happen?” I also nodded in response to statements. What are the internal assumptions that guide the presentations made by the consultee? She stated that the student is from the Solomon Islands and she doesn’t believe that very much English is spoken at home. She isn’t really sure how long she has been in America either as the parents aren’t very involved with the school district. She believes that her student has a learning disability, but wants to try a few more interventions before the referral is sent for evaluation, but she is not sure what to try next. What are the internal assumptions that guide the presentations made by the consultant? I was merely trying to get as much information about the student, her family, how the teacher interacts with the student as well as the current and past interventions that have been used. I have also been told that this teacher is phenomenal, so I was assuming that she has tried a lot of really good interventions. What was the primary phase of consultation reached during this session? Problem Identification and Analysis Always try to be helpful—Was this session helpful? In what way? Yes, it was helpful because it allowed the teacher to talk about her feelings about the upcoming special education referral and she was able to talk through the interventions that she has tried and her perceived effectiveness.
Session Number: 1 2 3 Name: Melissa Morris What is your consultee handing over? A task? A question? A Feeling? She is at the tail end of collecting data for the PTSST meeting that is coming up next week to determine if the referral will be made. Analyze your last consultation session with respect to the following: How was the problem presented by the consultee? In what words? She said that she has been “trying to think of another intervention,” but she just can’t think of one. She said that the student has made “little progress” over the past few days, but she is “eager” to think of another way to try. What were the verbal and nonverbal responses given by the consultant? The teacher still seemed eager to help her student. She was ready to think of a way to help her. She was a little quieter this session, as she appeared to be thinking hard about an intervention. She used more nonverbal gestures when she became impatient. What are the internal assumptions that guide the presentations made by the consultee? She still believes that the child has a learning disability and that the PTSST meeting will result in a referral to special education. She is fine with that because she wants to give the student “the best possible help” for her to be successful. The PTSST meeting is in a week. What are the internal assumptions that guide the presentations made by the consultant? The PTSST meeting will most likely result in an evaluation referral since the teachers have been gathering data for 10 weeks now. What was the primary phase of consultation reached during this session? Discussed Intervention Design, Intervention Implementation and evaluation. Always try to be helpful—Was this session helpful? In what way? Yes, it was helpful because we were able to brainstorm through some intervention ideas that she wants to try in the upcoming week. She is not sure if it is too late to be helpful regarding the referral because she will “still need the extra help” even if the intervention works. Always stay in touch with the current reality—What is the current reality for the consultee regarding this problem? She still believes that the student should be evaluated because just “one good intervention won’t change enough for her to continue to be successful in school.” The teacher believes that the student needs more accommodations than the general education classroom can provide and the PTSST team probably agrees.
Access your ignorance—What is my ignorance/bias for this problem/intervention? I wish I knew more about the Rti and PTSST process. I was a lifekills/low incidence teacher. When I got my kiddos, they had already been through this entire process. I am not that familiar with the specific details in the process. Everything you do is an intervention—What “interventions” occurred? I asked her to think about what made the past interventions even the slightest bit successful. Then I asked her to think about what other people have tried or what she has tried in the past that is similar. It is the consultee who owns the problem and solution—What is the indication that the consultee does/does not own the problem? She still believes that the decision to refer is up to the PTSST meeting, but she did state that her “data and opinion are important.” She still believes that the student should be referred. Go with the flow—How or when did I go with the flow? I once again took a “back seat” approach. I let her do most of the talking and if I could tell that she was thinking hard about something, I tried to be comfortable with silence for a few seconds. Timing is crucial—What opportunities presented themselves? What actions were not possible because of the timing? I asked her to tell me what she remembered from the last time we met. This allowed me the opportunity to ask her to reflect on what it was about the interventions that she has tried that made some of them “slightly successful.” Be constructively optimistic—How did I take advantage of providing challenges to the representations of the problems? I asked her to think critically about the interventions in the past and challenged her to compare them to other interventions that she hasn’t tried yet. She thought of two interventions. The first she has never tried before: reminders posted on her desk. The second she has, but it has been a long time: peer buddy to help remind her what to do. Everything is a source of data, learn from mistakes—What were my errors? What did I learn? Sometimes I had a hard time not offering my opinion. When teachers talk about interventions with other teachers, we usually just offer suggestions—I had to not revert to old habits. When in doubt, share the problem—In what context did I, or would I, share the problem? As I said on my last log, I would share the problem with anyone she wanted or allowed me to. I would also, of course, share the problem if it ever involved any sort of abuse.
Access your ignorance—What is my ignorance/bias for this problem/intervention? As I said in the last consultation log, I wish I knew more about the Rti and PTSST process. Because I was a low incidence teacher, I was never involved with the specifics of the meetings. Everything you do is an intervention—What “interventions” occurred? I told her that I admired her working really hard to make efforts to make changes for the student, especially when it was so close to the referral date. I told her that not everyone would have done that. It is the consultee who owns the problem and solution—What is the indication that the consultee does/does not own the problem? She stated that the placement and allocation of services is now up to the ARD team to decide. She can provide her input, but placement isn’t her decision anymore. Go with the flow—How or when did I go with the flow? She was not as talkative this time as she has been in the last few sessions. I had to provide some more guiding questions than I normally do. Timing is crucial—What opportunities presented themselves? What actions were not possible because of the timing? We ran out of time to discuss how she thinks things will change for her student. She has stated in the past that she thinks the outcomes will be better for her once she starts receiving more intensive interventions. Be constructively optimistic—How did I take advantage of providing challenges to the representations of the problems? I don’t think I really challenged her today. We just talked through how the interventions were working and what steps were going to be next for the student. We also talked about how she felt about the changes—which might have been challenging. Everything is a source of data, learn from mistakes—What were my errors? What did I learn? I learned that the consultee will enjoy and be grateful for just having someone to talk through problems or ideas with. I was thinking that my contribution was pretty negligible, but she informed me that she has really enjoyed having a “sounding board.” When in doubt, share the problem—In what context did I, or would I, share the problem? During this meeting, we talked about the next steps for the student and how she felt about them. I don’t foresee needing to share that with anyone since it wouldn’t affect programming or anything. It was more like a discussion this time.
Reflection Paper Melissa Morris I used to think of school-based consultants as information givers. I thought they were to listen to a situation and provide some sort of intervention idea or solution to try. Throughout the course of the semester, as I have learned many new things about the world of consultation, I have began to challenge this viewpoint. There is an ancient proverb that goes something like: “If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.” I think the same can be said about the world of consultation. If you always give everyone answers or solutions, you may have fixed their problem at that moment, but what are they going to do the next time that they are faced with a problem they can’t solve? Unless the consultant will be around forever, which is highly doubtful, it is important that consultees are taught how to solve problems on their own. That’s how I see consulting now. It is a give-and-take process where consultants guide, in a non-directive manner, their consultees through solving a problem or thinking about a situation in a novel way. This way, the consultees will learn how to critical think and guide themselves through the process. The consultation model that best fits me as a professional is the collaborative consultation model. I am very interested and an avid supporter of nondirective approaches to counseling and assessment. It doesn’t surprise me that I would also preferred the nondirective method to consultation. I really prefer to guide others toward solving their own problems and coming up with their own conclusions in a nondirective way. I am a very good listener and I am okay with
to continue to use the collaborative consultation model, but occasionally I may need to use more of an expert model. I may need flat-out offer advice if, during the collaborative consultation model, the sessions seem to be at a standstill or we can determine an intervention that might work. Otherwise, I plan to continue to use this model. Another challenge that I experienced was not asking too many questions. I wanted to keep asking questions as they were popping into my head, but I had to remind myself to let my consultee hold the power. I had to sit back an remind myself that the consultee is driving the conversation and the direction of the sessions, with some guiding questions from me. This was not too difficult, but it was something that I did need to remain mindful. As I am continuing to become a better School Psychologist and gain experience, I am sure that this will get easier. Another realization that I came to while consulting with the teacher was that she really appreciated my time. She appreciated that I set time out to meet with her and talk about her student. I could tell that she was very motivated to provide the best possible outcome for her student and she just needed a “sounding board” to work through some things. She was very good at talking and comfort between us was established rather quickly, so that was a plus. I was surprised to find out that she looked forward to our consulting sessions and that she actually remembered specific things that I said during them. This made me feel like our sessions were worthwhile and valued. I think that consultation is an everyday part of service delivery. A School Psychologist is constantly working through a question to determine any array of things in a school. Obtaining background information on a student is consultation. Observing a student in a class and talking with the teacher afterward is collaboration and consultation. The nature of the job is that you
work closely with other school personnel to make educational decisions in the best interest for the child. In order to do that, all of the people involved in the child’s life must work together and that is the essence of collaboration and consultation. This project afforded me the opportunity to practice my interviewing and consulting skills. I met three times with the teacher formally and then we also discussed many times in passing. I did learn that I needed to set specific time requirements to our sessions as my consultee had a lot to say and would continue to talk for long periods of time unless boundaries are set. This case was also very unique as it involved a child from the Solomon Islands. I have not had very much experience working with this population. I plan on keeping in contact with the teacher to find out about the child’s progress and next steps through the special education referral and placement process. I believe that I will be a good consultant when I am a practicing School Psychologist because I have the ability to listen to what other people are saying and empathize. I can put myself in their shoes and try to understand things from other perspectives. I am a very patient person and am willing to make time so that other people will feel valued and validated. These are all important skills for a consultant to have since consultees may be hesitant to come to you for advice and guidance. It is important for a consultant not to judge a consultee’s behavior. One of the questions on the reflection sheets required me to address my own bias. I didn’t really understand why that question was included until just now. It is important for consultants to be aware of and control their own biases in the consultation process so that your consultee doesn’t feel judged like his or her opinions and thoughts are unimportant. A consultant is meant to work collaboratively with others to solve problems and make the best possible decisions for students.