Get School Psych'd

Hey there LSSPs,

September is a very busy month in my family. In addition to the beginning of the school year, we have holidays all over (Labor Day, Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur) and birthdays galore (7, including myself and my daughter). It often feels like there is no time to think or breathe and that they only way forward is to "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" (Dory, 2003). Like everything else, this years September extravaganza was complicated by our current reality.

In hectic times, like the above, is when it is most important to stop, think, and breathe. Even now, I bet if you paused and took a deep breath in and out and relaxed your shoulders, it would feel great. Give it a try.......I'll wait.

Hopefully that was a quick reminder that things will be busy and we need to carve out time to slow down and take care of ourselves. So in all of the constant go in your life, remember to be kind to and take care of yourself.

Keep Being School Psych'd,

Keya Saleh, LSSP, NCSP

Region 10 Educational Service Center

Getting Students to Log-in: A Matter of Great Consequence

A quick intervention breakdown from Dr. Ennio Cipani to possibly address attendance and engagement with distance learning.

The ABC's of Distance Learning

School psychologist Dr. Rebecca Branstetter talks to D.C. FOX 5's Angie Goff about the ABC's of distance learning and how to make things less stressful for all of us.

Helping Children Understand Emotions When Wearing Masks

A 1 pager resource from the National Center for Pyramid Model Interventions (which is, IMO, the best name of an organization of all time) that discusses ways to support connecting with students when face masks are impairing our ability to convey nonverbals.

So I have been thinking about the links that I post in this newsletter and it dawned on me that 'Hey, wouldn't it be nice if all of these links that show up every month could be pulled together into one easy to find place?" Well, that idea is now a reality. Presenting:

For the time being, as information continues to change and get updated, I highly suggest bookmarking and referencing the TEA special education COVID-19 guidance page and general guidance documents. The documents are posted and dated with the latest updates to them.

Current Highlight resource: Special Education FAQ Updated 8/27/2020

TEA Special Education COVID-19 Resource Page

• List of Guidance Documents

During the school building closures in the spring, we started to hold weekly virtual office hours. This was an opportunity for LSSPs and diags to come together to ask questions about how we are addressing the myriad of issues that we will be dealing with and learning from each other.

With the school year starting up, we know that many of people will have ideas questions, and concerns, so we will be offering the virtual office hours again from 1:30-2:30 on the dates below. This is not a formal PD session, but rather an open forum to ask and answer questions of your colleagues.

Dates for the sessions with links to sign-up:

10/6/20 - 1:30-2:30

10/20/20 - 1:30-2:30

Sessions can be found on the Region 10 Calendar of Events.

Region 20 ESC is currently offering a free online module for IEP Goal Development in Texas. The course focuses on the portion of the ARD process related to developing a student's Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP), using the PLAAFP to create enrolled grade level measurable annual academic goals, and progress monitoring. This training was a joint project of the Progress in the General Curriculum Statewide Network and Texas Education Agency.

This self paced course consists of a series of seven (7) modules which must be completed in sequential order. Upon registering for this module, you will be automatically enrolled for the remainder of the modules. A certificate of completion for 3 CPE credits will be awarded upon completion of all 7 modules.

This free course is available here.

North Texas FASD Network is pleased to announce its new website. FASD stands for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. This disorder is a developmental disorder, more common than Autism, yet most professionals are not aware of this common disorder. Children may have normal to high IQ, yet due to invisible brain damage children cannot meet age appropriate expectations. They are frequently misdiagnosed with ADHD. They have learning disorders, behavioral issues at school and home, and difficulty learning social skills.

Through its training, North Texas FASD Network provides professionals the opportunity to identify individuals suspected of being affected by prenatal alcohol exposure. Individuals with an FASD are involved in all community systems: behavioral health, educational, juvenile and criminal justice, foster care and medical.

In addition to trainings for professionals, we offer support groups and resources for parents and caregivers raising a child (of any age) with an FASD.

Please add North Texas FASD Network to your resource directory. Early identification and diagnosis of children and youth with an FASD offers the best chance for providers, professionals, educators and parents to implement strategies and accommodations proven to be effective with this population.

Effective inclusion practices help students with disabilities avoid the long-term costs of segregation, and improve their opportunities for learning, employment, independent living, and social engagement. The Inclusion Works! Virtual Conference, hosted by The Arc of Texas with support from TEA, is for educators, administrators, families, paraprofessionals, college students, and anyone interested in learning ways to support all students with disabilities in the general education setting.

LIMITED TIME OFFER: Use the promo code IWFRIEND10 when you register to get 10% off!

Click below for more information:

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the concern and energy around students’ mental health & emotional wellbeing is at its highest level, and school systems are looking for support and guidance.

The work of aiding school systems in their support of students’ mental health and emotional well-being to improve student outcomes cannot be separated from teaching and learning.

TEA's mental health division has created Project Restore, which is a trauma-informed training video series. This video series connects educators to relevant science and strategies that can help them address the emotional needs of their students, themselves, their colleagues, and students’ families. This informative, engaging, and interactive series will help educators create an environment that jump starts teaching and learning and drives student achievement. All videos are created with a COVID-19 lens and include support for both in-person and remote instruction. Educators receive CPE units for each video and viewing all six videos also fulfills the SB 11 requirement of grief and trauma-informed training.

School systems can choose to have educators complete this professional development series individually or in teams. Each video also provides a facilitation guide for school leaders, instructional coaches, and mental health professionals to lead their respective school teams through each video as well as a transcript.

For more information, go to Project Restore here.

Pearson Assessments has gathered a panel of experts from around Texas to share their experiences and share how testing has changed in 2020.

The speakers will talk about determining the path for evaluations during this challenging year and share their tips for adopting various digital approaches. Whether you are a digital assessment expert or you haven't made the transition yet, this will be a very informative discussion!

The panel will include: Rodney Traylor, Grand Prairie ISD; Phyllis Mosley, Fannin School Coop; Amy Brockhausen, Katy ISD; and Felipe Guevara Aguirre, El Paso ISD.

Please see below to register for this event:

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: Oct 6, 2020 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Topic: Digital Choices for Evaluations: A Panel Discussion with Texas Users

Register in advance for this Pearson webinar here.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

I have always gotten a lot of questions about the books I am reading (mostly because approximately 84% of my sentences start with "you know I just read this book..."), so I decided to start sharing some of my personal favorites that I have recently read (or in some cases, reread).

This month: The Answer Is...Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek

Those who know me well know I am a Jeopardy! fanatic who has read most of the books written by former champions (I highly recommend Brainiac by Ken Jennings and Prisoner of Trebekistan by Bob Harris as well), so it was no surprise that I got a copy of this for my birthday. The memoir covers personal milestones, behind the scenes of the show, and fun reflections that will have you hearing the the voice of the legendary host in your head as you read along.

In order to keep the size of the newsletter manageable and make it easier for you to find Region 10 session info, we will be moving to a separate attachment for our list of trainings. Going forward, each monthly newsletter will have a link to the training info, and sessions will be added as they come available.

You can also bring up the PD info newsletter with the following link: bit.ly/R10ECFPD

One of my biggest goals of GSP is to get information about our Region 10 LSSPs. I know your time is valuable and I don't want to ask you to spend half a day filling out tons of information, so I have settled on what I am calling the Two-ish Question Quiz. Every so often, I humbly ask for you to answer two questions about yourself to help us get a better picture of the LSSPs in Region 10.

For this months Quiz, we wanted to get a little more information about what districts plans look like as they relate to the needs of evaluation. Please take a few minutes to complete the following questions to the best of your knowledge.

If you are having trouble viewing the survey within the newsletter, here is a direct link to the survey.

If you have any questions or need support in your campus/district, give me a shout!

Email: keya.saleh@region10.org
Website: www.region10.org/programs/evaluation-special-education/overview/
Location: 904 Abrams Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Phone: 972-348-1598
Twitter: @getschoolpsychd