Get School Psych'd

Hey there LSSPs,

I love February!

That feels like a weird thing to say, but February has a lot going for it. Black History Month! The end of winter is in sight! NASP Convention (most years)! The 28 days create a satisfyingly elegant calendar (particularly in a year in which Feb 1st is a Monday)!

But, for me, February also happens to feature one of my favorite holidays of the year: Groundhog Day! While an odd choice for a favorite, my enjoyment of the holiday ties back to the 1993 Billy Murray classic film of the same name (I watch it every year and I promise it still holds up).

As I gear up for the 2021 Groundhog Day viewing, I can't help but take in the parallels to our current situation: Stuck in what feels like an inescapable loop of the same day over and over again. The global health pandemic puts a new spin on an old film.

And still, we can take some hope from the plight of Dr. Phil Connors. Even when things seem bleak, we can always look for ways to make the most of a challenging situation. I know I have seen and heard great things that others are doing to learn and support the learning of their colleagues and students, despite the crazy circumstances of the last almost-year.

Since I think I have stretched the groundhog day allegory to its limit, I will leave it there. Take care of yourselves and if you need anything, I am here.

Keep Being School Psych'd,

Keya Saleh, LSSP, NCSP

Region 10 Educational Service Center

The Psychological Impact of COVID-19

A Psychology Today interview with Dr. Joy Osofsky on social and psychological effects

The Surprising Mental Toll of COVID

From the Scientific American, the rise in depression and anxiety is even worse than expected, especially among young adults.

As pandemic grinds on, Texas students increasingly feel alone and scared, and some are thinking about suicide

The mental health of students, and teachers, has moved to the forefront for Texas schools

Three Effective Ways to Challenge Anxious Thoughts

In this video from Guilford Press, Peter Norton, co-author of The Anti-Anxiety Program, discusses three effective ways to challenge anxious thoughts.

As part of a new 'mini-series' in the Get School Pscyh'd newsletter, I will be featuring/sharing some information about the various statewide networks in Texas.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Technical Assistance Networks, here's a brief description:

As part of the dissemination of discretionary funds that TEA receives under IDEA-B for state-level activities, TEA provides grants for statewide leadership networks. Networks address major, thematic topics that are identified as critical technical assistance and support needs for the state. A network is comprised of:

• The grantee who implements the network under TEA's leadership
• Network members (At least 1 from each of the 20 Education Service Centers (ESCs) across the state)
• TEA special education program staff

For the first installment in this series, we are highlighting the most directly applicable network for LSSPs: The Child Find, Evaluation, and ARD Support Network.

This network, which has been a valuable source of information in previous issues of this newsletter, is focused on developing resources and supports related to the area identified in the title. If you are looking for the state approved information and documents related to Child Find, evaluation, and referrals to special education, this is the place to go. Some of the recent additional updates include:

• New Student Date Review Guide tools with accompanying videos to support implementation.
• Legal Requirements and Best Practices in Informed Consent for Evaluation (available as a quick guide or brief video review)
• FREE recorded webinar sessions on Child Find, Evaluation, and ARD Procedures.

The site is full of lots of great examples and information to address common areas of question, so it is a great bookmark to have handy.

The Full Child Find, Evaluation, and ARD supports website can be found here.

The Collin County System of Care has announced a "Share and Care" event series. This free

networking, resources, and information webinar related to various adolescent behavioral health needs.

You can sign up today at the CCSoC link here and come away with some great ideas from a panel discussion to apply in 2021.

The monthly Webinar series will be held the fourth Thursday of the month, the current dates are:

Thursday, February 25th at 12 p.m. – Youth and Adolescent Depression

Thursday, March 25th at 12 p.m. – Grief and Loss

The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans (WHIEEAA) housed at the U.S. Department of Education (ED) in collaboration with the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) invites you to attend the upcoming virtual roundtable titled Celebrating the Diversity of the Black Student: Supporting the Black English Language Learner on Tuesday, February 23, 2021. The event is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST.

WHIEEAA established the African American Education (AfAmEd) Connector Roundtable Series to address gaps and opportunities for African Americans students and families, and to highlight programs, policies, and practices that accelerate the learning and development of Black students of all ages.

This discussion, hosted by Senior Advisor Monique Toussaint, will enable participants to have access to information, resources, best and promising practices from ED, other federal agencies, and the field. Register today.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the Child Find, Evaluation, and ARD Supports Network will not provide the Statewide Evaluation Personnel (SWEP) conference during the 2020-2021 school year. In lieu of holding a statewide conference, the Child Find Network will gather information on regional and state level needs and develop a proposal that considers the efficacy of large in person conferences as professional development.

If you would like to participate in the Statewide Evaluation Personnel (SWEP) Conference Future Planning Survey, please click on the link here. There are ten questions that should take approximately five minutes to complete. Thank you for your contribution. We appreciate your input!

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NASP convention will be held virtually, February 23–26, 2021. NASP is putting together a robust program containing 20+ hours of live, NASP-approved CPD as well as 300 on-demand sessions and 300 poster sessions, which you’ll have continued access to for 60 days after the convention.

You can find additional information and registration detailed here.

The Mental Health America of Greater Dallas association will be holding the 45th annual Adolescent Symposium online this year! The conference will be a one day event on 2/11/2021 with a wonderful line-up of speakers.

For additional information about the conference, presenters, or pricing, click the image below.

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: Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain by Steven Levvitt and Stephen Dubner.

I enjoyed both Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics years ago, but was inspired to go back and pick up TLAF after listening to some episodes of the Freakonomics podcasts recently (if it wasn't obvious, I think there was a good chance that I could have ended up as an economist had this school psychology thing not panned out).

Think Like a Freak provides a wonderful breakdown of the thought processes of a 'freak' through both real-life examples and science and research. If you are looking for some novel ideas for problem solving, the Freakonomics family of books is great option.

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.

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