What district wide activities are relevant to school therapists?

If you’re a school therapist, you’ve likely been asked to do a lot of things within the school system that don’t seem totally relevant to your role as a clinician. Yet at the same time, you may often feel siloed off, like you’re not a part of the school team. That’s why in episode 88 of the De Facto Leaders podcast (formerly “Are they 18 yet?®”), I wanted to talk about what school therapists can do to feel more included, respected, and valued within the school community. Specifically, I talk about: Staff meetings: Should school therapists have to attend them? And if you can’t, how can you stay on top of what’s going on in the building? Employee evaluations: What should therapists do if they’re evaluated by an administrator who’s never been in a clinical role? How can therapists ensure they follow their district’s procedures, while at the same time ensure they have access to mentoring and support related to their discipline?  I break all these questions down in the episode. 

If you’re a school therapist, you’ve likely been asked to do a lot of things within the school system that don’t seem totally relevant to your role as a clinician. Yet at the same time, you may often feel siloed off, like you’re not a part of the school team. That’s why in episode 88 of the De Facto Leaders podcast (formerly “Are they 18 yet?®”), I wanted to talk about what school therapists can do to feel more included, respected, and valued within the school community. Specifically, I talk about: Staff meetings: Should school therapists have to attend them? And if you can’t, how can you stay on top of what’s going on in the building? Employee evaluations: What should therapists do if they’re evaluated by an administrator who’s never been in a clinical role? How can therapists ensure they follow their district’s procedures, while at the same time ensure they have access to mentoring and support related to their discipline?  I break all these questions down in the episode. 


Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:
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  • Improve student performance on state assessments
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What district wide activities are relevant to school therapists?