Prior to Year 1

Tip #1: Enjoy your Summer! Once you are in grad school, you will find that you may not have as much free time as you used to. Soak it up and make the most of it!

Tip #2: Start thinking about where you would like to shadow a school psychologist and what grade level (i.e. Elementary, Middle, High)

Districts in Northern/Central Colorado: Greeley 6 (Greeley), Poudre School District (Fort Collins), Thompson School District R2-J (Loveland), Windsor RE-4 (Windsor), St. Vrain Valley RE-IJ (Longmont)

There are many more districts in Colorado! Feel free to branch out further from Northern/Central Colorado depending on how far you want to commute. 

Tip #3: If you plan on working, some students recommend getting your substitute teaching license in Colorado.
The Colorado Department of Education offers a 1, 3, and 5 year license. You will need to submit your finger prints to CBI.
More info can be found here: https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeprof/licensure_subapp
Pro Tip: If you sub in a district that you are interested in doing your practicum in, you most likely will not need to complete any background checks/finger prints or any other paper work to do practicum in that district. This makes for an easy transition into practicum! 

Tip #4: Get organized/as set up as possible before starting. Thinking of ways to help you organize your tasks prior to the school year starting.

Year 1

Tip #1: Create a Google Account with your Bears Email.
This will allow you to create and store school material on that account without taking up space on your personal account. 

Tip #2:  In addition to tracking your shadowing hours on the Hours Log, use Google Sheets or Excel to keep track of your hours!

Tip #3: Attend Fall Symposium!

Tip #4: As you enter 2nd semester of year 1, begin thinking about where you would like to do your practicum.
If you had a great school psych that you were shadowing during 1st semester and would like to do your practicum with them, reach out and ask if they would be willing to supervise you. 

Tip #5: Start working on your plan of study (found in the handbook), it is due in the Spring semester of your first year. 

Tip #6: Send out your Student Review Form (found in the handbook) to adjunct faculty and have them send it to your advisor. 

Tip #7: "The first year is by far the hardest but the most rewarding"

Tip #8: Get organized early on and keep track of assignments/due dates either an assignment notebook, google calendar, etc.

Tip #9: Make connections with as many people in your cohort as possible. Everyone brings different strengths and I couldn't have got through that first year without having study buddies and people to vent with through it!

Year 2

Tip #1 (EdS): Complete your Field Experience Proposal Form (found in the handbook) and turn it into the professor instructing your SPSY 779 class. 

Tip #2 (EdS):  In addition to tracking your shadowing hours on the Hours Log, use Google Sheets or Excel to keep track of your hours!

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6