Technology never stopped me from being able to support my students. As my role of school psychologist expanded, I developed positive relationships with families in unexpected ways.
By Kathy Sievering, Jefferson County School District | June 10, 2020
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For the last two months, my role as a school psychologist was to offer continued Special Education services to students through remote options. I connected with families and students whom I have supported socially and emotionally for various reasons throughout the school year. In addition to helping students with their Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), I helped students who experienced trauma and demonstrated mental health issues. I also worked closely with parents and guardians. My goal was to create trusting, positive relationships with my families.
I was hesitant at first about moving all my work to virtual.
I was not an expert in Zoom, WebEx, or Google Hangouts and I were not very familiar with teletherapy. While I learned how to use these different programs, I had no idea how much this form of communication could help deepen my relationships with the families I supported.
There is one family in particular that comes to mind. For confidential reasons, I will call them the Greens. The Greens are a lovely family of four. The mother, Mrs. Green, is divorced and has primary custody of her three children, two young boys, and a daughter in middle school. The family has had financial difficulties, but Mrs. Green managed to create a warm and loving home life for her children.
My first teletherapy call with the Greens gave me more insight into their family dynamic than I could have ever understood from a regular school appointment.
It was like doing a home visit. I saw their apartment decorated with a wall of black and white family photos. I met their cat. I saw each child's bedroom as well as the living room where they laughed, created, and enjoyed each other's company.
The family took advantage of the gracious offer from Comcast and now had free WiFi in their home. It warmed my heart when Mrs. Green told me, "I'm doing well. My emergency stockpile is paying off. We have lots of activities to keep us occupied." The Greens seemed to be thriving.
Unfortunately, the situation for the Greens dramatically changed a couple of weeks into their family quarantine.
Mrs. Green was sure she had contracted the virus. Based on her description of symptoms, I was afraid she was correct. Three days later, her test results came back positive for COVID-19. The family immediately went into crisis mode. Mrs. Green isolated herself as soon as she received her results. Her twin boys moved in with their father, and her daughter went to stay with close family friends. Mrs. Green's brother dropped off food and helped care for the boys while their dad worked. Mrs. Green's daughter was happy to be with close friends because she's a caretaker at heart and loved spending time with the family's seven-month-old infant.
My goal was to keep in contact, but not to intrude.
I knew Mrs. Green was home by herself. I texted her every day. I had video conference calls with all the children while they were away from their mother. I had phone and email conversations with all the children's homeroom teachers. Their teachers were happy to work with the students' new situation and adapted their expectations accordingly.
But the strain of being away from their mother began to show about ten days after Mrs. Green started her isolation. The boys played video games many hours each day, and their remote learning seemed to have screeched to a halt. The daughter looked exhausted when I video-conferenced with her.
She said she was tired because she shared a room with an infant. I could tell she was sleep deprived. She said she wanted to go home. I was concerned that she could get the virus herself but understood the situation. She wanted to be with her mother. She wanted to see her mother with her own eyes.
Mrs. Green eventually recovered, and we found a moment to meet at a parking lot near their apartment. I was thrilled to see that she was looking healthy and robust. She said she was on the mend. She told me two days were "touch and go" where she was so ill, she could do nothing but sleep. I handed off some essentials like toilet paper and paper towels. We both wore masks and stayed 6 feet apart. Mrs. Green's daughter gave me a picture she drew with a Frozen character and the words, "Thank you, Mrs. S."
Since then, I've checked in with the Green family weekly, and they are doing well. Naturally, I am very fond of this family and being able to connect remotely allowed me to learn more about them than I might have at school.
Resiliency is a characteristic that is difficult to teach.
Mrs. Green is resilient, as are her children. They understand trauma and can navigate rough waters in times of hardship, confusion, and uncertainty. Through this experience, I discovered resiliency in myself as well. Initially, I was frustrated with the move to teletherapy due to technical difficulties. I had limited faith in this new form of communication, but I was wrong. Technology never stopped me from being able to support my students. As my role of school psychologist expanded, I developed positive relationships with families in unexpected ways.