On the other side of the table.

It has been a fun and exciting week! Since I am so new to the field and so new to being "on my own" (for the most part) everything is still very exciting to me. Since coming back from winter break I have worked very hard on being more organized. I am always organized for the most part but what I really want to do is schedule my counseling sessions better. The problem with that is a kid may be on my calendar but then when I am about to call them in I get called in for an "emergency". This may be a kid refusing to do x-y-z or maybe a full on tantrum. One of the fun things I was able to be a part of this week was interviewing candidates for an independent facilitator position. This person will be working 1:1 with students who need the assistance but to start out this person will be in our Head Start Preschool classroom assisting a child with autism who has just joined. Interviewing was exciting for me because I have never been on that "side of the table" before. I have been a part of many interviews. It was really nice to be able to discuss the candidates and be a part of the process to hire a new person. I feel very fortunate and appreciate being chosen for various jobs in the past even more now. We interviewed six people and only one person was chosen. I saw that even though the person chosen did not have the most experience she came in with confidence and kept our attention for every question we asked. She made us feel comfortable and interested more than any other person. With that type of personality and energy she was by far the best candidate because I just knew that children would love her.

There is a down side to being on that side of the table. One thing I learned was that if I don't know the answer to a question I need to be honest and instead of babbling on and making things up, the best thing to do would be to talk about how I would begin to find the answer. Many times the interviewees went on and on and I just kept thinking "Stop! You're going the wrong way!" but I just kept smiling and nodding interestingly. The last thing I wanted to do was make anyone feel as though they had completely messed up. I asked myself, how would I want someone interviewing me to look? So I tried to be that person.

Although this week was very fun and exciting for me. I do have some bad news to report. Sadly, I had to make my 2nd CPS report ever. It always breaks my heart to make that kind of report because I struggle with trusting that the foster care system would be better if that child was actually taken from the home. That my friends is another post in itself!

Have a great weekend!