NASP Convention 2012

In about two weeks the National Association of School Psychologists will kick off their 2012 Convention in Philadelphia, PA! This will be my first year attending and I am already planning for 2013 (Seattle). 


I will be travelling down on Monday morning and staying through Friday with some people from my program and a fellow school psychologist and friend. Aside from it being my first convention (and my being a super nerd) I am excited to be presenting some research I did last year. (Which reminds me: I should probably print some copies of my paper ASAP!). I have been lucky enough to employ the help of a fellow presenter's dad to spruce up my poster and get it printed for me. Can't wait to see it in person and I'll be sure to post pictures from the conference in a future post. If you'll be at the conference my poster will be on Thursday at 1pm. For location search the list for "Teacher Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Structured Recess Programming."


Now this convention is enormous. There are so many posters/papers/presentations/ workshops/mini-skills/socializing/give-me-a-job events it can be hard to choose. NASP has a few great guides on their site for planning your trip, so be sure to check them out (Students, First Timers). My strategy for this time around is to try and choose a theme and stick with it. This year I have decided on Social-Emotional Learning, which is also a highlighted theme thanks to the NASP President. There will be lots of sessions to choose from on this topic and I hope to expand my knowledge to bring to my site next year. 


I'm also attending the "The Professional in Transition: Getting and Keeping Your First Job as a School Psychologist" session. This was an extra $15 and required registration, but should be worth it. My advisor encouraged my participation as it can be quite informative and has been a staple year after year. I recently saw an additional session I need to attend: Preparing for the Praxis Exam in School Psychology. I NEED to start getting to work on this, especially since the summer will be here before I know it. 


So, now that I have spilled on my plans for NASP, what are yours? Are you attending this year? What do you plan to see? Taking in any sites? Fun social events planned? Will you be attending the #schoolpsychology tweet-up (date/time/location TBD) or student outing?


Until next thyme,
Erika