Humans seem to be wired toward having a positive response when praised or given recognition for their hard work and accomplishments. Researchers have discovered that receiving praise releases dopamine in our brains, the same chemical that is unleashed when we experience other joyous moments such as eating our favorite dessert, engaging in a meditation, or even when we fall in love. Dopamine and it's feel good effect is what motivates us to keep engaging in these behaviors, as our mind and body crave to continuously experience the feelings of pleasure that results from the dopamine release. It is then no wonder that praise is a very simple yet effective practice that can be utilized to motivate and engage our students. In this episode we will take a deep dive into the reasons why students should not only be praised when they achieve the highest grade in the class, or score a seat in the honor roll, or win the spelling bee. But that they also need consistent praise and recognition for their effort, hard work, persistence, and dedication while they are striving to reach an academic or behavioral goal (s), despite possibly having failed a few times. In this way, praise, when utilized with good intention and integrity can be a powerful as well as effective tool to prepare our students for persevering through the challenges and failures they will inevitably face in life. The purpose of this episode is to help educators understand how praise may help our students adapt a growth mindset, build their resilience, while also cultivating feelings of trust and safety so that students can feel comfortable making mistakes. The goal is to give our students a solid understanding of how it is in the midst of failure as well as consistent trial and error that they will give birth to some of their biggest achievements in life.

Additionally, this practice is a form of positive reinforcement/support. The power of PRAISE lies in empowering our students even as they are experiencing the productive struggle that is required of any human when they set out to achieve a particular goal.

In this episode we dive into the subject of internship year for School Psychologists. The episode begins with some key points regarding possible fears and false expectations you may have before going into internship year, or even your first official position as a licensed School Psychologist. I briefly touch on how you can manage/navigate through times where you may experience the aforementioned. Additionally, I talk about about some important experiences that you may include on your checklist when searching for an internship placement as well as other factors to possibly consider, which will ultimately make your resume stand out as well as get you in optimum gear to officially enter the field as a licensed school psychologist.

In this episode I talk about some of the personal experiences that lead me to choose a career in the field of school psychology. Additionally, I briefly touch on my educational background. You will get to hear about an incredibly inspirational teacher that I was blessed enough to meet in middle school, whose voice and words became a sense of inner guidance and inspiration throughout my life. I also talk about some of the major challenges I experienced during my first official year as a licensed and practicing school psychologist. The episodes reaches its conclusion after I express what continues to keep me passionate and dedicated toward my career as a school psychologist.