JohnsonCompInterview1

Interview with: Karen Galvin Job: Speech Pathologist in schools

A1. I use email, outlook, IEP’s, and letters A1. I mostly use email and fill out paperwork A3. I write to parents to show them their child’s progression. I write to pediatricians to persuade them to make speech pathology testing part of a child’s initial evaluation at a young age. A4. I get the satisfaction of knowing I can make a difference in a child’s life. When I write an IEP I can see how a student has progressed over time. When we write to a pediatrician, I know that someday down the road we may have earlier intervention for speech problems. Writing is like a challenge to me, I like to sound professional, so when I write something really good, I’m proud of myself. A5. I love working with my students and knowing that I am improving their skills and quality of life. I love when they can say a word to me with the correct sounds and I can tell that they are proud of themselves. I also love the teachers I work with. A6. I don’t like all the paperwork that is required and I don’t like when I have to cancel a student’s speech session for a meeting. I also don’t like administration. I’m not afraid to state my thoughts and opinions to them. I don’t like when students don’t do their homework and when they have no support from home. You see kids come from horrible homes, but there’s nothing you can do.
 * Q1. What kinds of writing do you do in your job/field?**
 * Q2. What kind of writing do you do on an average day?**
 * Q3. For what purposes do you write?**
 * Q4. What do you get out of the writing that you do?**
 * Q5. What do you enjoy about your job?**
 * Q6. What don’t you like about your job?**

As a speech pathologist in a school district I would mainly be using email, writing letters, and filling out a lot of paperwork. I would use email to contact other teachers and students’ parents. I would be writing letters to parents and also to pediatricians; pediatricians because they don’t currently check for speech problems at a young age and if they did we would have earlier intervention with better results for the child later on in life. Filling out paperwork is also a big part of this job. You have to track everything you do with a student to show how they are progressing or not progressing. While it seems like this career path would be nothing but rewarding because you can help out a child and see the difference, it also comes with a downside. The amount of paperwork hinders the time spent with the student. Sometimes you have to cancel a student’s session to attend faculty meetings. Also, you don’t always get along with administration so that can make it hard when you want to teach a certain way you think may be more beneficial to the child and they won’t let you. The other downside to teaching is realizing that not every student comes from a good home where the parents are involved and care. You can’t always do something to change the situation either. Of course, nothing can hinder the satisfaction of when a student comes back to thank you years later for helping them. This interview didn't surprise me much. Any teacher would expect to get satisfaction from making a difference in their students lives. Its part of the reason I want to be a teacher. It was disappointing to here that so much of my time would be consumed by paperwork though. I'm a hands on type of person so having to sit down and fill out forms doesnt excite me.
 * Summary:**