As the school year begins to wind down, members of the MASP executive board are working with the DOE to help guide decision-making on the rest of this year and beyond. Additionally, we are excited to share our newest avenue for discussion, "Mondays with MASP." This is a weekly meeting for all Maine school psychologists to connect and collaborate with MASP. The first meeting will be Wednesday, May 27, 2020 from 9:00-10:00am (due to Memorial Day), after which time we will meet every Monday. Links for these virtual meetings will be available soon! 

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 We continue to frequently update the list of online PD opportunities that you may want to take advantage of while engaging in social distancing - many new webinars and workshops have been added just this week! Check them out here.

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The Professional Development committee is pleased to announce an upcoming webinar by Steven Feifer, Ed.D., NCSP, on the Neuropsychology of Written Language Disorders: An Introduction to the Feifer Assessment of Writing. Registration for the three-hour webinar is open to all who are interested, with an additional benefit to MASP members of a live one-hour Q&A with Dr. Feifer. Member and Student Member discounts are available. 

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The Member Services committee met earlier this week and now has several projects in the works!

1) We are pleased to announce that we are in the beginning stages of setting up a structure for those seeking in-state mentors to find them through a MASP Mentor Directory. If you are interested in being a mentor, please complete this survey and we will add you to our list. Information will be forthcoming on how to access this list for those seeking mentorship.

2) We are seeking input from members regarding your interest in peer supervision/consultation groups. Please consider filling out this short survey to help us better meet your needs as we consider the best framework for making this happen. 

3) We are excited to start highlighting the exciting, innovating, and important work in which our members are engaging. Please consider nominating yourself or a colleague to be featured in the "Spotlight" section of the MASP website and inspire your fellow school psychologists!

4) We are working hard at making the website a one-stop-shop for all things MASP. If you haven't already, check out the changes we've made! There are easy links to directly email the MASP executive board, specific members of the board, and to submit your questions or suggestions through a Comment Box. We would love to hear from you!

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The GPR committee also met last week. This group is currently in discussion on how to effectively advocate to ensure that school psychologists are represented in state-level conversation related to RTI/MTSS. They are also working on sharing resources with members by updating the Resources section of the MASP website to provide a clearinghouse of needed and useful materials.

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Speaking of the Resources section of the website,

if you have not yet had the opportunity to review the MASP Guidance for Special Education Evaluations During the COVID-19 Closure, it has been added there. We encourage you to check it out and contact us with any questions or concerns if you have not already had the opportunity to do so.

As we navigate this time of uncertainty and uncharted territory, I would encourage each and every one of you to breathe, be kind, and take care. Keep doing what you do to keep healthy (exercise, hydrate, rest, and eat healthy). I would encourage you to reach out to the case managers that you work with to provide support for them and their students. Reach out to the administrators in your district and offer your help and support.  

MASP would like to utilize our website to it’s fullest capacity. There are some new features that will be used to improve communication from MASP and between members.

• MASP will be posting our monthly updates and any other important updates under the MASP Updates tab. 

• Under the Members Only page you will see a new feature, the Members Forum. This is a place for members to communicate with each other. We will be following NASP’s Code of Conduct and Etiquette Guide that is used for NASP’s community groups. Please review the guide before you post in MASP’s Members Forum. With this new feature we will be discontinuing the MASP Community gmail group and are asking our members to use this new Members Forum instead. A great feature of this forum is that members can subscribe and decide how often they want to receive forum updates - daily, weekly, or monthly. 

We have posted some resources specific to COVID-19 under the Resources page. There are also some webinars posted under the Professional Development page that may be of interest to you. Additional opportunities will be posted, so be sure to check for updates!

We are all in this together, you are not alone.  Please let me know if there is anything that we can do for you, please contact us at maineasp@gmail.com

Take care and be well,

Mary 

MASP President