TWU TETN Cycle 9

[natyfoo]

2 hours ago, Speechiegirl12 said:

There was a list of courses on your acceptance e-mail. It was a generic list that's required, but they didn't specify if you still lacked any. I think I have all my courses, but I'm also paranoid that I'm missing something!

What classes is everyone still needing??

Yeah, it listed all of the required courses but didn't specify if I was needing to take any. I'm pretty sure I have everything but then I get a mini panic attack and then get paranoid. So I was wondering if the emails that others received specified certain courses or if it's a course they knew they needed to complete.  Or perhaps it's the courses to obtain clinical observation/practicum hours for the SLPA licensure. 

Has anyone received a letter from TWU or had their webadvisor info updated? When I look it still says awaiting department review. I think I need to just relax and enjoy the moment, lol. I'm sure in January when they send all their info I will feel anxious again. 

[AA786]

I need to obtain 25 hours of practice to get my SLPA license. So I have to take a course for it. I just wanted all the information for it before the holidays. 

[lscain]

 I am in cycle 8 right now, getting close to finishing, thank goodness! I was just reading this because I remember looking at this whenever I applied.  Someone was asking how hard it is to get sponsorship so I wanted to share with you from my experience. I had an extremely difficult time finding sponsorship as did several others in my region. It was a terribly stressful time for me. I had no idea if I would even be able to continue in the program.

I am in Region 10 and I was a teacher at Garland ISD. At first I thought I would be able to stay there, but they ended up not having any openings. I then decided to only apply in three or four districts near me thinking it would be easy to get sponsorship. I had no idea how hard it was going to be. I ended up  applying at like 30 districts. I didn't even know that there were that many around here. I sent letters,  emails, phone calls, etc. I was told over and over that either the districts did not hire assistants,  that they would only hire assistants if they were bilingual, or that they had too many assistants and not enough SLPs.  I think I was under the mistaken impression that TWU would help me find something if I couldn't get it myself, but that was  totally wrong. The only help they would give is to tell you if they thought someone might be hiring.  I did not find a placement until the middle of the summer after our classes had started. There was another girl in region 10 who did not have a placement toward the end of the summer and she quit. I'm not sure if that's why, but we  all thought it was.  We also had a student in region 10 who was actually from somewhere around Brownsville.  She couldn't get a sponsorship there  but she got one in Dallas. She  was married and had a son. She and her son moved to Dallas while her husband stayed at home. She lived in an apartment for a year. Then after the school year ended she found a placement near her home, so she was finally able to move back. It was crazy!  

In some areas though it's easier to get placement. I know some people didn't have a hard time at all. Plus, I think if you are already an SLPA rather than a teacher, it's easier,  especially if you can just stay where you are. 

I'm  saying this, not to be discouraging, but so you'll be prepared for how stressful it can be. They suggested that we wait until March or April or something like that to look for a placement because they said districts wouldn't know what openings they had until then. I would not do that.  I would start looking immediately. If you happen to be in region 10, Dallas ISD hired a bunch of people.  By the time I decided to apply there they didn't have any positions left.

Edited December 22, 2016 by lscain

[AA786]

3 hours ago, lscain said:

 I am in cycle 8 right now, getting close to finishing, thank goodness! I was just reading this because I remember looking at this whenever I applied.  Someone was asking how hard it is to get sponsorship so I wanted to share with you from my experience. I had an extremely difficult time finding sponsorship as did several others in my region. It was a terribly stressful time for me. I had no idea if I would even be able to continue in the program.

I am in Region 10 and I was a teacher at Garland ISD. At first I thought I would be able to stay there, but they ended up not having any openings. I then decided to only apply in three or four districts near me thinking it would be easy to get sponsorship. I had no idea how hard it was going to be. I ended up  applying at like 30 districts. I didn't even know that there were that many around here. I sent letters,  emails, phone calls, etc. I was told over and over that either the districts did not hire assistants,  that they would only hire assistants if they were bilingual, or that they had too many assistants and not enough SLPs.  I think I was under the mistaken impression that TWU would help me find something if I couldn't get it myself, but that was  totally wrong. The only help they would give is to tell you if they thought someone might be hiring.  I did not find a placement until the middle of the summer after our classes had started. There was another girl in region 10 who did not have a placement toward the end of the summer and she quit. I'm not sure if that's why, but we  all thought it was.  We also had a student in region 10 who was actually from somewhere around Brownsville.  She couldn't get a sponsorship there  but she got one in Dallas. She  was married and had a son. She and her son moved to Dallas while her husband stayed at home. She lived in an apartment for a year. Then after the school year ended she found a placement near her home, so she was finally able to move back. It was crazy!  

In some areas though it's easier to get placement. I know some people didn't have a hard time at all. Plus, I think if you are already an SLPA rather than a teacher, it's easier,  especially if you can just stay where you are. 

I'm  saying this, not to be discouraging, but so you'll be prepared for how stressful it can be. They suggested that we wait until March or April or something like that to look for a placement because they said districts wouldn't know what openings they had until then. I would not do that.  I would start looking immediately. If you happen to be in region 10, Dallas ISD hired a bunch of people.  By the time I decided to apply there they didn't have any positions left.

 What is the best way to contract districts in your experience? Do you work full time in your district and how much do they pay you? If you feel uncomfortable answering please don't. I just don't know how to approach a district or what to say when they ask about salary. It makes me feel really unprepared. But thank you for letting everyone know. It was really helpful.

[lscain]

I work full time and the pay is the same as a teacher's salary in the district. I would probably email first and let them know your situation. Attach a resume to the email too.  All districts are different. Some have a director of speech and some just have a Special Education director and maybe a lead SLP. Just try to find out what the district has and email that person. You might even email the speech director as well as the special education director just in case one of them doesn't see that email or pay attention to it.  If you don't hear anything within a week or something I would probably follow up with a phone call then.  What region are you in? 

[Speechiegirl12]

1 hour ago, lscain said:

I work full time and the pay is the same as a teacher's salary in the district. I would probably email first and let them know your situation. Attach a resume to the email too.  All districts are different. Some have a director of speech and some just have a Special Education director and maybe a lead SLP. Just try to find out what the district has and email that person. You might even email the speech director as well as the special education director just in case one of them doesn't see that email or pay attention to it.  If you don't hear anything within a week or something I would probably follow up with a phone call then.  What region are you in? 

OMG. I wish they weren't so lax with me when I talked to them about sponsorship. What was the hardest class?  Any advice? I'm region 11.

[lscain]

 I think the hardest class was probably the first Neuro class.  You'll probably take it in the fall. But if your professor is Dr. Sam's, she is really good.  The best advice I can give is just to hang in there and know that you will be done eventually. Of course I'm not even done yet, ha ha! Also, I'm older and I have two kids in middle school. I think that makes it more difficult.  I have to take them to activities, help them with homework, and all that kind of stuff, so  I have no time.  My  parents have really helped out with my kids and my husband had to step up and help out with housework and laundry and stuff.  But I think if you don't have kids and you're younger it's probably easier. Also, I had to take a year of leveling courses so I'm really sick of classes now! 

[lscain]

 Oh, when you schedule your practicum time, they won't let you take off work on that day without permission. So I wouldn't schedule it on the day of class or maybe not the day before, in case you need to take off to study or finish a project or something. 

[AA786]

What practicum time? The hours you work in school? 

[lscain]

Yes, only certain groups that you and your supervisor choose will be for grad school. It adds up to 4 1/2 hours a week. You can do it all in one day or space it out. The rest of the time that you do therapy is just for your job.

[Speechiegirl12]

16 hours ago, lscain said:

Yes, only certain groups that you and your supervisor choose will be for grad school. It adds up to 4 1/2 hours a week. You can do it all in one day or space it out. The rest of the time that you do therapy is just for your job.

@lscain do the 4 1/2 hours for grad school with your supervisor include the supervisory hours that you need to maintain your slp-a license, or do they not allow you to double dip? 

PS. I sent you a message :-) 

Thank you for helping us out!! 

[jazmine3133]

This is just a broad question for anyone that sees this. I just graduated in May and this is really the only program i want to get into. I did not get in here in region 20 but i noticed that most of you had been SLPA's for a couple of years and then applied. I just wanted to see if anyone had any advice as to how to get a job as a SLPA when you're barely starting. Since i have absolutely NO work experience being an SLPA just the one client i had when attending Texas State in the spring, im feeling very discouraged. 

[viiiper]

On 12/23/2016 at 0:23 PM, Speechiegirl12 said:

@lscain do the 4 1/2 hours for grad school with your supervisor include the supervisory hours that you need to maintain your slp-a license, or do they not allow you to double dip? 

PS. I sent you a message :-) 

Thank you for helping us out!! 

From my understanding from others who are enrolled in the program, they cannot double dip state and practicum hours.

[viiiper]

10 minutes ago, jazmine3133 said:

This is just a broad question for anyone that sees this. I just graduated in May and this is really the only program i want to get into. I did not get in here in region 20 but i noticed that most of you had been SLPA's for a couple of years and then applied. I just wanted to see if anyone had any advice as to how to get a job as a SLPA when you're barely starting. Since i have absolutely NO work experience being an SLPA just the one client i had when attending Texas State in the spring, im feeling very discouraged. 

That's a tough one. Personally, I would focus on smaller towns/school districts that may have trouble getting SLPAs due to distance. I was lucky enough that my hometown (which is a small district) needed an SLPA. 

[jazmine3133]

37 minutes ago, viiiper said:

That's a tough one. Personally, I would focus on smaller towns/school districts that may have trouble getting SLPAs due to distance. I was lucky enough that my hometown (which is a small district) needed an SLPA. 

I looked online and there's a position for an SLPA in the San Antonio school district but I'm just scared of not being able to get one since it's going to be my first job as an SLPA. But I guess I'll never know if I don't apply. Someone is bound to hire me! Lol 

[Speechster]

@jazmine3133 i would apply to whatever you can find as an SLPA because it is really hard to find a job that pays decent now a days. 

[SarahT]

On 12/21/2016 at 10:47 PM, lscain said:

 I am in cycle 8 right now, getting close to finishing, thank goodness! I was just reading this because I remember looking at this whenever I applied.  Someone was asking how hard it is to get sponsorship so I wanted to share with you from my experience. I had an extremely difficult time finding sponsorship as did several others in my region. It was a terribly stressful time for me. I had no idea if I would even be able to continue in the program.

I am in Region 10 and I was a teacher at Garland ISD. At first I thought I would be able to stay there, but they ended up not having any openings. I then decided to only apply in three or four districts near me thinking it would be easy to get sponsorship. I had no idea how hard it was going to be. I ended up  applying at like 30 districts. I didn't even know that there were that many around here. I sent letters,  emails, phone calls, etc. I was told over and over that either the districts did not hire assistants,  that they would only hire assistants if they were bilingual, or that they had too many assistants and not enough SLPs.  I think I was under the mistaken impression that TWU would help me find something if I couldn't get it myself, but that was  totally wrong. The only help they would give is to tell you if they thought someone might be hiring.  I did not find a placement until the middle of the summer after our classes had started. There was another girl in region 10 who did not have a placement toward the end of the summer and she quit. I'm not sure if that's why, but we  all thought it was.  We also had a student in region 10 who was actually from somewhere around Brownsville.  She couldn't get a sponsorship there  but she got one in Dallas. She  was married and had a son. She and her son moved to Dallas while her husband stayed at home. She lived in an apartment for a year. Then after the school year ended she found a placement near her home, so she was finally able to move back. It was crazy!  

In some areas though it's easier to get placement. I know some people didn't have a hard time at all. Plus, I think if you are already an SLPA rather than a teacher, it's easier,  especially if you can just stay where you are. 

I'm  saying this, not to be discouraging, but so you'll be prepared for how stressful it can be. They suggested that we wait until March or April or something like that to look for a placement because they said districts wouldn't know what openings they had until then. I would not do that.  I would start looking immediately. If you happen to be in region 10, Dallas ISD hired a bunch of people.  By the time I decided to apply there they didn't have any positions left.

Thank you so much for the advice!!! I'm taking a class in the spring in order to meet the requirements for licensure. I currently work in sales and have no professional experience working in the field. I am not confident about contacting districts yet because I'm not licensed. you said that you did not find sponsorship until the summer. We were told that we have to have a signed contract from a sponsoring district by April 30th. Was this not the case for your cohort, or are they somewhat lenient on that deadline? 

[lscain]

They told us the same thing but they were lenient. I think they didn't want people to sign up for summer classes and then have to drop them because they didn't get a sponsor. Basically you had to have something before school started in the fall.

[SarahT]

12 hours ago, lscain said:

They told us the same thing but they were lenient. I think they didn't want people to sign up for summer classes and then have to drop them because they didn't get a sponsor. Basically you had to have something before school started in the fall.

 

Good to know. Thank you so much! 

 

[AA786]

Has anyone heard from Sue Colton about spring classes?

 

[termrqz]

What does the first summer look like? Class times, clinical times, etc.?

[viiiper]

On 1/5/2017 at 10:10 PM, termrqz said:

What does the first summer look like? Class times, clinical times, etc.?

Kick off week, we will be starting classes. We will learn about "1/3" of the semester in a week. Crazy stuff ? And the rest is online.  

But I think our first clinical doesn't till the school year which will be the school setting. 

[viiiper]

How many of y'all axtually Have clinical experience from a university?

I am a SLPA, but I still have to take that course. 

Does anyone know why? 

[Speechiegirl12]

On 1/10/2017 at 8:10 PM, viiiper said:

How many of y'all axtually Have clinical experience from a university?

I am a SLPA, but I still have to take that course. 

Does anyone know why? 

@viiiper Are you sure you need the clinical experience from a university? I'm an SLPA too, my undergrad univ offered clinical practicum, but I never really received clinical experience. It was more like observation. Did yours offer clinical practicum?

[mvslpa]

In case anyone is still following this thread...has anyone been wait listed in the past or was wait listed this cycle? I was wait listed and told that if a spot became available by May 1st, I would be notified. It's May 5th and no update. Does the school send out rejections for the wait listed individuals?