Educational Background:
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Psychology;
Family Psychology Emphasis
Master of Science (MS) in School Counseling/PPS Credential
Bachelor of Science in Social Psychology
Associate of Science in Mathematics
Several years ago I returned to college as an adult
student after I realized that I would need more education. I learned
that in our society, with our ever-increasing technology and with education
becoming easier to attain, one cannot hope to make a decent living without some
type of degree or training. Since I had neither, I returned to school at
Victor Valley College.
I chose Math as my major, hoping to
earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Math and teach at the high school level.
(Yes, I’m one of those "crazy" people who loves
math: calculations, numbers, and long chains of numerical logic - the
longer, the better!!) After
earning my AS Degree in Math, my family moved to Barstow.
After the move, I put my education on hold, but that didn’t last long.
"Education fever" followed me, and the only cure was more!
With a young baby, I decided that, for me, driving to an out-of-town
college to finish a math degree was impractical. I looked into local
"satellite" colleges and decided to attend Park College (now
Park University). I began a degree in management, not specifically
intending to use the degree when I completed it, (I planned to remain
home with my children until they were older) but knowing that it was
important to complete a degree.
I took two management courses and
decided that business was the last field I ever wanted to
work in. As interesting as it was in theory, working in the field day
after day did not appeal to me at all. I switched my major to
Psychology, a field that had always interested me, and was actually a
hobby of mine as well. I loved earning a degree in a field that was not
only fascinating, but practical.
Just before my graduation from Park
College, the University of LaVerne proposed a School Counseling program in Barstow. It was a tremendous opportunity for me - I could
complete an advanced degree just miles from my home. I jumped at the
chance, and less than two years later, I graduated with a Master’s
Degree in School Counseling and received the Pupil Personnel Services Credential.
This credential is a certification by the State of California (similar
to a teaching credential, but in the counseling field) to work as a
professional counselor in the public school systems. During my
schooling, and to earn the credential, I worked as a counselor at
Crestline and Skyline North Elementary Schools and Calico and Apple
Valley High Schools. I was trained as a Crisis Intervention counselor by
SELPA of the High Desert. I taught parenting classes and was certified
by SELPA to teach parenting classes for children with AD/HD, ODD and
other behavioral difficulties that require modifications to traditional
parenting.
Professional
Background & Hobbies:
Until 2006,
professionally, I worked at home full-time raising my children. Even though I
have taught college part-time since 1998, the most important
work I do is with my children (which puts ALL of my
training to use on a daily basis!). I have five children (19, 14, 9, 7 and
5). Teaching, on the other
hand, is one of my hobbies, and I truly love it. One other hobby is education. As I mentioned above,
I just can't get enough, so . . . in October of 2001 I returned to school
part-time, once again, to complete a doctoral degree with an emphasis in
family psychology and couple's therapy which I completed in September,
2005. After being home with my children for 17 years, I began
working outside the
home at a local mental health clinic,
working towards licensure as a psychologist. In December, 2007,
after passing the national and the state exams and completing all other
requirements (including 3000 hours of supervised experience), I
was licensed as a psychologist. I now work full-time in private practice primarily focusing on forensic work
(custody and competency evaluations and expert witness testimony, for example),
although I do some clinical work as well (specializing in
childhood and adult bipolar disorder, AD/HD, childhood behavior
disorders, violence/threat/risk assessment and intervention for
children, adolescents, and adults, and marital therapy as
well as doing psychological testing). I also teach
co-parenting classes for high-conflict divorcing couples.
Any leftover time I spend reading, cooking,
making quilts, shopping, playing the flute, and sometimes I just take a
nap!! I have
taken Karate classes, and when things calm down a bit, I will
continue them. In my community I own and moderate the local
Freecycle group and am very involved in my church.
I have past experience in real estate
as a salesperson and real estate loan processor, experience as a tutor
and instructor of math and English, and have taught various types of
parenting classes including classes for the parents of children with
AD/HD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) and ODD
(Oppositional/Defiant Disorder). I have organized
children’s counseling groups which focus on anger management and
communication skills, career awareness programs at the elementary school
level, and counseling groups for adolescents who are pregnant or have
children and those who are considered "at risk."
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
"As gold which he
cannot spend will make no man rich, so knowledge which he cannot apply
will make no man wise." (Samuel Johnson)
I believe that if a student spends
time and money for a class, the student should leave the class with not
only a thorough theoretical understanding of the material, but the tools
to use the information in everyday life: a practical knowledge. These are my main goals when
teaching a class. My responsibility as a teacher is to provide the learning
environment and instruction, and the student’s responsibility is to
apply him or herself to the work and ask any and all necessary questions
until he or she understands the concepts and can apply them in daily
living.
I feel that teaching students to think
critically will sharpen their ability to take ‘book
information’ and translate it into practical situations. While most
students can pass a class by the ‘fill it up and flush method’
(remembering information until an exam, then forgetting
("flushing") most of it after the test), my hope is that
students will retain and use this material long after the class has
ended because they will have incorporated the practical applications
into their lives. Any student can go back and find the information from
the class (through the book, Internet, etc.), but the practical use of
the information in day-to-day life is what will improve a student’s lifestyle and show
true learning.
Lastly, learning is an exploring of
ideas, values, and previously held beliefs. A truly educated person
listens with an open mind to new or differing information. Exposure to
differing viewpoints and information serves to strengthen the
educational process and expose the learner to information outside his or
her usual comfort level or sphere of previous knowledge. True learning
involves taking one’s past views, exploring them, comparing them with
new information, then making a conscious choice about which to hold on
to and which to let go.
ONLINE INFORMATION:
This is just an area to give you
information about how I will conduct my online class, and some
technicalities that will be important to know, so that we all begin on
the same page, so-to-speak.
*When sending an E-mail, be sure to
put something in the subject area. If you need a question answered right
away, write "Question," "Need Help" or
"Urgent" in the subject area. This will allow me to sort through the papers to be graded and
get to the urgent questions immediately. DO NOT SEND ANY ATTACHMENTS.
If you respond to a quiz grade or
other automatic email you receive, it will end up in the
"quiz" folder and may not be answered right away, so a
specific subject line is important.
*I will respond to each email marked
URGENT, NEED HELP, QUESTION, etc., within 24 hours
(excluding weekends). This does not mean that I
will have everything corrected and graded within 24 hours, but I will
respond first to students who need help with the course. (Questions
labeled as requested above are delivered directly to me and are
more likely to be answered quicker, while quizzes are filtered
into folders so that I can grade them later.)
I
will return grades within one week after the current week
ends.
* If you have questions regarding an
assignment, don’t wait until the last minute to ask me. The deadline
for work remains the same, but if you E-mail me on Sunday night, it is possible that I won’t get back to you until
the next day. Then your work will be late and very likely will not
receive credit (see the syllabus for my "late work"
policy). Bottom line - it's not a very good idea to wait to do
work until the last minute. I rarely extend the due date since
each student has an entire week to complete the work.
*Always, always identify
your E-mail and other communication with your name
and the course title
(Psyc 1). Don’t assume that your
E-mail address gives me an idea of who you are - it may not.
Additionally, I may know you by your first name, and your address uses
your last, or vice-versa. It will take longer for you to get an answer
to your questions (or may make an assignment late) if I have to return
your e-mail and ask who you are or
which class you are from. I prefer to spend my time interacting with
students, not searching for one name in stacks of rollsheets or emails.
(Also, if you need to send an instant message, please identify yourself
and the course you are in when you first send the message.)
*Yes, I know this is not an English
class. In any case, I will be strict on correct usage of the English
language. Especially in an Internet course, but in a regular course as
well, you are expressing yourself in writing. Not only is it
inconvenient if others cannot read or understand what you have written,
it is not appropriate in any college-level course. I require that all
formal assignments (anything that is graded; including, but not limited
to assignments, answers/responses to discussion questions,
etc.) be spell checked, grammar checked, and proofread before
submitting or posting. Correct grammar, syntax, spelling, and
punctuation should be used. I will reduce the grade for excess (more
than 2) errors. In informal correspondence (E-mails, questions, etc.) I
will not "grade" on your English usage, but obviously I need
to be able to understand what you are trying to communicate. Because I
realize that every student is not strong in this area, and many of you
will be taking this as one of your first courses, I have posted a
"Paper Grading Criteria" which details what I look for when grading
papers and common mistakes that college students make. If you use this, you
will cover most of the "bases." I still always suggest that
you have someone else proofread as well. And lastly, you may
ALWAYS email me with any questions - that is what I am here for!
(also, if you got this far and read this WHOLE thing, I think that
also deserves some extra credit!!! So to collect 10 points
of extra credit for reading the "ONLINE
INFORMATION," send me an email using the
link at the bottom of the page and let me know you have read the
"online information" and are requesting your 10 points of
extra credit. Please specifically request the
extra credit so that I know you have read this section. Now, go and finish reading! haha)
*I mention this in the syllabus under
the "Discussion Questions" heading, but I don’t believe that
I can stress it enough. Derogatory comments, swearing or cursing, and
other rudeness will not be tolerated, whether
on the discussion board or in emails. I will substantially reduce grades
for this type of behavior. Disagreement is fine; differing opinions and
viewpoints are welcome and encouraged, as this is how learning
takes place. However, any communication (whether it is with other
students or the instructor) should be respectful and tactful.
*Save ALL of your work.
You can print it out, but I recommend copying and pasting it into a
word-processing program. That way if I am ever missing
work, you can just paste into an email and send it to me (don't
send as an attachment). If you print it out, you will have to
type it back into an email, taking more time.
Let's get started!!! I'm looking
forward to getting to know each of you.
Dr. Roberts
COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FOR ME?
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