Back to School 2019

Well, here I am, a blast from the past!! It has been a while since my last post, hasn't it? That's okay! I'm being gentle with myself regarding my hiatus and am just going to jump right back into the blogosphere.

In eleven days I will be back at work and although my years in the school system are winding down, I still get butterflies. My head is in a better space than in the past and I am even feeling excited to get back into my routine. I am looking at my future year and my future future. I have the beginnings of a plan and am itching to see how things pan out.

To begin, I have been immersing myself in learning (outside of the required continuing education required for licensure, etc), so back to school has had a literal meaning. I thought I would share what I've been doing and what is coming up, because I think it has in large part kept me jazzed about going back as well as going forward.

1. I have a student who was challenging what I had been taught as an SLP. What I learned and was using didn't seem to be the most effective therapy for his complex articulation disorder. I was picking my friend Sparklle SLP's brain and she mentioned trying the multiple oppositions approach. As much as she tried to explain it to me, I was confused and I wanted to employ it correctly. I bought Phonological Treatment of Speech Sound Disorders in Children: A Practical Guide 1st Edition by Jacqueline Bauman-Waengler and Diane Garcia. This book was a game changer for me. It very clearly described and explained the contrastive approaches for treating phonological disorders. The little guy who was so vexing to me, became my most improved student!
2. At the end of June when most of my students were on field trips, I took a course offered by Karen Dudek-Brannan on vocabulary assessment, vocabulary selection, and vocabulary instruction. She often referred to Contextualized Language Intervention: Scaffolding PreK–12 Literacy Achievement written by Teresa Ukrainetz. This is my next purchase and read!
3. ASHA Connect in Chicago, need I say more? Well, okay. Many folks aren't always satisfied with the ASHA conferences/conventions. They walk away wanting more. To that I say, "go get more!" It's impossible to provide deep information in 90 minutes. I view these conferences as an opportunity to travel, connect with friends, meet new people, explore the exhibit hall, and if a particular topic whets my appetite, I seek out more information on my own. That's my responsibility as a lifelong learner.
4. While doing ESY this summer, another student left me with questions. This was not a student I had evaluated, so I didn't have a history. Again, I wasn't quite sure what was happening and asked some questions of my friend Pam, of Small Talk.  She questioned the possibility of tongue tie. Many years earlier I had purchased a book called, Tongue Tie: from confusion to clarity-a guide to the diagnosis and treatment of Ankyloglossia. Apparently Carmen Fernando's monograph is a definitive work. At the time I had been curious about the subject, (I did not pay the $250.00 it now costs), but had no pressing need to read the book.  Now I did, and it was GREAT.  I wonder what took me so long? :)
5. Late July brought the SLP Summit, which was quite good. I took 5 of the 8 webinars offered and again was inspired to learn more.
6. As an SLP working in the schools my salary is dependent on "steps" and credits beyond my degree. I got my masters degree in 1986! I really had had enough of school. I did get 12 credits beyond my masters but I need 15 to increase my salary. So, I'm finally taking an online course; The Practice and Power of Vulnerability in the Classroom. While I don't have a classroom, I think the course has real potential for my work with all students, but particularly those with social pragmatic difficulties. As an added bonus the required reading is Brené Brown's Daring Greatly!
7. The training I am MOST excited for happens in October. I will be embarking on a four day training in orofacial myology. It helps that I was the winner of a $500.00 discount while at ASHA Connect! I am so excited for this and cannot wait to see the doors it opens for me as I begin planning the next chapter in my career.

As SLPs we have ethical responsibilities to ourselves, our profession, and the public as well as a responsibility to maintain professional competence. Personally, I feel these responsibilities have the added bonus of keeping me relevant, focused, competent, and excited to to what I do. Bring on the the 2019-20 school year. It's going to be great!

It is Definitely Winter

Winter has arrived! In fact, it has arrived all across the country. There is snow in states that rarely see snow. In NH we have had 3 snow days already. January 2nd was our scheduled return to school. We had a two-hour delay due to cold (it was -22)! Last night it was -100 atop Mount Washington. That's some frosty weather. Yes, winter has arrived and in NH, it sticks around into April. This video captures the trip to my car yesterday!

After the frenzy and inconsistency of December, school-based SLPs are contending with more of the same because of weather and student absences. Next week I will be getting a little help from my friends who have authored some fun and therapeutically effective winter-themed materials. I decided to do a therapy week round up in order to "snowcase" these wonderful therapy activities. Since I will be using these activities next week, I don't have pictures of the products in action. Sorry. (My husband did get me a beautiful new camera for Christmas, so my pictures should be improving) All of these items can be accessed by clicking the respective images.

The first is Gold Country Speech's All Around a Winter Wonderland. Tracy's candyland-based game is perfect for mixed groups and more. She has included cards targeting problem solving, describing, wh-questions, multiple meaning words, following directions, articulation, AND a design your own option. Click here to grab this amazing product.

Laura, of All Y'All Need has created a series of jokes that are so fun to use in therapy. I've used her jokes for articulation, social pragmatics, fluency, and targeting ambiguities. They are "snow" punny and offer wonderful opportunities for discussion. Winter Jokes can be found right here.

Are you "yeti" for this one? Sparklle SLP's materials are the carrot for my snowman. She always includes a variety of materials that are perfect for mixed groups. "Mixed groups" seems to be the term du jour for how my groups have been for 35 years.  Homogeneous grouping is extremely difficult in our line of work, so I've always had to tailor my activities for multiple targets. Sparklle's Yeti packet targets "snow" much including: describing, comprehension, tier 2 vocabulary, informational text passages with QR code links, grammar and syntax practice, analogies, conjunctions, spatial concepts, positive reinforcement, AND recipes for snow and snow paint. To add an extra element of fun, this packet can be used as a complement to the game Yeti in My Spaghetti. Sled on over here to find it.

If you haven't used Small Talk SLP's Find it on the Go materials, ski, don't snowshoe, to get one. They are perfect for younger students and the format is easy to use and motivating.  Add to that a plethora of speech and language targets and you've got a winner. Pam has included multiple targets in three areas: concepts, receptive language and expressive language. While I don't laminate all my seasonal materials (I am trying to consider the environment before I wrap everything in plastic), I have laminated this one. I give my students a wipe-off marker and they draw right on the pages. It can be found here.

Mary of Old School Speech has put the "bomb" in "bomb cyclone" with her Joke Dominoes.  This game is played like traditional dominoes, which is fun because kids will then know how to play traditional dominoes! Joke Dominoes is a wonderful way to address articulation, fluency, social-pragmatics, multiple meaning meaning words, and more. It is easy to prep and easy to use and the price is right at $1.00. This winter staple can be found here.

I "met" Mia many years ago, as a TpT customer. I have files on my computer named Mia. I remember a snow day many years ago, when I received an email from her, whereby she sent me her most recent winter product for free. She wrote something along the lines of, "You've been such a good customer, I want you to have this." It was the start of a lifelong friendship. Mia has created a wonderful series of interactive books that encourage true language interaction. Each interactive book comes with cue cards explaining what each wh-question answers. She then provides information about the theme and targets various questions along the way. I like her interactive books because they create a very naturalistic context for language therapy. Grab this Louisiana girl's All About Winter Interactive Book here.

I hope you see this post is about more than winter-themed products; it's about friendships and support. It's about how we all can try to make life a little easier for each other in a very demanding job. Oh, and for your wintry viewing pleasure here is the video of my return trek up the mountain to home.

A Letter to Me...as a New SLP-A Frenzied SLP Linky

What better time to reflect on a career in Speech-Language Pathology than Better Hearing and Speech Month! This year heralds my 34th year in this field and it has been a storied career. It's hard for me to even imagine that it is winding down. I still have at least four years to work, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I love the way the Frenzied SLPs arrive at topics to write about. Individually, we are struck with a thought or idea and announce, "I have an idea! What do you think about...?"  One day I was reflecting and I thought, "What would I say to a younger me?" Here we are sharing our letters to our younger selves. I started working in the schools at 22 years of age. I had a bachelor's degree, and that's all I needed at the time. I worked for year and decided I should go back to school for a master's degree. I never gave much thought to the fact that some day I would be a veteran able to impart some wisdom to my younger self.

Dear Annie,
You did it! You managed to graduate with a BA with honors. You were accepted into Kappa Delta Pi, an International Honor Society in Education and were the secretary of your school's chapter. You were the VP of the Speech Pathology Club. And yet, girl, you played it safe. You let your reservations, your loss drive the bus (oh yeah, you literally drove the bus that was a mobile classroom).

I want you to know how competent you are. I want you to know the professional you will grow to become. You have awesome and creative ideas, act on them! Take risks my friend. Stretch yourself and grow, grow, grow. Know you are respected and loved. Learn to listen, sooner rather than later, to your colleagues and the parents of the children you are called to share your life with.

There is a memorable quote from It's a Wonderful Life, "Youth is wasted on the young." You are a passionate and funny young woman, but you think you know it all. I'm writing to tell you, you don't. Is it because you're young or is it to cover for insecurity? Perhaps it's both. Be gentle with your opinions and be gentle with yourself.

Take care of your health. Don't stay out too late, don't drink and drive, lose the diet pills and eat some food. This body is the one that is going to carry and nourish your children. This body is the one that is going to run 3 half marathons. This body is the one that is going to comfort sweet school children. This body will dance at weddings, hike mountains, and God willing live a long life. I don't like what you're doing with it.

I have so much to tell you, this letter could be a book. I think I need to find the one greatest piece of advice I can muster. You have suffered so much, but you have also known love and happiness. Remember, you are not a victim! Your choices define your destiny. The greatest advice I can give you, is to know where your value comes from and where it doesn't come from.

• It does not come from your family.
• It does not come from your professors.
• It does not come from your administrators.
• It does not come from your colleagues.
• It does not come from your friends.
• It does not come from ASHA.
• It does not come from your students or their parents.

Your value comes solely and exclusively from you. It comes from your actions and your words. Your value is about you and you were created by the Master artist for good and beautiful work. You are a creation that will touch so many lives with love and humor. Know the gift you have to connect people and bring a group to a place of love. Understand this. It has taken me a lifetime to to say out loud, "I love you!"

With love for who you were, who you are, and who you will become,

Annie

An InLinkz Link-up

Sharing Kindness: A Frenzied SLP Blog Hop

I recently had a student tell me I should be teaching him about kindness. He felt kindness was more important than strategies. I agree. Kindness is an ultimate goal as it relates to social competency. I explained the strategies we are learning lead to kind behavior. He seemed satisfied with my explanation. 

It seems there is a disconnect between kindness and the way people are behaving these days. The tolerance and acceptance people are professing only exists to the extent that they think others should believe as they do and not vice versa. The prevailing sentiment is "If you don't agree, you're a fool. I am right." Society is stuck on needing to be right, rather than accepting differences of opinion. Americans are expressing their opinions with ad hominem attacks, violence and vulgarity and our witness children are learning this is how to behave.  Furthermore, people seem to believe opinions ARE facts! Don't we help our students learn the difference between fact and opinion? The truth is, we are all entitled to our own opinions, just not our own facts. My anxiety increases daily as I see the diminishing premium placed on kindness in our world. I pray that we as a society begin to understand that it takes a conscious effort to behave with kindness and compassion. That living with kindness means extending kindness to everyone; the colleague who annoys you, the person who voted for the other candidate, the driver who cut you off, the neighbor whose dog barks, and the demanding parent. I've seen the hashtag #kindnessnation. Hashtags are cool and trendy, however I believe actions and effort are what is needed. I'd like to see people posting how they acted on their kindness each day because I believe #kindnessiscontagious.

The Frenzied SLPs are coming together in sharing kindness this month in the way we know best! We have collaborated to create FREE materials all with a kindness theme. You'll be able to target a wonderful variety of speech and language skills with these products! We think you and your students are going to love them. Let's keep the kindness going! We graciously thank you for downloading and using these materials with your students/clients. If you would be so kind, please leave feedback in our TpT stores if you find a few spare moments!

My valentine treat for you is a social story about giving and receiving valentines. This freebie is a story social intended for use with children who need help understanding the process of giving and receiving Valentine's Day cards. The tradition of giving cards may be overwhelming and confusing for our children with social pragmatic challenges.
Included in the download are 6 sheets that can be cut in half for a 12 page story. There are also places where students can insert themselves into the story by drawing a picture or gluing a photo. I hope you find it useful.

You can download it for free here.

Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind. ~ Henry James

Check out The Frenzied SLPs Sharing Kindness Blog Hop for more freebies by starting here:

Talkin' with Twang

Putting Words in Your Mouth

SLP Commitments-2017

Who am I? Not my name or my birthday. Not where I live or what I do, but who am I...on the inside?
Reflecting on where I want to commit my energies takes on a different bent when I view it through the lens of who I am, or rather who I want to be. Who I want to be as a woman is exactly who I want to be as a speech-language pathologist. I don't think I can separate my professional self from my personal self.

This post then, will be brief! My commitments:

1. To serve my students and their families with respect.
2. To reserve judgment and when I don't, to be accountable.
3. To produce work of a caliber that represents both me and the profession well.
4. To keep an open heart and mind and approach my students, their families, and colleagues with tolerance. (I will admit I am sometimes "grumpy." I am committing to repair this!) 
5. To remember my needs and the needs of my family. 

I suppose this amounts to being the best version of myself as I can. Now, I know that perfection is not my reality. Lord knows I am as flawed as can be. I am no paragon of virtue, I am nevertheless, committed to continuing my journey to fulfillment and contentment. 

I think the lyrics to the song, Take the Word of God With You sum up my thoughts well: "Go in peace to serve the world, in peace to serve the world. Take the love of God, the love of God with you as you go."

An InLinkz Link-up

My SLP Story

A little over one year ago, I published a post entitled What's the Story, Annie?  I encouraged other SLPs to link up and share their stories as our experiences influence what we think, feel and do. At the time no one linked up. Perhaps my timing was off. No, let me reframe that, perhaps I was ahead of my time. One year later the Frenzied SLPs are sharing their SLP stories and are eager to have others join in the collective story telling. I am republishing my original post (with a little updating) and am grateful for the opportunity to share it again. Thank you as usual to Sparklle SLP, Kelly Woodford-Hungaski (Speech2U,) and Lisette Edgar (Speech Sprouts) for their grit in getting us organized. 

If you lived in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut in the 70s you remember a commercial for an appliance store that used the tag line, "What's the story, Jerry?" I am eleven weeks into my 34th year as an SLP! I've been thinking quite a lot about how I got here. What is my SLP story? What makes me the SLP into which I have evolved? It comes as no surprise that my experiences uniquely prepared me for my future, but how I used those experiences to become the woman, the professional I am is worth considering. Here is my SLP story.

My childhood was complex. My parents were loving, but had significant baggage of their own. After their divorce my poor Mother struggled with finances, teenage sons, and her difficulty caring for her sixth and and seventh children while getting a graduate degree and working. We weren't lacking in love, just having our lives organized. I most definitely learned love and compassion from my Mother. After losing my Mother when I was fifteen, my anxiety was tremendous and I had virtually no confidence in my abilities nor my potential. My 27 year brother and his 26 year old wife moved in with my younger brother and me. We worked hard to forge a stable family relationship. My grades in high school were good, but I never pushed myself. I did what I had to do and no more. I didn't participate in any extracurricular activities, no sports, no theater, no clubs, nothing. I wanted to take risks, but was afraid to do so. As a senior in high school there were no college visits, no aspirations, no desire to go away. I applied to two colleges, was wait listed for one and accepted into the other. When completing the applications I suspected I could learn how to do most anything, so I closed my eyes and pointed to the page listing majors. My finger landed on speech-language pathology. I suspect divine intervention! I chose to attend William Paterson College and majored in Speech Path. In May of my freshman year of college my Father died. I was eighteen. Still reeling from my losses, I commuted for four years dividing my time between classes, working at a drug store, and partying with my friends. I did work harder in college than high school and was consistently on the Dean's List, but as a commuter, I still didn't gravitate toward campus life. I was, nevertheless, the VP of the speech pathology club and the Secretary for Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society in Education, but what I really excelled in was playing quarters.

I graduated in 1983 and my first year as an SLP was spent working part-time in four schools in four towns. In those days a master's degree was not yet mandatory to work as an SLP. It is hard to believe; I was 22 years old and worked in two high schools and two elementary schools. Three of my students at the high school were eighteen year old boys! I often think about that year and wish I could go back and do a better job! I was so young and had so much to learn. I remained positive despite grasping at straws at how to motivate kids who were only slightly younger than I was.

Really, during that period I wasn't sure if I was going to continue in the field, but as luck would have it, a position for a graduate assistant at Montclair State College was advertised in the paper and my brother suggested I apply. I called the number listed and waited for a response. The following day I received a call, not exactly the call I wanted, however. Evidently, I dialed the number inadvertently using MY telephone exchange and not the exchange of the graduate office. I had left a detailed message and the kind soul I contacted was thoughtful enough to return my call and tell me I had the wrong number! I remember her saying, "This sounded like an important call, so I wanted to be sure to tell you, you had the wrong number." I went on the interview and was accepted into the communication sciences and disorders program as a graduate assistant! Interestingly, my graduate assistant supervisor and I are both currently presidents of our state speech, language, hearing associations! Isn't is crazy how life unfolds?

I continued my part-time SLP work and my job as a cashier as well as completing the responsibilities of a graduate assistant for the first year of the program. I then found a full-time school position during my second year of graduate studies. This was the period I found my passion for speech-language therapy. As you know graduate school is tough. I think it is tougher now than when I went, but it still kept me crazy busy and crazy stressed. I passed the "ASHA exam," as we then called it, and completed my CFY. I began to realize I was competent, creative, and smart. I took risks. I found my voice. I found my heart. I found my passion and like a butterfly from a chrysalis, I found my wings and I soared!

How have my experiences prepared me for my profession as an SLP? I am able to view each child as worthy, even the ones with dirty clothes. I am able to see the smile in every child, even the ones with downcast eyes. I am able to see the leader in every unmotivated middle school student, even the ones who don't play sports or get the lead in the play. I am able to advocate for each student, especially the ones who feel silenced. I am able to ease the sadness of every child, even for merely thirty minutes, especially the ones who have little hope. I am able to state with conviction to every child that you are good at something, even if you don't believe that today. I am able to listen with a compassionate ear to the child who believes "nobody likes them" and to reply with certainty, "I do." I am able to gently encourage those students who are fearful to take a risk. I am able to explain to every child that this place is the beginning of their story, not the end.

It's always a good practice to reflect. If you would like to share your story link up. What is your SLP story? How have your life experiences primed you for your career?

Write it! Dream it! Love it! Share it! Live it! Be it!

An InLinkz Link-up

Working as a Team: Supporting Rehabilitative Assistants

The Frenzied SLPs are back this month with posts about working as a team, and we are truly a team, working together to bring you materials, ideas, and inspiration. Teamwork takes many forms with many different people and I am very excited to hear the different perspectives that will be shared! Thank you to Sparklle SLP, Kelly of Speech2U, and Lisette of Speech Sprouts for once again keeping the Frenzied SLP team organized!  

It seems counter intuitive sometimes. Special education is founded on a multidisciplinary teamwork model and yet it how it unfolds in schools is often the complete opposite. The reasons are many: lack of team time, huge caseloads, minimal/no administrative support, paperwork burdens, pride, you name it. Despite this, the fact remains, effective programs have effective teams, who know how to work together and respect each member's unique talents and contributions.

A frequently overlooked member of highly effective special education teams is the paraprofessional also known as a rehabilitative assistant. These bastions of support and patience are integral for SLPs and OTs. Rehab. assistants spend all day with our most highly involved students supporting them in the classroom, supporting hygiene needs, helping with transitions, lunchtime, and offsetting behavioral difficulties. In order for the work rehab. assistants do, to be eligible for medicaid reimbursement in our state, they must be supervised by a "licensed practitioner of the healing arts." It must also be very clear that the work they do with our students NOT be academic in nature. In fact, when I post those sessions I sign that "I certify that activities being billed under rehabilitative assistance for the above student(s) (...) on the dates specified (...), for which I am knowledgeable of the service provision, and provide weekly consultation to the aide, are not classroom instruction or academic tutoring, but are therapeutic in nature and are necessary for the maximum reduction of each student’s physical/mental disabilities." 

For many years the rehab. assistants, case managers, and special education administrators in our district balked at this supervisory piece. SLPs were even told that there aren't any "medicaid police." Well, we know that is not the case and I for one, finally decided I had worked too hard to earn my degree, Cs and license to lose it to egos. I now insist on weekly consultation where the rehab. assistant and I discuss how they can support student goals in the classroom. In order to document consult times I created a log sheet that allows for entering the date of the consult, comments, and initials. Having written proof certainly eases my anxiety around signing off on rehab. assistant support in the classroom. You can get it here for free! 

This takes care of the consult documentation, but the larger issue is how to utilize rehab. assistants in the most effective way possible. During my initial conversations with rehab. assistants, it became abundantly clear that the majority of support being offered to our students was academic. This was a huge concern. As a result, I enlisted the support of one of our paraprofessionals extraordinaire in order to create a planner for rehab. assistants. I am really happy with the result! So now during our consult time rehab. assistants share concerns, ask questions, and describe how students are functioning in the classroom and are able to keep it all organized between meetings. In this way, I am able to provide suggestions, strategies, and supports for students. The Paraprofessional Paperwork Planner has forms for notes, communication, a to-do sheet, strategy form, a calendar, planning sheet, glossary of common SLP and OT terms, and more. The best part? It contains several editable pages! You can find this planner here in my TpT store, Doyle Speech Works 

It appears that the rehab. assistants I supervise are receptive to this more structured consult and are appreciative of the planner. I am hoping this allows us to truly support our students in the most effective way possible using common language and consistent supports.

How do you team? Link up with the Frenzied SLPs and share your successes or struggles. We are after all, a team!

An InLinkz Link-up

Progress Monitoring-Baselines and Beyond: A Frenzied SLP Linky

Labor Day brings the unofficial close to the summer season and with it an end to the lazy, hazy days of relaxation. Don't dismay, though, because with the return to schedules and school come the Frenzied SLP posts chock full of ideas, materials, and suggestions for the busy SLP. Thank you Sparklle SLP, Lisette Edgar, and Kelly Woodford-Hungaski for coordinating our first frenzied linky!

To start things off, we thought we would share how we do progress monitoring, establishing baselines and more. I understand there are a plethora of products available for progress monitoring, however, I have streamlined my process. I purchased MANY products for monitoring progress and what I found was that, while, they were fantastic products, they weren't aligned with the goals I had established for my students. I created a couple of my own progress monitoring tools, but still, I didn't feel I was capturing the information I needed (You can access my elementary and middle school progress monitoring tools for free). Additionally, trying to find the extra time to administer the progress monitoring tool added needless stress to an already stressful day.

I take detailed data for every session. I write an anecdotal and document percentage accuracy for every objective. What I realized was my documentation was, in fact, all I needed for progress monitoring that specifically targets my students goals and objectives. When it is time for an annual review or progress reports I collate all the data for a specific time span and find the median percentage accuracy.  Using the median rather than mean eliminates the outliers. I also have a baseline if I need to continue addressing a certain area. This streamlined approach has saved me considerable time and, I believe, paints the most accurate picture of a student's progress as it relates to their individual goals.

Sample data collection sheet

You can access my data collection sheet here. Everyone does things differently, however, I have found that keeping accurate and current data is the best method for me to assess progress without having to pull out an additional tool or schedule time for dedicated progress monitoring. 

How do you monitor progress? The Frenzied SLPs are eager to hear your thoughts and/or check out your methods. Link up with us!!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Frenzied SLPs are on the Downhill Slide

It's that time of year for school-based SLPs, where a visual reminder to "breathe in, breathe out, and repeat" becomes all too necessary. The Frenzied SLPs are joining forces once again to offer suggestions as to how to make the end of the school year more manageable. Thank you to this month's frenzied hostesses Tracy, of Gold Country Speech, Laura of All Y'all Need, and Linda of Looks Like Language for coordinating the behind the scenes organization.

Our school district usually ends the school year within the first two weeks of June. We begin before Labor Day, but our snow days are not factored into the calendar, so we typically end up having to make up missed weather days. This year our winter was so mild we only had ONE snow day (very unusual for NH). From the beginning of May until the middle of June I have about six weeks of school and it goes FAST! Here is how I manage to stay relatively sane.

The first week of May comes on the heels of our spring break and includes kindergarten screenings. We have a larger than usual number of kindergarten students registered this year, so we had to add another 1/2 day for screenings. The key for this week is organization, time management, and optimism. I had the pleasure of taking Sparklle SLP's soon to be published kindergarten screening out for a test drive. It took me 5-7 minutes to administer (yes, I timed it), depending on the child and when I was finished I felt I had a really good sense of each child. Organization: for screening days, having everything printed and laminated with names and birthdays already entered is most helpful. Time management: it is also helpful to have an idea of what you would like to accomplish during those periods when you are not screening, like during lunch when the cafeteria is unavailable. I got some evaluations and IEPs written in the down time. Optimism: it is very easy to become overwhelmed when faced with the prospect of a new and needy cohort entering kindergarten. I have to remind myself I am only getting a snapshot of a child and much can change in the four months between now and the beginning of school.

The end of the school year brings an onslaught of evaluations and IEPs. In order to avoid becoming anxious I have to stay very organized and focused. When I am at work I have to avoid relaxing. I know that sounds awful, but I have to close my door, not chat with friends and chip away at the to do list. I keep a list of all evals, IEPs, progress monitoring, etc. I often prioritize the items on my do to list by number. this too keeps me organized. I enter due dates and meeting dates on my paper calendar and google calendar and set alarms for 30 minutes and 10 minutes before a scheduled meeting. Sounds a little over the top, I know, but this scattered brain needs over the top! There are also a million special class activities, school wide activities, and field trips that impact therapy. It is crucial to know what it going on in order to prevent having to plan and prep therapy that will never happen. That is a time waster! All this allows me to leave at a reasonable hour and have time for exercise and my family. I used to neglect those things and work to the exclusion of all else and then I got smart. The work will always be there, my health may not!

I have mentioned before how I love to exploit a theme. The end of the year is the perfect time for theme exploitation! After screenings we have two weeks of bug week, two weeks of camping and two weeks of wheel of fortune. I do two weeks of each theme because my students look forward to them every year and I have amassed a wealth of materials to support the themes. I have listed only a few of the wonderful activities available around bugs and camping.

Spin and Speak Bugs Articulation

I love to use these worksheets as a therapy activity by placing them in page protectors and then sending them as homework.

Bug Collecting Concepts

Pam of Small Talk SLP authored this versatile product that can be used to target so many skills. I love this one!

Don't Bug Out...Apologize

I needed an activity for my intermediate and middle school students with social needs, so in the spirit of capitalizing on a theme I created Don't Bug Out...Apologize, which targets when and how to apologize.

Getting Buggy Articulation

Sparklle SLP has a wonderful freebie that is just right for homework. I'm just itching to use this one again!

I love a craftivity to complement a book. This is actually a craft I did with my own little ones when we read the book A Firefly Named Torchy. The craft itself is simple. The only extra supplies needed are clear sequins and wax paper. I drew templates for the body and wings on cardstock and have students trace them independently.

Camping affords so many opportunities for activities and fun. I found this recipe last year after camping week(s) was finished, but I am definitely making them this year; Nutter Butter Camping Cookies. You can find the recipe on the blog Party Pinching: Budget Friendly Party Ideas and Cute Food Inspiration. 

Pathways for Articulation and Language

I just love this activity for articulation and language targets, and so many can be addressed. It was a hit with my students, too.

Camp-In Speech and Language

This baby is so comprehensive targeting articulation, details, grammar, following directions, similarities and differences, conversation skills and more. Sparklle SLP is my hero (and camping buddy).

If you don't have LessonPix, I recommend it highly. It is an amazing alternative to Boardmaker, which, in my not so humble opinion, has become overpriced and inaccessible. LessonPix allows you to make games, dice, communication boards, visuals and more, so for $36.00 a year it is well worth it. We used these dice for sentence  formulation and expansion.

So grab your inflatable fire, pretend food and canteen and go camping. Isn't it nice to get away?

Last but not least is one of our all time favorites. Wheel. Of. Fortune. This happy take on hangman is perfect for any speech-language goal. Last year I had a brainstorm and started using the colors on the wheel to coordinate with the colors used with the Expanding Expression Tool. I downloaded the music and use the sound effects from the show including spinning and buzzers.

I hope these activities give you some nice ideas for finishing out your school year without too much stress. One consolation is, you know it is going to go fast and then, if you are anything like me, you will be sitting on your porch with your coffee and a book relishing summer!

We would love to have you link up and share your ideas for rounding out the school year.

An InLinkz Link-up

Speechy and Teachers Pay Teachers Appreciation Sale

It's May! Better Hearing and Speech Month, Teacher Appreciation Day, AND a Teachers Pay Teachers sale!!  Add to that the frenzy of IEPs, progress reports and evaluation reviews.  Busy, busy days, so to help our friends, the Frenzied SLPs are hosting a linky highlighting a couple of our own products and some products in our carts.

My Editable Vocabulary Playing Card Decks consists of standard playing cards for middle and high school vocabulary development including:

Two 52-card decks addressing:
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word in sentence
Definition 
Part of speech sound
Multiple meaning
Association
Category
Taste
Smell
Texture
Sound
Location
Parts
Size, Shape, Color

This product has an added bonus of  52 editable cards so you can add your own option of deck.
These decks can be used while playing any traditional card game. Print the desired deck and pair with vocabulary specific to your students needs. My students LOVE these decks, they are fun, functional, and versatile!

My Spring in New England Nonfiction Text Passages for Middle School contains 6 nonfiction passages relating to springtime in New England. When I made this product I had my middle school students in mind and wanted to expose them to material that was relevant to our region. I think it is appropriate for high school speech-language students as well. Each passage is followed by several comprehension questions calling for higher-order thinking and context clues. Also included are vocabulary matching worksheets for each topic.

Topics include: Vernal pools
Peepers
Black flies (blech)
Ice out
Mud season
Frost heaves
Download includes:
4 SCOPE editing strategy cue cards
6 Passages
6 Vocabulary-definition matching pages
1 Vocabulary organizer page

Now, what am I buying?  Decisions, decisions! My wish list (I am ashamed to admit) is TEN pages long and has close to 200 items. Crazy. However, there are couple of items I have been waiting for sale day for.

The first is Little Red's Reading Comprehension Passages Bundle. This bundle looks amazing and should keep my students well supplied with informational text materials with 160 reading passages and corresponding comprehension questions. I can think of so many uses in language therapy for these passages!

The second product I am really looking forward to snagging is Panda Speech's Language Blocks. I have the articulation version and my students truly enjoy them.  This bad boy is chock full of language targets including vocabulary, following directions, grammar and so much more.

I hope this short list of my fave products is helpful. We would love to know what products you have to offer as well as what you may be purchasing, so link up and show us your cart!

An InLinkz Link-up

Taking Therapy Outside

It is finally starting to look like Spring in NH! It was a fairly mild winter in terms of snow, but the rain!  There was some serious cabin fever happening in my speech room this winter!

With the weather improving it is a perfect time for a change of therapy venue and the Frenzied SLPs are taking it to the streets!  Well, the playground anyway!  I have a couple of ideas for you, some I have done, some I will be doing! As always, thanks to Nanette (Speech 2 Me), Kelly (Speech 2 U) and Jen (My Speech Universe) for the behind the scenes linky work!

• Chalk rocks! I was thinking it would be fun to take our chalk and work on narrative development outside using the amazing Story Grammar Marker by Mindwing Concepts. On a beautiful sunny day, read a book outside and then have your students become screevers.  Oh, by the way, a screever is an artist who draws on sidewalks using colored chalks. Students can draw Braidy on the playground adding narrative elements as a means of story retell. 
• Who remembers this game? "A my name is Annie and my husbands name is Andy. We come from Alabama and we sell apples." This rhyme is said while bouncing a ball while progressing through the alphabet stating your name, your husband's name, where you're from and what you sell, using alliteration. Great vocabulary work and super simple!
• I always loved hopscotch as a little girl.  I still sometimes play a game with students when I'm on playground duty.  A variation could be played where following directions is targeted. Offer students a series of numbers or square positions to jump in a pattern.  

• Two years or so ago I bought cardboard cake rounds and painted them with chalkboard paint. We use these as bases when playing kickball. You can also draw EET beads on them and use them for describing.  We had a blast doing this!
• Finally, who says an outdoor theme can't be an inside activity?  At the end of each school year my students look forward to two activities, Camping and Wheel of Fortune.  During camping week we pull out Curious George Goes Camping, an inflatable fire, toy food, s'more dip, and camping gear. We tell stories and sing songs around the campfire.

I am always up for some new ideas, so link up and share.  How are you taking therapy outside?

All About Water in Speech-Language Therapy: A Frenzied SLP Linky

The Frenzied SLPs are back with some fun ideas for using water themed activities in speech-language therapy. Thanks to Laura, Nanette, and Linda for hostessing this week. Just click on their names to be directed to their amazing sites.

I haven't done a lot of actual water play lately. I used to do it all the time! I think I just forgot! You know how you tend to go on an activity jag for a period and then move on to something else! I am, however, using my water themed activities and books during April.

• YouTube is a wonderful resource for books and videos that are well suited to speech-language therapy.  

    

Two books from my collection, that I love to use during April are Come On Rain, by Karen Hesse and It's Raining, It's Pouring by, Kin Eagle. 

Ideas by Jivey offers a free mentor sentence sample and activity coordinating with Come On, Rain.

• A craftivity I plan on doing this month is making "rain sticks." Rain sticks are a fun and easy craft that allow for individual creativity, use of informational text, and sensory input via rice or beans and a soothing sound. Have students decorate paper towel tubes with markers, washi tape, or colorful duct tape, seal one end with clear packing tape or clear contact paper, fill with beans or  rice, seal the other end and turn the rain stick over end to end. I found this wonderful lesson from Prairie Public Television to supplement making a rain stick!   https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiYzdeu7vLLAhXJeCYKHR-1C80QFggvMAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prairiepublic.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2FSue-Anderson-Rain-Stick-Lesson-Plan.docx&usg=AFQjCNEN__O9flkFR3XmbtPc7COp52DH5w&sig2=oNOpPmphhKH_urT79BqiWg

• Wonderopolis has some great "wonders" about water and rain. If you haven't visited this site; run, don't walk! This particular article; Why Does it Rain, offers informational text, tiers 2 and 3 vocabulary, a science experiment and questions for further investigation! It is a fantastic, educationally relevant and user friendly site.  http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-does-it-rain-2 (Here is another great wonder: http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-much-rain-can-a-cloud-hold)
• Newsela is another wonderful source of informational text. Search rain and amazing articles greet you! Here is a sampling: https://newsela.com/articles/amazonbasin-conservation/id/13877/; https://newsela.com/articles/southafrica-drought/id/14631/; https://newsela.com/articles/water-california/id/6292/
• Finally, Teachers Pay Teachers has a multitude of sellers who have authored a wealth of rain and April inspired products. I recently created a product supporting question formulation. Find it at Doyle Speech Works

Do you want to find more water themed ideas and activities? The linky begins with Laura at All Y'all Need. The Frenzied SLPs would love to hear how you incorporate water into your speech-language therapy. Follow the instructions below to link up.

An InLinkz Link-up