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

It's Spring! Fresh Ideas for Speech Therapy

I used to love spring when I lived in NJ. The daffodils and crocuses would lift their sunny heads and the weather would warm up. Spring in NH is not nearly as nice. In fact, yesterday, the 24th of March, we got eight inches of snow. Earlier in the week we had indoor recess, because with the wind chill the temperature was below zero! After everything melts we get blessed with MUD. Oh the mud in NH! We live on a dirt road and it gets perilous! I learned early on after our move to New England to drive fast up the mountain in the snow and slow up the mountain in the mud. It seems counter intuitive, but that is how it works. Oh and try to stay out of the ruts!

I am fairly busy these days, so my therapy is going to be somewhat simple. Simple as springtime!

• Several years ago, I picked up these pretty little flower gems at the Dollar Tree. Simple positive reinforcement; roll a dice and that's how many little flowers you take. Add them up at the end.I had a little guy who put a fun spin on these babies.Check it out!  https://www.instagram.com/p/0-YbS9lQR7/?taken-by=anniedoyle226
• Do you have mud? 
  
• Now that our daughter is in college and we are in the poorhouse, I look for freebies. I am grateful to all you amazing SLPs who generously share your talents with all of us. The Autism Helper often posts freebies that are perfect for my students. Here she shares a pictures and printables to go with There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick. http://theautismhelper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/There-Was-an-Old-Lady-Chick.pdf
• For my older students I created a Spring in New England Nonfiction Text product. It covers six topics relevant to New England: peepers, frost heaves, mud season, black flies, ice out, and vernal pools.
  
  You can find it here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spring-in-New-England-Nonfiction-Text-Passages-for-Middle-School-2441915
• Do you Know the book Miss Rumphius? It's one of my favorites! Last year I found a Lupine color page and we used ink pad and fingerprints to color them. We also used little bitty pieces of tissue paper.
  
  
• Pam of Small Talk SLP made a splash in my speech room with this take on Go Fish. Thanks, Pam! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Go-Fish-Go-Splash-Go-Hop-2475662

I realize I could go on, but I must stop somewhere and I need to get ready for a Saturday middle school play rehearsal! I hope these ideas inspire you to spring into spring with some fun and fresh therapy!! Enjoy and HAPPY SPRING (when it gets here!). Please link up with the Frenzied SLPs and share your springy ideas.

An InLinkz Link-up

Letters to Those Who Inspire Us: a Frenzied SLP Linky

I have recently had an opportunity to write a "palanca letter." Palanca means lever in Spanish and is intended to uplift the recipient. They are often written to those who are on retreat or a journey, often spiritual, but frequently just life changing. I wondered why it would take a big event for me to tell someone who is or was instrumental in my life what they mean to me, to offer them encouragement as they have given encouragement to me.

The Frenzied SLPs posted a blog hop on kindness last week, so I think writing palanca letters the week of Valentine's Day is the perfect extension of kindness. We are linking up again to write letters to someone who inspires and encourages us. It may be a college professor, a mentor or supervisor, a relative, colleague or friend who has been the "lever" in both our professional and personal lives. To me it is my friend and colleague Allison. I want her to know what she means to me.

Allison and I have been working together since 2003. She is as ideologically different from me as fire is to water, and yet we are bound by a mutual respect and admiration for each other's passion and commitment. We are alike in the value we place on tolerance, kindness, love, respect, education, growth, perseverance and so much more. Personally, I think we are the poster children for how people of differing opinions should treat each other.

Here is my letter to Allison EET style!
My Dear Friend,

I was thinking about how to write this letter to you, one, because it is public and two, because my blog is often speech oriented. It occurred to me that a public expression of admiration is a practice we should all engage in from time to time and I have the perfect speech tool for describing! You know I love using the Expanding Expression Tool in speech. We use it to describe objects and also to develop writing summaries, writing from background knowledge and writing biographies or autobiographies. It is very handy little item and it provides a wonderful framework for describing you.

Green: You are my faithful friend, a strong woman, a caring and tender mother, an advocate for all and an insightful and gifted special educator. You are an athlete a writer, a visionary and one classy lady!

Blue: You are always there to act as my touchstone whether it is to problem solve on a student or process a more personal issue. You encourage me to exercise (something I'm not naturally drawn to) as well as to stretch myself professionally. When I am hesitant about my abilities you always say just the right thing to encourage me to leap. I'm not sure you even see how instrumental you have been in my life. When I was falling, you LITERALLY picked me up and held me. I watch you do so much for your boys. I saw what a grateful and loving daughter you were. I see how you commit to your relationships and it furthers my own commitment.

Eye: I recall watching the ABC Afterschool Specials. One movie in particular was a favorite and I've mentioned it to you before. Skinny and Fatty was a 1958 film directed by N. Terao and written by Mitsuo Wakasugi and Seiya Yoshida.  It originally aired as part of the 1967 CBS Children's Film Festival that was hosted by Kookla, Fran and Ollie. When I think of us I am reminded of that film. It was very inspirational to me because it was about unlikely friends who encouraged each other, but it's largely our height difference that reminds me of Skinny and Fatty. You are tall and lean and beautiful with curls so dense and lovely. I know you sometimes bemoan your height (as I do mine). I think it suits you.

Wooden bead: This is the part I like; your character! What makes you, you? Well you are faithful, an unfaltering friend. You are always honest. You listen without judgment. You are a yin and yang of traits; humble, yet beautiful, strong, yet kind, brilliant, yet eager to learn, serious, yet funny, adventurous, yet rooted. You're amazing!

Pink: I don't know all of the life events that have had an impact on your life. I do know about your experiences with competitive swimming and how the work taught you perseverance and sportsmanship. I understand how the loss of your father as a teen impacted you, in fact that loss connects us as I had a similar experience. Your life growing up in Miami gave you a broader perspective of life. Then of course a college education at Harvard and meeting the man who would become your husband. Moving across the country to California and then back to NH with two young boys must have been a challenging decision, but again like me it became a place where you could find solace in difficult times. As a daughter, building an addition for your mother was an act of love and devotion. I am sure your mother was full of love for you especially as you nursed her during her illness. Dealing with a parent's terminal illness is something I can't even imagine. What a gift that you were there with your mother. When things got even more difficult and you had to make even bigger changes in your life, you did so with grace and courage. Not one to be stagnant, you continue be a model for your three boys by to taking your life by the reins and growing. I am excited to be a part of the next phase of your life!

White: This is where I could edit. I wouldn't change a thing!

Orange: What else do I know? I have been blessed with an amazing friend. A person who can laugh with me and cry with me. I love our relationship, one where we both give to each other. I relish those long after school conversations where we process a situation or talk about trends in our professions. I love talking movies and curly hair and kids. I love how I can look at you and you know what I'm thinking. After all this I am left with a single question; "Will you marry me?" :)
Is there someone special who has been a lever for you? Let them know, I suspect it will mean the world to them.

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

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

My Top 6 Home Hacks: A Linky

This may sound surprising; I have some quirks! While some of my quirks may be just a bit annoying, I prefer to think that they are merely what makes me, me. I beep under tunnels for good luck, I find moths truly disturbing, and don't like old kitchen sponges. My other quirks can be viewed as more productive. As I was washing dishes the other day, I thought a linky sharing home hacks I have found to be time and money savers would be fun and enlightening and maybe even a little endearing.

My top 6 home hacks for busy SLPs:

6. I find the size of "scrubbies" a little too big, so in order to be easier to handle and to save a few cents, I cut them in half. They are easier to use and last twice as long; win-win!

5. When our children were very young I taught them to ball their socks together before placing them in the hamper. Why you ask? Well, I was tired of washing single socks and having them in the drawers waiting for me to wash their mates. I always felt as if I was half done with the laundry. No more singletons in my drawers and even today as teens, our kids wad up their socks. An added benefit is that they always wore matching socks!

4. I tend to be a creature of habit and pack the same lunch every day; salad. One day as I was dining with friends, upon seeing my salad dressing leaking from its container, my friend mentioned she saves prescription containers for transporting dressing. I tried it and lo and behold it worked like a charm! I still place the bottle in a snack sized baggie to ensure it doesn't leak.

3.  I am a "curly curl." One of the cardinal rules of curly girl hair care is not to use a terrycloth towel. The shaft of curly hair is similar to the way a pine cone is layered, so terrycloth tends to catch and cause frizz. I like microfiber towels, but didn't want to spend too much on hair towels. I bought two microfiber dishtowels and stitched them up to make a perfect hair towel. 

2. The thought of all the plastic society consumes laying in landfills for perpetuity troubles me. Just the baggies alone I know we use is exorbitant. Years ago I found this baggie and bottle dryer in the Lehman's Catalog. It is well worth the $25.00 I paid for it and it gives me a little piece of mind that our footprint is just a tad smaller.

1. My final and most important home hack: if the urge to houseclean comes over you, grab a cup of coffee and a good book and wait for the urge to go away!

What time and money savers do you recommend? I would love to hear about your favorite home hacks! Link up and share your wisdom.

An InLinkz Link-up