I'm Back!

Hello long lost little speech blog. Remember when we used to be good friends? You know before I had 3 kids and moved across the country? Well I'm back. And I'm really excited to dedicate more of my energy to this profession that I love so dearly. I'm not sure anyone will read this anymore but I'm ready to write down my new adventures in the world of speech language pathology. If you want to follow along please do. I enjoy social media but I'm growing weary of the lack of depth. I miss all of the discussions and lessons that came from contemplating a topic long enough to write a post about it. When I used to blog it required me to analyze and research. There's so much value in those exercises that I feel are getting lost in paired down, super fast, social media world. So this is me re-entering the blog world (of which I am not sure still exists). So if you are still out there in the blog world leave a comment to let me know you are still there. If not, this may very well be a journaling venture for myself. Either way, I'm excited. 

CURRENT DILEMMA: What direction to go with my career?

• Private Clinic
• Contract Services 
• Skilled Nursing 
• Hospital/Rehab

What are your experiences with these settings? I've been in pediatric settings since 2007. I LOVE kids! But I also have 3 tiny hooligans of my own. So, there's that to consider. 

Annie

p.s. blogger seems super duper old school. Does anyone have a better blogging site they like?

New City. New Job. New Insights.

Hello long lost blog. You have been sorely neglected these past few years. It's been 6 months since I went back to work. After 2 years of full time mommyhood, I decided I had to dip my foot back in. I only work 10 hours per week so I still consider myself full-time mom with a little bit of SLP spice on the side.

I'm so happy to be back in the speech language pathology world, but I tell you what, it was a rude awakening. Once again I'm reminded of the incredible juggling act all speech language pathologists engage in. So just FYI you are all the coolest. Seriously, SLPs are an incredible breed. In my new job I don't get to work with other SLPs which is kind of a bummer. But I'm learning to love the opportunities in my new position to collaborate with other professionals in their fields, and there is just nothing, NOTHING as cool as watching a child gain confidence in communication. It is amazing.

My new position has me researching aspects of our field such as autism, early language development and augmentative alternative communication in much more depth than my past experiences. I am excited to write down a few things I have learned this year. However, I have to admit, the more I learn the more I realize that I have so much to learn. When I was freshly out of my graduate program I was so excited and I thought I had all the answers. Now, my eyes are more fully open to the fact that I will always have so much more to learn. I have my education and experience to thank for a good base knowledge, but there is just so much to learn. It's something I really love about our profession.

I will attempt to keep track of some of the lessons I am learning professionally on this little webspace. But I will not claim to know it all.

I will also make a promise to not push you to buy my latest super pricey product. I'm seeing a lot of that out there lately and it's totally killed my interest in blogging all together. If I make something cool I will try to share it. I try to keep all pricing below a $1. But that is not the purpose of this blog. I think there is something really amazing about writing down lessons learned in our profession. That's what this blog is for. So here we go friends, let's learn together. 

If you don't like your fate, change it!

I know I've told some of you about this but I thought I'd share it again. Just 6 months ago, I made a big change in my career path as a speech/language pathologist.

For 4 years I had been working for the largest school district in my state. I can sincerely say that my experience there, as a brand-spankin-new SLP, was invaluable. I owe so much to the many SLPs who taught me the ropes. Yes, at times I felt like I was thrown into a maze with a blindfold and asked to find my way out, preferably doing a series of cartwheels or other acrobatics of choice. But somehow, with the help of many friends and colleagues, I found my way through that daunting maze of scheduling, IEPs, laws and regulations, therapy techniques, and organization, and even came out with a few clumsy somersaults. I loved working in the schools with the opportunity of approaching therapy in so many different contexts. I might have stayed with the district forever, if not for the economic downfall of the country, which highlighted some issues.

You see, most people can expect some sort of increase in pay for years of experience. But in my unfortunate timing, every year that I worked for the district, there was a budget cut in education. So we took cuts in pay (in the form of furlough days) and freezes in pay-steps. Funny enough, my trend in yearly pay showed a gradual decrease every year. I was "okay" with it. Really, I didn't go into the profession for money. But then I had a baby and went part-time. And that's when I started feeling abused by the system. I was expected to work extra hours every week (therapy hours, not prepping hours) "for the good of the students" (direct quote from a district meeting). I was required to attend meetings without getting paid for them, even though the full-time SLPs sitting right next to me were getting paid to attend. I was not getting benefits or retirement. Most importantly, while I was only working 2 days per week, my caseload was almost as high as a full time SLP in most states. It wasn't fair to me, or my students. But despite all the negatives, I really did like my job. When the end of the school year was near I requested a decrease in hours for the next year. This was attempt to decrease my caseload size. The district denied any decrease in hours. That was what convinced me to at least try to find another option.

I spent hours making and delivering resumes, writing emails, calling, even flat-out walking in and introducing myself to prospective employers. It was slow and there wasn't anything very promising, so I settled with the idea that I would just stay at the district. I guess I could hope for a better situation if the economy ever recovered. I enjoyed a fabulous summer off with my baby boy. Then 3 weeks before the school year was to begin I started getting calls and emails for other jobs. A month later I had multiple job offers. I was able to choose an environment that was better suited for me and my therapy style. I was able to negotiate my own contract.

It wasn't easy, in fact it was seriously hard! But I managed to change my situation to a much happier one. I was reading my journal from last year and I am amazed comparing my entries from last year to this year, how much of an impact this change has made on my life. I am so much happier in my new situation.

I think it's a valuable life lesson in itself. If you don't like your current situation in life, you have the power to make changes for yourself. I'm not saying go crazy and quit your job or ditch your life partner to go frolic in a meadow of flowers. What I'm saying is, step back and decide if change is necessary. It might be something as simple as a reminder of why you got into it in the first place. Or you might need to make steps toward more drastic changes. Those decisions are up to you. Life is about choices after all. But it's nice to know that sometimes, those choices really do lead to a happier you.

Here's hoping that we all find a happier version of ourselves as we weave through this crazy thing called life.

*FYI: The title of this post is a quote from the musical AIDA. Bonus points for those of you who got that reference.

Do You Want My Data Forms?

Dear Friends,
I apologize for my absence. This year has just been a whirlwind working two jobs, chasing my little 1 year old around and attempting to keep my house in order has been crazy, fun and chaotic. I'm embarrassed to admit that my inbox is regularly over 200 unread emails because I can never find the time to get it down. And then when I get 50 of those emails taken care of the mystical power of email generates 50 more. It's very similar to that quickly reproducing pile of mail that sits on my kitchen counter. If you have written me requesting a form I promise I want to share it with you. I don't think anyone should have to reinvent the wheel. If it took me an hour (or four) to make a certain form, I'd much rather share it since I put so much effort into it.

I've decided to make my forms available to everyone on Teacher's Pay Teachers. Have you seen this website? It's fabulous. It's a website where educators can share their lesson plans. There are so many amazing speech/language resources on this site! My little niche is data forms. So if you'd like a particular data form made or tweaked just let me know. It sure would make my life easier to avoid emailing my forms to everyone individually.

When I first started this blog it was just my attempt to organize some of the great ideas I observed during my first years as an SLP. Now it's become a little speech community. I have so much enjoyed your emails and input throughout the years and I'll keep on keepin on with this little speechie space of mine. However, please don't hate me for occasional run on sentences and spelling errors. I'm just writing for fun. So I'm really grateful SLPs are a forgiving and fun-loving bunch. In my book SLPs are the coolest people ever. Creative, fun, smart, innovative, adaptable, problem solvers who rock the world. Yeah you better be feeling good about yourself right now because I'm talking about you ;)

Thanks for all your support and collaboration. I have loved this community and am excited for more years to come. Well without further ado, I now introduce you to my little teachers pay teachers shop.

Love,
Annie

Annie's TPT Shop

my seller name is annieSLP if you want to look me up by seller name on the TPT website

Here are some data forms you might like. Just click on the picture and it will take you to the link.

Articulation Progress Chart

Language Progress Chart

Data Log Cover Sheet with Attendance & Treatment Cycle

Complete Speech Homework Package includes letter home to parents, sticker charts, homework trackers, progress charts

Articulation Data Log (2 column)

Articulation & Language Data Log (for students with both artic & lang goals)

Communicative Intent Observation Form (for nonverbal)

Update on Life

Warning: This post doesn't have any good SLP tips. I just wanted to share a little about myself for my friends out there who've been reading my blog. Sometimes it's fun to get to know a little more about our blogging friends.

Life is crazy and so fun right now. Here's a little picture of what my world revolves around.

New Job:
Having the summer off with my baby boy was so fun. There's just no way to describe how amazing it is to watch a baby discover life, how things feel, what they sound like, what they do. I went part-time last year so I could be home with him more. But working part-time for the district is not a good bargain. You don't get benefits, you have to attend meetings without getting paid for them, you don't get any prep time, and let's face it without benefits our pay is not worth it.

As the new school year approached those thoughts just kept running through my mind. "It's not worth it, it's not worth it." But I LOVE working with the kids and I LOVE the ability to collaborate with teachers and the opportunities of working with kids in the context of schools. I knew there were better situations out there. So I started researching. After a lot of thought, paperwork, applications and networking I started my own business.

I am contracting my SLP services out to charter schools. It's basically the same as when I worked for the school district except a few major changes like: having to pay my own taxes, do my own book keeping, find my own continuing ed, buying private mal-practice insurance, and other business type stuff. Why do it then? Well, the pay is better because instead of having to pay a bunch of district overhead the school's speech budget goes directly to the SLP! Also I am able to negotiate the details of my contract like hourly rate, amount of prep time needed, and a caseload limit. It just makes more sense to negotiate those details on a school by school basis instead of the district's one-size-fits-all contracts. I was offered a number of opportunities, so I was able to pick the environment that I felt was the best fit for me.

The particular school I am working with right now is AMAZING! I love the kids, teachers and staff. It is a really unique school with different teaching philosophies than any of the public schools I've worked in and it has a friendly and inviting feeling when you walk in. So far it has been busy but I am loving it. Here's a little picture of what my "office" looks like so far. I had to buy all my own furniture so I went simple.

My life in General:
Running my own business and being a Mom is pretty busy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! Other details of my life include teaching 14 & 15 year old girls at church (constant drama but so fun), trying to maintain some sort of order at my house, and other normal everyday fun. I began jogging to take off some of that extra baby weight and relieve some stress. At first I thought I was going to die, I was so out of shape. But now I have found it to be a really fun hobby. I've run in 2 5Ks in the past few months and I'm running another next week. I'm not fast at all! But I'm improving and that's always fun. 

The Kid:
My little buddy just started walking on Sunday. AHHHH!!! So exciting! We're in for some fun. He looks so grown up since he got his first haircut yesterday. I feel like it's all happening too fast. He is 14 months old, and is a really happy little guy. He loves trying to figure out how things work, and he talks non-stop! (go figure with an SLP mommy)

The Husband:
Love this guy! He is so smart and funny and handsome it kills me. Guess that's why I married him huh?! He's feeling stuck in his job and wants to start his own business. He'd be brilliant at it but it's just so risky to leave the steady job he has right now. I keep expecting him to come home and tell me he's finally quit. But he's too responsible to do something like that. I want him to love his job as much as I love mine. We're working on saving up the capital to start his own business. Someday babe! He is an avid biker (road and mountain) and is loving the cooler weather.

Mountain Adventures:
The fall in Utah is gorgeous and this year is particularly beautiful. We spend a lot of our evenings in the mountains. My husband loves mountain biking, but I am a little more cautious (okay, okay I'm a wuss) so I prefer hiking. Our baby LOVES the mountains so he and I explore the trails, while daddy "goes fast fast fast" on his bike. It's so fun to hear him say "tree!" or "bird" or "wow wow wow!" behind me in the hiking backpack. Fall is hands down my favorite season.

Well that's about all I have for now. I made a little pamphlet for teachers that discusses the types of services SLPs provide in the schools and what red flags teachers could look for. I'll write a post about that in the next day or two. Also I'll update you on my attempts at starting a new data log system.

Super Sorry

Wow I'm so sorry everyone. Here is the RIGHT link to the facebook page.

SLP Learning Curve Facebook Page

NOW you can go find it for real! We are currently talking about the ASHA convention. Are any of you going? I want to go so badly but I'm not sure the finances will work out. Come join the conversation.

New School Year...New Goals

The new school year is coming up and I can't suppress the excitement. There's just something about the first day of school that gets me all giddy inside. Nerd-alert! Am I the only lame-o that feels that way?

Last year, I missed out on that feeling because I was on maternity leave at the beginning of the school year. When I finally did go back to work I just wasn't feeling the love for the job. I wanted to be home with my little baby. It also didn't help that progress reports were due the week I got back and I had to write notes on kids I hadn't seen yet. Summer break has given me a much needed rejuvenation and now that I've had some space from the job I've realized how much I miss it. I'll only be working 2 days/week this year and I think it'll be the perfect balance! I get to stay home with my buddy the majority of the week AND spend some time with my speechies each week. It sure is nice to have such a fulfilling career.

Each new year brings a freshness about it that I love. It's a chance to start over on things that weren't quite right and improve on things you've done in the past. Each year I come up with a few goals of what I'd like to achieve in the year to come. Here are a few that I'd like to address this year...

1. Make a better language profile that helps me really keep tack of my language kids abilities throughout the year. 
2. Try to form the most functional and beneficial goals for each student. Think BIG PICTURE. Is this helping them and can they apply it outside of my speech room?
3. Make very brief lesson plans for each session. By brief, I mean brief! But I want to make sure every session has a clear cut objective that I stick to and that I've thought through how it will be helpful for each student. Kristen inspired me. I love her blog! 
4. Find or make good homework descriptions for parents. Describe different ways parents can help their child with each specific sound.
5. Post objectives for each session for students to see. This would be really good for my language kids to understand why they are coming to me.

I'll be writing posts for each of these individual goals. Do you have any goals that you really want to master this year? Share with us! I will probably want to add them as goals for me too ;) There is SO MUCH room for improvement here.

Service Delivery Models

I just read a great article called Different Service Delivery Models for Different Communication Disorders. It can be found in the most recent issue of Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools Vol.43 117-120 April 2012. It is a really well written article from the editor that discusses the need to individualize our service delivery models for each child. She discusses the fact that a pull-out model, though great for some individual situations, is less than ideal for many of our students. This has bothered me for years, but honestly with our ridiculously high caseloads (I had 87 last year) is there another way? She alludes to the fact that we, as school based SLPs, are being stretched very thin. We are expected to be experts in such a broad range of disabilities it is so hard to address each one individually as it should be done. She discussed the possibility of  SLPs in the schools beginning to specialize in certain areas such as autism, language disorders, articulation disorders, stuttering, and so on. The idea has good merit but I am not sure it is likely to happen. Making changes within the public school systems takes years if not decades, especially if it means the schools paying more money for more specialized professionals. I see the need for change. And the need for different service delivery models. But how are we supposed to address these needs while we can barely give our students the 30-60 minutes on their IEP each week? If our caseloads were more manageable, I have no doubt there would be so many incredible programs that would truly change the lives of our students for the better. Has anyone tried or heard of different service delivery models other than pull-out? I would love to hear about them. 
 

CLICK HERE to share your ideas on service delivery models

picture found at http://www.news.wisc.edu/13955

progress reports just might kill me

Is it just me, or do those terms go by much faster than I can handle. Progress reports are due tomorrow and I am in a panic. My baby was sick at the beginning of the term and I had a substitute for a number of days. My lesson plans were simple and I didn't have my substitute fill out our normal progress charts. My caseload is so high and I only have 30 minutes prep/planning each week so I never got those charts updated. I'm kicking myself for this because it is so much easier when I can just copy that chart and send it home. Here is my reminder to reinstate the weekly progress charting with my students. Now, everyone feel free to pray for me, or send me magic sprinkles or whatever you think would help me get these progress reports done. It may be a long night ahead of me. I can do this. I think I can do this. I have to do this. I WILL DO THIS.

Want to Join our Language Disorders Review?

A couple friends from graduate school and I have made a goal to review our old textbooks and notes. Right now my life does not allow for constant study, but I figure I can give 10 or 15 minutes a day to review my notes. I did pay a pretty penny for graduate school so I think it's well worth it to maintain that investment. And it's good for my career, particularly good for my clients.

We are starting with language disorders. Language disorders are complex and there are so many different goals and approaches you can work on with each client. A good solid review of language disorders will help us decide the most relevant and important goals and treatment methods for each client. I'm excited to relearn the material. And having worked in the real clinical world for a number of years now, I am sure I will have a whole new perspective.

I was thinking it would be cool if we could all do a review together. I know we were all in different programs and had different textbooks and professors, but that's what's so cool about it. If we all made a goal this week to review chapter 1 of whatever language disorders textbook we have and everyone left 1 comment with a little something they relearned or found interesting we could all learn from each other.

So here's my challenge. In the next 7 days let's review some basic language disorders information. It doesn't have to be a monumental goal, maybe 10 minutes this week or 10 minutes a day if you think you can commit to that.

I didn't want to agonize over where to start, so I just started with chapter one of my language disorders textbook from graduate school. Because I read in small doses (10 minutes here, 5 minutes there) it took me 9 days just to review the one chapter but I feel awesome that I actually did it!!!

Do you want to join us? PLEASE DO! and share 1 thing you relearned or found interesting.

The goal this week is to.....Review the first chapter of your language disorders textbook.

Here we go! We can do it!

*P.S. If you need more focused attention to an area, by all means review that material. Find your old Language Disorders textbook, look at your old notes, read a journal article, talk to an experienced colleague or a professor, do anything to review a bit of language disorders knowledge.

Parent Homework Survey

Thank you to all of the speech language pathologists who participated in the survey about speech homework programs. If you have not yet filled it out please go ahead and do it. So far the results are intriguing. I am noticing definite patterns that lead to success or failure. I am excited to share with everyone as soon as I am done with the analysis.

While I was reading all of your input I realized that I was only hearing a part of the story. We need to get input from the parents and students. This week let's focus on parent input. If there is any way you can get your parents to fill out this survey about their attitudes and feelings toward speech homework it would really help us understand both perspectives. I'm guessing the easiest way to get participation would be to copy the link into an email and send the email to all of the parents of your students. Or you could send a note home asking parents to go to the link. Or you could send it in the mail if you think it wouldn't get home. Please please please, we need as much parent participation as possible. Thank you.

The link is

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/C2M7VY2

I think this is a VERY important key to figuring out what we can do to make our homework programs more successful.

Creating a Happy Learning Environment

One of the most important things for speech-language therapists is building great relationships with our clients/students. In my experience, kids tend to learn better when they are in a happy environment. They work harder when they like you and trust you. Our profession can be so fulfilling. Or it can be a pain in the butt. It all has to do with attitude.

My first year as an SLP was a great learning experience. But looking back I was very overstressed. I had a high caseload, was trying to figure out all the required paperwork and documentation, scheduling, homework, meetings, and not to mention planning therapy sessions for each individual kid. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about.

One particularly stressful day one of my kids actually said to me "Miss Annie what's the deal? You are usually all smiley and stuff and right now your are just blah. Are you okay?" Oh, Hello, reality check! I realized that day that my therapy is probably not very effective when my students can sense my own stress. That day it was time to "take a chill pill" as some of my kiddos would advise. I sat back and thought about how I could make things better and here are a few conclusions I came to.

1. Be a friend. Let your student's talk, and listen to them. I'm not saying spend the whole therapy session chatting, but building that therapist/client trust is really important. If they really want to tell you a story, but you don't have time, acknowledge it and tell them you want to hear about it later. My students tend to want to tell me all about their week. I LOVE this, but I need them to work. Often their story can be used in the session somehow. With a lot of my articulation groups I let them each have 10 seconds at a time to tell me whatever they want to, but they HAVE to use their good sounds and once their time is up it's the next kid's turn. I like the ten seconds things because I can just hold up my fingers and they know when their time is up. I always try to really listen and comment on their story just like I do when talking with my best friends. With my language kids I have them think about what they want to tell me until the end of the session and sometimes I give them a good couple minutes. It's a good time to reinforce good sentence structure or have them describe things in more detail. Give them time. They can tell if you like them, and you can tell if they like you.
2. Be the "teacher". Just because your students like you doesn't mean that you can't expect them to work hard. From the beginning let them know what you expect and what they can expect from you.
3. Be consistent. If you have rules, use them. If you have a schedule, stick to it. If you require homework, keep track of it. Kids thrive on routine. If you expect them to do something, let them know, and most importantly follow through with your expectations. Make visuals rules. It's so great to blame the "rules poster" instead of saying "because I said so".
4. ORGANIZE! Organizing your paperwork, schedules, routines, etc is like making a good strong foundation on a building. If you have strong organization and routine you spend less time dealing with behavior problems with the kids, you won't be as stressed and your therapy will be more effective. It takes a lot of leg work at first but once your organized you will have more time to really focus on the child's needs.
5. Make your room a happy place. I realized the day that my student mentioned my "blah-ness" that I kinda hated being in my tiny 8 by 10 foot "room" (that was really a storage closet with a whiteboard). I decided I needed to make it a happy place for my sake and my student's. A week later "The Parrot Perch" was born. I decorated and organized my stacks of paper and suddenly I felt super giddy when I walked into the room, instead of feeling stuck in a cave and the speech kids were "cool" cause they got to go to speech.

I've only been an official speech language pathologist for 3 years and there is so much more to learn! But when I started realizing these things, my life as a therapist got even better than it already was.

What do you do to help keep a happy environment in your therapy sessions?

Twitter Confusion!

After reading the recent ASHA Leader article about SLPs collaborating through twitter and talking with some fellow bloggers I decided it was time to join the frenzy. And after this first hour I can officially say I have NO IDEA how to navigate or use it. But, I want to learn! So here's a small plea to those familiar with the illusive twitterverse, can you PLEASE leave a comment on how I would go about using twitter as a means of collaborating with other SLPs. You will have to be pretty basic in your explanations, K? Thanks "peeps"!

Update 12/5/2011
*there is an amazing post written by a fellow blogger/superstar SLP/tweet guru that will help anyone wanting to navigate the twitterverse to access SLP resources. To read it click HERE
*my "handle" is @annie_SLP in case you wanted to befriend me in the twitterverse

Using the iPad as a speech & language therapy tool

Well it's been 3 weeks back at work and I tell you what, speech language pathology is a mighty fun job! If I'm gonna leave my cute baby it sure as heck better be for a job that I love. Lucky for me, I'm an SLP! Thanks to everyone who reads the blog! You're emails and comments are awesome! I'm glad to say I'm back in the blogging world.

The newest development for my speech room this year is that our school district got a grant that bought iPads for all of the SLPs. Isn't that awesome! I've been trying it out in my therapy sessions this week. I have to admit it hasn't "rocked my world" like I thought it would but there are some serious advantages to having an iPad as a tool in therapy. Here is a brief list of pros and cons after this test-run week. Keep in mind I'm new to the iPad. But it's a pretty intuitive device, even for people who are not technologically savvy.

Pros:

• Storage solution! The IPAD is a great way to store an incredible amount of therapy stimuli in a small portable device. It's an unfortunate but true fact that most speech pathologists work in tight quarters. That is, if they are lucky enough to even have a room. For example, if you looked at the master map of my school last year, my speech room was labeled as a "closet". I know many SLPs across the country don't even have a room to do therapy in. The ability to carry around a huge variety of material on one small device is a serious advantage that can't be overlooked.
• Access to A LOT of Materials: There are so many apps out there it can be overwhelming! But it is nice to avoid buying tons of books from Super Duper or Linguisystems or other publications, then wait for them to be shipped to you, then find a place to store them.
• Easy simple data tracking. Most IPAD apps for SLPs have built in data tracking and a lot of them have the ability to track data for multiple kids at a time. Very cool.
• Voice Recording and Video Capabilities. We all know self-monitoring is absolutely necessary if the student is going to use targeted skills in their every day life. Voice recordings are among my favorite tools to help a student develop their self-monitoring skills. A lot of the articulation apps have recording features that I really love. I'm also loving the video feature with my language students. I can give them a scenario to role play or record them in actual interactions with friends. It's fun for the kids to see themselves and we can pause and discuss what they did great and what they could do better next time.
• Conversation Starters at your Fingertips: You can use the iPad for some pretty sweet conversation starters. Just look up kid friendly websites with articles about things they're interested in. Pull up some funny pictures and have your kids describe them. Watch a short video clip and have your students try to role-play it.
• Motivation: Come on, don't tell me you haven't heard of the game Angry Birds! And if you have been living in denial of the days current obsession with "Apps" believe me, your students haven't. Sure, it's slightly terrifying how "hooked on devices" the world is becoming, but why not use it to your advantage to get some good quality work out of your students. 28 minutes of hard work for a 2 minute game at the end is a pretty good compromise.

Cons:

•  Data Holes: This may be my lame, old-fashioned dependence on paper and pens but there are some "holes" in relying on the IPAD to track your data. Sure it is nice to say "yea" or "nay" just by the click of a button and then have that fancy device ring up the percentage as you go. But hopefully nobody depends completely on these cut and dry data trackers. Technology can't take the place of a good speech therapist. One of the things I love most about our profession is that it requires us to always be on our toes, actively thinking about what will benefit our students/clients the most. Adapting our therapy to the needs of the individual kiddo. Listening for patterns, identifying appropriate future goals, etc. For me, it's a lot easier to keep notes on how little Johnny is responding to certain techniques or write a reminder to work on a different goal when I have a piece of paper in front of me. Instead of taking the IPAD from him in the middle of it all and saying, "hold up! I gotta type in a note on this thing." I do have to say, there are some promising data apps out there and I might eat my words as I try them out. But from this week of working with the IPAD I find that either you use the IPAD as your stimuli and take your data on your usual paper logs, or you use the IPAD as your data tracker and have flashcards, games, other things as your therapy stimuli.
• The "EASY" Planning Trap: SLPs are genius' at "winging it", right? With 80 plus students on your caseload per week there is no way you will plan out every minute of every session with every kid. I sincerely hope that these ready made apps do not encourage any SLPs to become lazy about analyzing their students and adapting to their needs. I guess what I'm really saying is, it is best used as a supplement to therapy, not a replacement. However, I find SLPs as a whole to be a very unlikely group to be lazy.
• It's Not "Natural": Remember sitting in your graduate courses and hearing your professor emphasize the importance of a "naturalistic" setting. I'm pretty sure the IPAD is the opposite of that "natural" setting your professor was talking about (though it can be used to encourage some great conversation as noted above). It'd be fancy if your student could perfectly repeat a sentence that the IPAD chanted to her but it's useless unless she is talking appropriately with her teachers and friends. 
• It's Expensive: Remember how we all had to shell out the big money to get our master's degrees but most of us make less than someone with the average 4 year degree? Yeah, we're not made of money. So, if I hadn't been given an iPad to try out I probably wouldn't have the iPad leap right away. The iPad itself would take a large chunk of my monthly paycheck and the cost of the applications can add up quickly. So even though it's pretty neat, I would probably use the money to pay off my student loan instead.

These are just a few of my thoughts on the iPad. It's great, but it didn't change my life. Overall, I'm liking it as a supplement to therapy. I'll write a post on some of my favorite apps soon.

What are you thoughts on the iPad? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Please share!

Another School Year Begins!

Oh boy! Here we go! The beginning of another school year.

Remember that classic feeling of excitement and nervousness as you put on your favorite new outfit, put your new patterned notebooks and pencils in your backpack and run to the bus with a granola bar and butterflies in your stomache. Anticipation overwhelms you as you prepare to meet new people and get a glimpse of what your life will involve for the next 9 months.

Growing up my mom used to make us French Toast and Strawberries on the first day of school (and test days) and coming from a religious family my dad always said a special prayer for all of us kids as we approached a new school year. It always made it feel like a truly exciting and special time of year. And to this day I still love the feeling of a new start that comes with this time of year.

It's a little different when you are on the teaching end of the new school year. It is easy to get caught up in the stress of it all. But I refuse to let the good feelings of excitement be overpowered by stress. In order to keep this goal I have to be organized. If I'm not, then goodbye happy feelings.

So, here is my to do list for the next two days. If I can accomplish these things, then come Monday morning I will get to enjoy myself.

• Review caseload list and make sure all students are accounted for
• Print class lists to find which classes each student is in (highlight all speech students)
• Make group lists based on grade, teachers, and IEP goals
• Write teacher notes explaining which students are in speech and when sign up for speech times will be
• Write parent welcome notes (include importance of practice, homework expectations, and time student will attend speech)
• Make schedule!!!
• Buy homework folders
• Make copies of materials for inside of homework folder (rules, goals list, personal behavior contract, progress charts, practice pages, homework tracker and sticker chart)
• Prepare a getting to know you activity for the first week of school

Apologies for the Absence

Dear Speech Friends,
Please forgive my hiatus from the blog world. My little family has just expanded. My husband and I welcomed our first baby to the family. We are loving this new adventure of parenthood. Being a speech language pathologist I have worked with so many children, but having one of my own is a whole new experience. He seriously makes life sweeter than I ever knew it could be. I'm looking forward to updating the blog in the coming weeks. Planning for the new school year is fresh on my mind. Hope all is well with you in your lives. Happy Monday!
Annie

End of the Year Reminiscing

The end of the school year is always incredibly exciting! And while I sit here writing seemingly endless amounts of progress reports (blech!), I can't help but smile thinking about all of my crazy, hyperactive, exhausting, hilarious and sweet students. Here are a few snippets that make me happy looking back on the year...

-The autistic student who calls me "Mr. Handsome". It always makes me smile. His mom and I think he calls me that because when he does his speech homework she says things like "great job Mr. Handsome!" and he has associated the "Mr. Handsome" name with speech. We have been working on calling me "Mrs. Annie" and he is pretty consistent with it now, but every now and then a little "excuse me, Mr. Handsome" slips out and I can't help but love it. Yes, he is still working on he vs. she and Mr. vs. Mrs. but we're getting there. 

-All the happy faces and squished noses against my window who wave with an enthusiastic "Hi, Mrs. Annie!" as they head out to recess.

-Hearing all the students try to figure out why a joke is funny when they pass the "joke of the week" posted outside my room. So hilarious to hear them try to work it out. and such great language discussions happening all the time! I didn't realize how hard jokes are to understand for ALL kids, let alone language kids.

-One day when working on definitions with a little guy I asked "What does the word 'wild' mean?" He responded, "it means, when you're really really....fabric." WHA?! I still have no idea what he meant to say. However, we have made some fabulous progress since that day. :) There was nowhere to go but up!

-When teaching non-literal language with another little one this dialogue occurred...
Me: What does it mean when someone says "he kicked the bucket"
Student: Some guy kicked a bucket.
Me: Well that's what it sounds like huh? But this is one of those tricky sayings that doesn't mean exactly what the words say. When people say someone kicked the bucket, it is a funny way of saying that they died.
Student: Oh that's crazy!
Me: yeah, sometimes idioms are crazy!

          The next week......
Me: what did it mean in the book when it said "the pig was as dead as a doornail"?
Student: it means he kicked the bucket!
           BOOM.....genius!

-My ridiculously hyperactive 5th grade language group who randomly decided to call me "Mrs. Boss" one day. I think one of them must have seen the movie Australia so it wasn't an original idea. Nonetheless, I felt like I got a promotion. Honestly, that group was the hardest group I've ever had, but one of the most endearing. Two girls and one boy with pretty involved language needs and serious ADHD! I had them twice a week at the very end of the school day and every session was such a whirlwind of trying to control behaviors and emotions and hopefully get some good language lessons in. I would never admit this to them but I might one day miss their constant bantering and melodramatic discussions of who has a crush on who (oh to be 10 years old). Those three were the perfect combination of odd and likeable and every once in a while we'd have a language lesson that I felt really got through to them. I could tell a million stories about that one little group but looking back on the whole year with them kinda makes me tired :)

-There's so much more to tell but I should probably stop at the risk of pure Logorrhea. All of my students are awesome! There are stories every single day that make life as an SLP so great, and tiring, and funny and fulfilling!

Do you have any good therapy stories? If you are an SLP it's pretty much a guarantee! Do share!

The Beginning

Well this is the first of what I hope to be many posts that help me remember things I have learned in the field of communication sciences and disorders. It's been a year since I graduated with my M.S. in Speech Language Pathology at the University of Utah. With a year of Speech Language Therapy behind my belt I am psyched that I survived, excited with the progress that I saw in my clients, and humbled by my limited knowledge and skill. What a roller coaster this past year has been filled with fun, chaos, experimenting, revising, and trying again. I am looking forward to continued learning and improvement of therapy techniques. I will use this blog to organize resources, materials, and thoughts as I continue my education in the field. This way I can better remember the lessons I’ve learned. I'll see if I can get some of my classmates to join in the effort. We all know that collaboration is an SLP's best friend.