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.
Showing posts with label We Need Your Ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label We Need Your Ideas. Show all posts
8/17/2012
8/16/2012
A Little Collaboration? Yes, please!
Dear Friends,
I've decided it'd be awesome to have more good quality discussion with all of you fantastic SLPs out there. I've added a facebook account for the Learning Curve. Please, please join me. I love me a good speech discussion.
Click here to see the page
SLP Learning Curve Facebook Page
Now go find it!
I've decided it'd be awesome to have more good quality discussion with all of you fantastic SLPs out there. I've added a facebook account for the Learning Curve. Please, please join me. I love me a good speech discussion.
Click here to see the page
SLP Learning Curve Facebook Page
Now go find it!
4/06/2012
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.
2/20/2012
Want to Join our Language Disorders Review?
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.
1/31/2012
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
I think this is a VERY important key to figuring out what we can do to make our homework programs more successful.
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.
1/26/2012
Why is it so hard to get speech homework back?
Getting homework back from students is HARD! Especially in speech! I think it'd be awesome to hear from everybody what works and doesn't work with their homework programs. Please, please, please, click on the link below and fill out this survey on homework programs. It's only ten questions long and your answers do not have to be anything profound or life-altering. We just want as much input as possible so we can get a good representation of what is happening with other SLPs out there. Let's problem solve together!
12/16/2011
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?
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.
What do you do to help keep a happy environment in your therapy sessions?
5/25/2011
Summer Homework Programs
This post is a plea for any suggestions for summer homework for our kids who will be on their own during the summer break. Have any of you found effective summer programs to keep your kids practicing over the summer? Please leave a comment with anything you have done in the past or have thought about doing.
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