Think Social Curriculum

(picture by Amazon)

 

This year, I have quite a few social skills students on my roster.  In the past, I have been more of a support person or coach for the special education teachers in implementing social skills lessons.  I continue to partner with the special education teachers, general education teachers, and para-educators (para-educators are your best friend when taking data and generalizing skills taught during sessions) in working on social skills, but now I have more of an active role in actually implementing social skills lesson.  At the beginning of the year I reviewed several social curriculums and thought that the Think Social curriculum by Michelle Garcia would be a good fit for all my students.  It seemed very well-rounded, as well as easily adaptable for different students.  Not to mention it is perfect if you are working in a school setting since it is easily tied in with IEP goals and educational standards.

 

The first lesson I implemented discussed "unexpected" and "expected" behaviors.  The vocabulary of "unexpected" and "expected" is not new to me, but the way it is taught in this curriculum is.  I started out the lesson by demonstrating unexpected behaviors myself, such as facing away from them while talking, getting up and jumping around, tapping my pencil loudly on the desk, talking too quiet/too loud, and being a little "silly" in general.  After I demonstrated these behaviors, I asked my small group about what they thought about they way I was acting.  This jump started our conversation into unexpected and expected behaviors.  The students responded very well and had some great ideas.  A few of them were familiar with these terms and were great models for my less experienced students.  I made sure to use their wording when writing ideas down.  The students would get very excited when the expected list was longer or "winning" in their words.  Following this lesson, I made quick stops in their classroom to share information about unexpected and expected behaviors so that this vocabulary could be used consistently throughout their school day.

 

Disclaimer:  I have horrible hand writing and it is even worse on the white board.

 

I look forward to continue sharing how this curriculum is working for my students. 

 

What social curriculum do you use?

 

Happy Speeching!

 

-Courtney

 

The Age Old Question: What to do with Missed Sessions?

While spending my Sunday afternoon browsing Facebook, I saw a question on Jenna Rayburn's (from Speech Room News) status from a speech-language pathologist:  How do we deal with missed sessions?

This question was a bit of a hot-button issue my first two years of working in the schools.  In my first year, we were strongly encouraged to make up every session that was missed, whether it was student absence or the speech-language pathologist's.  With a caseload of fifty (which is far less than I've seen other speech-language pathologists have) and no option of substitutes, missing a day of work due to PD or illness was like a death sentence.  It even got to the point that we were expected to makeup minutes that the children would be missing over holiday breaks.  That did not last long, however, as it was soon realized that this goal was completely unrealistic.  To make up sessions, I would have to group more students together and sessions became more about the quantity and less about the quality.  I'm all about keeping compliance with the child's IEP, it's written and designed by the team for a good reason, but when you're seeing a group of five to six kids for the sake of meeting minutes and not much else, quite frankly, it's a waste of the student's instructional time and my own.

On Jenna's Facebook post, a speech-language pathologist recommended going to the ASHA website and searching "missed services," so I did just that.  This article/notification popped up.

In a nut shell, it explains that the state or districts should not be creating policies on how missed sessions should be made up.  Instead, the IEP team should be the decision makers on how great an impact missed sessions would have on the student's FAPE and determine what the outcomes should be to ensure FAPE.

I am curious to try the 3:1 model to help with making up missed sessions in a productive and efficient manner, but have not yet figured out to make this work in my district or agency, although I believe it is something they are looking into.  For now, I reserve Wednesday afternoons for meetings (my district has monthly meetings on  Wednesday afternoons), as well as IEP meetings, work time, and make-up sessions.  This has worked well for me in the past.  I also write a statement on my student's IEPs (individualized for specific students) that addresses the issue of missed sessions.  For example, while describing their services, I may write:

"Minutes per month may vary due to limited student absences, limited speech-language pathologist's absences, school breaks, assemblies, testing, and weather cancellations."

If you want to get more specific, you may want to state the number of absences (e.g. sessions will be made up if the student has missed more than two sessions per month).  I always make a point to discuss this at the IEP meeting and all my parents and teachers have been very understanding.

As speech-language pathologists, we are in the service of helping people.  I personally love my job.  I love working with the kids.  I love collaborating with the teachers.  I love coaching and guiding parents.  I love watching my student's growth.  And you better believe I am one proud mama when a kid is able to graduate from speech services!  Paperwork and rules and compliance are just all part of the package that comes along with being a school-based speech-language pathologist.  Although issues like this can cause stress, we, as SLPs, need to remember that our job is to provide quality therapy and support our students the best we can.  Discuss the implications and outcomes of missed sessions with the IEP team.  When you're deciding the outcome as a team, with the child in mind, you will be less likely to be stressed about making up sessions when needed, and more focused on what is right for the child.

How do you view making up missed sessions?  How do you handle missed sessions?

Freebie: Speech-Language Pathology SOAP Note Form

When I was in grad school, SOAP notes were the way to go when documenting my speech therapy sessions.  For some reason, once I started in the working world, SOAP notes seemed to disappear and became a thing of the past.  But, now, having flashbacks to grad school, sitting in those one-way mirrored rooms, I realized how incredibly helpful that SOAP note format was.  Objective data is always a must, but it helped to look back on notes and see what their motivation and behavior was like that day to see if it appear to impact their progress and overall accuracy.  It also helped to look at the next plan.  Often I will be in a session with a kiddo and think to myself of something we could work on the next session or a helpful strategy I might use the next time.  I will tell myself that I would remember, but then I would see the next five kids for therapy and the thought was never had again!

I created a SOAP note log, not so I would need to write a paragraph about each session, but so I could make those quick notes and know where to look for them when reviewing data.

Hope you enjoy and find use of this freebie!  Grab it for FREE at my TeachersPayTeachers store here!

Happy Speeching!

-Courtney

Adding Articulation Stimulus Lists and Probes to your IPad

This weekend I went to go look and update my articulation stimulus lists I had previously created on my IPad, but  realized after I updated my IPad, the lists had been removed.  Wah!  The upside is it gave me the opportunity to do a tutorial on how you can create articulation stimulus lists, as well as individual student probe lists, using a couple easy features on your IPad.

Above is where I have started with recreating my articulation stimulus lists.  I have started with creating a /k/ stimulus list, as well as an example probe list for a student.  Below is an example of a stimulus list and picture for /k-/ in my /k/ stimulus list album.  The great thing about these albums is that the pictures can easily be scrolled through with the swipe of a finger!

Here are step-by-step directions on how you can create your own articulation stimulus lists and student probe lists.  This tutorial is done using an IPad 2.

1.  Using the camera feature on your IPad or the screenshot feature, find photos of your target sounds.  I like to go to the flicker website on my IPad and take screen shots of the pictures I find.  To find pictures on flickr, I just type a word in the search engine and up pop hundreds of wonderful real-life images.  To take a screen shot of your image, hold the button on the upper right hand corner and the home button down at the same time.  After taking a screen shot, you should be able to find the picture in your camera roll.  If you are using your camera, take advantage of real images by incorporating pictures of items around school or home.  For example, if they are working on /l/, take a picture of the library to place in your camera roll. If their sister's name is Rachel and they are working on /r/, have their parents send you a picture of Rachel to put in their probe list.  Nothing is better than using relevant and real life images.

2.  Next, click on your photo app.  See below for visual. 

3.  Make sure you have clicked on the albums tab on the top of the screen for the this step.  Next, click on the plus sign on the upper left hand side of the screen to add an album.  See visual below.

4.  Add your album title.  In the example below, I labeled mine /g-/ for an initial /g/ stimulus list.  After entering your album title, click save.

5.  The next screen should take you to your photos.  Click on each photo you would like to add to your new album.  When you click on a photo, a little check mark on the bottom of the picture should appear to show that you have selected it.  When you have selected all your photos, press the done button in the upper right hand corner.

6.  Tada!  You should now how a new album appear under your albums tab with the stimulus pictures you have selected!

I have a lot of work to do in order to replenish my artic lists I had created, but it is such a handy tool to have for quick and relevant practice words.  I tend to favor real life pictures with articulation practice and adding new words to the albums is really quick!  Hope you find some use out of this tutorial!

Happy Speeching!

-Courtney



  

  

Simple Apps for Reinforcement

When it comes to the practice-play therapy model (e.g. say ten words, take a turn in a game), I try to keep the games or activities I play really quick and really simple.  I have a handful of apps I typically go to for reinforcement for saying a set of good practice words.  So, without further explanation, here are my go-to apps.

1.  Draw with Stars!

After practicing some good sounds, the student is able to touch the screen to add a star to their sky.  Every time you touch the screen, a musical note is also heard.  At the end of the session, I let the my students swipe the screen with their hands and all their stars fly away.  All together, a very quick and easy way to reinforce articulation practice, not to mention an added bonus if you are practicing /st-/ blends!  This app is currently free.

2.  ClickySticky

After practicing good speech sounds, I let my students pick one sticker to add to their background (you can choose from several different backgrounds).  At the end of the session, I let the students press the red button in the lower right hand corner and they are able to see their picture come to life.  As an added bonus, this app doubles as a great language app.  Work on understanding and using prepositional phrases and following directions by telling the child where to put their sticker.  This app is currently $1.99 in the app store. 

3.  Lazoo: Squiggles!

This app is so adorable and motivating!  After practicing some good speech sounds, you add "squiggles" to the picture to make the picture come alive.  For example, in the picture above, you add squiggles for clouds to make it rain and make the flowers grow.  In another picture, you draw squiggles for sheep's wool to make the sheep graze.  As an added bonus, this app addresses those pre-writing skills!  This app is currently free.

What are some of your favorite quick motivating and rewarding apps?

-Courtney





Traveling Speech Office

This year I transferred to a new school district (still working for the same agency) and with this new district came some new circumstances.  The past two years I have generally worked in two different schools and had split my time evenly between them.  This year, I am starting at four new schools.  My caseload numbers will be very similar, it is just split up somewhat differently.  One of these schools I will have  my own room, two of these schools I will be sharing a space with some other resource and special education teachers, and one school I will have no space of my own at all.  Organization is what keeps me sane during the school year, so I needed to have some sort of traveling office since I won't have a consistent space.  Enter: Scrap Booking Case.

I found this at Micheals (after seeing one of my speechie friends rolling one along) and luckily, it was on clearance.  Since my space at my schools is limited, I have packed this case with all my necessities.  The Vera Bradley bag is something I have always carried around, so the rolling backpack is was the only add on.  A tour of my office, shall we?

The first stop on our tour is the main pocket.  It has a divider that can move around at your convience.  Right now, I am keeping my speech binder, clip board, and book study books.  It also comes with a removeable compartment, which I will show you soon.

The "lid" of the suitcase carries pens/pencils and inside is a removable compartment that I carry paperclips and highlighters (will soon be adding post-its).



The very front pocket currently hold stamps, dobbers, and stickers (basically anything I use in therapy consistently).

There is also another front pocket that is the perfect size for holding file folders.  My student folders and confidential files will still be held at the individual schools.

There are quite a few side pockets as well.  Currently, they are only holding my "mission money" which I hope to be posting about very soon!

I am holding my activities and games at my home office, which is still being organized, so I will plan on posting that fairly soon!  The plan is to lesson plan a week ahead and bring what activities I need for the day in my Vera Bradley bag.

Link up to your speech rooms! I would love to see the décor and organization!

Happy Speeching!

-Courtney



Back to School Shopping

When I was a kid, my favorite part of going back to school was the back to school shopping.  The clothes, the Lisa Frank folders, the pencil boxers...oh, the memories!  Now as an adult back to school shopping is still one of my favorite parts of going back to school.  Instead of buying folders and pencil boxes, I tend to load up on activities and therapy matierals...okay, and maybe some fun pens and pencils!

 

 

I did some serious damage on TeachersPayTeachers this past week and wanted to share my three favorite purchases.

1.  SLP Planner Made by Jenn Alcorn over at Crazy Speech World

 

I love this planner!  It has a weekly calendar (M-F), monthly calendars, and pages to document IEPs, evaluations, and reevaluations due for the month.  I already feel more organized!  You can find it here on TeachersPayTeachers.

 

2.  My First Week in Speech by Nicole Allison over at Allison Speech Peeps

 

 

 

Well, my first week of lesson plans are done!  This is such a great packet.  I love the monthly calendars and I love the speech rules.  My favorite part of this packet are the conversation cards since I will be in all new schools, meaning I need to get to know a whole new group of students!  Find it here on TeachersPayTeachers.

 

3.  Secret Agent Articulation: QR Code Activity by Jenna Rayburn over at Speech Room News

 

 

I have been eyeballing this game since Jenna first posted it.  I have done QR activities before with my students, but not quite this fun!  I am so excited to use it.  I typically buy language activities when on TeachersPayTeachers, but decided I need to spice up my articulation materials a bit!  Find it here on TeachersPayTeachers

 

What are some of your favorite back to school materials?

 

-Courtney